After slurping a good amount of Ringtons tea and settling my nerves, I set about this volume with gusto, revelling in yet another classy, and classic, publication from the ever-reliable publishing house of Bitmap.
From the introduction and preface by the author, Dave Cook, and a pair of forewords (Keiji Inafune - Capcom and the Mega Man series, and Chad and Jared Moldenhauer - Cuphead), it is clear that the run and gun category of videogames is both beloved, and one that has graced many a platform - some eighty listed here. Add to the mix the design by Sam Dyer, contributions from Kurt Kalata, Graeme Mason, SEGA Lord X, and Chris Scullion, as well as the visual contributions by Paul McNally, Julien Fouillat, and Jorge M. Velez, and what you have here is a tome that tells you almost everything you need to know about this ever-green corner of the videogames world.
Chronological in order, each entry receives at least a half page. Some get a full page, but no matter which option is used, the reader is presented with details of the game's plot, the author's opinion, and at least one screenshot. Key releases are permitted several pages, adding deep dives, classic moments and the like. Everything is cleanly laid out and the visuals, as is typical of the publisher, pop out of the page. The explanations, bon-mots, and commentary inform and entertain, demonstrating a clear affection towards the type yet without varnishing any flaws or issues, and given the sheer array of entries, a lot of effort has been put into this tome. As for the period covered, we start off in 1980 with Wizard of Wor, and end with 2023's Prison City. Fittingly, the last pages are dedicated to the finishing sequences of a curated selection.
The funniest thing about reading this book was that as I progressed through the ages, I realised that I had played an awful lot more run and gunners than I realised, just a very long time ago. How could I have forgotten Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters? Truly a game I played the heck out of as I awaited replacement F29 Retaliator disks as the copy bundled with my Amiga A500 was one of the bugged ones. Or Rambo III on the Mega Drive and its joyous/annoying over-the-shoulder archery antics? Or Alien Breed? Alien 3? The Chaos Engine?
Contemplating this enlightenment, I found the true worth of this book, its Bitmap brethren in general, and those of other publishers. It's not just learning about games, it's about wanting to play them. As such, a trip to Steam, GOG, and the "archives" (cough!) meant that I had a couple of weeks over the Christmas period experiencing a goodly selection mentioned within Run 'N' Gun's pages. I decided that my love of videogames was as strong as ever, just that this adulting malarkey had gotten in the way a bit. With that comforting thought, I brewed another mug of Ringtons and fired up Cuphead.
Run 'N' Gun is another high quality Bitmap Books wonder and one that really should be on your shelves. Certainly my first read through (because there will be many a future referral to this tome) re-opened my eyes to not only the classics I had played, but many that I had not, and it was worth carving out the spare time to give them a go.
You can pick up or order a copy of Run 'N' Gun from the usual physical and online book stores as you prefer. For me, I always try to use the publisher's website here. However you do so, you really do owe it to yourself to giving this excellent book a read!
