Alien 3: The Gun Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]

Developed and published by Sega in 1993
One of the few lightgun games I've had the opportunity to pay in person, Alien 3: The Gun is really quite remarkable. The pseudo-3D visuals are absolutely amazing for the time, much of which looks pre-rendered or digitised in some way. The game is based somewhat loosely on the events spanning Aliens and Alien 3 movies, with a team of marines escaping a xenomorph-infested Sulaco to the equally infested prison-planet of Fiorina Fury 161. You blast your way through legions of aliens and other horrors, just hoping to make it to the end of the game.
Interestingly, there are a couple of branching paths on a couple of levels, which offer some level of replayability. I've played and recorded both paths through the game, one of which is definitely more difficult, thanks to the appearance of super-lethal, blue-skinned androids - the aliens are bad enough, but these guys are quick on the trigger and do tons of damage very quickly.
Unfortunately, and this does makes sense, considering it's a coin-op, several of the bosses are designed in such a way that so that they can damage you, even though you can't damage them.
As a visual spectacle, the game absolutely achieves what it sets out to do: draw people in, give them 60 seconds of excitement, before getting them to deposit another quarter.
Chapters
00:00 Attract Mode & Story
01:00 Game 1: Route A
26:25 Game 2: Route B
#alien3
#arcade
#retrogames

[@proto-guest4511]

Everyone back in the 80s and 90s had so much fun! As a 2004 born guy, I'm kinda jealous.

[@Mercuriussnake]

Kind of impressed, I didn’t expect this game to be so gory. Limbs blown off,writhing limbless bodies on the ground etc. It’s a nice touch.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

I think there's even some swearing.

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays this is one of best arcade games ever so far

[@GingerSpy2]

Watched people played this game from the entrance of the arcade back in 93, gave me nightmare about aliens for weeks.

[@Jiterdomer]

Not to mention, that jumpscare screen if you don't continue the game.

[@VSSEDragon3]

Our childhood memories

[@tynao2029]

When this cabinet first started showing up in 1993, it was a sight to behold. The new era of gory, loud, light gun games was here

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

It's funny because I had exactly the opposite experience - this game was cathartic for me, it really put my fears of Xenomorphs to rest because it gave me a chance to annihilate a bunch of them in first person perspective. I swear I wasn't scared of anything Aliens related after this game because I was like: "Dude, all I need is a pulse rifle and those guys are royally fucked."

[@FrankNFurter1000]

I feel like this is what Alien 3 would have been like if James Cameron had been in charge.

[@alsat8931]

State of the badass art: all prisoners saved, zero damage taken on 99% of the run ✌ Surgical with the flamethrower on Stage 2

[@BirdRaiserE]

I think I saw this game ONCE in an arcade and never again. It's always stuck with me because I beat the two other Aliens arcade games that I played

[@Jackfromshack]

I swear this game looks better for me than most of AAA crap today. It's not about graohics, but about art design I guess. It just look more fun.

[@daktaklakpak5059]

Despite the graphical glitches in the game, like shot off limbs clipping through walls etc. The game looks amazing. The artstyle reminds you of everything you saw in the movies, and more. Basically true to the Lore. Even if everything is literally just a 2D Sprite... The only downside is the sound. But the Soundchip probably couldn't deliver more. Even if they had all the iconic movie sounds implemented. Which they didn't, sadly.

[@loungejay8555]

Well said. I try to explain this to my kids. They have PS4 and Wii U's and the graphical capabilities of these systems is all they've known. So when I show them certain Neo Geo games on KZbin they laugh at how primitive it is to them. I try and put it across to them that art design and style goes a long way, but they won't have it.

[@weemadangus1834]

@@loungejay8555 They think SNK games are primitive! Tell them go consume more !

[@goonerOZZ]

That's nostalgia goggles talking... Making this kind of games today, even with the graphical standard of today, people will just say how lore braking the game is, like how the aliens are all charging mindlessly in a straight and narrow alley ways instead of trying to sneak up and hunt you from the shadows. So yeah, nostalgia goggles.

