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Mad Dog McCree - 2.0/10
The original Mad Dog McCree is the worst of the bunch. It has a fun concept, but it’s got one major flaw: the video-based gameplay itself. The video looks wonderful, however due to the limitations of actual video footage, you need absolute EXACT timing otherwise you’re going to be shot. Yup, you can shoot the guy you need to shoot all you want, but unless you hit him at the time you need to hit him, he’s not going to die and you’re going to be shot. You also need to hit on the very first shot. If you’re off on your timing in the first shot, but fire off five more rounds in the enemy during the correct time frame, they won’t count. Nice logic, eh? On top of that bit of fun, it’s not always clear on what you need to do. Do you shoot the guy pointing a gun at you at the bar? Instinct says yes...The game says no, shoot the other guy trying to kill the bartender then shoot the guy aiming at you. The only way to figure this out is through trial and error while you get frustrated from constantly dying without knowing what you’re doing wrong. That’s not replay value, friends....That’s poor programing.
Mad Dog McCree II: The Lost Gold - 3.0/10
Up next is Mad Dog McCree II: The Lost Gold. This game suffers from the same gameplay flaws as the original Mad Dog McCree, but during my time with the game, it felt slightly better as far as how forgiving your timing was, which is a plus. However, you’re still just watching video and will be doing the old trial and error routine to get your timing down on a few levels. This game also has a new element of gameplay added in with the form of one of three ‘guides’ to join you in your journey. This allows three slightly different stories to unfold, which helps the replay value a little bit. A bit of a downside is the repetitiveness of some death videos...They’re kind of funny the first time you see them, but due to the trial and error gameplay, you’ll be watching the same death scenes over and over...And they’ll go from charming to annoying pretty quickly. It’s still not a good game, but it’s better than the original in every way.
The Last Bounty Hunter - 4.0/10
Finally, we’ve got the Last Bounty Hunter. This is the best game in the compilation; it improves upon just about everything in Mad Dog McCree II. It doesn’t have the different stories that Mad Dog McCree II had, but the Last Bounty Hunter does have four different enemies to go after, which you can do in any order you wish. Instead of getting the replay value from the various stories, the Last Bounty Hunter does so in randomizing the order that enemies appear in on some stages. Everything is a little more interesting visually, too. Instead of enemies just popping up out of nowhere, you’ll occasionally see enemies doing fancier things like swinging from chandeliers and the like, which is a nice little change of pace. However, the timing problems of the previous two games are still here, which really bog down the whole experience to a hard-to-play mess....But still more fun than the previous two.
All and all, this compilation would’ve turned heads twenty years ago and if I were reviewing these games based on when they first came out, they’d get more favorable scores...But games have evolved from the original days of Mad Dog McCree and I’m reviewing this new compilation based on how games are now. Much like how someone who didn’t play Dragon’s Lair in its heyday is likely not to see what all the hooplah was about, anyone who has never played Mad Dog McCree back when it was first released will likely not understand why this game was fairly beloved for its time. This compilation may be a nice trip down memory lane for several older gamers who played these in the arcade, but in comparison to the games of today, there are just way too many flaws to recommend this ol’ fossil of gaming history to anybody else.
3/10
