Balloon Gun

Overview

Released by Sega in 1974, Balloon Gun was one of the earliest first-person light-gun shooter video games, and the first to feature multi-player gameplay. The game involved one or two players using light guns to hit various moving balloons displayed on the monitor.

Each player is given a limited ammo of 60 shots. In single-player mode, the game ends when that number has been fired. In two-player mode, the first one to use all 60 shots terminates the game for both players and the one with the highest score is determined the winner.

The balloons initially appear slowly, allowing more time for careful aim, but as the game progresses, the balloons are released at a faster rate, making it more difficult to score.

Bullet Mark

In 1975, Sega released Bullet Mark, a very similar game where the players use Tommy guns to hit a variety of moving targets displayed on the monitor, with lower points given for slower targets such as balloons and tanks, and higher points for faster targets such as pirates and jets, while points are deducted for misses, which also varies depending on which targets are missed.