''Dead Angle'', also known as ''Lead Angle'' and ''Gang Hunter'', is a 1988 arcade

shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...

developed by

Seibu Kaihatsu was a Japanese manufacturer of arcade games. The company was founded in 1982 in video gaming, 1982 at Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan as , but changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada. One ...

. It is the follow-up to the company's

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...

-themed '' Empire City: 1931''. In ''Dead Angle'', players take control of the game's protagonist, who must rescue his girlfriend from a mob boss. A

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

of the game was released by Sega for its

Master System The is an 8-bit History of video game consoles (third generation), third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of ...

console.

Gameplay

Like ''Empire City: 1931'' before it, players use a

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

to move a

crosshair A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscop ...

along the screen and shoot enemies. ''Dead Angle'' adds an on-screen representation of the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

in the form of a

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

, with an over-the-shoulder view similar to 1980s arcade boxing games (such as '' Punch-Out'' and ''

Heavyweight Champ is a series of boxing video games released by Sega. The original arcade game was released in 1976. The game featured black-and-white graphics and critics have since identified it as the first video game to feature hand-to-hand fighting.Spen ...

'').Dead Angle review
" July 1988. Advanced Computer Entertainment. p. 27. Multiple enemies now run in front of the player - the silhouette turns red when in the line of fire and is filled with bullet holes as it is shot. Just as in ''Empire City'', players can defend against shots, this time by pressing the duck button, which renders the player invulnerable for a very short period of time. Players start the game out with a standard pistol, but can pick up a

tommy gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United St ...

or a shotgun and use

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

s as well. Many of the objects in the background can be damaged or destroyed. Players advance through the various time limited levels, from Italy to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, then

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, by eliminating a set amount of mobsters. The player must then fight the

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a p ...

of that level. The final boss must be defeated with one precise shot while he uses his hostage as a human shield.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dead Angle'' on their August 15, 1988 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Seamus St. John complimented ''Dead Angles graphics and animation in ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' and compared the game favourably to its contemporary '' Operation Wolf'' (1987). A capsule review in ''

Advanced Computer Entertainment ''ACE'' (Advanced Computer Entertainment) was a multi-format computer and video game magazine first published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and later acquired by EMAP. History ACE launched in October 1987, roughly the same time as ...

'' highlighted the game's fast-paced gameplay and said: "If you want your reactions severely tested, check this one out". Another largely positive review appeared in ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History Th ...

'', with the largest complaint with the game being the

heads-up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view inform ...

.Dead Angle
. Your Sinclair. July 1988. p. 74. ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' rated the game an 8 out of 10, calling it an "atmospheric 'shoot the target' game with enough variation to keep you coming back for more".Dead Angle
" Sinclair User. July 1988.

Port

Sega published a single-player port for the

Sega Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 a ...

in 1989. The game's instruction manual and box give names to the main characters. The player character is

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

George Phoenix, his girlfriend is Jane and the mob leader is named Robert King. The port omits several levels, including the entire Kansas stage. The shotgun and grenades are not available and background objects can no longer be damaged. Graphics are less detailed, with fewer frames of animation and most of the voice clips and in-game cinematics are not included.

Reception

The port was faulted for jerky scrolling in the January 1990 issue of ''

''. Reviewer Paul Rand said that the slow movement hampered the otherwise fun gameplay and gave the game a 68%.Rand, Paul
Dead Angle Sega Master System review
" January 1990. Computer and Video Games. p. 116. Despite this, ''Computer and Video Games'' subsequently published more positive reviews in their ''Complete Guide to Sega'' and ''Complete Guide to Consoles'', rating it 83% and calling it an "Operation Wolf-style coin-op" conversion. They lauded the graphics and gameplay, calling it "Easily one of the best shooting games on the Sega."Dead Angle
The Complete Guide to Sega. ''

''. p. 55.

References

External links

* * * *{{Internet Archive game, segasms_Dead_Angle_1989_Sega, platform=Sega Master System 1988 video games Organized crime video games Arcade video games Cabal shooters Detective video games Fabtek games Video games set in the 1930s Video games set in Italy Seibu Kaihatsu games Master System games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in New York City Video games set in Chicago Video games set in Kansas Multiplayer and single-player video games