We are about to blow you away with this listing of the very best mild gun video games of all time.

Why will you be blown away? We didn’t simply use that time period for puns-sake.

Surely you’d be impressed and stunned to seek out out that mild gun video games have been probably the very first type of video video games.

The style could be traced again to as early because the early 1900s when carnival amusement video games launched mechanical weapons shot at canvas cinema screens displaying video targets.

And the primary identified mild gun recreation was the Ray-O-Lite by J. P. Seeburg Corp from 1936.

This coin operated digital precursor to Duck Hunt used mild emitting weapons fired at mild sensor targets.

So that implies that digital mild gun video games existed over thirty years earlier than early video video games!

We have come a great distance since firing corks at black and white video performed on canvases in a circus tent or standing two toes away from a gradual transferring mild sensor with a rifle.

So let’s rank our picks for the very best mild gun video games of all time.

And for the sake of conserving it retro gaming related, we are going to solely embrace these from the normal online game period. Sorry Ray-O-Lite, we acknowledge your contribution.

Link’s Crossbow Training is actually a forgotten entry in an extended line of basic online game titles.

I’m head over heels in love with the Legend of Zelda franchise, and even I didn’t find out about a Zelda mild gun recreation till researching for this text!

It’s like Hyrule Warriors with a light-weight gun (or on this case.. a light-weight crossbow) for the Nintendo Wii.

And the sport leverages belongings from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Is that not cool sufficient for you? Then you aren’t my form of participant.

The recreation mixes parts of goal apply and precise hordes of Hyrule baddies to zap utilizing the Wii Zapper. There are even boss battles!

Link’s Crossbow Training was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma and Takashi Tezuka (legends of Nintendo).

First-person taking pictures within the Zelda franchise was one thing they’d hoped to supply because it made small appearances in Ocarina of Time.

The recreation was included in one of many bundles for the Wii Zapper and this peripheral was really designed with Link’s Crossbow Training in thoughts.

This is a very superior entry within the mild gun style, and one I’m pleased to find with you!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a 1991 arcade recreation that supported the movie of the identical title.

The arcade title was developed alongside the movie, and plenty of actors make an look within the recreation as effectively.

You play as a T-800 Terminator cyborg preventing in opposition to Skynet utilizing a large machine gun with limitless ammo.

Sounds superior! And it actually was.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is without doubt one of the prime examples of positional-gun arcade shooters, the place the sunshine gun is hooked up to the cupboard, and also you fireplace from the hip on the video display.

Due to its arcade reputation, ports have been developed on many house consoles. The SNES model of the sport may very well be performed with the Super Scope peripheral.

Arcade1Up even launched a duplicate arcade cupboard in 2021 with a removable mild gun.

So cool to see the Terminator 2: Judgment Day arcade getting love, even to at the present time.

I’m a large fan of the Jurassic Park movie franchise. And Jurassic Park has spawned many online game diversifications over time.

But one of the crucial thrilling Jurassic Park online game experiences additionally occurred to be top-of-the-line mild gun video games of all time!

Not solely was “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” an excellent cool arcade recreation with mild weapons, however additionally they managed to create the expertise of really sitting within the entrance seat of a Jurassic Park jeep!

The recreation was developed by Sega, who created a number of of the entries on this listing. And it was the primary taking pictures recreation to make the most of the Model 3 arcade system to permit for extra superior video output.

I really feel dangerous blasting dinosaurs, however in case you’re gonna need to defend your self in opposition to one, it’d as effectively be in a Jurassic Park jeep.

Plus, it’s kinda onerous to maintain these cash in your pocket whenever you hear these dinosaurs screaming your title over these insanely loud audio system.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is the 2007 Nintendo Wii horror title from Capcom.

“Umbrella Chronicles” is a complete stroll by way of among the greatest entries of the Resident Evil franchise, the place you play as and encounter acquainted characters from many video games within the sequence.

The story covers occasions from Resident Evil Zero, the Resident Evil remake, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and conclude in a novel endgame.

Both critics and gamers have been pleased with this distinctive format for the Resident Evil franchise, and “Umbrella Chronicles” was successful.

They even adopted it up with Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. Both video games have been included within the PS3 Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection.

So cool to see not one, however TWO superior mild gun video games from the Resident Evil franchise.

Ghost Squad is without doubt one of the most fun mild gun video games launched for arcade approach again in 2004.

One of essentially the most thrilling options was the sunshine gun that was designed to be extra superior than others in the marketplace.

It featured a fireplace selector swap and mechanical recoil. And it simply appears to be like fairly superior too.

The Nintendo Wii port took the primary spot on our listing of the Best Nintendo Wii Light Gun Games, so it was gonna make an look right here too!

That model options as much as 4 participant coop, and you’ll even play Ghost Squad on-line.

This is actually one of many coolest mild gun video games, and one we’re pleased to incorporate on this listing.

They didn’t even attempt to disguise it; it’s proper there within the title. Alien 3: The Gun was a light-weight gun title for arcade.

This is a kind of mild gun classics with a positional-gun that makes you’re feeling like a real area marine.

