Time Crisis
タイムクライシス
- Year
- 1995
- Developer
- Namco
- Publisher
- Namco
- Platform
- Arcade
- Hardware
- Namco System 11
- Genre
- Light gun shooter
- Players
- 1 player
- Controls
- Light gun + foot pedal
- Series
- Time Crisis series
Gameplay Screenshots
About This Game
Time Crisis is the light gun game that solved the genre's central problem: how to make a shooting gallery feel like a fight. Its answer was a foot pedal, and it is still the best idea anyone has had in this format.
The pedal controls whether you are exposed or hidden. Stand on it and you lean out to shoot, but you can be hit; release it and you duck behind cover, safe but unable to fire and unable to reload. Every encounter becomes a decision about two or three seconds of exposure, and the game is built so that the decision is never free - the clock keeps running, lives are lost to the timer as well as to bullets, and enemies advance while you hide. You play Richard Miller of the VSSE, fighting through a mansion and a fortress to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter. It runs on Namco System 11 and the arcade cabinet is the version on this page; the PlayStation conversion followed the next year.
- A foot pedal that switches between firing and taking cover
- Timed encounters - the clock itself is a threat
- Enemies advance while you are hidden, so hiding is not free
- One-hit kills in either direction, which keeps every exchange tense
Version History
- Arcade original (System 11)1995-12
Namco's arcade release, the version on this page.
- PlayStation1997-01
The home conversion, playable with a light gun or a controller.
- Time Crisis (later revisions)1996
Board revisions adjusted difficulty and added languages.
Cheats & Secrets
DIP switches / service menuDifficulty, continues and free playThe Namco operator menu covers the usual settings; the arcade original has no hidden character or stage codes to find.
Tap the pedal instead of holding itShort windows of fire with far less exposureNot a cheat but the core skill: the pedal is a lever, not a switch. Releasing it between shots is how experienced players survive the timed sections.
Tips & Strategy
Shoot in the order enemies become dangerous
The closest and the fastest must go first. Clearing a distant target while a close one charges is the standard way to lose a life.
Duck to reload, not to think
Cover is where the weapon reloads and the clock keeps running. Using it as a pause is what ends runs on the timer.
Aim low at armoured enemies
Late-game enemies carry shields that cover the upper body. The exposed legs are the shot that takes them down.
Watch the muzzle flash, not the soldier
Enemies telegraph with a flash before firing. Reacting to the flash gives you the fraction of a second needed to duck.
Download Resources
Resource packs for this game are provided through the button below.
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