52-971: Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was first released in April 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer (Famicom) console and in North America as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System . It became a launch game for the NES in North America in October 1985, and was re-released in Europe two years later. Players fire
104-446: A bonus stage has ducks flying out of the grass with the hunting dog occasionally jumping into the line of fire as a distraction. If shot, the dog scolds the player and the bonus stage ends. According to Nintendo of America employee Jerry Momoda, the dog was made impossible to shoot on console releases to make the game more family friendly. Duck Hunt was inspired by a 1976 electronic toy version titled Beam Gun: Duck Hunt , part of
156-458: A first-person perspective for aiming, though some games may allow the player to switch to a third person perspective in order to maneuver the protagonist. Gun games had existed in arcades before the emergence of electronic video games . Shooting gallery carnival games date back to the late 19th century. Mechanical gun games first appeared in England 's amusement arcades around the turn of
208-575: A "Renaissance" in the popularity of arcade gun games. Like Lethal Enforcers , the game was inspired by the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry as well as a coffee advertisement in which a can of coffee grew larger in a gun's sights. In Virtua Cop the player had to shoot approaching targets as fast as possible. The acclaimed Time Crisis by Namco, released for Japanese arcades in 1995 and ported to Sony 's PlayStation console in 1996/1997, introduced innovations such as simulated recoil and
260-536: A foot pedal which when pressed caused the protagonist to take cover . The game's light gun controller, the GunCon , was also acclaimed. Namco also released Gun Bullet for Japanese arcades in 1994 and was ported as Point Blank for the PlayStation in 1998, a 2D sprite-based game featuring a unique minigame structure and quirky, humorous tone. The game was critically acclaimed and received two sequels, both for
312-506: A light gun, the use of more conventional input methods has been deemed inferior. Light-gun shooters typically feature generic action or horror themes, though some later games employ more humorous, self-referential styles. Light-gun shooters primarily revolve around shooting large numbers of enemies attacking in waves. The protagonist may be required to defend themself by taking cover, or by shooting incoming thrown weapons, such as axes or grenades . The player may also compete against
364-452: A light gun. Light-gun shooters typically employ " light gun " controllers, so named because they function through the use of light sensors . However, not all "light-gun shooters" use optical light guns, but some may also use alternative pointing devices such as positional guns or motion controllers . Mechanical games using light guns had existed since the 1930s, though they operated differently from those used in video games . Throughout
416-458: A major commercial success both for arcades and consoles in the 1980s, helping to popularize light gun video games with over 28 million copies sold worldwide. In 1986, the nationwide launch of the NES included the Deluxe Set bundle with pack-in games Duck Hunt and Gyromite . The later Action Set has Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. on one cartridge. The final Duck Hunt bundle is
468-463: A minimum number of targets to advance to the next round or else get a game over . The difficulty progresses with faster targets of an increasing minimum number. The player receives points per target and bonus points for shooting all ten targets per round. The highest scores are tracked per session. Duck Hunt has three optional game modes. In Game A and Game B, the targets are flying ducks, and in Game C
520-545: A niche appeal for fans of "old school" gameplay . "Light-gun shooters", "light-gun games" or "gun games" are games in which the protagonist shoots at targets, whether antagonists or objects, and which use a gun-shaped controller (termed a "light gun") with which the player aims. While light-gun games may feature a first-person perspective , they are distinct from first-person shooters , which use more conventional input devices. Light-gun games which feature "on-rails" movement are sometimes termed "rail shooters", though this term
572-604: A period but experienced a small renaissance with the release of the Nintendo Wii in 2006. The system's controller, named the Wii Remote , popularized motion-based gameplay. With the release of the Wii Zapper and third party light gun shells, various developers took the opportunity to release various light gun games on the platform, including Ghost Squad: Evolution , Gunslingers, Dead Space: Extraction , The House of
