Old School by demand - Mad Dog McCree

[RabidYak]

Aside from all of the usual stuff we talk about, another thing that made the 80s and early 90s gaming industry so entertaining was the steady stream of new systems and technology fads that were hailed as "the next big thing" or "the future of gaming" only to end up dying on its arse soon after. Laserdisc arcade games are the exception to the "soon after" part of the rule, lasting almost a decade from Dragons Lair in the early 80s up to American Laser's games in the early 90s. Being the early 90s, American Laser's titles were also part of another "next big thing" - the FMV game.

This brings us to the game in question, 1990's Mad Dog McCree, which was American Laser's first game. Its a gun game which works on much the same principle as Dragons Lair and company, you get played a video clip (this time a live-action movie rather then a cartoon) and you have to interact with it at a certain point to determine the outcome. Whether you get it right or wrong determines which clip plays next, either the game continues or you die and loose a life. The difference here being that your interaction involves shooting the right part of the screen with your light gun at the right time rather pushing joystick directions or buttons, which makes it marginally more interactive.

Theres not anything more to say about the gameplay mechanics beyond that, althougth the video does vary a little sometimes depending on what order you do the 4 middles segments in (Bank, Saloon, Sheriffs Office and Corral) and whether you save certain bystanders from being shot. Aside from that, finishing the game is just a matter of remembering the sequence that everything happens in and being a half decent shot.

In terms of production, the sets are about what you'd expect from a TV series or medium budget cowboy film. Its all built to a decent looking standard with no bluescreening or anything like that, which would suggest that they either inherited them from somewhere or that they used the same ones for the other 4 Wild West games they made and spread the cost. The actings nothing special, just a bunch of jobbing actors playing to all the usual wild west sterotypes. If you play more then one American Laser game, you'll notice that they all have mostly the same people in them.

Overall its nothing remarkable gameplay wise, but its certainly notable as a spectacle of its time. Theres some nostalgia value there as well if you remember playing the game or seeing it in the gaming press, more so then any other AL game since this was the first and most hyped of the several FMV gun games that they produced (Who shot Johnny Rock? being the only other one that people actually remember).

American Laser titles arn't emulated, so the version that I used to revist the game was the DVD Video version from Digital Leisure, the company that seems to make most of its living out of peddling LD games in various formats. This version basically involves pressing the direction buttons to the move a crosshair to various pre-set positions and the select button to register a shot, which pretty much robs the game of any challenge it had in its original form (even moreso then playing gun games with mice in emulators). I aquired it for a grand sum of £5, which was the cost of the Playstation magazine that was giving it away on its cover at the time. I also got the sequel on the front of the next issue, but I won't bother reviewing that since its just a variation on the same thing. They don't do a DVD-ROM version of the game like they do with Dragons Lair and Space Ace, so if you want the game your lumbered either with this or a CD-ROM version (play with mouse or Act-Labs gun) which presumably has lower quality video.

Screenies can be found Here.

On a related note, I can't help but notice that these sorts of games seem to be making a bit of a mainstream comeback via DVD and Digital TV. Theres been a shitload of video trivia games in the shops recently and there was an interactive Doctor Who thing on BBCI at Chrimbo that I found scarily remincent of LD games, right down to the actor talking strait at the viewer and choices that played different outcomes depending on whether you got them right or not. Its never the good things that come back to haunt you is it?

[Silverhaze]

I wanna get the BullsEye game on DVD

Zep was looking for Mad Dog recently. Im wondering if he got it and if anybody knew of somewhere to get some version of the game?

[Class316]

Wow I remember playing that. It was a lot of fun at the time. I can see how a DVD Video version would be pointless. It’s just not the same with a button/cursor. It should be a DVD-Rom and optional gun. And yes I remember reading about the CD version the FMV sucks.

Sad that MAME doesn’t consider LD games a priority (for various reasons).

[RabidYak]

I wanna get the BullsEye game on DVD

LOL, does it come with a free speedboat?

Apparently ITV want to make a new series of Bullseye, but with those geordie cocks from Byker Grove instead of Jim Bowen. Whats the point in that?

[Silverhaze]

Hahaha yeah and a red plastic tractor for the kids too.

Nah you cant remake a classic like that. It was the cheapness of it that made it great. In the words of Peter Kay 'Well, you've had a great day and won £233 for you and your family. It'll take me the length of this ad break to count it out. See you in a few minutes.'

'Bloody hell Jim, you counting that out in 2p pieces or what?!'

[RabidYak]

Maybe he had to check the bus timetable and prices to find out how much BFH to give to the losers.

[Silverhaze]

[Zep]

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to the day when I can afford my own Mad Dog McCree arcade machine.