Space Gun (Master System) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Taito's 1992 light gun shooter for the Sega Master System, Space Gun.
Like Laser Ghost, the other horror-themed, PAL-exclusive light gun shooter for the Master System ( • Laser Ghost (Master Sy... ), Space Gun takes its cues from a popular movie franchise: the story and graphics are blatantly "inspired" by the first two Alien films. Unlike Laser Ghost, however, Space Gun is a direct adaptation of the arcade game with which it shares its (hilariously generic) name.
Space Gun straps you into the boots of a commando who has been sent to investigate a badly damaged, seemingly abandoned ship. When you first board, you're attacked by the ship's automated defenses, and it's not long before you discover that you're not alone. A nasty breed of xenomorphs are now running riot across the ship and have killed nearly everyone aboard. It's your job to eliminate the hostiles and to save as many of the remaining survivors as possible.
The game regularly switches between side and forward-scrolling areas, and each stage is capped of with a boss battle and a fancy cinematic scene that moves the plot forward. (Ever play Operation Thunderbolt? It's very similar.)
Your default weapon has unlimited ammo (though it can overheat), and you can pick up four separate special weapons, including a high-powered laser, screen bombs, and an item that can temporarily freeze everything on-screen.
Unsurprisingly, the game is best played with the Sega Light Phaser. You can play with the control pad, but without a plastic gun in hand, the experience loses a lot of its appeal. It's an easy game as far as rail shooters go, but it does have a few tricky moments. That last boss took me quite awhile to figure out!
(I included the bad ending at 40:50 for anyone that might like to see it.)
It looks nice for a Master System game, but it doesn't compete in the same league as the arcade original. All of the sprite scaling has been axed, the pseudo-3D movement is extremely choppy, and you can no longer shoot body parts off of your enemies, but the backgrounds and the bosses look great, as do the cutscenes. The sound fares reasonably well considering the console - the music isn't loaded with painfully shrill beeps - but I'd still recommend hitting mute on the TV.
Overall, Space Gun is a neat little shooter that provides a fun sci-fi alternative to anyone that didn't dig Laser Ghost's supernatural trappings, but I can't help but think that it would've been better suited to the 16-bit platforms.
For more Master System playthroughs, check out my playlist here: • Sega Master System/Mar...
And for more Halloween/horror-themed games, check out • Horror/Halloween Games...
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

For as generic as the title is, Space Gun is a pretty fun attempt at an Alien-themed rail shooter on the Master System.

[@Dorian_Scott]

Yeah, Taito was a good developer back then. Too bad that a lot of their well known games didn't really make it here...

[@solarflare9078]

@@CyberKnightProbably Really? I always thought Taito was massively overrated. I never really enjoyed most of their games like Legend of Kage, Final Blow, The Ninja Warriors, this game, Operation Wolf (though I think that one was not really developed by Taito), etc. Though I do like a few games from them like Darius 1, Bubble Bobble, and Chase HQ especially.

[@edge6441]

I had this game as a kid and i thought it was notoriously difficult! but everything changes when you hit adulthood you proved that!

[@SolCresta3405]

A good game to play in October.

[@nicholaspiazza8687]

I listened to the arcade version of the soundtrack of Space Gun on Apple Music recently.

[@ricardov.]

I saw on TV News once a thief robbing a house using a Master System Light Gun.

[@NintendoComplete]

That's hilarious. It would've been a lot less conspicuous than a florescent orange Zapper, I guess, but who would fall for that? It looks like a 60s sci-fi raygun lol.

[@NerdXZ-pn4nt]

The arcade one was really gory

[@MugenYomi]

Aliens don't make me think xenomorphs lol

[@amyrosearchiesonicplaypoem8760]

Glorous video.

[@DerivativeWorker]

From the thumbnail I thought it was an retro indie game.

[@Dorian_Scott]

Never even *heard* of this one. Might try it out later.

[@Chronosol]

Play the arcade version.

[@NintendoComplete]

It's fun, but yeah, like he said. The arcade version is much better.

[@luisreyes1963]

Good port of an arcade game for the SMS. If only this was made for the SNES like they did with Operation Thunderbolt.

[@kevinmcqueary7395]

if I remember correctly, this was also an arcade game. right?

[@NintendoComplete]

Yeah it was.

[@figment1988]

It was. And the arcade game was an experience within itself since the guns had pump handles (to choose your style of bombs), and a Time Crisis-like pedal that allowed for players to backtrack whenever necessary.

[@onithedemonslayer3142]

Does it automatically aim at the aliens for you because I don't see crosshairs

[@vgamer11]

It's a light gun game (like Duck Hunt), so I'm guessing that's why there's no crosshairs here

[@onithedemonslayer3142]

@@vgamer11 I looked it up you can play with the controller also but yeah duckhunt didn't have crosshairs either with a controller I'm guessing putting crosshairs on the screen came later for these types of games

[@NintendoComplete]

It only shows crosshairs if you're using the controller, not with the gun.

[@onithedemonslayer3142]

@@NintendoComplete ok thanks

[@efilwv1635]

This game looks like a turd made it. Interesting to watch.

[@kalasatwater2224]

Looks repetitive.