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#1732780119446624-461: A wire cable and pop, pop, pop, you do your thing just like in the old days only at video targets". AllGame called the game an "attractive but repetitive target shooter" and "utterly mindless... the game is fun for a short time, but gets old after a few rounds of play". Several communities have rated the game positively. 1UP.com users gave it an 8.7 out of 10, and the GameSpot community rated
676-498: Is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is to simulate a shooting gallery by having the player aiming and discharging a gun-shaped controller at a screen . Light-gun shooters revolve around the protagonist shooting virtual targets, either antagonists or inanimate objects, and generally feature action or horror themes and some may employ a humorous, parodic treatment of these conventions. These games typically feature "on-rails" movement, which gives
728-454: Is also applied to other types of shooters featuring similar movement. The light gun itself is so termed because it functions through the use of a light sensor: pulling the trigger allows it to detect light from the on-screen targets. Targets in light-gun shooters may be threatening antagonists such as criminals, terrorists or zombies , or they may be inanimate objects such as apples or bottles. Although these games may be played without
780-520: The Beam Gun series, designed by Gunpei Yokoi and Masayuki Uemura for Nintendo. Nintendo Research & Development 1 developed both the NES Zapper and the NES version of Duck Hunt . The game was supervised by Takehiro Izushi, and was produced by Gunpei Yokoi. The music was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka , who did music for several other Nintendo games at the time. The music was represented in
832-635: The Duck Hunt team and stage return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , and the team is featured in the June 2019 trailer announcing Banjo and Kazooie as downloadable content. In the 2015 film Pixels , the dog cameos as an achievement trophy sent to the protagonists by the aliens following their victory over the enemies of Centipede in London . He is adopted by an elderly woman whose apartment
884-586: The GunCon 3 for the PlayStation 3, which was supported by Time Crisis 4 , Time Crisis: Razing Storm and Deadstorm Pirates . The Time Crisis and House of the Dead franchises continued to receive acclaimed installments, with the arcade machine for the latter's House of the Dead 4 Special featuring large screens enclosing the player, as well as swivelling, vibrating chairs. Incredible Technologies /Play Mechanix released Big Buck Hunter , which
936-509: The NES Zapper at a CRT television, with three attempts per round to shoot ducks and clay pigeons . The game initially received a positive reception in the mid-1980s, but was later given mild praise in retrospective reviews. The game was inspired by Nintendo's previous electro-mechanical arcade game which was based on the Laser Clay Shooting System released in 1976. Upon release as a video game, Duck Hunt became
988-547: The 1960s. Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sega produced gun games which resemble first-person light-gun shooter video games, but were in fact electro-mechanical games that used rear image projection in a manner similar to a zoetrope to produce moving animations on a screen . It was a fresh approach to gun games that Sega introduced with Duck Hunt , which began location testing in 1968 and released in January 1969. It had animated moving targets which disappear from
1040-406: The 1970s mechanical games were replaced by electronic video games and in the 1980s popular light-gun shooters such as Duck Hunt emerged. The genre was most popular in the 1990s, subsequent to the release of Virtua Cop , the formula of which was later improved upon by Time Crisis . The genre is less popular in the new millennium, as well as being hampered by compatibility issues, but retains
1092-611: The 20th century, and before appearing in America by the 1920s. The British "cinematic shooting gallery" game Life Targets (1912) was a mechanical interactive film game where players shot at a cinema screen displaying film footage of targets. The first light guns appeared in the 1930s, with the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite. Games using this toy rifle were mechanical and the rifle fired beams of light at targets wired with sensors. A later gun game from Seeburg Corporation , Shoot
