Gun.Smoke

 is a 1985 vertical scrolling run-and-gun shooter arcade game by Capcom. This Western-themed game was designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. "Gun.Smoke" centers on a character named Billy Bob in the NES version, a bounty hunter who is after vicious criminals of the Wild West.
"Red Dead Revolver", the first installment of the "Red Dead" series, is a spiritual successor to "Gun.Smoke".
Gameplay.
"Gun.Smoke" is similar to "1942" and "Commando", also developed by Capcom, but with some differences. This game is a vertical scrolling run & gun shooter in which the screen scrolls upward automatically and players only have three ways to shoot, using three buttons for left, right, and center shooting. The player can also change the way the gunman shoots through button combinations. The player dies by getting shot or struck by enemies, or by getting caught between an obstacle and the bottom of the screen. The player can collect special items, including a horse for protection up to three hits (or get killed by an obstacle), boots for speed of movement, bullets for faster shots and rifles for longer shot range. These items are found by shooting barrels and rifles, boots, and bullets can stock up to five. Some items that add score points include stars, bottles, bags, dragonflies, and cows, but two other items to watch out for are the yashichi, which is a 1up and the cattle skull, which reduces Billy's power.
Note: Two versions of "Gun.Smoke" were released under license in America by Romstar. One has a fixed sequence of bosses; in the other, the third and sixth levels are swapped, so that Roy is followed by Wolf Chief, and Pig Joe is followed by Ninja. The other version also removes the boss rundown.
Ports.
"Gun.Smoke" was ported to many systems:
NES version.
The game was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and Family Computer Disk System in 1988. The objective is to free the town of Hicksville from the band of criminals known as the Wingates. But in order to capture their most dangerous henchmen, in each stage the player must retrieve a Wanted sign of said henchman, otherwise it is impossible to clear the stage. The NES version also has different music. In this game, the main character is a bounty hunter named Billy Bob.
Differences from the arcade version.
Even though the NES version stayed true to the gameplay of the arcade version, there were major changes done:
Disk system version.
Although virtually identical to the NES version, the FDS version featured several differences:
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack for the arcade version was composed by Ayako Mori. On August 25, 1986, Alfa Records released a limited edition soundtrack, featuring all of the music from the arcade version, as well as two unused tracks. Its catalog number was Capcom Game Music – 28XA-94.
Reception.
Upon release, it was one of the most popular arcade games in Japan. "Game Machine" listed "Gun.Smoke" on their January 1, 1986 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month in Japan. The same month, it was also one of the top five arcade games on the US "Play Meter" charts.
"Computer and Video Games" magazine gave the arcade game a positive review in March 1986. They called it an "excellent" fast-paced shooter, considering it to be better than light gun shooters such as "Hogan's Alley" and "Shoot Out".