1997 · Lenar · Action-adventure · Adventure

Gunman's Proof

Nintendo exclusive

Action-adventure with slight RPG elements (buying and upgrading weapons, etc.) set in Wild West. While featuring traditional dungeon-crawling and many enemies to dispose of in real time combat, the game doesn't equip you with standard medieval swords, but with pistols, shotgun, machine gun, and even a flamethrower. Your weapons have infinite ammo. You can duck to avoid the alien monsters' fire, and perform special attacks with various types of weapons.

Released: 1997
Platforms: SNES
Genres: Action-adventure Adventure Role-playing Science Shoot 'em up Western
Developers: Lenar
Publishers: ASCII Corporation
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Science fiction
Languages: Japanese

About

Gunple: Gunman's Proof (ガンプル Gunman's Proof Gunman's Proof Ganpuru?) is a 1997 Japanese video game for the Super Famicom. It was developed by Lenar and published by ASCII. It was one of the latest releases for the Super Famicom, and was never released outside of Japan. It is a 2D top down action-adventure video game set in the American Wild West that incorporates some science fiction elements.

›Story

The year is 1880. Two meteors fell on Earth on a small island near North American Pacific Coast. In the middle of the island there is a small town governed by a sheriff. At first, the town's inhabitants didn't pay attention to the meteors.

But then, strange things started happening. Monsters attacked people, and left on the victims' bodies a mysterious crest with one word: demiseed. One day you, a young boy who lives in the town, are contacted by two aliens who came in a miniature space ship. One of the aliens introduces himself as Zero, the Space Sheriff, and explains that an intergalactic criminal named Demi has escaped from justice and is hiding somewhere on the island, being the cause of all the troubles lately.

Zero then possesses your body, lends you his powers, and commands you on the quest to destroy Demi and to bring peace to your island and to the alien world alike!

Keywords

western
action-adventure
retroachievements
fan translation - english

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player must explore eight dungeons scattered throughout the world. Dungeons can include places such as ancient ruins.

Guns can be fired in eight directions, and strafing can be achieved via L and R buttons. The setting has anachronistic elements, such as weapons that were not present during this time period. These include Uzi machine guns, robotic turtles, flamethrowers, and bazookas.

Story

The game is set on an island named Strange Island near the American Old West in the year 1880. Two meteors fell on the island and monsters suddenly started attacking people while leaving behind a message that said demiseed. Afterwards, a young farm hand sees an alien spacecraft crash in front of him, with two aliens emerging, named Zero and Goro. One of the aliens introduces himself as Zero, the Space Sheriff, and explains that an intergalactic criminal named Demi has escaped from justice and is hiding somewhere on the island, being the cause of all the troubles lately. The boy allows the alien to possess him so they can search for the fugitive.

Reception

Upon release, four reviewers for Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.

Many reviewers noted the similarity between the game and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Destructoid writer Allistair Pinsof described the gameplay as a mixture of A Link to the Past and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Retro Gamer described the game as a "Zelda clone" with humor reminiscent of Earthbound. 1up.com listed the game in 2011 as one of the 'Six Must Play Super Nintendo Imports". Hobby Consolas in 2019 listed the game as one of the best JRPGs that never left Japan.