Badlands (1984 video game)

Badlands
North American arcade flyer of Badlands.
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami, Centuri
Platform(s)	Arcade, MSX
Release	1984
Genre(s)	Action Interactive Movie
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet	Upright
Display	Horizontal orientation, Raster, standard resolution

Badlands (バッドランズ) is a 1984 laserdisc video game developed and published for the arcades by Konami. In the vein of interactive movie games like Wild Gunman, Dragon's Lair, and Cliff Hanger, Badlands lets its players navigate through various animated sequences by pressing a single button at a precise moment (unlike Dragon's Lair, there is no joystick). Since the game is themed as an old West shooter, the function of the button is almost always the fire the main character's gun to fend off against attackers. If the player shoots too soon, he will be hanged for murder. Failing to fire in time, however, will result in being killed by the attack. As the player progresses, the timing becomes more precise.The game was very particular about firing at the right time, which made it very difficult and often unplayable. At one point Buck must shoot a snake and fire at the snake at the exact second to succeed. It is even possible for Buck to shoot himself in sequences where it shows him. Distributed by Centuri in the U.S., it was Konami's only laserdisc game.

The game's plot is remarkably darker than most games at the time. The player assumes the role of Buck, a hardworking family man, whose wife and children are murdered by a band of outlaws. One by one, Buck tracks down the various outlaws, earning higher and higher bounties as he progresses. The final foe is the outlaw leader, Landolf.

"We were livin' a quiet life, when one day for no reason my wife and my children were killed in cold blood! And I was wounded, unable to help. Why this? Why us? Why? I won't let them get away with it. I'll get every last one of 'em!"

The outlaws, ranked in order of their bounties, are as follows:

"When this coin hits the ground one of us will fall with it..."