Back in the 1990’s, arcade game makers were trying everything to lasso in new quarters. You had hologram fighters, theater sized blast-fests, and even full-motion video laser disc shooters. Such as Mad Dog McCree, an often-seen Old West styled light gun game (if it wasn’t popular, it sure was in a lot of arcades back then anyway). It may be cheesy, but it still amazes me that only 20 years later, a huge arcade machine can now be played in the palm of your hand. And such is the case with Mad Dog McCree, now available to download on the 3DS Nintendo eShop.

This port of Mad Dog has everything you remember, even the cheesy acting. Shoot it out with the bad guys in various locations like the corral, bank, and ol’ saloon. There are four different difficulty selections, too. The game saves your high scores as well.

To aim, just use the stylus and touch screen and pull the trigger with the L or R button. Reload by moving the stylus off the screen and hitting one of the shoulder buttons. And that’s all there is to it. Only problem is the game doesn’t explain some things as well, like during fast draw shootouts, you need to quickly reload then shoot before you can hit the bad guys. Plus it’s kind of hard to know who you can shoot, and rote memorization was the law of the West when it came to these kinds of laser disc games.

To me, Mad Dog McCree was one of those arcade games you only played once, just out of curiosity, and then never played again. So I don’t quite understand the draw of a 3DS port. But if you are a big fan of the classic gun game, this version has everything you remember, so you may like it anyway.

Kid Factor:

Mad Dog McCree is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Violence and Use of Tobacco and Alcohol. Sure there are fistfights in the saloon and you do shoot people, but there is no blood or grisly deaths. People just fall over when shot. It’s really no worse than a classic spaghetti western. If you’re OK with your kids watching stuff like The Lone Ranger, they’ll be OK with this, too. But even with limitless continues, they still might get frustrated at the game’s obtuse difficulty.

Tags: Game Reviews