VS. Gumshoe, 1986 Nintendo

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Published on November 10, 2017 11:03:38 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMFcVjRdMoA

Game:

Gumshoe (1986)

Duration: 15:38

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13

BRUTALLY hard light gun game for the VS. cabinet, also for the NES. This is one of those rare games where you are not the protagonist or have direct control over all their movements; instead you are helping to keep them out of danger. Enemies will make a beeline for them, they can fall into abysses, they can walk into deadly skull blocks, etc. To prevent these tragedies from happening, shoot the enemies or, better yet, shoot the gumshoe! Yes, shooting the gumshoe won't kill him, but it simply makes him jump. You can make him continue to jump in the air, up to the top of the screen, with continuous shooting. This keeps him from falling into an abyss. Don't worry about running out of bullets--
balloons are plentiful on the levels and they reward you with 3 extra bullets each (and give you a bonus for each balloon touched, at the end of each level). Skull blocks are very annoying and the game would be a bit easier without them-- it's tough enough to look out for enemies and abysses. The detective's goal is to collect 5 diamonds through the 5 levels and give them to a mob boss to get his daughter Jennifer back. A diamond will be on each level and will be accompanied by a sound effect indicating it is near. If you miss the diamond it will return shortly, so just collect it. You must beat all the levels within 6 game minutes (easy to do, since the gumshoe is always walking automatically) and the final boss is some gator-like creature that shoots at you; you have a machine gun by this time and the gumshoe will constantly fire it-- but you need to shoot the gumshoe (to make him jump) so his fire can hit the boss, who is on a raised platform. Shoot his eye enough to beat him. The NES port is easier, since the birds can not only give you extra points with the fried chicken they turn into (you don't seem to get those points in the VS. version) but they also yield helpful items like a potion that gives you an extra hit (so you're actually a TWO-hit kill), shoes that make you invincible to the skull blocks (yes!), and a helmet to protect you from bombs and falling rocks. Still a very, very hard game!