Nintendo Okie

Mad Dog McCree is a game that’s been ported to just about every device under the sun since it first launched as an arcade, light-gun shooter back in 1990. It was the first live action laser-disc game and the first game of many to use the same simple game engine for actions. It’s been featured on video game competitions and played by popular British comediennes. As one of the more popular games to use full motion video, it falls into one of two camps for most people. You either absolutely love it for the camp and fun, or you think it’s the most awful thing ever to be called a video game.

What You Need to Know

In Mad Dog McCree you play as “the stranger.” You wander into an old west town and discover the mayor’s daughter has been kidnapped by a gang of outlaws that work for the titular villain. The bulk of the action comes when you us the 3DS touch screen to aim a reticule at enemies on the top screen and shoot them as they pop up from behind the different forms of cover throughout the various, static game screens. Other than that there are very few decisions to make, but every once in a while you’ll get to choose a direction by shooting signs. These different routes are populated by differing amounts of people who want to shoot you.

The Shooting Action Somehow Works

Much like games such as Kid Icarus: Uprising you use the bottom screen to aim a reticule at enemies on the top screen. Pressing either the L or R pulls the trigger on your gun. Pressing those buttons without aiming will reload your gun. The majority of times in light-gun shooters like this, you have very small amounts of time to react to enemies, target and shoot them. The touch screen works surprisingly well for this and is very reactive. Touching the screen in different places corresponds to exact locations on the top screen so knowing where your stylus is at all times could make a huge difference in these reaction times. It works very well and does a good job of replicating some of the experience of the original game.

It’s Just Campy Goodness

If anyone has played a full-motion video game before you know they’re full of cheesy actors who over deliver their dialogue. The actors also use exaggerated reactions to being shot that never actually correspond to where you are shooting them. You get the same reaction from them being shot in the leg as if they had been shot in the head.

It’s campy goodness that is present in any game of this style. It’s something you’re either going to love or hate. I fall into the side of loving these things for what they are. Trying to be real world locations and characters in a video game. It’s dumb, it’s cheesy, it’s fun and I love it.

Doesn’t Take Advantage of the 3D Hardware

This is a direct port of the same game that’s appeared on ten other devices. It hasn’t changed. I don’t think any of the footage has been touched since 1990, so you’re seeing the same thing anyone that has ever played the game has seen. If you played the game in the arcade or on laser-disc then you’ve played this game before.

It doesn’t do anything to take advantage of the 3DS features so I almost wonder why it’s on the device. There is no 3D video, no online features, no leader boards, no StreetPass; it’s simply a direct port of the arcade game that’s now over 20 years old.

Conclusion

Chances are if you’re reading this then you know exactly what Mad Dog McCree is and you’ve already formed an opinion over the years. It’s one of those games that you own just for the novelty of owning it. Yes, I played it in the arcade. I own the Wii version of the game and if I looked hard enough I could probably find a copy of the PC or DVD versions somewher. If you already own the game, buying this will just add another version to your collection. Some of you might be thinking to yourself, “I already own this game and don’t need another copy of it.” If you’ve never played it before you might enjoy it just for the campy fun and to experience a full-motion video, light-gun game; which is something I recommend everyone should do. You’re going to either love Mad Dog McCree or hate it, but everyone should play it at least once.

Final Score: 

Review copy of the game provided by Digital Leisure
Played through the entire story twice on different difficulty levels
Total Play Time: 2 hours