GAME CLEAR No. 182 -- Wanted

Wanted (1989, Master System)

Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Clear Platform: Master System
Clear Date: 7/23/24

---

Why should I care?
Wanted is a strong home light-gun game that feels like a full arcade title and is just plain fun.

---

Wild gunmen

A confluence of events led me to finally try my hand at some Master System Light Phaser action. First of all, I started watching the anime Zillion, upon which the Master System game Zillion is based. That anime prominently features the eponymous Zillion weapons, which are guns literally bestowed to humanity by the gods that fire red photons and seem to be the only weapons capable of killing the bad guys in the series. While the Zillion game is a platformer that does not support light guns, the Light Phaser released for the Master System is designed to look exactly like the gun from Zillion. So, y’know, that got me thinking about it. When I saw one at a secondhand store not long after starting the series, I figured it was time to give it a shot.

So I set about looking into the games compatible with it. SEGA put out some 13 games for use with the Light Phaser. Based on some Googling, it seemed that Rambo III and Wanted came highly touted, so I grabbed inexpensive copies of them on eBay to give them a shot myself. The only problem is I haven’t seen Rambo III, so it feels a bit silly to play that one just yet (but this will likely expedite my plans to revisit the film series).

Anyway, here we are. I knocked out Wanted in a single sitting after it arrived in the mail, and it rules. It plays just like any of the late-90s arcade light-gun games I was more familiar with from my youth, and it’s neat to know a lot of those hallmarks were already present in 1989. As an Old West sheriff, you traverse six stages blasting away the bad guys that are causing trouble for the townspeople. The screen moves on its own, and you gotta shoot any bad guys that appear and aim their gun at you before they shoot you first. But watch out — if you fire at a desperado who has his hands up to surrender, you lose HP (same goes if you shoot any fleeing civilians). The standard enemies all go down in one hit, but at the end of each level you’ll usually find a stouter gunslinger who fires rapidly and takes a number of shots to take down. Kill him, and you’ll be presented with your score results screen and the message “MOVE ON! JUSTICE CALLS YOU TO ANOTHER BATTLE!” Love that.

For a change of pace from the Old West towns, a couple stages take place on horseback. These will really test your trigger finger as the bad guys race across the screen.

The seventh and final level is the showdown with the Big Boss, who is a cowardly little fucker who seems to just dart between buildings while his underlings throw dynamite at you. It’s damned hard, and losing will send you back to the start of Stage 6. The only real negative mark I have for this otherwise lovely shooter. Anyway, shoot him enough times without getting blown up, and you’ll have preserved peace for the West. Bravo, sheriff.

The presentation of the game is just top notch. The towns and saloons are beautifully and colorfully rendered to the best of the humble Master System’s ability. The soundtrack is fittingly upbeat, and the sound effects are genuinely perfect. A kind of weird and interesting thing is that the player character is actually visible on screen at all times in the foreground. Usually these games are presented in a first-person view since the player is holding the gun outside the screen, but not so here! Doesn’t really affect anything, but it’s an interesting choice from a time when such conventions were perhaps not so set in stone.

If I had to file a visual complaint, I guess it would be that the vast majority of the enemy gunmen use the exact same sprite. Doesn’t seem like a palette swap or two would’ve killed them. But whatever! The objective is to get ’em off screen as quickly as possible, so who cares? 😎

And on the whole, this is every bit a great Master System offering. At a time when console makers were so often trying to cram arcade titles into console cartridges no matter the significant necessary compromises, Wanted is that rare bespoke console game that feels like a a great arcade experience. I’m perhaps a bit biased since I still think light guns are basically magic, but I’d rank this up there among the Master System greats. It’s difficult to recommend seeking out because of all that it requires (original hardware, cartridge, a peripheral, and a CRT TV), but to those who live with me in this niche world, it’s definitely one I’ll be recommending wholeheartedly.

That’s all for now, though. Justice calls me to another battle! 🤠