Though the sport title was based mostly loosely on the content material of the movie of the identical title, Alien 3, the arcade title packed loads of cool content material not within the movie.

This distinctive content material included a wide range of alien enemies and executives that weren’t seen within the movie franchise.

Alien 3: The Gun could be performed solo or with a buddy. And you’ll absolutely need assistance to outlive the horror that awaits you within the area jail colony you’re tasked to liberate.

This one is a reasonably apparent contender as top-of-the-line mild gun video games of all time. There’s simply fairly just a few classics which are actually kings of the style:

We have come a great distance because the 1936 Ray-O-Lite duck looking recreation.

And whereas the gameplay remains to be pretty easy when in comparison with different video games on this listing, the cultural significance of Duck Hunt is simple.

People had skilled mild weapons on Magnavox and Atari consoles earlier, however Nintendo made their online game consoles a must have in each American, European and Japanese house.

So for these fortunate sufficient to be round when Nintendo grew to become a cultural phenomenon, the Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt mixture recreation cartridge was probably your first introduction to video video games.

And the Nintendo mild gun aka the NES Zapper was most likely your first expertise of a novel online game peripheral that was not the same old controller.

With the Duck Hunt being included in a number of of the Nintendo Entertainment System bundles, you virtually definitely owned a replica.

I had my copy, and it definitely was a serious a part of my reminiscence of early online game experiences.

Duck Hunt additionally makes an look on our listing of the 10 Best Selling NES Games Of All Time (quantity two, in reality!).

It would really feel prison to not embrace Duck Hunt on an inventory of greatest mild gun video games. And since I’m not likely into most crimes, particularly online game associated crimes, right here it’s!

Dead Space: Extraction is without doubt one of the biggest horror recreation experiences, and the primary entry within the franchise was chosen by us as one of many Best PS3 Horror Games.

And whereas we’re on the subject of Dead Space video games on Retro Dodo lists… a recreation from the Best Multiplayer Wii Games additionally occurs to be top-of-the-line mild gun video games.

Dead Space: Extraction was a 2009 Nintendo Wii title that utilized the Wii Zapper attachment for the Wii Remote.

“Extraction” was launched only one yr after the unique recreation within the sequence, and is claimed to have been conceived alongside that basic recreation because the prequel.

Many staff members labored on each video games, together with the producer, author and composer.

Though gross sales by no means fairly measured as much as expectations, the sport is praised for its presentation and for being one of many first mature video games supplied on the Nintendo Wii.

Poor gross sales may very well be blamed on poor advertising, for being too mature for the Wii’s viewers, or for being too early to the marketplace for what it was.

To this date, the title nonetheless holds a Metacritic rating of 82.

And we think about it top-of-the-line mild gun video games obtainable within the style.

Time Crisis is definitely one of the crucial well-known arcade mild gun titles of all time.

And the distinctive mechanic that makes the Time Crisis sequence so extremely enjoyable is the foot pedal managed duck-for-cover.

The second title within the franchise launched two-player cooperative play, and the third entry supplied a wider vary of weapons to the participant.

A brand new entry to the franchise was launched for arcade as current as 2015 and featured some unimaginable fashionable graphics. But that very same duck-for-cover gunplay that we love about Time Crisis.

Every recreation within the franchise is a banger. And like our primary mild gun recreation on this listing, the Time Crisis franchise is one that’s onerous to select a selected favourite. So actually, we’re simply going to acknowledge all the assortment.

Time Crisis is a staple within the mild gun style, and simply has a spot on this listing.

If you spent any period of time in an arcade corridor in the course of the late 90s and early 2000s, than absolutely a recreation you might have encountered is House of the Dead from Sega.

Like the aforementioned Time Crisis, House of the Dead was a mainstay in arcades, and a kind of video games that you just knew was gonna completely destroy your coin assortment. But it was additionally a kind of must-play video games within the room.

The sequence is credited for including to the resurgence of Zombies in in style tradition within the late 90s, and it absolutely was a serious addition within the horror style at the moment as effectively.

Ports and remakes had been launched over time, together with on the Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, and many others. But none fairly as thrilling because the current remake:

Fans have been elated to listen to a couple of full fashionable remake of The House Of The Dead for the Nintendo Switch by MegaPixel Studio.

The launch was initially deliberate for 2021 and was finally delayed till 2022. But it’s out now, and it’s completely unimaginable.

Using the Nintendo Switch Joycon, you possibly can really play the sport like an unique light-gun title.

Honestly, it’s onerous to select which recreation within the franchise is the very best.

Let’s simply have a good time all the sequence for his or her contribution to the horror and light-weight gun genres.

Thank you for the recollections, House of the Dead. We nonetheless love you.

Anthony has been a online game lover ever since he can keep in mind. He grew to become a fulltime nomad in 2018, dwelling all through most of Asia. He centered his ardour in retro gaming and commenced making a recreation for the Game Boy Color whereas dwelling in Nara, Japan in the course of the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the place he spends most of his time gaming, occurring lengthy walks and assembly as many stray canine as attainable.