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#17327801194461144-534: The Bear (1949), introduced the use of mechanical sound effects. By the 1960s, mechanical gun games had evolved into shooting electro-mechanical games . A popular sophisticated example was Periscope (1965) by Namco and Sega , with other examples including Captain Kid Rifle (1966) by Midway Manufacturing and Arctic Gun (1967) by Williams . The use of a mounted gun dates back to a Midway mechanical game in
1196-595: The Dead 2 & 3 Return , The House of the Dead: Overkill , Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles , Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Wild West Guns . Sony responded by releasing the PlayStation Move , a motion-based controller for the PlayStation 3 that could also be fitted into a light gun shell called a PS Move Sharp Shooter. This accessory allowed developers to also release light gun games on Sony’s platform. Additionally, Namco released
1248-788: The Dead: Scarlet Dawn in 2018, Elevator Action Invasion in 2021 and Enter the Gungeon House of the Gundead in 2023. On PC, various companies offer light gun hardware solutions for light gun enthusiasts, such as Sinden Light Gun , Ultimarc Aimtrak and Retroshooter , in addition to retrofitting classic light gun hardwares for consoles such as Wiimote with Mayflash Dolphinbar and Gun4IR . Besides emulating classic light gun games, players can also find modern light gun releases on Steam, such as Railbreak , BangBang PewPew , BioCrisis and Blue Estate The Game . The Joy-Con of
1300-474: The NES Zapper "made the NES memorable" and was one of the key factors behind the success of the NES. Parish related Duck Hunt to the Wii Remote in that they made their respective consoles more approachable and reach a wider demographic . Duck Hunt 's nameless non-playable hunting dog has been referred to in media as the " Duck Hunt Dog" or the "Laughing Dog", notorious for smugly laughing at
1352-605: The Power Set, with a multi-cart with World Class Track Meet , Super Mario Bros. , and Duck Hunt . The game was released on Virtual Console for the Wii U in 2014. Duck Hunt is a first-person shooter game with moving on-screen targets, firing the NES Zapper light gun at a CRT television screen. The player selects the game mode, one or two targets appear, and the player has three attempts to hit them before they disappear. Each round totals ten targets. The player must hit
1404-598: The arcades and the PlayStation console. In 1995, Atari Games released the successful Area 51 arcade light-gun game, which featured red and blue HAPP 45. caliber pistol-like light guns and the use of full-motion video (FMV) pre-rendered graphics. Some games attempted to incorporate elements of first-person shooter (FPS) or survival horror games through the use of less restricted character movement or exploration, with varying degrees of success. Between 1996 and 1997, 3D light-gun shooters gained considerable popularity in arcades. Popular arcade light-gun shooters at
1456-673: The classic games medley on the Video Games Live concert tour. Designer Hiroji Kiyotake created the graphics and characters. Duck Hunt has been released alone and in several combination ROM cartridges . The Action Set bundle of the NES in the late 1980s has one cartridge containing Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. The Power Set bundle includes the Zapper, the Power Pad , and a 3-in-1 cartridge with Duck Hunt , World Class Track Meet , and Super Mario Bros. Duck Hunt
1508-496: The clock, however, with some games also featuring boss battles. Games may also reward the player for accurate shooting, with extra points , power-ups or secrets. Games which do not pit the player against antagonists instead feature elaborate challenges constructed mainly from inanimate objects, testing the player's speed and accuracy. More conventional games may feature these types of challenges as minigames . Light-gun shooters typically feature "on-rails" movement, which gives
1560-550: The early 1960s. The Magnavox Odyssey home video game console in 1972 had a light gun accessory , in the production of which Nintendo was involved . In the arcades, light-gun shooter video games appeared in 1974, with Sega's Balloon Gun in August and Atari 's Qwak! in November. The use of a mounted gun in arcade video games date back to Taito 's Attack (1976). However, light-gun video games were not able to achieve
1612-488: The genre up until the mid-1990s. Midway's Revolution X (1994) was a Three-player co-op game with digitized graphics like their earlier hit Terminator 2 . In 1995, Konami released Crypt Killer ( Henry Explorers in Japan), which supported up to three players and was a modest success. Sega's Virtua Cop , released in arcades in 1994, broke new ground, popularized the use of 3D polygons in shooter games, and led to
