Played this game using keyboard settings because i'm playing it on an emulator and also i don't own a GunCon and yeah it ain't the best i recommend using the GunCon because i think it's far more accurate and there's just something about the tactile feel of the GunCon that you can't replicate with keys under your fingers.

Since i played this on an emulator i'm so glad there's an option to turn off the gun flash because holy shit i feel like i'm about to have a seizure from all the flashing since i play it so fast and playing it at night in the dark and combined with the keyboard controls it's tough.

Other than that yeah it's Time Crisis. One of the most iconic light-gun series known for its combination of innovative gameplay mechanics, immersive gunplay, and cinematic presentation (by this i mean the cheesy voice acting and over the top action set pieces) that helped establish it as a groundbreaking title in the arcade gaming landscape

One of the standout features of Time Crisis 1 if not the entire Time Crisis series was the cover system with players having to take cover behind objects by pressing the cover button on the controller or more famously pressing down on the pedal if you're playing on arcade to not only avoid enemy gun fire but to reload their gun and i'm sure everyone has heard the iconic "ACTION!" and "RELOAD" sound effect i mean really that never gets old it just gets you hyped up to immediately start raining down bullets on your color-coded enemies.

While the game made quite a significant impact on the arcade gaming scene, it also brought some downgrades visually particularly in the PS1 version and i think this dip in graphical fidelity wasn't due to any lack of effort or care from the developers but more so due to the technical limitations of the PS1 Hardware because it's very apparent once you compare both versions. The arcade version had a lot more smoother texture and animations and overall just looked a lot better whilst the PS1 version tended to look more pixelated, less detailed and sometimes suffered from very noticeable blurriness and this is very evident in close-up shots or during super intense action moments where the hardware couldn't keep up with everything that's going on.
Though despite the graphical limitations in the PS1 version, it still manages to capture the essence of the arcade experience, albeit with some sacrifices in visual fidelity.

Despite my obsession with Time Crisis, the original game is something that I respect a lot more than I actually enjoy playing. Right away, the hallmarks that characterize the series are present front and center. The trademark cover system becomes key to careful resource management, in that you must time your dodges carefully against incoming attacks while keeping an eye on your remaining ammo and syncing your dodges with necessary reloads. Enemies are color-coded to quickly communicate their threat level (reds will almost immediately damage you, orange vests have trickier weapons with slower attacks but higher accuracy, and blues are your standard fare that tend to shoot like stormtroopers but will eventually find you), with closer enemies easier to spot and hit but generally posing a larger threat, especially enemies with clubs and claws that will never miss. Headshots aren’t required since any hit will immediately down a foe, but higher accuracy is nevertheless rewarded because enemies are often utilizing cover just like you, and nailing enemies when they’re appearing for the first time out of hidden traps and doors or hitting their exposed limbs sticking out of cover saves valuable seconds.

As such, the toughest enemy is not so much Time Crisis’ many goons or the bosses, but rather, the timer itself. It’s simultaneously the original Time Crisis’ biggest draw and biggest con: every action you take contributes to preservation of your remaining time, including optional bright orange enemies that provide little time bonuses upon hit, resulting in a very focused arcade experience. However, as a result, I found the game to be extremely difficult and punishing: you can’t afford to play it safe with the scant time gains you’ll get from clearing each scenario (since the timer is never reset, even after clearing acts or stages), especially because enemies appear in waves that progress only upon clearing all present enemies on screen, and can also waste tons of time if you miss and they duck behind cover. This wouldn’t be as much of a problem, except unlike the other main installments, standard enemies (blues and more competent browns) in the original Time Crisis deal damage based off of bullet thresholds; after a certain number of shots fired your way out of cover, they sometimes have a chance to fire a shot that can actually damage you. There’s no feasible way to distinguish between a shot from these foes that will miss versus actually hitting you, because the animation to duck below cover isn’t faster than the short delay between the red flash of damaging bullets and the actual hit, so it’s impossible to react to. Furthermore, actually getting hit wastes a few seconds because it puts you in a state where you cannot fire or duck below cover to reload, creating further complications especially in scenarios where multiple enemies are on screen firing at you. As a result, it often felt like I was required to memorize spawn locations and pick off enemies immediately to prevent most bullets from being fired altogether, since playing by quick reaction felt unviable when I had to play proactively in scenes where multiple enemies were firing, making it easy to lose track of how many bullets came close to hitting me. This pressure of needing to play almost perfectly was exacerbated by the fact that continues restart you at the beginning of acts instead of resuming where you lost all your lives, and that there is no way to regain lives outside of downing 40 enemies in a row without missing once. I respect what the original was trying to do with its simple toolkit and scoring system, but I can’t deny that the difficulty curve felt ridiculously steep and unwelcoming at times.

