Double Feature: Gunman Clive

Gunman Clive/Gunman Clive 2
Action Platformer
1 Player
System: 3DS
Developer: Hörberg Productions
Year of Release: 2013/2015
Beaten: February 25th, 2015

Originally released for iPhones to less than stellar success, Gunman Clive got the recognition it deserved after being ported to Nintendo's 3DS eshop. This success lead to a sequel getting made exclusively for the 3DS, after a few delays it finally came early this year. I caught wind of the first game some time before release and it took little more than the trailer to get me excited for the game:

That awesome art style instantly won me over, and as I may have mentioned before, Western's as a genre have always been a particular favorite of mine. As the trailer implies this is an old school "generic" platformer, it lifts a lot of its design principles from the original Mega Man series and it does so splendidly. Control is spot on, everything is simple, serves a purpose and fits eloquently together. The music is lovely and fits the atmosphere well, though nothing sounds truly outstanding I almost always had the volume up when playing. The only real complaint might be how short the game is, but really it has some decent replayability.

The plot and overall goal is simple, Clive's woman has been stolen and it's up to him to rescue her. Through increasingly silly scenarios he trudges on. There are four "worlds" made up of five levels each, the last of these levels is a boss battle. The setting is usually Western themed, jumping through towns, caves and fighting mostly cowboys and some ducks. There's one mine cart stage, inspired by Donkey Kong Country I'm sure, and a few other gimmicks from other games show up from time to time, like the timed disappearing blocks that infamously originated from Mega Man. Eventually Clive jumps onto a rocket to follow his love into space. Some basic gravity changing mechanics are introduced, but they segments are so short lived nothing really comes of it.

There's a basic weapon upgrade system, some enemies will drop gun upgrades that have a few different effects like a grenade shot, or a triple shot for example. Getting hit once will remove any power up Clive has though, and they don't stack. The boss fights are all fairly simple, but simultaneously enjoyable. Typically when facing the bosses they have a specific weak point, just learn their patterns and shoot them when you can. The bosses themselves are mostly fairly clever, and I don't want to spoil them here.

The replayability comes from the multiple playable characters for the most part, there's also a difficulty selection, but from what I could tell they just affect damage calculations. After beating the game once as Clive you can play through as his lovely lady Ms. Johnson. She plays mostly the same as Clive but she has Peach's floating ability from Super Mario Bros 2 USA. My favorite mode comes after beating the game as Ms. Johnson though, Duck Mode. Yes. You play as a duck and have no offensive abilities. You simply try to flap your way around bullets and get to the end of the level. The only downside is there is no duck boss fights. Would have been interesting.

Oh, I haven't even mentioned that Gunman Clive is only $1.99, in my opinion there is a great amount of content here for that price. Rushing through the game to write this only took me 24 minutes, but on harder difficulties it can take almost an hour, and with three different characters to try out that equals out to a bit over an hour of content per dollar. If you aren't too much of a fan of old school shooter/platformers you might not like this game, but it's well worth at least a passing glance for anyone with even a minute interest in the genre.

E3 of 2014 had a lot of games that interested me, but some of the most interesting were small indie games. Cuphead is probably going to be the reason I eventually pick up an Xbox One. In a video showcasing a number of upcoming Nintendo indie games Gunman Clive 2 reared its beautiful head. In it there was a clip of Clive fighting dinosaurs as well as a new perspective of Clive riding vehicles with an over the shoulder view as opposed to just side scrolling. I was giddy. Delays hit, but I didn't mind, it's all too often games get rushed out instead of getting the proper treatment they deserve. Finally it released.

Gunman Clive 2 costs a dollar more at $2.99, and introduces a new melee based character available from the get go this time around, Chieftain Bob. Honestly the game doesn't really feel like it was made with melee range attacks in mind, and while he is clearly there as an even harder mode option, it was still incredibly frustrating playing with him. But hey, this is Gunman Clive! Let's not get bogged down in this negativity.

The world structure is slightly different this time around, there are more world's, made up of only four levels this time, with one still being a boss encounter. The levels within the world's themselves are far more varied. Most levels are still side scrolling shooting goodness there are some other variations, like the previously mentioned over the shoulder vehicle sections, and more levels that play similarly to the mine cart level from the first (as in you just move and have to control jumps/attacks). Most of these new level types are pretty fun, but I can't help but feel that the over the shoulder view levels are just a little frustrating. It is really difficult to tell where some obstacles are, and I found myself getting hit a lot more often than I thought I should have been. And if you play as Bob in these levels, be ready to just not attack anything as he still only has his spear to attack with. Oh man, I didn't mean to get all down on you like that. Uh, here.

My favorite part of the first Gunman Clive was the basic premise of the game, just the old school side scrolling shooting levels. They make a triumphant return in the sequel, and with a lot more variety. Firstly, the visuals have a lot more color than the first's predominately brown color scheme and it looks lovely. Secondly the levels are more design from a gameplay design standpoint as well. Lots of new elements show up, like ice platforms, and platforms that move when you jump on them but fall after they reach their destination. Also several new enemies show up, I think this game more doubles the enemy types! With all this variation come some problems though, namely a lot of the time I felt the game suffered from cheap deaths. While playing suddenly something will happen that you have little to idea, or even indication, of where you need to jump to next resulting in a cheap death. The levels are short enough that it isn't too much of a hindrance, but I was finding myself getting routinely annoyed every couple of levels because I hadn't gotten the pattern of the level down yet. Uh, I mean...

Maybe... Maybe this game isn't quite as good? In true sequel fashion Gunman Clive 2 ups the ante in every way, more levels, more level types, more enemies, more characters to play as. But somewhere it feels as though it lost the beautiful cohesiveness that brought the first game together so well. Maybe it's all of these new mechanics that show up for one level and they wanted as much variation as possible at the cost of everything gelling together perfectly. The bosses likewise were all very clever, most having multiple phases, but they still left a feeling of frustration. Maybe this was intentional, to really bring back that classic shooter feeling. Much like the Souls series it does feel really good to overcome some of these challenges, but I can't help but feel like a little bit of charm was lost due to this concession. Maybe you just can't catch lightning in a bottle twice?

Not to say Gunman Clive 2 is a bad game, far from it. It is still a wonderfully constructed little platforming shooter well worth it's incredibly low price. Together these games make up some of the 3DS eshop's killer apps. I'm so glad the people behind this game ported it to 3DS and found the success that they have. These are clearly talented people, not only that, but with the heart to make really good, classic games. I can't wait to see what else they release in the future, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on them, and you should too. Check these out if you can, I can't outright recommend the iOS version of the first, but if that's your only option give it a shot.