Can you believe this game is over thirty years old? Where does time go. 'Mad Dog McCree' is the first title released from now defunct America Laser Games at the dawn of the FMV genre. They started out on laserdisc in the arcades, got ported to numerous consoles and PC's of years gone past with differing degrees of video quality and still live on with modern day console releases.
A simple concept fuels this lightgun title (later playable with a controller or mouse). You're the "Stranger" who comes to a western time period town to help out with an outlaw problem. The head honcho outlaw Mad Dog McCree and his gang have locked up the sheriff and taken the mayor and his daughter hostage and you gotta get 'em back.
Like all FMV based shooters - the gameplay is pretty much on rails and basic. You shoot the screen to take down bad guys or choose where to go next. The only other mechanic is to reload. Their first title starts the trend of having random quickdraw events, shooting a cow skull for additional bullets, death screen dialog, but also some cheap mechanics at play because of its arcade origins trying to gobble up your quarters (or console ports difficulty) and to extend gameplay. Suspect timings to hit bad guys, small hit boxes or even a barely visible bad guy or two in this title. Later titles would insert a lot more innocent characters on screen to avoid shooting.
The original MDM from ALS is rough around the edges showing it's age and modest beginnings. They'd refine the formula and produce a much more entertaining, funny polished product with the sequel 'Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold' and their other catalog titles. Of course it goes without saying that these aren't long titles sans trial & error. Played perfectly they're 15-20 minute affairs start to end.
I always enjoyed the FMV titles of old and 'Mad Dog McCree' might not be the finest example of the genre, but it's truly where this brand of shooter began and cannot be forgotten.