Still, I can’t be too much of a downer. It’s classic Time Crisis with a batshit crazy plot involving destructive weapons, kidnapping, and terrorists, alongside extremely cheesy dialogue and corny voice-acting with tons of flashy boss fights in a 3D low-polygonal trap-ridden castle. The exclusive Special Mode in the Playstation edition is a nice cherry on top, with branching paths that decide what environments you traverse resulting in different boss fights, all determined based upon your clear times: not quite as exciting as how they handle branching paths in House of the Dead (i.e. saving civilians, shooting switches, etc), but I respect its presence regardless. While I’ll generally deviate towards the other entries in the series, I’m glad I got to finally explore the ambitious beginnings of my favorite light-gun franchise that set the standard of spectacle for future installments. Now if only I could find those remaining Time Crisis II and 4 cabinets…

You know what. Fuck it. Time Crisis 1 is the best.

The president's daughter has been kidnapped on a remote castle island. It's sunset and you have a leather jacket. Time Crisis fucking rocks.

There's a certain je ne sais quoi to Namco's late 90s output. No other developer carried so much of what defined the "video game" in the prior decade and a half into their early 3D output, and certainly not while feeling so daring, bold and unbound by convention. There's always such a strong sense of style and energy, and there's few better examples of it than Time Crisis 1.

I have a bit of a history with TC (close friends are allowed to call it that, providing it's with dignity). Our family went on a big international holiday when I was about 11, visiting cities, theme parks and national heritage sites, but finding this arcade cabinet on the ferry there, complete with its chunky paddle and sliding recoil action, irritatingly remained the highlight of my trip when my parents asked afterwards. I was delighted to receive the PS1 port on my subsequent birthday. I think that's still my favourite birthday present ever. Finding a CRT on the side of the road earlier this year presented a dilemma. Claiming and carrying a heavy discarded television for half an hour back to my home was challenging and embarrassing, but the longing to bring Time Crisis back into my life made me accept who I was, and push past the looks of disgust and bewilderment from passing pedestrians.

The game is so excited about 3D. Swooping helicopters, a ride on suspended platforms, shoot-outs in active factories, wee moments of cinema. The ducking reload system is so much cooler than anything that preceded it, making you feel just that little bit more involved with your surrounding environment, and making avoiding attacks something more interesting than simply shooting the other guy first. Beyond gunfire, there's moving hazards you have to watch out for. Lunging attacks can be avoided with a quick duck, and effectively countered by popping back up before they retreat.

Enemy designs are simple, and instantly recognisable. You see a red guy, shoot him first, because he's dangerous. Orange? Get him for a time bonus. Blue are fodder, but you need to dispatch them quickly to keep on top of the ticking clock at the bottom of the screen. Standard enemies never take more than a single shot, making your gun feel powerful and keeping high-level play frantic.

What really makes me love Time Crisis 1 is that it's all one self-contained scenario. Having distinct levels in your game is an easy way to add variety, but as is true in games like Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil, little can make the objective as meaningful or the threat as tangible as laying all the cards on the table and have the player sweat and scramble through to the end, carrying each new war wound into the next fight. This is a "Time Crisis". You've got to sort this shit out right now. You're not getting a plane ride to an ice level halfway through.