[@anonimonovids]

Ironically, firetesm elite feels like a somewhat versión of this in third person

[@worldofthought8352]

I remember watching someone complete this and were miffed about the ending, I suppose from their perspective 40 minutes of gameplay only to be treated to a sundance kid ending wasn't something they be expecting.

[@scottyunitedboy2925]

I felt the same way when I first saw someone else complete this- as the producers had already taken liberties with the storyline so why not have the player face off against an alien queen (for example)?

[@BunnychanFarabee]

Love how the last boss is Bishop but since they probably couldn't secure Lance Henrikson's likeness, it's just "an unidentified man."

[@absmith12]

I remember playing and completing this with my Sister at a Haven caravan park.. haha. Ahh the memories!

[@larrynintendo6838]

Oh man! I bet that ruled! Would love to play this with my brother!

[@mk-ultraviolence1760]

Developer 1: Okay we have to come up with bosses for Aliens 3 the Arcade what should they be? Developer 2: Well people want to fight xenomorphs so lets just throw in palate swaps of the same alien that the player just shot down by the hundreds. Developer 1: Won't people get bored of that? Developer 2: We could throw in a face hugger? Developer 1: Just a Face Hugger? Developer 2: No its a SUPER face hugger. Developer 1: Yeah I guess. So who is going to be the final boss and don't tell me that its an alien palate swap. Developer 2: A dude in shades I guess?

[@KimPossibleShockwave]

The sprites for this game look amazing: you know, they'd be brilliant if they were used in an Alien: Trilogy rebuild on a Doom source port.

[@parimabartender]

Check out alien quake you'd love it

[@KimPossibleShockwave]

@@parimabartender Thanks!

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

These are missing a lot of animations and rotations needed for that. Just use the ones that came with Alien: Trilogy; they are easy to extract

[@KimPossibleShockwave]

@@houstonhelicoptertours1006 They're also of surprisingly low quality compared to the ones in The Gun, but you are correct about the frames being missing. :( Maybe it'd just be easier to create low poly models (such as those seen in AvP2 and PH) and just create renders of those for a sprite-based enemy, or something like that...

[@aidanmcgrath911]

This is actually better than the film! 🤔

[@JN-xr2uq]

Has anyone noticed that the sound effect for the facehuggers being shot is the same one used during the "blood test" scene in John Carpenter's "The Thing?"

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

Good catch - definitely sounds like the same. Also doesn't surprise me - I think Sega had to get "creative" in acquiring samples to use in the game...sucks the gun doesn't sound like the pulse rifle.

[@foofoo3344]

Do you mean the scene where the alien pops right outta the petri dish when MacReady dipped a hot wire into it?

[@deg6788]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays in the golden axe there are many deathsamples extracted from movies like Conan the barbarian and Rambo and cm Commando

[@christianjonker8181]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays they probably did but then realized how obnoxious the pulse rifle sound is so they toned it down.

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays alien 👽🤖 hunting rocks

[@omarerreeme7904]

I remember playing this game on the arcade and sucking really bad at it. But i didn't give a damn to spend a lot of quarters in it because this game is so engaging and fun to play. And by the way: You were SO LUCKY to make the last boss use his flamethrower only, because that asshole also has a machine gun and when he uses it, it does a shit ton of damage!

[@Jiterdomer]

The final boss only shoots the machine gun if he rolls at every corner of the area. If you see him rolling at every corner, throw a bomb at him.

[@legionxxiii3570]

Super Track 1993 8930 Gulf Fwy Houston, TX 77001 Man those were the best times of my life! Houston had the best arcade room during that time. Go carts games it was a time to be alive!

[@thesamuraix881]

The hardest part of this game is when the gun doesn't want to move at all

[@Jiterdomer]

Depends on the location where the game is located.

