The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #17

Shootin' Gallery
Imagic

"Ideal for Ages 9 and Under" says the sticker on the box. Proof that I am still in a prepubescent stage, or Imagic underestimating the fun and challenge of their version of a carnival shooter?  Who can tell.  What I can tell you is Shootin' Gallery looks awesome, has some depth and complexity and more challenge than the sticker on the box would lead you to believe.

Whereas Coleco's Carnival is a very simplistic interpretation of this sort of carnival game, Shootin' Gallery features more of the complexity and variety of those games of yore.  Multiple levels of targets with distinct movements and characteristics, a limited supply of bullets and a devilish Cuckoo Clock that wants to steal those bullets if you are not paying attention, Shootin' Gallery has a lot to like.  Actually, Carnival and Shootin' Gallery share a lot of characteristics, but Shootin' Gallery does them a lot better.  I am particularly fond of the train that runs along the second level.  You can shoot out each car, culminating with the locomotive, for big bonus points!  What a neat little touch.  I also like that the targets change from seals to kangaroos, from rabbits to frogs, as you do better and better and take out more advanced targets.

I'm trying to stay away from variations for this ranking, but the sharp shooter variation is really tricky and provides tons of challenge for even the most eagle-eyed 9 year old.

Speaking of challenge, Shootin' Gallery doesn't really have a ton of difficulty in the traditional sense.  What it does is force you to make the most of every bullet.  You have a limited supply and there are lots of ways to rack up points, but you have to make every single shot count to really post a top score.  I suppose that maxes out at some point, but I'm not 10 years old enough to have reached that point.

I guess I like Shootin' Gallery because it has a lot of charm, decent challenge, and enough complexity to warrant multiple plays in a single sitting.  Since the game is finite based on the number of bullets, there is a great incentive to play one more game to see if you can best your score.  As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to go play another game right now!

My Top Shootin' Gallery Score: 571000

The Top 30 Vertical Shooters for the Atari 2600 #26

Carnival
Coleco

Coleco games for the VCS get a lot of flack.  Most of this is due to the dreadful Donkey Kong adaptation (which isn't that bad, honestly), but the reality is there are some decent games in the Coleco library.  Carnival is one of them.

Perhaps one of the purest shootin' games there is, Carnival is based on those classic pistol shooting games that populated county fairs from the Old West to modern (well, maybe not quite modern) day.  The premise is that simple:  targets slide by and you shoot them down.  Ok, there is a twist. In old school carnivals the targets rarely came to life and swooped down on you to steal your bullets.  In Carnival, they do.  You have to admit, that can make things a little more intense.

But only a little.  Carnival is a lot of fun to play, and the simplicity of the game play makes that work, but Carnival fails in its pure lack of difficulty.  The game is fun, but easy.  It takes a minute to figure out, and once you do and you get rolling, you can roll the score over pretty easily.  The difficulty tops out way too soon and the challenge is practically non-existent.

Graphically, Carnival looks pretty good.  The colors are bright and the target sprites are nicely rendered.  As I said above, the game is simple.  It doesn't have to do much, because much isn't asked of it, even in terms of spectacle.

Carnival would be MUCH higher on this list if it provided even the slightest bit of a challenge or if the difficulty ramped at a better pace.  It's a great game and lots of fun to play, for a minute.

My Top Carnival Score:  Score rolled.