ULTIMATE GUIDE: TIME CRISIS
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Every so often, an idea comes along that is so simple yet so revolutionary, that you can’t believe nobody had ever thought of it before – and Time Crisis has one of those ideas. Time Crisis is the product of the spectacular mid-nineties arcade rivalry between Namco and Sega. The two companies were at the forefront of technological development, and at every turn the adversaries would take the opportunity to top each other’s achievements. In 1994, Sega had introduced Virtua Cop, a lightgun game using polygonal graphics, so a Namco response was inevitable. That response was Time Crisis, and Time Crisis didn’t just have a gun – it also had a big pedal. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s get the basics established first.
In Time Crisis, you play as Richard Miller, a secret agent nicknamed ‘the one-man army’.
The VSSE agency he works for has received reports of an incident in Sercia, a republic that had previously suffered from years of authoritarian rule. Rachel Macpherson, the daughter of the nation’s democratically elected president, has been kidnapped by Sherudo Garo, the last surviving member of the imperial family. Sherudo’s demands are simple – imperial rule is to be reinstated, military secrets are to be turned over, and all of this is to be done by sunset. Failure to comply will result in Rachel’s untimely death. Richard is dispatched to a small island off the northwestern coast of Sercia, where Rachel is being held captive in a castle, in order to mount a solo rescue mission – but as well as Sherudo’s small personal army, he’ll have to combat the mercenary forces of the criminal kingpin Wild Dog, who is aiding Sherudo in exchange for preferential treatment after the restoration of the monarchy.
Like most lightgun games, the goal of Time Crisis is to shoot down your enemies before they shoot you. Wild Dog’s mercenaries wear uniforms that denote their ranks, helpfully colour-coding them – those in blue are regular grunts, the ones wearing brown jackets are a bit more dangerous, and the guys in red are irritatingly straight shooters. Then there are the soldiers who typically wear green or orange and specialise in explosive weapons like grenades and rocket launchers, the shielded soldiers, and the claw-wielding assassins. If you get far enough, you’ll encounter the white-clad imperial guards, who are amongst the game’s toughest foes.
As we said earlier, the genius of Time Crisis is the addition of the foot pedal. This handles two important functions – firstly, rather than shooting outside of the screen as in so many other arcade blasters, you reload in Time Crisis by releasing the foot pedal. Secondly, just like in any good action film (and presumably, real life), Richard takes cover while he reloads. As long as you’ve taken cover, the enemies can’t hit you and you can’t shoot them – typically, you can’t even see them – leading to many more possibilities than in previous gun games. Some enemies appear and almost immediately fire a shot on target, and if you can’t take them out before they do, ducking into cover at least prevents you from losing a life. In another scene, you might enter to find a machinegunner already firing, watching a hail of bullets for a gap in which you might pop out and return fire. It even introduces the possibility of environmental hazards, such as falling objects.
Of course, in most lightgun games, dithering for too long will see you killed by bloodthirsty enemies. Being different, Time Crisis needed an additional element of pressure – after all, if you could stay concealed for as long as you liked, the game would be too easy and incredibly frustrating for arcade owners. So Time Crisis includes a time limit, much like racing games, with an extension granted every time a screen is cleared. If the timer ever reaches zero, the game is over immediately regardless of the number of lives you have remaining. In this respect, the game design supports the fast-paced action movie narrative, as you frantically try to clear out the baddies as quickly as possible.
Right from the attract mode that fashions itself after a cinematic trailer, Time Crisis presents itself in an action movie style. Small stage opening cutscenes show Richard engaging in various heroic acts, from riding a hook-like zipline into the opening stage to scaling the side of a huge tower. Even the first-person transitions between action sequences are handled with that sensibility – there are some brilliant setpieces, such as when Richard looks up to see a squad crashing in from above on a chandelier, or when he’s running toward a mirror only to see a soldier fire a round off from behind him. The audio is handled with similar aplomb. Although the soundtrack varies throughout the game, most of the main action scenes play to different parts of the main theme, with separate dramatic pieces reserved only for special occasions like boss fights. There’s some wonderfully hammy voice acting in cutscenes, and enemies will shout as they make a beeline for Richard during the game, although only family-friendly things like, “Get him!” and, when hit, “Shucks!”
All of this action movie style would be pointless if the game didn’t allow you to get in on the fun though, and Time Crisis delivers here. Whether you’re going one-on-one with a helicopter, diving out of the way of a speeding car or fighting your way through a darkened room lit only by flashes of gunfire, Time Crisis makes you feel like a hero. Plus, thanks to certain secret tricks, you can cause appropriately high levels of carnage – there are explosive crates that allow you to take out entire rooms in one go, and even a moment that allows you to drop a bunch of girders on unsuspecting baddies. The boss battles, although they are few in number, are also incredibly dramatic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Time Crisis received
critical acclaim. Next Generation magazine felt that the arcade version “thrusts the lightgun genre into a brand-new territory,” and awarded it 5/5. In a competition to win an arcade cabinet, CVG described the ability to take cover as “A great gimmick, backed by a superb game – incredible graphics, and gripping situations.
Time Crisis’ popularity quickly gave it the momentum needed for
Namco to announce a Playstation conversion, complete with a brand-new gun controller. A sequel followed in 1997, introducing new VSSE agents and a simultaneous two-player mode that took advantage of 3D by allowing players to view the same gunfight from a different angle – allowing players to target an enemy that may be hidden from their partner. Further sequels and spin-offs included innovations like weapon selection and a second foot pedal, allowing you to choose both left and right movement. While the series hasn’t been spotted since Time Crisis 5: True Mastermind arrived in arcades in 2015, you can bet it won’t stay dormant for long. If you need any reminder of why, just go back and play the original Time Crisis – its models and textures might look a little dated, but thanks to that foot pedal and some world classic game design, it’s as thrilling now as it was back in 1995.