[@immortaluglyfish2724]

The way the xenos writhe around after being shot is so damn creepy.

[@Jiterdomer]

It's also very creepy as well, the game over screen and the face when Xenos lunged at you without the legs.

[@RR-rq6mj]

I remember when I was a kid I was watching this game in a distance in an arcade game because I'm scared and it got me traumatized in this lol

[@VSSEDragon3]

Good old memories

[@sgt.d.1311]

I played the SHIT out of this as a kid. Absolutely loved it

[@EazyB90]

This looks legit pretty scary (in addition to being a lot of fun). The speed and intensity, the excellent sprites (the Facehuggers in particular are so damn creepy looking), the fact that you're constantly under attack by some of the most frightening creature designs ever... not to mention that getting a Game Over earns you what's basically a proto-screamer. Also it's kind of funny that the final boss in this Alien game is some Wey-Yu dude in a trenchcoat. Reminds me of how in the Jurassic Park Sega CD game, your final challenge wasn't Velociraptors or the T.rex... it was some BioSyn dudes with guns lmao.

[@svagglaorde4387]

I wasted a lot of tokens just to finish this game, good times.

[@weemadangus1834]

I remember playing this at the arcade near Oxford circus.

[@danielkelly6523]

Amazing game! I adore this style of graphics. Scaling sprites are the way to go.

[@VSSEDragon3]

The backgrounds are pretty neat

[@Jiterdomer]

You're very good at this game. This game is a lot of memorization to know where the Aliens are. If you're late, you will still get hit.

[@JuanMendoza-qd5lm]

Actually if I am correct, I believe his weapons power meter does not drain very much either. Whereas it does quite often in the actual arcade. This may be a glitch and unintentional by the uploader but it would certainly give him an advantage not available at the arcade.

[@zukoulou7464]

Alien 3 is also available on Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Nes, Game Gear, Megadrive, Master System.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

You gotta feel the fear of the aliens... If you know what I mean...

[@VSSEDragon3]

Just from Sci-Fi horror story

[@mstcrow5429]

Exceptional plot exposition.

[@VSSEDragon3]

Breaking the forth wall

[@gonzaloNMF]

Even though Alien3 was amongst the worst of the franchise, it also kept it alive enough time to open the door to a lot of merchindising. Almost any good comic, toy or game came after the movie was released.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

Holy shit, I never realized it before but you're absolutely right. The earliest Aliens actions figures I believe were the Kenners - they came out in 92, same year as Alien3. The only exception I can think of might be the Aliens arcade game which was released in 1990 but I don't really think that counts because it clearly was the product of Konami rather than Fox (there were C64 Aliens games but they were unlicensed).

[@skippythealien9627]

it's crazy and ridiculous how accurate this is

[@biohazarduncovered]

Played and finished this with a lot of coins shoved into the machine, the recoil from the gun was great, this and Jurassic Park Arcade were good times.

[@VSSEDragon3]

Good old times

[@biohazarduncovered]

@@VSSEDragon3 Some great memories in Arcades 😁

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@biohazarduncovered hey there Biohazard ☣️ ^^, and yes, these games awesome, besides this, there's also awesome new upcoming future games like Time Crisis 6 (TBA), The House 🏡🏠 of the Dead 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟 6 and more

[@biohazarduncovered]

@@VSSEDragon3 sweet a new Time Crisis and House Of The Dead, I want a remake of HOD 2 as well that's my fave one.

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@biohazarduncovered that's what Sega is gonna do in 2023, House 🏡🏠 of the Dead 2 Remake, Namco will planning for Time Crisis as well, making the Remake or the new 6th installment game

[@cartwrightworm1317]

I used to search for this game at Six Flags Great America. So sad when they removed it.

[@toparky2470]

this was so dope back then. graphic was outstanding for that era

[@VSSEDragon3]

True

[@sf3testvids]

I remember seeing this arcade machine in the odeon or icu cinema in the city close to me iirc around 1995 I think ( had to be as I remember the poster for the twelve monkeys on the wall) really was a fun game ..

