Shoot Away

Shoot Away is a lightgun shooter arcade game that simulates the sport of skeet shooting.[1][2] It uses a projector system that projects monochrome images against a panoramic backdrop, designed to resemble a forest clearing.[3] Using the attached lightguns, players have two attempts to shoot at both white targets — representing clay pigeons — that arch across the screen.[4] Both players' scores are shown on an LCD display attached to the gun holsters.[2] There are two difficulty options, "Regular" and "Pro".[5]

Development of Shoot Away was done by Sho Osugi, an engineer for Namco that worked on many of the company's driving games for arcades.[6] He was assisted by Kazunori Sawano, best known for his work on Namco's first major hit Galaxian.[7] Shoot Away was one of Namco's first products exported outside Japan, helping establish intercontinental connections with other manufacturers.[8]

Shoot Away was one of Namco's first major arcade hits, and performed considerably well in the United States. Satish Bhutani, the co-founder of Namco America, had difficulty in satisfying the growing demand for the game. Shoot Away remained a popular title in arcades well after its original release, with machines still being sold as late as 1986.[9]

In Japan, Shoot Away was the third highest-earning EM arcade game of 1977, and the sixth highest overall arcade game that year.[10] The following year, it was the second highest-earning EM arcade game of 1978 (below Namco's F-1), and the eighth highest overall arcade game.[11] It was later one of the highest-earning EM arcade games of 1980 and Namco's fifth highest arcade game that year (below Pac-Man, Galaxian, Rally-X and Pitch In).[12]

Cash Box was enamored with the game's sense of realism, particularly its rifle-shaped lightguns and illuminated projector backdrop. They wrote that it provides "a very appealing atmosphere for the player".[5] Electronic Fun with Computer & Games shared their admiration for its large, vibrant projector screen.[13] In a 1991 retrospective article on electro-mechanical arcade games, CU Amiga writer Julian Rignall ranked Shoot Away as one of the "real interactive games".[14]

In 1978, Namco released a single-player version of Shoot Away named Clay Champ. It was designed to be smaller and more compact for arcades and other street locations,[3] and used mirror effects combined with projection systems. Allied Leisure released the game in North America in June 1979.[15] In the same year, Allied released a video version titled Clay Shoot. Namco released CosmoSwat in 1984, which was a reskin of Shoot Away that featured a science fiction-motif and a video display on the gun holster stand.

The arcade game appears in the 1984 film, The Karate Kid, where Ali Mills and her friends play the game at an arcade.[16]

A 1992 sequel, Shoot Away II, was published in Japan, featuring additional difficulties and new fiber optic lightguns.[17] A version that featured rapid-fire lightguns was also produced. Shoot Away II is included as a minigame in Time Crisis II (2001)[18] and Point Blank DS (2006). Namco released a version of Shoot Away for Japanese cellular phones in 2002 through the i-Mode network.[19] A third sequel, Shoot Away Pro, was developed by Bandai Namco Amusement and released in March 2018.[20]