Last Bounty Hunter, The

The object of the game is to capture or kill four bad guys. If you capture the enemies they escape and at the end of the game there is a showdown. During the game there are various quick-draw situations.

The player has to make quick decisions on who and what to shoot: innocent people or bad guys. If an error in judgement has been made, the player is chastized and penalized with the loss of a life. The gameplay is similar to Mad Dog McCree.

You can also shoot any certain type of object that appears in certain scenes throughout the game to receive extra bounty. These objects are moonshine jugs, wagon wheels, lanterns and cowskulls. The items will also sometimes give you a shotgun with five shots in it.

At the beginning of the game, you must help the Union Army fight against a small group of brigands. After this, General Clinton Briggs will assign you to hunt for the territory's four most wanted outlaws: Handsome Harry, Nasty Dan, El Loco and The Cactus Kid, as well as the outlaws' respective gangs. To choose the outlaw you want to go after, you must shoot the picture of that specific outlaw. After you have chosen which outlaw you want to hunt, you will get to chose to either go directly after the outlaw, go to a target practice session or go to a quick-draw gunfight. To select, shoot the specific symbol on the sign post.

During the target practice session, you must shoot certain objects such as glass bottles, tin cans, etc., as soon as they appear.

In the quick-draw gunfight, you must draw your gun and shoot a bad guy as soon as he draws his gun and before he shoots you. Whenever you go after one of the outlaws, there will sometimes be certain scenes where you will have to decide whether to shoot bandits before or after. For instance, when you go after Handsome Harry, you will be in a casino where a scoundrel will try to shoot and kill a dealer. Here, you can shoot the killer before or after he kills the dealer, but it would be a better decision to shoot him before he kills the dealer. Also, when you go after The Cactus Kid, there will be a scene in a saloon where a gunman will try to shoot and kill a gentleman who tells him to leave the barmaid alone. Here, you must shoot the gunman before he kills the good fellow. If you don't, you will shortly afterwards be killed by three outlaws who will all shoot you at the same time. But if you succeed, however, the barmaid will give you a shotgun to kill those three gunslingers as well as the other remaining outlaws in the saloon.

As you hunt for any of the four most wanted outlaws, throughout each stage you must shoot and kill any armed bandits that try to shoot you while trying not to hit any innocent bystanders. Whenever you finally meet with the outlaw you are after, he will have a certain object, visible weapon or concealed weapon that you will try to shoot out of his hand. For instance, Handsome Harry will have a rifle concealed in his cane and Nasty Dan will have a cigar in his hand which he will dare you to shoot before he shoots you. El Loco and The Cactus Kid will just have revolvers when you confront them. Everytime you shoot a weapon or object from the outlaw's hand, a local lawman or federal trooper will take that outlaw into custody and you will have him captured.

You can also kill the outlaws by simply shooting directly at them. If you kill an outlaw, you will only receive half as much bounty as you would for capturing him and a tombstone will be placed next to his specific picture afterwards. But if you capture an outlaw, you will receive twice as much bounty as you would for killing him and iron bars will be placed over his specific picture. Although the bounty is more if you capture the outlaws instead killing them, the outlaws will later escape if you capture them.

After you have gone after all four outlaws, if you killed them all, the game ends. But if you have captured any of them, they will escape and you will have to meet each of them again in a final showdown. After you have defeated all escaped outlaws in each showdown, the game ends.

There are several objects to shoot at for either more points or to change weapons. Some of these objects are a wagon wheel hub, a lantern, various items a person may be holding, and a skull.

The game was available in three cabinet sizes: 25-inch monitor, 33-inch monitor, and 50-inch monitor.

All of the American Laser Games, except for Fast-Draw Showdown, are directly interchangeable by switching the game RAM/ROM board and the game's laser disc. The only difference with Fast-Draw Showdown is that the monitor is mounted vertically, which was filmed that way for effect.

The main CPU is the Amiga 500 which was used for its good animation and sound characteristics. This was mixed well with the video and audio imformation from the laser disc and player. A laser light diode provided the electronic input to the computer (Amiga 500) which controlled the Sony laser disc player 1450 through the serial port.

On some of the earlier games, the monitors did not have enough brightness or resolution. American Laser Games solved this problem by first installing a video board that raised the RGB levels for a split second during the "shooting mode". Later, a more effective light amplifier was installed in the gun for increased sensitivity.