ガンガンアドベンチャー Gun Gun Adventure

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Gun Gun Adventure (ガンガンアドベンチャー) was made in 2001 by Takara as part of their PlugIt! series. The hardware part was developed by SSD and uses their Xavix technology. I talked about Xavix based light gun systems before in episodes 86 and 92.

The main unit, which contains the game is the blue gun. All cables are fully detachable, to allow children using it as a toy or to display it. As connectors TRRS jacks are used. A second socket allows the player to plug in a second gun, which is used for the two player mode. The blue unit has a power button, an indicator light and a reset button. The trigger action is very distinct, as it is very crisp and tactile and despite having a mechanical force feedback the trigger pull isn't too hard. The rattle caused by the feedback mechanism is very noticeable yet not too loud. For aiming the back portion of the iron sights can be flipped up, to create a crosshair type sight. Depending on the TV setup the crosshair type seemed to work better, as the iron sight configuration sometimes had trouble at calibration. The system is powered by four AA cells. The guns have a pleasant weight. The red gun compensates the lack of battery weight by a metal weight stone at the appropriate position. Overall the built quality is very good.

As I am unable to read Japanese I am not very sure about the story. It seems that a three headed dragon caused trouble on the so called Gun Gun Adventure Island. In order to fight it, the player first has to defeat enemies in an ice valley, a big tunnel and in a black tower. The player may choose one of four characters. The normal game consists of 11 levels, 10 of which are grouped to the three locations when playing in story mode. When nine of these levels are cleared the boss fight against the three headed dragon takes place. In an additional menu all levels but the boss fight can be played at will. This menu will offer four additional levels if two controllers are connected. These bonus levels are competitive mini games in which the players play against each other. In one level the players try to flip as many tiles as possible. Another level is a strip version of a shooting duel. Then there is a version of ice hockey. In another level the players try to outlast each others in a stream of enemies.

The diversity amongst the standard levels is pretty high and most of them play as distinct mini games. In one level a monster has to be shot, which falls apart into smaller monsters. In another level colored ghosts which are hidden in streams of clouds have to be matched. A level presents numbered circles which have to be shot in order of increasing value. In another ice level flame monsters appear and have to be shot. These monsters also appear in a library level. At the same location cannon balls have to be juggled on the heads of monsters. To do so the monsters are shot at the right moment which causes them to jump. In another level a zombie has to be spotted amongst elderly people and shot. A black tower level is about shooting ghosts. At the same hall a green monster is shot. The vulnerable parts will light up yellow and turn red once hit. A match of rock paper scissor is another mini game.

Personally I like the game. I think the ability to play it with two players, the additional competitive levels and the selectable difficulty increase the replay value. The graphics are cute and the music is nice.

I like the design of the box. It has renders of the gun and some explanations and accompanies them with cute drawn artwork.