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1664-535: The gun crime found in the United States and in which civilians cannot legally own guns, more realistic light guns are widely available. Light-gun rail shooters began declining in the late 1990s as FPS games became more popular. Light-gun shooters became less popular in the 2000s, with new games in the genre seen as "old school", such as Raw Thrills ' Target: Terror (2004) and ICE/Play Mechanix's Johnny Nero Action Hero (2004). The genre went dormant for
1716-528: The light gun genre is maintained in virtual reality, arcade and PC emulation. Various VR games with light gun gameplay elements are released regularly after the release of Oculus Rift in 2016, such as Space Pirate Trainer, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission, Zombieland VR, Blood & Truth, Under Cover and more. Despite the decline of the arcade industry, arcade continues to see periodical exclusive light gun releases such as Jurassic Park Arcade and Time Crisis 5 in 2015, Point Blank X in 2016, House of
1768-501: The mid-1980s. In the late 1980s, Taito 's arcade hit Operation Wolf (1987) popularized military-themed light-gun rail shooters . Operation Wolf had scrolling backgrounds, which Taito's sequel Operation Thunderbolt (1988) and Sega's Line of Fire (1989) took further with pseudo-3D backgrounds, the latter rendered using Sega Super Scaler arcade technology, with both featuring two-player co-op gameplay. SNK 's Beast Busters (1989) supported up to three players and
1820-421: The mini-games "Shooting Range" and "Trigger Twist", in which some of the various targets are ducks and cans. The dog and a duck, collectively referred to as "Duck Hunt", appear as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U . Masahiro Sakurai , the creator and director of the Super Smash Bros. series, said that Duck Hunt ' s commercial success as "the most-sold shooting game in
1872-526: The multi-cartridge of Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt at 9.1 out of 10. It was rated the 150th best game on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Power ' s Top 200 Games list. IGN placed the game at number 77 on its "Top 100 NES Games of All Time" feature. The game was ranked 24th in GamesRadar ' s "The best NES games of all time". Jeremy Parish of USgamer stated that Duck Hunt paired with
1924-522: The player control only over aiming; the protagonist's other movements are determined by the game. Games featuring this device are sometimes termed "rail shooters", though this term is also applied to games of other genres in which "on-rails" movement is a feature. Some, particularly later, games give the player greater control over movement and in still others the protagonist does not move at all. On home computer conversions of light-gun shooters, mouse has been often an optional or non-optional replacement for
1976-531: The player for missing ducks. The dog is on GamesRadar ' s list of "the 12 most annoying sidekicks ever", GameDaily 's list of characters "we wish we could kill but can't", GameSpy ' s "top 10 dogs in gaming", and MTV ' s award for the greatest video game canine. The dog makes a cameo appearance in the NES Zapper game Barker Bill's Trick Shooting , where he can be shot. In Wii Play (2006) and its sequel Wii Play: Motion (2011), some elements from Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley are in
2028-416: The player no control over the direction the protagonist moves in; the player only has control over aiming and shooting. Some games, however, may allow the protagonist to take cover at the push of a button. Other games may eschew on-rails movement altogether and allow the player to move the protagonist freely around the game's environment; still others may feature a static environment. Light-gun shooters use
2080-399: The popularity of electro-mechanical games. In the 1970s, EM gun games evolved into light-gun shooter video games. Light guns used in electronic video games work in the opposite manner to their mechanical counterparts: the sensor is in the gun and pulling the trigger allows it to receive light from the on-screen targets. Computer light pens had been used for practical purposes at MIT in
2132-438: The same level of success as their earlier electro-mechanical predecessors until the mid-1980s. Light-gun video games became popular in arcades with the Nintendo VS. System arcade releases of Duck Hunt (1984) and Hogan's Alley (1984), with Duck Hunt also becoming popular on home consoles following its 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) release. Light guns subsequently became popularly used for video games in
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2184-421: The screen when shot, solid-state electronic sound effects, and a higher score for head shots . It also printed out the player's score on a ticket, and the sound effects were volume controllable. Throughout the 1970s, electro-mechanical arcade games were gradually replaced by electronic video games, following the release of Pong in 1972, with 1978's Space Invaders dealing a yet more powerful blow to
