is a 1985

vertically scrolling shooter A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the Player (game), player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background Scrolling, scrolls from the top of the screen to the b ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

for arcades. Unique from other scrolling shooters games, ''Gun.Smoke'' features a human as the shooter instead of a spacecraft, in this case a character named Billie Bob, a

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

going after the criminals of the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

. It was designed by Yoshiki Okamoto.

Gameplay

''Gun.Smoke'' is a

run and gun video game Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

in which the screen automatically scrolls upward. Players use three buttons to shoot left, right, and center. The player can also change the way Billie Bob shoots through button combinations. The player dies by getting shot, struck by enemies, or caught between an obstacle and the bottom of the screen. The player can collect various items, including a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

for extra protection,

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

s for increased movement speed,

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

s for faster shots, a yashichi for an

extra life An extra life is a video game item that gives the player another life. Extra Life may also refer to: * Extra Life (fundraiser), a fundraising event * Extra Life (band), an experimental band from Brooklyn * '' Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter' ...

, and a

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

for longer shot range. Other items add points to your score such as stars,

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...

bag A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...

s, and

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

. Two versions of ''Gun.Smoke'' were released in North America by

Romstar Romstar Inc. was a video game distribution company based in Torrance, California that started operations in 1984. They originally started as the first American distribution arm for SNK (before SNK of America was founded in 1987). They were known ...

Ports

''Gun.Smoke'' was ported to these systems: *The

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

*The

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

as a part of '' Capcom Generation 4'' *The

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

as a part of ''

Capcom Classics Collection is a video game compilation developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was developed by Backbone Entertainment, Sensory Sweep, and its Japanese developer Klein Computer Entertainment. A second volume, ''Capcom Class ...

'' *The

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

as a part of ''

Capcom Arcade Cabinet ''Capcom Arcade Cabinet'' is a video game compilation developed by M2 and published by Capcom in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation comprises 17 games initially released by Capcom between 1984 and 1987, which were distribut ...

'' *The,

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

as part of

Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium ''Capcom Arcade Stadium'' is a 2021 video game compilation developed and published by Capcom. It includes 32 Arcade video game, arcade games originally published by Capcom between 1984 and 2001; the game itself is free to download with a single f ...

, referred to as ''Gan Sumoku''. *

Windows 98 Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was Software ...

and

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

as a part of ''Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 3'' *The

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

as ''Desperado – Gun.Smoke''; this platform received a sequel called ''Desperado 2'' *The

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

NES version

The game was later ported to the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

(NES) and

Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disk ...

(FDS) in 1988. The game has a new storyline: In 1849, a

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

known as the Wingates attacks the town of Hicksville, kills the sheriff, and causes trouble everyday until Billie Bob, the main character, comes to town to free it from the gang. The NES version also has different music.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the arcade version was composed by Ayako Mori. On August 25, 1986,

Alfa Records , originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Recor ...

released a limited-edition soundtrack, featuring all of the music from the arcade version, as well as two unused tracks. Its catalog number was Capcom Game Music – 28XA-94.

Reception

''Game Machine'' listed ''Gun.Smoke'' in their January 1986 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month in Japan. The US ''

Play Meter ''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C ...

'' charts listed it as one of the top five arcade games the same month. It went on to be Japan's sixth highest-grossing table arcade game during the first half of 1986. The arcade game received positive reviews. In a January 1986 issue of ''

'' magazine, Frank Seninsky listed ''Gun.Smoke'' as the top recommended arcade conversion kit, calling it "a number-one kit with great graphics." ''

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

'' magazine gave the arcade game a positive review in March 1986, calling it an "excellent" fast-paced shooter, considering it to be better than

light gun shooter Light-gun shooter, also called light-gun game or simply gun game, is a Shooter game, shooter video game video game genres, genre in which the primary design element is to simulate a shooting gallery (carnival game), shooting gallery by having ...

s such as '' Hogan's Alley'' and ''

Shoot Out ''Shoot Out'' is a 1971 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gregory Peck. The film is adapted from Will James's 1930 novel, ''The Lone Cowboy''. The film was produced, directed, and written by the team that delivered ...

''.

Sequel

A sequel, titled ''Desperado 2'', was developed by Topo Soft and released in 1991. The game was released on

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...