Space Pirates

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Martin III
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Space Pirates

Post by Martin III » Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:49 am

I finally got a chance to hook up my 3DO to a cathode ray tube TV, so it's Gamegun time! I have Space Pirates and Demolition Man, but I decided Space Pirates would be a better test of how much fun the Gamegun is.

I'm very pleasantly surprised with how much I'm enjoying the game. Which is funny, because it's actually much worse than Trev's review had led me to believe, mainly in terms of the accuracy. Mind you, the Gamegun itself is much more accurate than I'd feared; it's not the Saturn Stunner, but it's a solid, reliable light gun, especially for its time. It feels good in your hands over hour-long play sessions, too, which is always desirable in a light gun.

So yeah, the Gamegun is great, and I wish I had a better game to showcase it than Space Pirates. The trouble is that the hit boxes don't line up with the enemies well at all, not so much space-wise as time-wise. Oftentimes I'll manage to load as many as three shots right in the middle of a pirate's chest before he fires, and I still lose a life because the pirate's hit box had disappeared before my first shot. :shock: But space-wise it's noticeably inaccurate too, and it works both ways; sometimes I won't land a single shot on a pirate and he'll still collapse.

Despite that, I'm really enjoying the game. Its main flaw is overcome by persistence and learning to shoot the instant an enemy shows his head, and I really dig the whole enthusiasm of the title. The actors are not talented, but they really seem like they're having a grand time. And I love that you get innocent bystanders who thank you when you rescue them. Freeing the colonists from the force field felt so satisfying. Perhaps best of all, the gameplay has great variety and pacing. Tricky scenarios like the pirate who shoots at you as his comrade is falling on him work surprisingly well. The only thing that really nags me is that it doesn't show how many continues you have left.

On a final note, do any of American Laser Games's other titles have more accurate hit boxes than Space Pirates? Oh, and I might as well ask again: Is it really true that The Perfect General has a minigame which supports the Gamegun?

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Martin III
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Re: Space Pirates

Post by Martin III » Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:52 pm

I had several more runs with the game over the past few days. Always fun, though I can't seem to beat the first level of the world where you get the Starsplitter cannon. I can handle any of the enemies thrown at me there, but that level just goes on and on and on. I've taken out 15 enemies there and the level still won't end. Someone please reassure me that this isn't a glitch in my copy of the game.

Ya gotta love the weirdos in the worlds where you collect the crystals. Classic eyebrow raising stuff, even on home console. I wouldn't have known what to think if I encountered Madame Pots and Pan or the lady who tells you to shoot before lightning strikes at an arcade cabinet.

It's struck me that Space Pirates, while packed with variety, is actually very short even by light gun game standards. I figure there must be at least 27 levels, but when I timed myself beating the first 18 levels, I found it only took 11 minutes. Kind of nice, really, that it doesn't take you long to get back to where you were when you hit Game Over, despite the wealth of campy experiences along the way.

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3DOKid
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Re: Space Pirates

Post by 3DOKid » Tue Apr 08, 2014 9:23 pm

I love it because it reminds me of Ice Pirates the Movie.

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Trev
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Re: Space Pirates

Post by Trev » Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:24 pm

3DOKid wrote:I love it because it reminds me of Ice Pirates the Movie.
So true.
Most wanted - Eye of Typhoon, 3DO Magazines issues #14 & #15, Pro Stadium, Defcon 5

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3DO Experience
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Re: Space Pirates

Post by 3DO Experience » Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:17 pm

3DOKid wrote:I love it because it reminds me of Ice Pirates the Movie.
Paraphrasing from memory, "Why did you paint him black?", "I wanted him to be perfect."

Been too long since I saw that, I'll have to put it in sometime.
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

CasetheCorvetteman
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Re: Space Pirates

Post by CasetheCorvetteman » Sat Nov 08, 2014 1:47 am

Drug Wars and Mad Dog 2 are probably my all time favourites, i used to play Mad Dog 2 in the arcade on 3DO hardware!!

Last Bounty Hunter is also an awesome shooter.
The man that beat the self proclaimed "best in the world" at The Need For Speed...

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