1977 · Atari · Light gun shooter · Light-gun shooter

Triple Hunt

Three changeable and selectable shooting games in one unit.

Released: 1977
Platforms: Arcade
Genres: Light gun shooter Light-gun shooter
Developers: Atari
Publishers: Atari
Modes: Single-player
Country: United States

About

Triple Hunt is a shooter-style arcade video game developed by Atari programmer Owen Rubin, and released in April 1977. The game's main feature is its mounted light gun, which is used to shoot at the screen on a separate cabinet. Each Triple Hunt unit houses three changeable games: Witch Hunt, Hit the Bear, and Raccoon Hunt. The game graphics are displayed over the background graphics, and when a monitor mask is placed on the screen, the graphics 'disappear' behind the mask.

Since the gun is light operated, the shots would not go through the mask, and did not count. It was first introduced at the Third Annual Distributor Meeting banquet on March 22, 1977.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Unique amongst other games at its time, Triple Hunt contains three different games, each played by solely using the gun, which registers shot position by use of vertical and horizontal potentiometers. The three games had to be swapped out by the operator by changing the graphic panels and flipping a switch. The objective of all three games is to simply earn the highest score possible before a timer ran out. The player has no limit on the number of shots fired, and the gunshots will display on the screen one at a time.

A timer in the corner of the screen counts down until the display reaches "00". However, if the operator has turned on extended play and the player's score exceeds the extended play score, then the player is given extra play time, and the timer increases to half of the original value.