Shooting Gallery

The Good
No matter what early console you have – whether that be an Atari 2600, ColecoVision, or Intellivision - there has to be one game that involves shooting targets, and an early example was Carnival. There was also a shooting game released for the VC-4000 (part of the 1292 APVS family). Although most of the shooting games out there are set in a fairground, the version released for Interton’s machine is set on a beach instead; when you boot the game up, you see huge shades of yellow and dark blue stretch across the screen.

In Shooting Gallery (also known as Hunting in Europe), the targets include dogs, fish, ducks, and birds. Pressing the 2 key launches a shot at one of these. When you make a hit, the score will be displayed for a few seconds before disappearing. Only one bullet can be fired at a time. Your character is at the bottom of the screen, and he is drawn nicely. He is restricted to the center; you cannot move him at all. The game doesn’t end until you manage to hit all the available targets. Although the game can be played by yourself, I think it is more fun with two players.

There are sixty-four variations (just thirty-two in earlier versions) that alter the gameplay, and most of these are rather interesting. You can choose to have more targets to shoot, get more points than normal for hitting targets, make them behave differently (eg: fish turn around when they reach the center of the screen), have bullets ricochet when they reach the top, and impose a time limit on yourself.

The Bad
Can’t think of anything.

The Bottom Line
Shooting Gallery is a great little shooting game for the Interton VC-4000. There are sixty-four variations that you can play with, and it is more enjoyable if two players are involved. Nothing else to say about it.