Johnny Nero: Action Hero

Johnny Nero: Action Hero
Developer(s)	Play Mechanix
Publisher(s)	Play Mechanix
Director(s)
Producer(s)
Designer(s)	Will Carlin Mark Macy
Programmer(s)
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
Composer(s)	Chris Granner Ken Hale
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	NA: August 15, 2004
Genre(s)	Light-gun shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Cabinet
Arcade system	ICE VP-100
CPU
Sound
Display

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Johnny Nero: Action Hero (also known as Action Hero) is a light-gun shooter video game made by Play Mechanix and released in arcades in 2004. [[ Innovative Concepts in Entertainment]] manufactured and distributed the game via two dedicated cabinets (standard and showcase deluxe, exclusively at Chuck E. Cheese) and a conversion kit.

Summary

In Action Hero, the player takes on the persona of Johnny Nero. Johnny is a comic book hero that plays in three very different 3-dimensional worlds: Space Wars – An evil alien empire is at war with the human race. Johnny Nero is all that stands between them and our total annihilation. Curse of The Mummy King – Johnny battles hordes of Egyptian evil enemies and an ancient Pharaoh to recover the priceless Jewel of Amon-Ra. Ghost Town – Johnny is a gun-for-hire paid to clean out the evil sheriff and his gun slinging hordes of undead.

Gameplay

The similar to Namco's Time Crisis series, the gameplay of Action Hero is that of a comic book theme. Players shoot on-screen enemies and power-ups and shoot off screen to reload. A glowing red circle behind one of the enemies (who wields a plasma cannon/staff/revolver) signals a warning that an aforementioned enemy with a plasma handgun (or plasma arm cannon)/staff/revolver (or rifle) is about to shoot at Johnny; the glowing red circle disappearing in a second led to the enemy with a plasma handgun (or plasma arm cannon)/staff/revolver (or rifle) shooting at Johnny, causing Johnny himself to lose the half of his life bar.

Besides "Shotgun", "Health", "Shrink Ray", "Flame", and "Dynamite", a special power-up, called "Adrenalin' Rush", can be automatically activated once the "Rush" meter is filled. During "Adrenalin' Rush", Johnny unleashes rocket launchers with unlimited ammunition for fifteen-seconds.

Unlike any other video gun game on the market, Action Hero offers 2 distinct modes of play, standard (either one or two players can play simultaneously) or "Guns of Fury", which allows one player to use both guns at the same time to work his way through the various comic worlds.

Development

Action Hero can be played on either a low or medium resolution monitor.

Action Hero uses the same VP-100 board as Play Mechanix's earlier game Special Forces: Elite Training, but with a faster processor (also known as the "VP-101").

ICE president Joe Coppola pointed out that ICE itself has been extensively testing the game since April throughout various types of locations and venues in the US and in each case, Action Hero was ranked in the Top 5 games within the location. Coppola stated emphatically, “This video has proven to have tremendous legs and consistent earnings throughout the last 20 plus weeks we have been testing it. It’s making good money in venues ranging from theaters, large FEC’s, bowling alleys, retail outlets and corner bars. Action Hero has universal appeal, and the earnings hold up consistently over time!!”

Coppola said, “We wanted to be 100% sure before we released this game to the market that we had extensively tested it in all of the various types of locations and that we knew that the earnings would hold up not just over a month or two, but over a significant amount of time. We have that proof now and we know this game makes money and players keep coming back.”

Coppola also said, “We wanted every operator in the country to immediately have a choice between just buying the kit or taking a dedicated unit. In the past we released dedicated units first but decided this time to offer the operator the option right from the start. Not only that but the price point of both the kit and dedicated unit make it affordable to every operator for every type of location. This is not an expensive piece; the ROI should be strong for every operator out there who invests in Action Hero.”

Coppola finished by saying, “The development team at ICE has worked closely with the software designers at Play Mechanix for the last 12 months making this inexpensive video game a kit that every operator could make money with and that game players will enjoy from start to finish. The team at Play Mechanix did some superb work on the design of the game in terms of the power ups, the bonus missions, and the secret weapons offered throughout. The idea of the Guns of Fury mode was ingenious, and we’ve seen where the players have really enjoyed this option, it adds a whole new dimension to the game and as importantly adds revenues. This was an outstanding effort by our partners at Play Mechanix, and we’ve certainly never been so excited about the release of a video game as we are about Action Hero.”

The game was unveiled at the AAMA Distributor Gala in July 2004.

References

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