Get ready to lock and load, light gun fans, as I’ve got two great Midway light gun shooters from the 90s for you (one new and one that’s an addition to one you’ve seen here already)! I’ve tested both of these with the AimTrak and they work well – I will be revisiting these and other light gun games once I get the Sinden light gun and I will update the overlays as necessary.
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Revolution X (Midway – 1994)
MAME version
RetroArch version
Aerosmith were never shy about milking their somewhat cheesy image with flashy technology, including a Walt Disney World ride and a Guitar Hero game, but this mid-90s rail shooter from Midway was somehow both the least and most impressive of their extracurricular experiments. The game’s “Music is the weapon!” mantra and dystopian rock band-fights-censorship schtick were cringe-inducing even at the time, but the game goes all-in with its cheese, and over 25 years later it feels strangely reassuring. (Remember CDs? Remember… Aerosmith?) Though not the most imaginative or varied gun game ever made, Revolution X is a great reminder of Midway’s 90s heyday, and it has a sense of style and silliness that make it worth a few rounds fighting Mistress Helga alongside a pixelated Steven Tyler.
The MAME version has 3 screen sizes – a Medium size (on the left above) that shows the most CPO artwork, a Large size (on the right above) with a bigger screen and a Full size that makes the screen the entire monitor width. The RetroArch version just includes the Large size as it’s the best balance between screen size and artwork.
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Midway – 1991)
MAME version
RetroArch version
Before Midway had players firing CDs at armies of rollerblading goons alongside Aerosmith, it had them shooting machine guns at attacking Terminators alongside Edward Furlong in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The mechanics are similar, but it’s perhaps easier to root for humanity against killer robots. The game puts you in the flesh-covered endoskeleton of a T-800, battling through a series of stages modeled after the movie, grabbing weapon powerups and shields along the way. Though the technology was somewhat older in Terminator 2 vs. Revolution X, the former often actually looks better as it doesn’t scale its sprites quite so aggressively.
The original design in this overlay is by @walter.farmacia (the left image above) – in addition to adjusting the brightness, I tweaked his design to add two additional screen sizes that give you more game and less cabinet. The two versions also have different speaker panel styles. The MAME version has all three variants, while the RetroArch version just has the middle size (the right image above).