is a 1990 horizontal-scrolling shooter

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

developed and published in Japan by

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

Gameplay

The player must take control of Pistol Daimyo, a small Japanese lord, who has a pistol strapped to his head; he faces to the right side of the screen, and is always moving forward with the backgrounds scrolling to the left, bringing enemies into view. He will float down to the ground if you stop holding the joystick up while he is in mid-air - and pressing that Firing Button will make his pistol fire a small cannonball. However, holding down the button will charge the pistol, and upon releasing the button the pistol will fire a medium or large cannonball; but even the smallest enemies take multiple hits to kill, so the small cannonballs are of little use. There are also blue (and yellow) vases which can be broken open with a medium or large cannonball, and will leave

Hanafuda () are a type of Japanese playing cards. They are typically smaller than Western playing cards, only , but thicker and stiffer. On the face of each card is a depiction of plants, , animals, birds, or man-made objects. One single card depicts a ...

cards behind, for Pistol Daimyo to collect — and once he collects three of them, it shall cause a Kusudama ball to come down into view from the top of the screen (which can also be broken open with a medium or large cannonball). If he manages to do it before it goes back up off the top of the screen again, it shall leave a suit of wooden (or metal if he is already wearing the wooden one) armour behind; once he has put it on, it shall prevent him from getting killed after a single hit.

Reception

''Game Machine'' stated that ''Pistol Daimyo no Bōken'' was the third most-popular arcade game of November 1990 in Japan. ''Pistol Daimyo no Bōken'' has gained notoriety retrospectively for its bizarre nature and high level of difficulty. Ray Barnholt of ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' said that its cutesy visuals and lampooning of Japanese mythology made it stand out from the company's usual ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of alien ...

'', ''

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling ...

'', and ''

Xevious is a 1983 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released in Japan by Namco and in North America by Atari, Inc. Controlling the Solvalou starship, the player attacks Xevious forces befor ...

'' offerings. He described it as being "more or less like a passion project (or at worst, a goof-off time-filler) for the team that made it", and enjoyed its comedic and cartoonish presentation. While he was critical of the game's intense difficulty, Barnholt felt that ''Pistol Daimyo'' was a clever and interesting game nonetheless. In the ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' book ''Namco Arcade Classics'', Kurt Kalata liked the game's goofy nature, which he compared to Konami's '' Ganbare Goemon'' and ''

Parodius is a series of Shoot 'em up#Cute 'em ups, cute 'em ups developed and published by Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek Parody, parodies of ''Gradius'', and also feature characters from many other Konami franchises. Video games There are six game ...

'' series. However, he didn't think its presentation was enough to save ''Pistol Daimyo'' from its difficulty, which he blamed on the game's poor design and near-useless weapons. He wrote that: "The game is insanely difficult, and in spite of its goofy demeanor, just isn’t much fun to play." ''Cyber World''s Hiroyuki Maeda felt it was nothing but a "waste of time", with cheap player deaths and an overly-high difficulty. While he enjoyed the look and feel of the game, he didn't think it was good enough to make the game any more enjoyable, and labeled it as a good example of a

kusoge In Japanese video gaming, a , , is an unenjoyable or poorly made video game. Though the label is usually applied disparagingly, there is a subculture of celebrating kusoge. Etymology The term ''kusogē'' is a portmanteau of and . Though it ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pistol Daimyo no Boken 1990 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Hamster Corporation games Multiplayer and single-player video games Namco arcade games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Scrolling shooters Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe Video games set in feudal Japan