Collection essentials #70: Hogan’s Alley (NES)

Oh hey look another light gun game. This is another one by Nintendo, and it’s my favorite one on the console! There are three modes to play, two of which are pretty similar, as they involve trying to shoot bad guys while NOT shooting good guys. I love the gameplay dynamic of trying to be a quick shot while also having to be careful that you don’t mistake a civilian for a bad guy. You’ll see a character come onto the screen facing sideways, and you won’t know until they turn around who they are. When trying to react in a split second, it can be easy to slip up! A fairly simple premise, but a very effective one. 


The third mode is completely different. A series of cans will fly onto the screen from the right and slowly fall, and your goal is to get them to land on one of the platforms on the left. Shooting them makes them fly up a little more before descending again. 


In the Super Smash Bros. series many years later, the character “Duck Hunt” is an amalgamation of three Nintendo light gun games from this era, with of course one being Duck Hunt itself, one being a game I haven’t gotten to yet, and the third being Hogan’s Alley, as one of their moves is to throw out an explosive can which is from this game’s third mode.


If I want to break out the NES Zapper for some shooting fun, this is always a game I’ll revisit. A true essential!

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