2236-413: The targets are clay pigeons that are launched into the distance. In Game A, one duck appears at a time and in Game B two ducks appear. Game A allows a second player to control the flying ducks with a NES controller . Completing Round 99 in Game A advances to Round 0, which is a kill screen where the game behaves erratically, such as haphazard or nonexistent targets, thus ending progress. Vs. Duck Hunt
2288-488: The time included Sega's Virtua Cop 2 (1995) and The House of the Dead (1997), Namco's Time Crisis , and Police Trainer (1996). The most successful light-gun horror game series is The House of the Dead (1997 debut), the popularity of which, along with Resident Evil , led to zombies becoming mainstream again in popular culture . In 1998, Midway released their third successful light-gun game called CarnEvil , which featured over-the-top black comedy humor,
2340-442: The use of the shotgun-like light gun which pumps to reload, and the use of blood and gore like Mortal Kombat . Light guns were suppressed for a time in the United States after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and its attendant controversy over video games and gun crime . Since the late 1980s, light gun controllers have been generally manufactured to look like toys by painting them in bright colours. In Japan, which lacks
2392-449: The world" was one of the primary reasons for its inclusion. In the games, the Duck Hunt team utilizes multiple attacks inspired by the light gun, including throwing clay pigeons, kicking an explosive version of the can from Hogan's Alley , summoning the cast of Wild Gunman to fire at opponents with their guns, or comically dodging shots fired at opponents from the Zapper. The games feature an unlockable Duck Hunt -themed stage . Both
2444-450: Was a modest success. Midway 's arcade hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) combined Operation Wolf 's scrolling with Operation Thunderbolt and Line of Fire 's two-player co-op along with the use of the use of realistic digitized sprite graphics. In 1992, Konami 's Lethal Enforcers further popularized the use of realistic digitized sprite graphics in light-gun shooters, with digitized sprites remaining popular in
2496-457: Was bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System console in 1985, with 28.3 million copies sold worldwide. Upon release in arcades, Eddie Adlum of RePlay magazine praised Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley as the "cream on the cake" among Nintendo VS. System and for successfully capturing the experience of older electro-mechanical gun games into video game format. He said that Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley "sported simulated handguns on
2548-584: Was highly successful and spawned a number of sequels and console ports. Sega released Ghost Squad in 2004, notable for featuring unique machine guns with realistic recoil and an additional trigger for other in-game actions. The light gun shooter genre fell out of popularity on home consoles when the industry transitioned from the Wii and Playstation 3 to Wii U and Playstation 4 in 2014. Other factors which contributed to this declining popularity includes incompatibility with modern high-definition televisions . Today,
2600-509: Was infiltrated by one of the titular enemies. The premise for the psychological horror VR game Duck Season by Stress Level Zero is inspired by Duck Hunt . A fan game, Duck Hunt GB , was released for the PC in 2024 that uses Game Boy -style graphics. The same developer is currently developing a new game with 3D graphics, titled Tiny Duck Hunt 3D . Light gun shooter Light-gun shooter , also called light-gun game or simply gun game ,
2652-545: Was re-released on Virtual Console for the Wii U console in Japan on December 24, 2014, and internationally on December 25. This version was modified for the Wii Remote controller in place of the NES Zapper. In North America, Vs. Duck Hunt became the third top-grossing arcade game on the RePlay arcade charts in November 1985 , below Vs. Hogan's Alley at number one. The two popularized light gun video games by 1985. It
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#17327801194462704-488: Was released as a Nintendo VS. System arcade game in April 1984, and was later included in the PlayChoice-10 arcade console. The console supports two light guns, for alternate players. Gameplay consists of alternating rounds of Games B and C, with 12 targets per round instead of 10 and sometimes three targets at once instead of two. Every missed target costs one life until the game ends. After every second round,
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