Best light gun ever - fight me

[pbj]

I had to head down to a fancy suburb to pick up my Ozempic.  Weather was horrible on the way there, so figured I'd better kill some time before I drove back.  Since I don't eat anymore and there wasn't enough time for an arcade, I punched "game store" into Google Maps.  Well, heck, like 2 blocks away was a place. 

https://www.player1videogames.com/

At this point, I'm at the "We have video game McDonald's at home" stage of collecting, but there's a few things on my list... and it was cool to see all these games and consoles in person...



And one of the things on my list was a Sega Phaser and Shooting Gallery



I still think it's the most accurate gun and game ever released on a home console.




 

[bobbyb13]

Quite an assottment of gear at that place.

I never got to play a lot of Sega games as it was and never got to try that gun.
You have to wonder how many were made- and still exist.

[pbj]

I lived on the one street in America in Southern California where everyone asked for a SEGA master system for 1987 Christmas.  Ive only ever met two other people elsewhere that had one and they both lived on the east coast.  I suspect it was regionally popular in limited areas. 

“Did you have one of these as a kid?”

“Yep”

“Oh, did your parents buy the wrong system?  That’s usually how it happened.”

“…..no, I asked for it…”

“Really?  Why?”

 

Anyway, it didn’t have near the support of the NES so it was quickly surpassed in game quality, but a few hold their own.  It had the best versions of Double Dragon and Rampage.  Phantasy Star looks incredible.  Shooting Gallery actually tracks where your missed shots hit.

If you have a Genesis, you can already play Master System games off a $20 everdrive clone.

[bobbyb13]

Yeah, I was lame because I was broke and only had an old 2600 when everyone else was getting NESs.
By 1987 I was off the map for gaming though because in spite of my awkwardness and acne I was chasing girls because I had a car and a job I guess.
Timing explains why I missed so much with Sega stuff actually.

[slickam]

I still have my Master System and Phaser, but I never had Shooting Gallery. I played a lot of Safari Hunt though, and always preferred it to Duck Hunt on my friend's NES.

I only knew one other person in Edmonton with one. Everyone else I knew with a console had a NES.

I never had many games for it, but you're right that Double Dragon was great. I also really liked Space Harrier and Wonder Boy.

[RandyT]

I think the GC2 was better, and the difference between anything on the Master System and the PS2 is huge.  If the LG system was so advanced, there would have been nothing in the way for Sony to copy the implementation verbatim, given it's age.  But they went with a more advanced implementation, using the sync signals directly from the video output for it's timing.

It may have been good for it's time, but you would have a very hard time convincing me that modern CRT lightguns don't work at least to the same level.

[pbj]

Guncon 2 only had murder simulators that were rip offs of Virtua Cop.

[RandyT]

Meh.  Murder simulators are fun, especially if you are murdering fantastical creatures or evil bad-guys.

Besides, I'd put the GC1 in the same camp hardware-wise and the Point Blank series is the greatest set of "shooting gallery" games ever made.

[Malenko]

Guncon 2 only had murder simulators that were rip offs of Virtua Cop.

Vampire Night was more of a "House of the Dead" ripoff, Ninja Assault was great and well you could play Virtua Cop (Elite Edition).  I think "Elite Edition" kinda lost the charm of the flat shaded polys with the textures but some people think its better that way /shrug

[pbj]

Police Trainer was better than Point Blank.

[RandyT]

Police Trainer was better than Point Blank.

I won't argue that Police Trainer isn't a good game, but it's a more repetitive and sterile experience.  Point blank is far more polished and varied, which can be expected considering it had better hardware to build upon.  Police trainer gets boring a LOT quicker.

[pbj]

It’s been a good 20 years since I’ve played Point Blank, I’ll have to revisit it.  I swear I still see Police trainer out on location every now and then.

Got this $8 adapter for SEGA master system cartridges.  Works great but no card support.  Really pointless as my $20 everdrive clone can already play SMS roms fine but what the hell.

[KenToad]

I don't have a master system, but I have two light phasers, a Mega SD and a Mega Everdrive X5 running through a pair of model 1 Genesis consoles. One of the consoles is running through hd retrovision component cables into a 32 inch Sony Trinitron and the other console is running through composite into a 27 inch Toshiba CRT.

Weirdly, the guns are iron sight accurate through the composite line into the Toshiba and consistently shooting just to the right of the iron sights through the component lines into the Trinitron. This is consistent across all games and both guns. I haven't done extensive testing to try different cables and switching consoles around, but it's very strange behavior.

Anyway, on the Toshiba, the guns are pixel perfect accurate with no calibration, but unfortunately the phaser light gun games tend to bore me with their repetition and lack of personality.

[pbj]

I couldn’t stand it, so I bought a cheap Master System.  There’s two options for making Master System games… stick with 32kb games that don’t need a mapper, or trash a handful of games that used an external mapper and a standard rom chip.  And unfortunately they’re not “get a box of 50 copies of Joe Montana for $20” pricing either.

I also, of course, bought a 3D adapter.  And sealed LCD shutter frame glasses that are compatible.  And a sealed copy of Missile Defense 3D that I’m agonizing over opening. 

We’re on a mission to correct an injustice from the 80s.

[pbj]

Been playing some more Master System light gun games.  I, too, am having the same issue with the shot landing right of where I aimed.  Adjusting brightness seems to help.

I got a CIB copy of Gangster Town for about $8 shipped.  That is one heck of a gun game.  Reminds me of Dead Angle.  Would have played the hell out of it back in the day.

I also bought a second copy of Missile Defense 3D because I couldn't bring myself to open the sealed one.  "One missile hit east city. That's all it takes."  Eeesh, a little fatalistic.  I may be crazy, but I swear there's some randomization in the order of the levels and where the targets are placed.  The 3D isn't quite as awesome as Sega used to advertise it was, but it is a neat effect.