Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom/Romstar
Systems: Arcade, FDS, NES, Amstrad CPC, MSX, PlayStation 2, PlayStation, ZX Spectrum, Xbox, Sega Saturn, Windows
Year of release: 1985
Genre: Shooter
Time period: Past
Location: America
Tribe: Named, Real: Comanchi (in-game spelling)
Character Types: Indigenous Villain, Indigenous Enemy NPCs
“With you at the controls, you determine the destiny of Billy Bob and the gold mining town and its people.”
– Gun.Smoke game box (NES, US version)
Gun.Smoke is an arcade shooter that was released for the NES and as an arcade cabinet. The game presents its Native characters as mostly nameless, motiveless antagonists. Player characters travel through a “Comanchi” village to find and kill the chief, who is named Wolf Chief in the arcade version and Devil Hawk in the NES version.
Players take on the role of Billy Bob, who is ostensibly defending a gold mining town from bandits and Native Americans. Game play involves traveling through a stage defeating common enemies before reaching a boss at the end of the stage. Only the stage in the “Comanchi” village contains Native characters (this is third stage in the NES version; there are slight variations between versions). The game booklet for the NES version provides little additional context, but does describe the Native enemies as “Indian punks”, a variation on the standard “punk” enemy type. Other Native enemy types include: “Indian (bow)- shoots arrows” , “Indian (Ax)- Throws Axes at you”, and “Indian (Fire-blowing)- Shoots fireballs from his mouth”.
TBA
TBA.