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Shootin' Gallery
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Name:
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Shootin' Gallery
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| Company: |
Imagic |
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Model #:
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720021-1A |
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Programmer:
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Dennis Koble
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| Year: |
1982 |
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Released?
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Yes
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Notes:
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Early catalogs
showed different
box art for the game
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Shootin' Gallery is one of the lesser known Imagic games for
the Atari 2600. Not only is it somewhat rare, it's also
not a particularly remarkable title. The basic premise of
Shootin' Gallery is to use your gun to shoot the targets on the
screen and score as many points as possible before you run out
out bullets. Perhaps Imagic's marketing team suspected
that adults might not be particularly blown away by this title
as they added an 'Ideal for Ages 9 and Under' sticker to the
box.
While on the surface Shootin' Gallery may look like a rip off of
Sega's Carnival, it's... well pretty similar. However while
Carnival had more of an arcade feel to it (with small targets and
a bullet stealing duck), Shootin' Gallery feels a bit more
relaxed. Although both games challenge the player to get a
high score on a limited amount of bullets, Shootin' Gallery
focuses more on reaching certain scoring thresholds and finding
the right combination of targets to hit instead of trying to clear
the screen of targets.
Although the multiple smoothly moving targets without
flicker are truly a technological achievement, it's the graphics
and sound that are the highlight of Shootin' Gallery. Not
only are there several different kinds of targets to hit (ranging
from snails to trains), but there are also multiple scoring
secrets to uncover. For example, hitting a certain amount
monkeys will make various animals appear on the top of the screen
such as seals, kangaroos, and squirrels (the latter two later
appeared in Quick Step), while hitting a certain amount of
cabooses will make various animals appear on the bottom of the
screen such as frogs, elephants, and even gullywhompers (you'll
have to figure that one out for yourself). After hitting a
certain score the player will be rewarded with extra bullets so
they keep going, but eventually the game will end even with
precise shooting. It's also worth noting that a nice
rendition of Entry of the Gladiators (also known as that circus
theme you hear in movies) plays between levels.
There are four different variations that keep the game from
getting too stale. Variation 1 is your standard target
shooting mode without any special features other than the hidden
secrets, Variation 2 has the targets speed up at certain scoring
thresholds. Variation 3 introduces the the countdown on the
clock which must be shot before it runs out or the cuckoo will
steal your bullets (Hmm... maybe they really did rip off
Carnival). Variation 4 is the same as Variation 3, but with
stricter rules on which targets must be hit to make others appear.
Although Shootin' Gallery is a fairly standard Carnival clone,
it's a really nice Carnival clone. The little differences
and slightly less hectic pace of Shootin Gallery make it a bit
more approachable, especially for younger players (hence the
sticker), but it's far from an easy game. If there's a
problem with Shootin' Gallery it's that the game is somewhat
repetitive. While there's some secrets to find, there's only
one screen layout and most players will give up before shooting
enough monkeys or cabooses to see all the hidden animals.
Still, Shootin' Gallery is fun while your attention span lasts.
| Version |
Cart Text |
Description |
| ?/??/82 |
Shooting Gallery
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Final Version
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| ?/??/82 |
PAL Shootin' Gallery
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Unreleased PAL Version
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Return
to 2600 Software
|
