Gun Smoke. For the NES review.

     Scrub that yella' off ya belly and load them thar' six shooters. There is trouble brewing up in Hicksville. The Wingate brothers are terrorizing the area and these murderous scum bags are bringing business down to a screeching halt in the city and has the town folk all shook up. It's up to you, an unknown no named bounty hunter to clean up the streets. (Clint Eastwood? James Arness?) Capcon introduces us to Gun Smoke on the NES. Personally my favorite shoot em up ever. When I first got this game I always assumed it was about the t.v. show. Although I always thought it was weird how they shot up the sheriff. Did they shoot Matt Dillon? Or is this like a prequel to the t.v series? Neither, the city isn't Dodge. I'm still unclear if they just named the game from the show to get attention or if there really is some sort of connection here. What I do know is that this game is absolutely mind obliterating shoot em up goodness! I'm always up for a good shoot em up, but there is just so many space themed ones I tend to get wore out on them quickly. But Gun Smoke combines two of my all time favorite things. Westerns and the Nintendo Entertainment System! Does it get any better than this? I think not. Not for a long long time. Right from the get go you're slinging lead like a pro. These cowardly good for nothing sacks of slop confront you with a horde of gunfire and dynamite throwers. They obviously don't know who they're dealing with. Unleash some lead on these outlaws and help rid Hicksville of this terror once and for all!

       Graphics:  Gun Smoke was done fairly well for its time. The graphics are decent enough and get the message across quite clearly. There are plenty of enemy sprites to keep you entertained. The level design is just awesome, well there might be a bit to much brown but that's not a big deal. Before the game starts you get to watch an intro of the unknown bounty hunter walking his horse through town. I remember thinking it looks kind of silly but nah, the artwork is just right for this game. It's a perfect eight bit rendition of a spaghetti western! Before each level starts you get a look at the wanted poster for the levels boss. Each of these are done just awesomely. And at the end of the level you see bullet holes rip through the wanted poster each in their own unique pattern. All the power ups are clearly definable which is always a plus. It's easy to differentiate paths and the obstacles in your way. I give the graphics 7 gut shots out of 10.

     Sound:   The sound is very pleasing and fits the theme of the game well. From the title screen and through each level the music is just awesome and really gets you into the mood of the game. I especially love the music for the third level in the Apache camp. Unfortunately the select or item menu music gets old quickly but it does sound decent I reckon. The sound effects are done rather well. Granted they're a bit generic but they fit the game perfectly. And by far the sound you'll hear the most is the rapid fire of your six shooters. Thankfully the designers included different sounds for each gun so that really helps breaking up the sound from getting to monotonous. Also one more little gripe because I'm afraid I'm just going to go to easy on this game. When the wanted posters are shown at the beginning of every level and that annoying text noise starts going I usually mute it. I understand it fits the theme with it's type writer or Morse code like sound. But it does get old. I give the sound 8 cow skulls out of 10.

     Addictive:   Are you serious? Gun Smoke is so addictive It's taken me about three times as long as it should have taken me to write this because I keep having to play more! It's so easy to just keep coming back to this game over and over again. As stated before, the levels are all nicely done and with the various enemies inhabiting each level you're sure to come back for revenge, especially if they've shot ya full of lead. There is a lot of power ups and quite a few other guns you can use in the game. It's always fun clearing away those swarms of enemies with the shot gun or the machine gun. And of course nothing puts a boss in his place like a belly full of lead from the Magnum. Dealing justice through out each of the six levels while also hunting down the hidden or secret drops brings even more to the table for addictive game play. It keeps me coming back for more and more just to locate the invincibility power up. I give the addictive game play 8 barrels out of 10.

     Story:  So the story goes. You're a wandering bounty hunter with no name who has wandered into the town of Hicksville to find it over run with bandits and their ilk. Being the brave and skilled gunslinger you are, you decide to take justice into your own hands. Dishing out punishment through six levels of non stop shoot em up greatness. Do you have what it takes to bring the Wingates within reach of the long arm of the law? So there isn't much to the story but it's a shoot em up not an RPG or anything like that. Besides, it's the game play value here that's more important than anything else. I give the story 4  Devil Hawk fire balls out of 10.

     Depth: There really isn't much depth here to mention. The game itself is even kind of short. Six levels with their appropriate bosses, loads of enemies. Nor is there much more to do other than avoid enemies and their projectiles, collect power ups and blast away. Searching through the levels for all the hidden drops helps. I'm always trying to find out where the designers have hidden the horse or the one up or the wanted posters in each level. I'll be nice and give the depth 4 Cowboy boots out of 10.

   Difficulty:  The difficulty in Gun Smoke is pretty decent. Given the time and the attention it doesn't take that long to get the hang of the game play. The controls are accurate and very responsive. A shoots two bullets to the right of you and B slings lead to the left of you. Pressing A and B together will allow you to shoot straight ahead, which is nice. When I first started I kept thinking it would be so much better if you could just shoot ahead but after you get used to the controls you realize that shooting to the side is just perfect and really fits into the theme of the game as well. Each boss has his own unique movement pattern that you must learn and adapt to if you plan on beating him. Beginners and experienced gazer's alike will definitely enjoy this. So it's not really that hard of a game to master but it's not easy either. I give the difficulty 6 smart bombs out of 10. 

    Well there isn't much more to say about Gun Smoke. It was definitely a gem for the NES and one of my prized possessions in my old library of games. It's really a must play for all gamers regardless if you're a shoot em up enthusiast or not. I do believe that's a wrap for now. I hope you've enjoyed this review of Gun Smoke as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Have a nice day

Good review. I enjoyed reading it. Nice to see that you are reviewing a wide variety of games rather than doing games that everyone does (Which happens a lot around here)

Anyways, I would suggest also to actually rate the games on the game page, so your final rating shows up in your review.

I love Gun.Smoke (No one get confused that is actually the title due to copyright stuff I'm sure)

I loved it back then, and still enjoy playing it today. Fun game.