[@AshBloodfire]

If I could romhack this game, I'd just tweak the names of the bosses. Super Facehugger to Queen Facehugger. Generic "Alien" at the end of Stage 2 Part 2 (so what were all the OTHER aliens, then?) to "Armored Alien", explaining how it could take so many shots. "Super Dogburster" to "Praetorian Dogburster", to line up with an evolution the xenomorphs can undergo in the expanded universe and have appeared in games such as the Aliens vs Predator beat 'em up, to explain why it can keep 'healing' from the blown apart animation. And of course, the proper name for the 'Alien' boss of Stage 4, 5, and the first part of 6, the name given to it in the film by the insane prisoner Golic: The Dragon. The Unidentified Man can keep his name.

[@antonybullock2240]

I don't seem to remember any of this happening in Alien 3. Especially the Allen versus Terminator bit. This is. What happens when artistic license is allowed to run out of control.

[@685eric685]

I say it's still better than the movie.

[@KingHenselt]

Умели же раньше игры делать с душой , а сейчас только на графику все силы

[@MDX484]

Even this game story have a lot more sense than the damn movie itself. And the cabinet were awesome.

[@ShadowSonic2]

No, not really...the movie was good

[@spiritofzen7022]

I’d love a release of this with a gun peripheral just like the golden days of old of virtua cop and the like 👍

[@Renzo-cn4zw]

alien 3 the gun is one of my favorite arcade rail shooting game in sega system 32 along with gunblade ny

[@Jiterdomer]

Considering they used the same gun controller on both games, these were actually made by Sega AM3.

[@TheTrailburner]

The irony that it's subtitled "The Gun", considering Alien3 doesn't have any guns in it at the request of Sigourney Weaver.

[@13Gangland]

Why would she request that? Better yet, why would Fox care enough to implement such a ridiculous idea?

[@TheTrailburner]

@@13Gangland Those were her three demands in exchange for agreeing to star in the 3rd film. 1st Demand: No guns 2nd Demand: Her character has to die at the end. 3rd Demand: A sex scene between Ripley and a Xenomorph. She got 2 out of those 3 demands.

[@kooe9554]

I thought it just the director is an anti-gun guy

[@fierysmile2929]

@@TheTrailburner I'm having a difficult time believing the third demand, but at the same time, I kinda can.

[@aidanmcgrath911]

It looks like a mix between the aliens Arcade and die hard trilogy! 👌 very nicely done 😊

[@VSSEDragon3]

Aliens Dark Descent game is out now

[@tristanwolske8201]

This one is truly a gem!!

[@otaking3582]

I'm not sure if "Alien³: The Gun" is a stupid name for a video game or an awesome one

[@ObsoleteVodka]

It's both, it's the 90s

[@user-pn7ue5wb9g]

こんなエイリアン大量に襲い掛かってきたら絶対生き残れないわｗ こういうゲーム今じゃもう版権で絶対に制作できないよな…

[@neiljohndecena7636]

This game makes me feel more like a colonial marine than Aliens: Colonial Marines

[@mystyle_jm8997]

What about Aliens: Fireteam Elite, when you encounter a wave of Xenomorph Runners on a Familiar Scene in First Mission?

[@bergiTown69]

the music is the bomb!

[@gamesvariety726]

nice gameplay, i miss the 90s

[@proto-guest4511]

50:07 I love that quote!

[@VSSEDragon3]

4:53 some of aliens aren't attacking, by why?

[@ratius1979]

Courtown arcade, Wexford, Ireland circa 1994 🥰🤘🥰

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

Grundy's Playcentre, Surfer's Paradise, Australia circa 1995

[@marco-gg6qr]

Wish they would bring all these games to the psn store.

[@rondelllee8936]

Just down load it on to your pc (for free)and run a HDMI throught your pc/laptop to your tv like I did.It's on m.a.m.e. btw.

