The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Inspired by Duck Hunt, the game's goal is to shoot the male animals as they run across the screen. The round ends after a period of time when all the male animals are killed or if some get away. If a player shoots a female animal, they are out. Each scene will begin with a couple of animals walking without any suspicions.
After a first shot is done, the animals will begin running and the hunt starts. Big Buck Hunter is separated in five screens, also known as "treks". A hunting sessions concludes in a bonus round. The players can either participate solo or one on one by using two plastic rifles.
Development
Big Buck Hunter's concept came from Play Mechanix founder George Petro. After the release of Midway's Invasion: The Abductors in 1999, Petro thought that hunting games were popular in homes but there was also a lack of those in arcades. He pitched the idea to the design team, and shortly after started developing the prototype, with Incredible Technologies handling the manufacture of the arcade machine. Incredible Technologies partnered with Play Mechanix to release the rest of the games until Call of the Wild in 2005. In 2006, the Big Buck Hunter series had sold around 7,500 units.
Needing financial support to make the next game in the series, Big Buck Hunter Pro, the developers contacted Raw Thrills in January 2006. As a part of the agreement, Play Mechanix continued to design the games, while Raw Thrills took over the production and distribution. In March 2008, Raw Thrills released Big Buck Safari, which introduced trophy hunting in Africa. They released Open Season in November 2009, which added more animals to Pro.
