History of Crosshair Shooters

[1983parrothead]

I've linked to the gameplay videos if you want to see them in action. This thread is also to discuss about them.

Shootout (Data East, 1985) - The one that started the crosshair shooter genre.

Empire City: 1931 (Seibu Kaihatsu, 1986) - Another crosshair shooter, but with a real crosshair added to it. The grandfather of Dynamite Duke.

Cabal (TAD Corporation (splinter of Data East), 1988) - The one that popularized the genre.

Dead Angle (Seibu Kaihatsu, 1988) - Sequel to Empire City: 1931 and father of Dynamite Duke.

Dynamite Duke (Seibu Kaihatsu, 1989) - Unlike previous crosshair shooters, this was the first to feature close combat, which is why it was successful.

Blood Bros. (TAD Corporation, 1990) - Spinoff of Cabal.

NAM-1975 (SNK, 1990) - First Neo-Geo title. You even can throw bombs in this one.

The Punisher (NES) (LJN/Beam Software, 1990) - Perhaps the first to be home exclusive, as well as being a licensed game.

Spinal Breakers (Video System, 1990) - Features rolling.

Riot (NMK, 1992) - Crosshair shooter where you can shoot in the foreground and background.

Lucky & Wild (Namco, 1993) - Arcade-exclusive crosshair shooter with a steering wheel added to it.

Wild Guns (Natsume, 1994) - An underrated crosshair shooter similar to Blood Bros..

Sin & Punishment (Nintendo/Treasure, 2000) - First 3D polygonal crosshair shooter. Features close combat using weapons.

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor/Successor of the Skies (Nintendo/Treasure, 2009) - Sequel to Sin & Punishment.

Gamshara (Mitchell, 2002) - Based in Feudal Japan era.

[Deleted]

The Punisher (NES) and Spinal Breakers (ARC) are missing from this list.

[1983parrothead]

Got them added.

[Weasel]

T2 The Arcade Game and Revolution X?

[Feynman]

Nah, those aren't quite the same. I mean, yeah, they feature a crosshair and aren't technically light gun games due to the way the guns attached to the arcade cabinet work, but they play just like light gun games, the only real difference is that your gun is stationary and operated like a turret.

The defining feature of the "crosshair shooter" genre being discussed here is the presence of an on-screen protagonist that you have to control and keep out of harm's way in addition to controlling a crosshair and blasting enemies.

[Feynman]

Actually I guess if Empire City counts then T2 and Revolution X do as well.

Though personally I think the lack of an on-screen character makes all of those games are a bit too different to be lumped in with Cabal and the like.

[Weasel]

Then in that case, how about Rambo 3 and Konami GI Joe?

[caoslayer]

Ninjaed just before posting them..
anyways..

Rambo 3: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mwc1VG5s1A
Gi Joe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYODi95wIcQ

Both with missiles as grenades and with the cross always aligned to the character in the horizontal axis.

EDIT:

Something rare, Aligator Hunt, Gaelco 1994
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq0QvT86wwk

You start as kids in skateboard and then they ride and shoot with spaceships.

[Gendo Ikari]

There a few more of them on MAME but are usually of low quality, like SWAT Police and a pirate-themed one (and it may be just an hack of Blood Bros with different graphics).

[Garamoth]

Wow, that's such a small genre. That makes it possible to try them all without much of a fuss.

There's that fake Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles app from the weekly kusoge. Does that count?

[Deleted]

Spinal Breakers has one of the creepiest endings of any 90's arcade game, next to Cyber-Lip, King of the Monsters 2 and Chimera Beast. The protagonist Captain Waffle has a secret guest appearance in Aero Fighters 3 (it turns out that he's also the pilot from Turbo Force).

[Deleted]

Predator 2 (Image Works, 1991)

Screenshots: www.mobygames.com/game/predator-2

[Snarboo]

I don't see PIE ASS in this list.

[moran]

Do crosshair levels count? The Untouchables and Alien Storm have separate levels that include crosshair shooting.

[Woody Alien]

Aug 20, 2014 21:09:50 GMT -5 Gendo Ikari said:

There a few more of them on MAME but are usually of low quality, like SWAT Police and a pirate-themed one (and it may be just an hack of Blood Bros with different graphics).

The Blood Bros hack is named Hard Times and is set in the roaring 20s: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vIN-XVNzE8

I also found this weird Amiga game starring a tomato and a wedge of cheese (!?):
Tommy Gun (Mutation Software 1996). Apparently the lone person that made it also tried to port it on mobiles.

There is also Zombie Panic in Wonderland (2010) by a Spanish group named Akaoni Studio.