Space Gun

The game lets the player shoot limbs off the creatures, resulting in blood splatters. In 1992 home ports were released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, and Master System. It is one of the few games for the Atari ST and Amiga to support a light gun.

• Title — Space Gun • Developer — Taito • Publisher — Taito • Producer — Yuji Iwasaki Atsushi Taniguchi • Programmer — Yuji Iwasaki Shinji Soyano Tatsuo Nakamura Hikaru Taniguchi • Artist — Tsutomu Sekimoto Hideyuki Kato Atsushi Taniguchi Yukio Abe V.A.P Peacock • Composer — Norihiro Furukawa • Released — October 1990 • Genre — Light gun shooter • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Master System, ZX Spectrum • Arcade System — Taito Z System

• Illustration — The unseen protagonist shoots a green attacking alien. Remaining time and the number of rescued humans is displayed at top of the screen while ammunition and player health are displayed at the bottom (arcade version shown). Space Gun is an arcade rail shooter in which the player views the on-screen action from a first person perspective. Players use a cabinet-mounted positional gun to target and shoot enemy aliens that have invaded a research vessel and abducted its crew. Enemies are either mechanical guns that descend from above the screen or aliens, several of which can only be defeated by first shooting away their limbs. The player must save human hostages from the creatures. Occasionally, a hostage will mutate into an alien. In addition to the standard rapid-fire weapon, there are four other weapons: a flamethrower, grenade launcher, freeze bomb, and blade bomb. These weapons require ammunition which can be collected throughout the stages, and are activated by the player using the pump action of the mounted gun. The arcade cabinet features foot pedals (visible in a picture) that, when pressed, reverse the player's direction. This is an essential feature, as it gives the player more time to fire upon an incoming enemy, to help keep the number of enemies at a more manageable level and thereby keep them from being overwhelmed. It also adds an element of strategy to the game, as over-use of the "backpedal" runs the risk of running out of time on the level. There are six or seven levels (depending on which version of the game is being played) that are split into four subsections, each with its own end-of-level boss. Between levels the story is explained and moved forward through the use of short animated cut-scenes with text on the screen. Players can often choose their own path through the level by selecting a door or arrow using the gun. Several of the home system versions feature light gun support, but all of them allow the player to move a crosshair to target enemies. The multiplayer game is identical to the single-player experience, but the Master System, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum versions do not include multiplayer.

The arcade game uses raster graphics on a CRT monitor displaying 4096 colors and amplified stereophonic sound. The visuals are reflected into view via a mirror in the cabinet. The arcade cabinet is upright, with the marquee bearing the game's name protruding outward. There are large, blue plastic molds around the cabinet designed to resemble an alien cocoon. The music for Space Gun was composed by Norihiro Furukawa and Naoto Yagishita of Zuntata, Taito's music division. The arcade version of Space Gun was exhibited at the UK Amusement Trades Exhibition International in 1991. In 1992, Ocean Software released ports for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The Amiga and Atari ST versions are one of the few games to use the Trojan Light Gun. In developing the Amiga conversion, the team video taped the arcade machine in operation as a reference for the graphics, pausing the video at relevant spots to take notes before recreating them. A soundtrack CD (a split release with the soundtrack for the Taito game Liquid Kids) was released by Pony Canyon and Scitron on January 21, 1991. This album was also released as part of Taito 1500 Collector's Box on September 17, 1993. A track from the game is on the limited edition CD Zuntata History L'ab-normal 1st, released by Zuntata/Taito on April 1, 1999. In 2005, Space Gun was included in the compilation title Taito Legends for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Xbox.

The canonical record carries the following identifying particulars. It is also recorded that space Gun is associated with Japan.