VOL 35: THE SHOOTING
PUBLISHER: CII ■ YEAR: 2000
Sometimes, a generic-looking title in the Simple series might actually be an exciting and original hidden gem of its genre, and to the untrained eye, The Shooting is one such gem.
For those with a little more experience, however, it’s almost as generic as can be, being something like the videogame equivalent of a band-for-hire that’ll play any request you ask of them.
The Simple 1500 Series Volume 35: The Shooting is, essentially a collection of ideas, both aesthetic and mechanical, from other, more popular and well-known shooting games of the 32-bit era, but done with just a little less style, polish and competence.
For example, the first stage is a futuristic cityscape that looks and feels like the straight-to-dvd mockbuster version of the first stage from Square’s Einhander, and it’s quickly followed by an ocean stage that shamelessly cribs from both Taito’s G-darius and Technosoft’s Thunderforce V. Technosoft’s slightly unsung classic is probably the biggest visual influence of all on this game, since it also provides the look of the player’s HUD, the font that most of the text and numbers are in, the combined target/health indicator for larger enemies, plus the general look and feel of the player’s weaponry.
Of course, all this shameless audacity doesn’t necessarily result in a bad game. In fact, since all the games it steals from are pretty great, and it pays to steal from the best, The Shooting ends up being a fun, though somewhat soulless, bit of budget blasting. And even now, when both shooting games and the more cultish entries into Simple Series games fetch hefty prices, The Shooting can be had for a pittance.