“As I got off my horse,
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Then I drew the revolver from my holster.”
“So you coming through tonight? I think we’re going to play Gun Smoke on NES.”
I had an NES growing up, but because I was born at the end of its lifecycle I don’t really remember playing any NES games aside from the Super Mario series. And when I did play the NES I never finished any of the games I had for it. At that age, I didn’t even think video games had an ending.
“Her hair glistened in the sunlight.
I handed her the cash,
and took the shotgun from her hand.”
“Let’s do it” one of my friends called out as he put Gun Smoke in the Top-Loading NES. There were four of us in the room. Two of us played, the other two were spectators (I was in the latter group). As the 8-bit soundtrack started, I could see the nostalgia wash over the two players faces. They were ready.
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“When I got back on my horse,
I continued to ride through the town,
taking out every bandit I saw.”
Capcom’s Gun Smoke was, originally, an arcade game. The original version had ten stages each with their own respective bosses. I was surprised to find out that the NES port only had six stages. I remember thinking, “How hard could it be to finish 6 different levels on an NES?” but as soon as the Players reached the third stage, I saw how frustratingly difficult Gun Smoke actually was.
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“When I reloaded my revolvers,
I noticed the dirt under my fingernails,
then I steadied my aim.”
It became obvious that I was a part of a totally different console generation. Even though I was only a few years younger than my friends, I realized that the games I grew up with coddled me. They showered me with options, showed me different paths to finish the same level and let me play the game at my own pace. As a top-scrolling shooter Gun Smoke doesn’t give you time to think, just react.
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“Fort Wingate was on the horizon.
I took a deep breath,
and continued into the lion’s den.”
The Players had been on the last stage for an hour before they decided to take a break. I had spent a good portion of the evening watching them roll through each level and at this point, it seemed like they had finally hit a wall. “I gotta finish this game before I die” one of the Players said while taking a drag from his cigarette. It was clear that I didn’t understand what this game meant to him. It was in his mind. It lived there and it wasn’t going to leave until he finished it.
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“The ‘click’ of the empty shotgun echoed,
I threw it to the ground and dug deep.
I drew my revolvers for the last time.”
“This is it.” One Player said as they reached the final boss. Throughout the game, I exclaimed every time one of the Players dodged oncoming bullets by centimeters. But this time I couldn’t say a word. The final stage of Gun Smoke had two bosses to defeat instead of just one. When the Player beat the first boss, he checked the ammo for his shotgun. Thirty-nine bullets left. He sighed. I held my breath once he got the second boss down to one health bar. All of us had our eyes locked on the screen. As the final boss went down the Player dropped the controller and put his hands in the air.
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“As I rode off to the next town,
I looked down at my holsters
and thought of the next bounty.”
“I’m really glad you were here for this.”
“What? Was I really going to leave in the middle of that?” I replied.
That night, my friends didn’t just finish Gun Smoke. They beat it.