Another Sunday means another episode of 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, the (hopefully) weekly series where I play through all of the games listed in the book - 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. If I played the game before, then I will share my memory of the experience. If I haven't played the game before, then I find an online version or an emulator and I play the game (for at least 30 minutes). This is a book every gamer should have in their library, and if you're interested in purchasing it, you can find it here.
Last week I played Ballblazer, an extremely rudimentary soccer-like game from a company that eventually became LucasArts. It was a game I had never heard or played before, and not one I'll probably ever play again. Yes, it was that good, heh heh. I also made the comment games had been hit or miss lately and this week proved to be no different. Once again I was faced with a game I hadn't played before or heard of. This week the game is none other than...
Bank Panic
Bank Panic is an arcade game developed by Sanritsu and manufactured by Sega in 1984. West Bank is a clone of the game, released on several platforms.
The player assumes the part of an Old West sheriff who must protect a bank and its customers from masked robbers. The layout of the bank is implicitly a circle with twelve numbered doors and the player in the center. The player can rotate to the left or right and view three doors at a time. The doors will open to reveal a customer (who will drop a bag of money, making a deposit), a robber (who will attempt to shoot the player) or a young boy (who will be holding a stack of three to five hats, which the player can rapidly shoot for a bag of money or bonus time). The level ends when all twelve doors have received one or more deposits. This is indicated by the numbered boxes across the top of the screen, with a red dollar sign showing a door with a completed deposit. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
While I can't say for sure whether I've played this game before or not, I've played several like it...with Hogan's Alley being the most popular (and one of my favorites). These kind of games were quite popular in the arcades, and there are even some newer version (considering this one was made in the 80s). These games are basically reflex games, where you have to identify a bad guy out of a lineup of good guys and shoot the bad guy before he shoots you. While I liked Hogan's Alley (and played it on the NES with the light gun), I'm not so sure I've played or heard of Bank Panic. Although maybe I did, because I do remember was western themed game.
I managed to find an online version of it for the Sega Master System. You can find it here if you're interested. While the game was entertaining enough to revisit, I don't think I would go as far as saying what one of the contributing authors of 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die who said of the game, "Bank Panic is one of the most complex arcade games of its era, requiring intense focus. It's also among the most enjoyable." Sure, it did require focus and it is somewhat enjoyable, but intense focus and most enjoyable... I dunno about that.
Still though. I've played the game now. So there's that. And I marked it off of my list, which means sixty six down, and 935 to go. I hope next week is something a little more enjoyable, heh heh...because these past few weeks have been kind of rough. I guess we'll find out next week.
Until then, hope you had a wonderful weekend.
Cheers.
Episode 60 (here)
Episode 61 (here)
Episode 62 (here)
Episode 63 (here)
Episode 64 (here)
Episode 65 (here)