There’s gold in them thar hills…

Following on from final week’s wonderful Namco launch Dig Dug, Hamster has turned its consideration to Messrs Taito as soon as once more, bringing the veteran developer’s alternate historical past shmup Gun Frontier to the Arcade Archives vary on Nintendo Switch and PS4.

Released to the coin-op market in 1990, Gun Frontier is a really wild conflict of narrative concepts and visible designs. Set within the twenty second century towards the backdrop of the planet “Gloria,” a ruthless band of area pirates — The Wild Lizards — have captured the star and set its individuals to work, mining the dear gold ore that lies beneath Gloria’s floor. In one last bid for freedom, the settlers commandeer a weird, pistol-shaped tank earlier than embarking on an all-out mission to defeat the oppressors and free the planet.

Check out the motion within the video under, courtesy of veteran YouTuber World of Longplays.

This interprets to 6 levels of vertically scrolling shmup motion, with the participant guiding their odd vessel into battle towards waves of enemies and boss characters. Starting out with twin machine weapons, the ship might be upgraded by amassing power-ups from the battlefield. An fascinating bomb mechanic rewards the participant for conserving their secondary ammo, providing up screen-clearing explosives which might be managed in relation to the vessel’s place on-screen.

Gun Frontier wouldn’t obtain a house port till a tweaked and remastered version appeared on Sega Saturn in 1997. The unique version has since featured on quite a few Taito compilations. While there are arguably higher traditional shmups in the marketplace, Gun Frontier stands out on account of its fascinating rework of America’s frontier period, with numerous in-game designs constructed round themes akin to buffalo stampedes, silver {dollars}, outdated west weaponry, and, in fact, the Californian Gold Rush.

Gun Frontier is accessible to obtain now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Chris Moyse

Senior Editor – Chris has been enjoying video video games for the reason that Nineteen Eighties. Former Saturday Night Slam Master. Graduated from Galaxy High with honors. Twitter: @ChrisxMoyse