Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold

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Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold is a live-action laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games, released for the arcade, Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i and PC (under DOS), the first release being in 1992; the quality of the video is the lowest on Sega CD. A sequel to the moderately popular Mad Dog McCree, the game abandoned the rather simple style of the original, introducing elements that can be considered "Hollywood", including dynamic shootout scenes and in-game music, as opposed to the original's almost complete lack thereof. Like the first game, Mad Dog II is a single-player first person perspective game where the player follows the storyline and is required to quickly shoot certain enemies during the to proceed on the quest. The game was rereleased by Digital Leisure in 2003.

[edit] Plot

As is the case with most American Laser Games releases, the storyline of Mad Dog II is rather simple. Once again, the anonymous main character must track down the wanted outlaw himself, eliminating any and all gang members and hostiles along the way; from the introduction, one can conclude that he or she will be up against renegade Indians, banditos and "Mad Dog's sleazy crew".

The player proceeds through the game, first by taking a preparatory shooting lesson with a stagecoach driver - played by Ben Zeller, who appeared in the role of the prospector in the original game - and then by choosing one of three guides: Buckskin Bonnie, the Professor and Shooting Beaver. Each guide takes the player along a different, unique route, but they converge in the game's final shootouts, which take place inside a moving train and in Mad Dog's hideout; the latter scene is especially lengthy and culminates with a showdown with McCree himself..

However, hunting down and defeating the infamous gunfighter is not the player's only goal; as the title implies, Mad Dog has hidden a chest full of treasure in his hideout and it is up to the player to get it back from him. At times, the player will discover that the treasure chest is full of sand and obviously does not contain the 'lost gold'. However, this is during the final scenes of the game and PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SCENE WILL NOT ALWAYS OCCUR UNLESS THE PLAYER HAS REACHED THE END USING MORE THAN 1 CREDIT, FURTHER - AND MORE IMPORTANTLY - THE SAND SCENE WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT APPEAR ON THE CD-I OR DVD VERSIONS OF THE GAME DUE TO CURRENTLY UNKNOWN REASONS.

[edit] Gameplay

Mad Dog II is, in essence, a rail shooter, and therefore gameplay has a relatively simple structure. The player is all but guided along a path once chosen and his or her only role is to shoot the villains before they manage to hit the player. A special cursor is used to specify the location the player is aiming at. There is also a limited number of bullets in the chamber; however, reloading is relatively easy and can be done an infinite number of times.

Like Mad Dog McCree, The Last Bounty Hunter and Fast Draw Showdown, Mad Dog II contains random scenes in which the player takes part in a showdown, in which he or she is up against one or more gunfighters. One starts out with an empty chamber and must quickly reload when given the chance, and proceed to eliminate the enemy as fast as possible. Shooting practice at the beginning of the game involves hitting cow skulls, signposts and such from a stagecoach in motion.

The player must avoid getting shot and hitting innocent civilians; if one of these occurs, the player loses one of three lives, and a short clip is displayed often showing an undertaker giving advice or criticizing the player's actions. In the PC version, a mouse or light gun is used to shoot, reload and choose paths or guides; in addition, there is one load/save slot and three possible levels of difficulty.