[@marco-gg6qr]

Thanks buddy but I don't have a PC or laptop

[@rondelllee8936]

@@marco-gg6qr damn bro just trying to help buddy 😂

[@1or2there]

This is makng me want 2 startup my MAME emulatr . . .

[@GreplayTv]

This game is so amazing

[@MegaMrJIN]

This absolutely epic and so enjoyable but the ending was too messed up.

[@manduheavyvazquez5268]

Greatness

[@redmist8959]

how dynamic does the game look for its time

[@user-fx9cv2ml8c]

17:19 one man was shot down.

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

If they turn blue it means they're either a chest-burster/android - it's safe to shoot them.

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays or being infected or robot 🤖 in disguise

[@lala4465]

5:06 This sound is from "the blood test" scene of John Carpenter The Thing

[@tino9117]

LET'S GO

[@SolCresta3405]

I know the final confrontation in the movie involved a man in sunglasses who resembled the Bishop android, but I'm still disappointed with the final boss being that guy. It should have been against the Dragon.

[@aidanmcgrath911]

What console is this on? Is it on arcade only. It looks great.

[@luispmoraes2772]

Is this the Snyder's Cut version of Alien 3?

[@kevinmarsh9057]

I remember this game 🎮 always thought it was funny that there was only two aliens if you included the qween in riply in the movie

[@VSSEDragon3]

Ripley Vs the Queen 👑 Alien 👽

[@noobdave]

So when is the Saturn port coming out 😅

[@rodimus7926]

This game is better than the actual movie

[@user-bv7ph2vv5u]

Хорошая стрелялка на уровне Терминатора

[@Tantemify]

i wasted alot of coins. i died too much. it was very fun during its time

[@logicaloverdrive8197]

always a treat when the movie sucked but the tie in game is actually fire.

[@janm1868]

Super Face Hugger, that's so 90s. 😆

[@VSSEDragon3]

Kinda reminds me of Super Licker beta from Resident Evil Damnation movie, 2 of them, still alive

[@SERGEY_LIGHTNING-2]

COOL !

[@VSSEDragon3]

I agree

[@ligersensei362]

Ever play Steel Gunner?

[@VSSEDragon3]

Or Time Crisis series is getting a new trademark in 2023

[@Tor-Erik]

You know how many guns there were in the movie? None! I guess the reason why this arcade game have "Alien 3" in the title is because the movie were new. If an Alien arcade machine were published back in 1986, it would be know as: "Aliens: The Gun Arcade", because the movie "Aliens" were new back then.

[@coraltwining7830]

That reminds of Jurassic Park, which I played with my mom at a Chuck E. Cheese in Fort Wayne, IN, as part of of a family lunch outing, in 1998. (I was 11 years old at the time.) Of course, that game used mounted guns and you had to sit in a chair that moved along with the progression of the game, contrary to using light guns and having to stand up. Not to mention this game came out the same year as both the JP game and the original film!

[@Jiterdomer]

Both were made by same developer and ran on same hardware.

[@evanstein3011]

Pretty funny to name a game "Alien 3 The Gun" when the film Alien 3 explicitly doesn't feature a single gun. Anyhow I wish I come across this as a kid. Seems like it would've been mind-blowing

[@VSSEDragon3]

Big powerful aliens are known as Praetorians

[@chadking1938]

Have this on the snes classic and it's barely playable. Missing background on certain levels, curser can't go further and bit lagging too.

[@karlhans6678]

what emulator can i play this in?

[@sockpuppet4716]

This movie was kinda a big F.U. to merch pushers of the time. "The movie contains exactly three aliens and zero guns until the final five minutes. Now slap that license on a light gun game" The idea of the content making any sense was torpedoed before the dev team was even assembled.

[@toddmorgan4541]

How do you play all of these arcade games?

