Famicom World

Intro (Storyline) 0.0

Long ago I heard of unlicensed rare games out there that made use of a light gun. I know of games like Chiller and Baby Boomer, but until recently, I'd never heard of this one. Behold...3 in 1 Super Gun, a game made by the unlicensed company TXC Corp. and published by Micro-Genius, which contains three light gun games in one cartridge that are totally fun!

There's no storyline here. That is, unless a snake charmer, rookie cop, and clown have something unforeseen in common.

Graphics 3.0

There's some half decent stuff here. I was impressed, seeing that this is an unlicensed multi-cart, that the graphics weren't as bad as they could've been. In fact, each game on the cartridge appears to have slightly different graphics. The snake game has cartoonish-looking snakes that pop out of jars, while the cop game shows a nice "break-effect" when you shoot the cardboard cut-out criminals or civilians. The glass bottles the clown throws in Clowr also has a nice effect when they break. The characters themselves, like the snake charmer and clown, have a novice-look to them, not looking the greatest...but it gets the job done.

Audio 2.0

The sound is weak but enjoyable, in a unlicensed-type of way. Each game has its own musical theme: Clowr will remind you of a circus, while Snake Charmer has Arabian-esque music. The same can be said about the sound effects, such as the scuffing noise the Snake Charmer makes and what little else is in the game. The firing sound is good; that's about it, though.

Gameplay 4.5

Clowr, which is a misspelling of "Clown," has you shoot the glass bottles that a clown tosses into the air. The second game, Snake Charmer, has you shoot snakes that rise out of ceramic pots. The snakes are summoned up by the snake charmer. You must avoid shooting the red snakes or you'll lose; shoot the blue snakes only. Shooter is a rip-off of Nintendo's Hogan's Alley, where you shoot the cardboard cut-outs of criminals and avoid shooting innocents.

There are also three modes of difficulty: low, medium, and high. The variation is minimal.

Controls 5.0

When a game uses a light gun, with the exception of Chiller, it's usually dead on. You need to press Start on Famicom controller   I  to start the game, Select or the D-pad allow you to chose among the games. Having selected a game, you get to shoot the level of difficulty you desire, a nice touch other than being boring and having to press Start.

Frustrations 3.0

There's not much to get pissed at during the games. For an unlicensed multi-cart, it has precise hit detection from the light gun and displays cool effects to the objects that are hit. The sound could be improved, but who cares. The only thing I really wish was that there were more games on there...I mean, 5-in-1 or even 10-in-1 would've kicked ass! I guess you can't expect too much from an unknown company like TXC.

Fun Factor 5.0

Almost any light gun game would be great enough to get a 5/5, perhaps with the exception of Laser Invasion and Chiller. 3-in-1 Super Gun, however, is tons-o-fun for various reasons. The reasons include: it's rare and unlicensed, has three unique games in one (maybe except Shooter but at least it isn't Hogan's Alley) and light gun games are just great because of the unique controller -- the gun. I just wish there were more than three games to play on this cartridge.

Overall 3.0

3 in 1 Super Gun is a great game that's nearly impossible to find nowadays. It's something that a lot of Famicom fans don't even know about. In fact, as I said before, I just found out about it! Somebody gave me a scan of the Famicom cart for this game, and I had to wonder if 3 in 1 Super Gun was really made for the Famicom. I mean, the cartridge's label has a picture of the gray Nintendo Zapper along with three screen shots: one of Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley and Wild Gunman, games that aren't even on the cartridge! Regardless, keep on the lookout for this mysterious multi-cart light gun game. It's a keeper!