Space Gun (Master System) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
162A playthrough of Taito's 1992 light gun shooter for the Sega Master System, Space Gun.
Like Laser Ghost, the *other* horror-themed, PAL-exclusive light gun shooter for the Master System (https://youtu.be/L_EeiUCCyT0 ), Space Gun takes its cues from a popular movie franchise: the story and graphics are blatantly "inspired" by the first two Alien films. Unlike Laser Ghost, however, Space Gun is a direct adaptation of the arcade game with which it shares its (hilariously generic) name.
Space Gun straps you into the boots of a commando who has been sent to investigate a badly damaged, seemingly abandoned ship. When you first board, you're attacked by the ship's automated defenses, and it's not long before you discover that you're not alone. A nasty breed of xenomorphs are now running riot across the ship and have killed nearly everyone aboard. It's your job to eliminate the hostiles and to save as many of the remaining survivors as possible.
The game regularly switches between side and forward-scrolling areas, and each stage is capped of with a boss battle and a fancy cinematic scene that moves the plot forward. (Ever play Operation Thunderbolt? It's very similar.)
Your default weapon has unlimited ammo (though it can overheat), and you can pick up four separate special weapons, including a high-powered laser, screen bombs, and an item that can temporarily freeze everything on-screen.
Unsurprisingly, the game is best played with the Sega Light Phaser. You can play with the control pad, but without a plastic gun in hand, the experience loses a lot of its appeal. It's an easy game as far as rail shooters go, but it does have a few tricky moments. That last boss took me quite awhile to figure out!
(I included the bad ending at 40:50 for anyone that might like to see it.)
It looks nice for a Master System game, but it doesn't compete in the same league as the arcade original. All of the sprite scaling has been axed, the pseudo-3D movement is extremely choppy, and you can no longer shoot body parts off of your enemies, but the backgrounds and the bosses look great, as do the cutscenes. The sound fares reasonably well considering the console - the music isn't loaded with painfully shrill beeps - but I'd still recommend hitting mute on the TV.
Overall, Space Gun is a neat little shooter that provides a fun sci-fi alternative to anyone that didn't dig Laser Ghost's supernatural trappings, but I can't help but think that it would've been better suited to the 16-bit platforms.
For more Master System playthroughs, check out my playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHs29jFWuxVI30FjoMMdiJVs
And for more Halloween/horror-themed games, check out https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHuN8U3j4lnYxDOPIpgoQNv3
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!