Grab your Guncon, because Time Crisis is coming to PlayStation 5. On second thought, you can probably put down the light gun, because modern consoles and televisions won't support it. But that inconvenient fact isn't stopping Time Crisis from coming to PlayStation Plus this week. That's cool news, but is this game actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Next Generation, Computer & Video Games and more classic magazines that reviewed Time Crisis when it first came out. Get ready to hide behind a crate, because it's time for another action-packed episode of PlayStation Plus Review Crew.


Once upon a time, in the 1980s, light guns were a main attraction for home consoles. But as we entered the 1990s, the once popular accessory fell out of fashion. Both Nintendo's Super Scope and Sega's Menacer were seen as high-profile flops, and Konami's Enforcer was the subject of multiple Congressional hearings. The writing on the wall was clear; the light gun genre needed a big shake-up if it was going to stay relevant. Enter Time Crisis, a 32-bit shooter with a cool 3D look and a peddle that let our hero hide behind an object. That simple change was enough to breathe new life into the genre, so Namco wasted no time bringing Time Crisis to PlayStation, complete with the Guncon light gun. Was this enough to win over the dubious critics? Let's find out.

I like to kick things off with Electronic Gaming Monthly, as they are normally right in the middle of the pack. But not this time. With a score of 7.75 out of 10, EGM is actually at the very bottom of the scale. Kraig is one of the reasons the average is so low, giving it a 6.5: “In a way, Time Crisis is the most realistic light gun game. I say that because you can actually take cover behind things, then pop up to return fire when the coast is clear. While Namco gave this game an edge in this respect, they also hurt it by not having different weapons. By running around with the same weapon and no power-ups, Time Crisis becomes stale too quickly, even with the extra levels in the home version.” Shawn disagreed, going with an 8.5: “I liked this one in the arcade and the translation is awesome. The voices are pretty cheesy, but they don't get in the way. The graphics are really nice and the fact that it comes with the Guncon – well, any fan of light gun games should love this package.”

EGM's score isn't all that far from Edge, who gave the game a solid 8 out of 10. That is more or less the same score we saw from PSM, who used their own scale to give it a 4 out of 5. It's worth mentioning that this is the same score that Next Generation gave it in their 38th issue. While certainly a good score, they did have some complaints: “Unfortunately, only one player at a time can play, which is disappointing, considering the fact that most gamers are used to two-player shootouts. Also, there are no hostages or other good guys to avoid shooting, shaving off any pretense of strategy, and the barely interactive backgrounds could have been better. Along with the complete lack of weapons power-ups, these small shortcomings knock this title down a notch. However, when compared to other light gun shooters for home systems, Time Crisis is as good as it gets.”

As you might expect, GamePro liked it even more than that. They gave it a 4.5 out of 5, concluding that “unlike other stellar shooting titles, like Maximum Force and Virtua Cop 2, there are no weapon power-ups, which is a shame. You'll long for a screen-clearing bazooka or gut-ripping shotgun after a few levels. Still, Time Crisis offers tons of thumb-blistering action for twitch-addicted gamers everywhere.”

On the high side of the scale, we have Game Fan giving Time Crisis a strong average of 92%. However, the highest score belongs to none other than Computer & Video Games, who gave it a perfect 5 out of 5: “I remember once saying I'd get a PlayStation if they brought out two games – Time Crisis and Dirt Dash. My PlayStation arrived a long time ago, but now finally half my wish list is here! Time Crisis even beat my long-time favorite game Virtua Cop in the arcades, and the PlayStation conversion near enough matches it. Plus, Namco have finally given the PlayStation the official light gun it deserves. I do have a few gripes – the small shot area makes the game hard to begin with, I wish the gun had kick-back, and the UK version is slightly slower. But these factors cannot stop this game from being a High Five.”

This is one of those games where the critics were mostly in line, even if there was some variation in the scores. The criticisms were largely the same, with all of them complaining about the lack of power-ups. Still, the overall average was 86%, which is pretty good for this type of game. Now, it is worth mentioning that the version of Time Crisis coming to PlayStation 5 won't have support for the Guncon. It is yet to be seen how much that will impact the overall enjoyment of Time Crisis, so, despite the strong 86% average, you may have to decide if you want to play the game without a light gun. That may be a deal breaker for some people.