Time Crisis is filled with little 10-second screens that change up the pace and keep it exciting. The bit where you step back from a barricade, or open a door into a 15 foot drop, or have to shoot gunners hiding behind turrets before they fire at you. It's just great. I love it.

The scenario of an old empire's coup against an incumbent presidency is great, too. The old regime's castle has been around for centuries, isolated from the rest of the world, but growing technologically advanced by their active war interests. You get romantic stone walkways, and the iconic clocktowers, hiding rooms full of submarines and blinking control panels. It's such a cool playset for this gun game.

It's the top of tip, it's the championship, it's the most tip-top Time Crisis.



(FURTHER PARAGRAPHS EXPLICITLY COVER THE EXPERIENCE OF PLAYING THIS VIA THE JAPAN-ONLY PS2 "GUNVARI COLLECTION + TIME CRISIS" RELEASE, AND I WOULD DISCOURAGE ANYONE OTHER THAN HARDCORE TC FANS FROM VENTURING FURTHER)

Bringing Time Crisis to the PS2 allowed Namco the opportunity to bring the arcade version to home consoles. Curiously, this isn't what they decided to do. What you get on the disc is essentially the PS1 ISO, but with G-Con 2 support.

Endearingly, in-engine assets used to reflect the G-Con 45 have now been modified to reflect the new controller. Take a closer look, and you'll notice Richard Miller, as well as Point Blank's Dr. Don and Dr. Dan, are now holding G-Con 2s in their respective keyart.

The increased precision of the G-Con 2 is welcome, and I was even able to hit that six pixel guy behind the distant turret at the start of Level 3 in one shot, but the game insists on using A as the reload button, which doesn't make for quite as comfortable a grip, so you may opt for your old 45, regardless. You can still use a second controller as a makeshift pedal, but the game seems fussy about which controllers you can use. I was only able to get a Dualshock 2 to work, but entertainingly, everything works on it. I was able to use L3 and R3 as my duck button. You may find success with contemporary Namco controllers, or maybe even PS2-era steering wheel pedals, but I can't guarantee that.

The game still displays in pixel-heavy 240p, with the biggest performance boost appearing to be in the loading times. It shaves a second or two off between stages, though you're sometimes faced with a disconcerting black screen.

All the familiar PS1 stuff is here, including the Original Mode and the old options menu. I wouldn't recommend getting this unless you're also interested in playing Japanese-language releases of the Point Blank games, but the precision and slightly quicker stage transitions are welcome. I'm sure anyone who's made it to the very end of this review wouldn't be dissuaded if this has piqued their interest.

Esse era um dos games que eu era tão viciado que zerava com uma ficha só.

E jogar isso em um controle não é tão legal quanto jogar no arcade. O curioso é que a versão de Playstation 1 tem uma outra campanha que se passa num hotel e tem múltiplos caminhos e finais.

Jogo super curto e ainda divertido.

The most notable rail-shooter of all time that doesn't involve zombies! Time Crisis is such an awesome and well-paced shooter with a delightfully corny setting! The lone gunman in a nice jacket is sent out to save the president's daughter kidnapped and brought to this big ol' castle full of armed goons! Huh, that sounds familiar.

I really love how the two most notable rail-shooters both went for a really cinematic approach by creators that were blatantly inspired by movies. Time Crisis is so embedded in action movie blood that you got a guy yelling "ACTION!" between segments. That's legendary stuff right there.

The OG and probably still the best to ever do it. There are many light gun games out there, but it really can't be overstated how much the cover system elevates TC over everything else. It makes gameplay just a little more dynamic and raises the skill ceiling just enough to make things feel less random.

The Special Mode added for PS1 is the single best TC campaign in the series. The way it changes your path depending on quality of play adds a ton of replay value and the different locales, from shopping malls to ammo warehouses, keep it visually fresh.