[@2024Rosemary]

Mame emulator

[@JimJimakos-ov4lh]

I wish one remake like aliens fireteam

[@VSSEDragon3]

They already made a DLC Fireteam Elite

[@VSSEDragon3]

4:53, 5:00, 5:10 some of Dogbursters (xenomorph) aren't attacking you (Lickers Resident Evil Damnation references)

[@4thcoming]

Wow

[@VSSEDragon3]

I agree

[@terminus8497]

this looks amazingly similar to DOOM style 3D. I wonder if the developers were using similar algorithms to achieve their 3D style? is it something like binary space partitioning ?

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

No. This is all achieved via scaling BG layers (+ line scroll in some places) and tons of large, scaling sprites. As for the "walls" 1. vertical strips/sprites (unlikely here but still a way to do it) 2. (far more likely) large sprites with the proper rotations since the system can store and draw these easily Games that do similar things for their "walls" are Sega's Last Survivor and Taito's Space Gun and Gun Buster.

[@thestrongduck6039]

How do i play the game on pc?

[@jordanpeterson5038]

This is cool and all but why is it when games are made for alien 3 they never get the plot right? They didnt have guns at all unless maybe this is the view of when the soldiers come looking for Ripley in the end.

[@ashchisalleh1454]

I play a lot and so good, I can win with one coin if good day happen

[@HydrogenMist715]

Where the hell is Ellen Ripley at?

[@MrAlkylation]

there are no guns in alien 3 story....

[@Chickenworm9394]

There was no rescue of USS Sulaco either

[@Y2Kr4SHM4N]

And that was part of what made it suck. After the Queen and the ferocity of an entire nest, the movie goes back to a single alien. If they had taken a dual pronged approach and introduced us to a cast of characters who get split up, some exploring a station with one or a few solitary aliens, and others trapped on the planet below, whilst both groups had to work in tandem to coordinate and call in a rescue, it would have made for a far superior film.

[@octoman511]

so basically this is what alien 3 the movie should have been

[@ShadowSonic2]

A boring gunfest?

[@octoman511]

@@ShadowSonic2gunning down lot of aliens? hell yes! and for the record there's no such thing as a "boring" gunfest.

[@user-xp3xo5po9f]

Привет из 2021

[@yannisbskt]

I wish this have been combined with doom engine back then,the graphics were ready.its a pity

[@queercommunist]

This is glorious scaling! it looks amazing

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

No. Unfitting for the hardware.

[@hazureito04]

1面もクリアできた事ないけど、最後までやると50分もあるゲームだったのか・・

[@lowr1derr]

pixelate games looks so cute

[@Jiterdomer]

Somehow this game got past the profanity radar at the end of the game.

[@Masaru_isamu]

..why did the tank look like it had a face?

[@VSSEDragon3]

Weird 😳

[@apap7170]

I hear side affects from ALIEN and The Thing.

[@VSSEDragon3]

I heard that

[@SaltheSalleyface]

01:00有了勒克貓的幫助，也能輕鬆抓寶可夢

[@VSSEDragon3]

Animorph

[@SaltheSalleyface]

26:25勒克貓萬歲

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

All the ancillary advertising for the movie is so much more fun than the movie itself. 😄

[@ShadowSonic2]

A3 was good, the Assembly Cut

[@AWG59]

I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone comment about how TERRIBLE the “boss battles” are in this game. You dump all your quarters into the game and all you receive in return is a Alien boss who’s basically a forced freebie kill as it’s literally standing right under the “one shot” vent that triggers the death scene. Not to mention the mystery man literally stands in the corner half the time and lets you rack up on free hits. The game is a lot of fun, but for a SEGA title I always felt that the ending bosses were so uninspired. Id argue the levels were harder than the ending lmao

[@whysoooserius]

🖤🖤😸🖤🖤

[@tomek1867]

My God, is that a new game??!!

[@AL82RetrogamingLongplays]

No - came out in 1993 😀

[@VSSEDragon3]

@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays one of the oldest classic games