Hands-on: G’AIM’E 30th Anniversary Time Crisis Light Gun Game
The G’AIM’E Time Crisis Lightgun is an homage to a golden era of gaming. One of the most popular Arcade games of the 90s made a successful transition to the PlayStation 1 console, complete with a lightgun — and now the nostalgia is reborn with a new lightgun and teeny console that lets you play up to four classic lightgun arcade games on any modern television or monitor, using some funky AI screen recognition for accurate calibration.
The original Time Crisis game at both the arcade and on the original PlayStation are some of my fondest memories of gaming. Fun solo or with friends, lightgun games haven’t hit the same highs since then. For me, the celebration of 30 years of Time Crisis has brought back a massive wave of nostalgia — and I’m hoping for a resurgence in peripheral-based games (perhaps from franchises like Guitar Hero and Rockband).
Matching similar prices of other mainstream retro game systems, the G’AIM’E lightgun comes in three flavors with three different pricing options. If you just want to experience Time Crisis in all of its original glory, you can purchase the basic version with just the lightgun and the console with only Time Crisis installed for $99/£99. If you want more lightgun games (Point Blank, Steel Gunner, Steel Gunner 2) and the reload pedal, the premium version costs $149/£149. And finally, there’s the ultimate edition for $199/£199: this has everything in the premium version, plus an additional lightgun for two-player action and some extra Time Crisis memorabilia for collectors.
Included in the ultimate edition are three Time Crisis collectables: a large perspex diorama featuring the titular hero Richard Miller, a metal pin badge of Richard, and a keychain with a 3D-effect gun inside a small perspex cuboid. These little items are definitely aimed at nostalgia-seeking collectors and are a nice touch on top of the rest of the kit.
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Unboxing the G’AIM’E lightgun is an impressive affair. It comes in a well-designed box with all the contents individually packed and protected. I tested the Ultimate edition, which contained two blue lightguns with long orange braided cables and USB-C connections, a black hard plastic foot pedal with an equally long black braided cable and USB-C connection. A power brick with multiple adapters to fit any plug socket, an HDMI cable, and the G’AIM’E console. It also included a QR code for a pre-designed 3D-printed gun holster — if you happen to have a 3D printer handy.
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Setup was super easy: a quick-start sheet gives you an easy-to-follow visual guide for connecting up the peripherals and console to a TV or monitor. To be fair, it’s only a couple of USB-C ports and the HDMI port — nothing too taxing. There are two buttons on the console: a power button and a second button for resetting the console.
Once everything was set up, the console powered on, played through a video setup guide, and provided an introduction to calibration. After peeling off the protective film on the camera lens of the gun, it was time to start calibrating. I took my time to slowly aim and hit all the targets, and then the gun was ready to start gaming. The G’AIM’E uses smart AI screen recognition alongside calibration to help with accuracy. You can also improve accuracy by reducing direct light reflection and making sure there are no other screens in view of the screen you’re aiming at, as second screens can cause issues with both calibration and gameplay.
I started by testing out Time Crisis, and as soon as the music kicked in, the nostalgia really hit hard. The game ran very smoothly, and the aiming was insanely accurate — almost too accurate. I struggled to just casually aim the gun at targets and had to resort to using the iron sights to hit targets consistently. Popping in and out of cover and using the foot pedal to reload was fantastic — and was part of what made this title so appealing at its release. Memorizing the patterns of where and when the enemy appeared is what saved you credits and coins back in the day, and I was happy to find I still remembered a lot of the game.
Time Crisis was a delight to play, but what about the other games on offer with the G’AIM’E? Well, they didn’t do quite as well at weathering the passage of time. I owned Point Blank on the PlayStation One, and I remember it being much smoother. The graphics really showed their age, and, although there are plenty of game modes, my accuracy seemed off. Point Blank is a quicker game than Time Crisis and requires more reaction speed, and the lightguns didn’t seem to handle this title well at all. As for Steel Gunner 1 & 2 — I never played these titles when they were originally released, so this was my first experience with them. Their fast-paced, hectic playstyle was better than Point Blank’s, but the lightguns also seemed to struggle with accuracy in these titles. I recalibrated several times, but it still seemed off.
The bottom line
The G’AIM’E’s hardware aesthetics are impressive, and the quality and construction of the lightguns are top-notch. I had a lot of fun replaying and reliving Time Crisis in all its original glory — it was a delight. I was disappointed with the performance of the other game titles, however — in hindsight, I would probably opt for just the Time Crisis basic edition. It’s a shame that the console doesn’t allow for game expansion, as that would definitely increase the value and potential of this little arcade machine. Regardless, it’s a lovely nostalgia product that still provides plenty of modern-day fun and will be amazing for get-togethers with friends and family.