I really think something gets lost in the later games with the increased visual fidelity and bolted on extra mechanics. The simplicity of the visuals here means enemy placements are always immediately visible—you can't miss these simple polygonal models with their bright primary colors—where enemies in later games can get lost in the environment. And TC is at its best when it's just about pistols—no extra weapons and ammo counts to juggle. Just pure precision and speed. That's what it's about.

So, you’ve come hoping for a really in depth and detailed review? Unfortunately I’ve only ever played this game once and to be honest…it is a much MUCH more interesting story. In the future, I promise I will actually sit down and review this game. But for now: get a drink and a nice snack, sit back, and enjoy my glorious tale.

It was around about 8 years ago I’d say and me and a friend were in a random arcade. We were sort of browsing around, looking through all the different games they had to show. And that’s when…we saw it. Time crisis. For those that don’t know, time crisis is essentially a first person on rails shooter which were pretty popular in the arcades during the late-ish 90’s. The thing is here is that you have a small pedal which if pressed: will allow the player to duck down and reload their weapon. So when me and my friend saw this game, we decided to give it a go. How hard could it possibly be? We said to ourselves.

I’m sure this is the point where in your mind you’ll probably hear thinking ‘oh this is the part where he reveals how hard it actually is and then there is some funny moral to the story later’. Unfortunately, I’m gonna have to crush those expectations.

So my friend inserted 50p of British currency into the machine and started playing. We’d both agreed that he’d have the first go and later I’d have a go after he died. But after 10 minutes or so, we realised that he was better at time crisis than we thought. He was brilliant at it in fact. I just sat there watching him. He decimated every single enemy in his path. The villain laughed: thinking that he was some sort of joke. But, he was so, so wrong. My friend kept pushing the pedal like there was no tomorrow and landing every hit. After a while, I began to wonder if the machine was rigged. But those thoughts were soon put to sleep as finally: he beat the game.

So what is the moral to the story then? Just because you think a game is gonna be really hard doesn’t mean it always will.

Great gameplay, story happened, pedal was harmed, ACTION! RELOAD!

Idk what game you guys are playing but this is just flat out not good.

The aesthetics, the story, the sound design, the characters, all really good stuff, I love it, but the game play itself has aged terribly, especially compared to every other game in the series.

Unlike Time Crisis 2 and onward, there is literally no indicator on when a bullet will hit you. This means that the 20 bullets that were just on your screen and did no damage to you look exactly the same as the 1 bullet that will hit you and do damage. Extremely annoying.

Also enemies that throw grenades or knives, I don't know if this is a me thing or what, but it's like there is literally no depth perception on them. The grenades never feel fair and you can barely even see the knives thrown at you. The game also has too many "gotcha" moments for my liking.

All and all I was just not enjoying my time with this game. I respect it for starting the best light gun series ever, and I honestly like everything about the game minus the game play, but man this just sucks.

Standby.......ACTION!

TIme Crisis on the PS1 is a unique experience. Unfortunately I did not have a PS1 Guncon Light Gun which created some frustrating experiences in due to enemies being little colored pixels in later levels when its super action packed lol. Enemies are pretty recognizable and easy to "read" their movements when you are able to see them. Overall I had fun with it even though I feel like the arcade is better. Storyline is pretty self contained and its all straight forward which I appreciate tremendously. Lots of replay value and classic modes to be had here. I would replay this on a Guncon for sure but if you are into its history or get a sample of GOAT Arcade On Rail-Shooter games are then this is your first stop.

One of the best, if not the best Rail shooter. It has way more charisma than all the others ones at the time and also play better than most of them. The get behind a cover dynamic is really where this game shines the most for me in the gameplay side, it makes the shooting way more than just shoot before YOU get shot that most rail shooters had at the time.

The stages, this old action anime vibes, the soundtrack, the terrible voice acting and this artstyle, this is definitely the peak of rail shooters.