*So, Boot Hill is basically an update of a previous arcade game from Midway called Gun Fight. Gun Fight is often called the first video game to depict human vs. human combat. Boot Hill takes a lot of the elements of Gun Fight and tweaks them a bit. The main change is that in Gun Fight, you could only play against another player; in Boot Hill, you can play that way, but you can also play against the computer.
*Boot Hill, as far as I know, never got a real port to a home console. It’s strictly an arcade title and, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find an arcade box anywhere, so I ended up playing it as a ROM on the computer.
*So, the gist of the game is that there are two cowboys, one on the left side of the screen & one on the right. In the middle, there are obstacles, like a cactus or a wagon, that you can take cover behind. Both cowboys have six shots to try to hit the other cowboy. The cover is like the cover in Space Invaders; it will protect you, but it takes damage so it will eventually disappear if it gets shot enough times.
*The game is either two player or one player against the computer. The arcade version had two joysticks per player; one controlled the movement of the cowboy on the screen and the other allowed you to aim your pistol and pull the trigger.
*I think clearly the best way to experience this game has got to be two player on the arcade machine; that would be so much fun.
*There is a set time-limit per round, ninety seconds on the arcade version (the ROM I played, for whatever reason, was set to seventy seconds). So, every time someone gets shot, the game just resets you to the beginning and you get to duel again until the ninety seconds runs out. At the end of the ninety seconds, the winner is the one who won the most duels.
*There is a kind of level structure, I guess, in that each duel has the obstacles in a different place. There’s even a duel where the wagon, which is usually just parked somewhere in the middle of the screen is actually driving down the middle of the screen, so that’s fun.
*The biggest video game advance here is really with the graphics; take a look at the beautiful background.
*Of course, that’s just an overlay on the arcade machine; the ROM version I played was just the actual computerized section of the game. But still, that’s pretty cool, especially after playing Oregon Trail, Pong & Breakout. That’s a cool design.
*Also, you might note that the screen features forced perspective. So, you move left to right on your side of the screen, of course, but you also move up & down, and as you move up, you get smaller and as you move down you get bigger, so it appears that you’re moving AWAY from the screen.
*I mean, it’s a static shot and just an artistic overlay, but this game actually creates something very vaguely approximating a 3-dimensional space. And then, when one of the cowboys gets shot, he gets transported up to the Boot Hill area on his screen and we see his headstone pop up next to the other headstones.
*So, it’s actually pretty cool. I mean, it’s obvious how it’s being done and just playing it with a ROM on a black screen, it’s not as impressive, but if you watch it actually being played on the arcade screen, it looks really good. The movement of the cowboys really does appear to be three-dimensional to some degree.
*So, anyway, it’s a super-simple game, so let’s get to playing it.
*Okay, well, if both you and the other player blaze away until you empty your guns, then the game just resets you both with six bullets again. I’m not sure what that says about the player. I mean, I was good enough to dodge all six of the computer’s shots; but I was also bad enough to take six shots at the computer without hitting it.
*Oh, they miss a cool thing here. If your bullet is in transit to the other player when you get hit, your bullet just passes harmlessly through the other character. I think it would be cool to have a “draw” of sorts wherein a duel doesn’t count for either player because you both got shot.
*I’m really wishing this game was more nihilistic, you know. Sometimes everyone dies. The vicious cycle of gun violence.
*This game actually is really fun. Even playing the somewhat bastardized version on the computer. It took me a bit to get the hang of the controls, particularly the raising & lowering of the gun arm. I think it would be quite a bit more intuitive playing on the arcade machine. You use the joystick to move yourself and then you would also have a gun handle that you tipped to aim and pulled the trigger on to fire. Using the keyboard to aim the gun is a bit clumsy.
*But I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I won my first game after playing about ten to fifteen minutes. On earlier games, I’d been hitting the guy some, but it only counts as a win if you kill the other guy more times in seventy seconds than he kills you.
*Oh, by the way, the little guy being played by the computer moves like a house on fire. He is incredibly mobile and fast. I would love to see someone move that fast controlling it on a keyboard.
*Anyway, I really liked this one. Playing it on the computer as a ROM only gives you part of the experience I reckon. The artwork on the arcade machine would have really added to the 3-D aspect of the game and using the gun controller to aim and fire would be a lot of fun. And playing it against a friend would be best of all: the two of you standing at the one arcade cabinet, blazing away for a frantic minute-and-a-half. This would be a blast to play on the arcade cabinet. As it is, it’s still a ton of fun.
*I guess I have to delete it now; is it illegal to keep it? I mean, technically speaking. Oh, well, I’ll delete it.
*Okay, I just went and played it one last time. And deleted it. Lots of fun.
*Next time, we’ll stay in 1977; this is the first time we have two games in a single year on this list. It’s back to Atari for a game that can ONLY be played as a two-player game. The computer won’t play against me! Will I be able to drag an unsuspecting friend into this ill-conceived project? Find out next time as we load up for Combat.