Shootin' Gallery

Le jeu

Shootin' Gallery Name: Shootin' Gallery Company: Imagic Model #: 720021-1A Programmer: Dennis Koble Year: 1982 Released? Yes Notes: Early catalogs showed different box art for the game 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 Final Version ?/??/82 PAL Shootin' Gallery Unreleased PAL Version Return to 2600 Software