Gunman Clive is like a Lidl chocolate bar: not something you've heard of, but recognizable. It's a western run-and-gun game in the style of Mega Man, although not quite as challenging. There are multiple weapons, bosses, and different environments. The jumping mechanics feel similar to Mega Man, where you gain a little upward momentum before the character's weight quickly brings you down. You can play as different characters, two of which play similarly, and one who is completely different. To get back to my analogy from earlier Gunman Clive is short, sweet and cheap even as part of the HD collection on Switch, highly recommended.

You ever wanted Mega Man but kinda stylised and set in the Wild West? Boy, do I have the game for you! Gunman Clive's a pretty neat hour long thing; simple as all get out with Mega Man being the obvious template for mechanics. You jump, shoot, get shot at, fight the odd boss, you know the rigamarole. You've got alternate guns, the spreader from Contra, a bomb gun and something akin to the Wave Beam from Metroid, but they're treated like schmup power-ups, rather than Mega Man. Kind of a shame, think it might've worked to the game's benefit to have the more traditional robot master weapon acquisition.

But you know what does work for the game's benefit, kinda? The pacing! Every stage is a bite sized challenge, usually only a few screens long. It makes the game go by at an insanely brisk pace, but also doesn't let every level feel like it's quite getting the time it needs to stretch its legs. Kind of a shame, but I suppose something was gonna have to give. One thing's for sure; if I were playing this in between secondary school classes on my 3DS, it'd be like crack to me. The game's got a few kinda irksome sections, to be sure, with spikes instantly killing you in spite of invincibility frames being chief among them. The antigravity section near the end that had me holding left on the d-pad threw me through a fuck of a loop, could've done without that stage, but ya know, every Mega Man-like has a level or two.

But that's kind of the thing. How much of a game can you complain about, when those bad segments are just brief enough to not get on your nerves too much? Combined with the game's dirt cheap price point, it's hard to not at least suggest you give Gunman Clive a shot. If anything, I don't think either my time or money were wasted, and that's always a good feeling to have, even when you're dealing with a game in the lower end of the good half of the review scale.

i somehow never beat this when i owned it as a kid but it's a decently fun and short classic megaman inspired platformer with a neat style. not very hard, there are a couple moments that'll trip you up but it shouldnt be too difficult to breeze through in like 30 minutes. theres also other playable characters with different abilities which is nice if you ever want to come back to this and boot it up for a quick replay. iirc this game was also like really cheap on the eshop prior to it getting shut down, like 2 or 3 dollars so there was no reason not to pick it up if you had a couple dollars to spare

Cheap and short action platformer that plays like Megaman but with a different power up system. The visual style is easily the most striking thing about it and gives it a great vibe. Levels and bosses strike a good balance of being challenging enough to not be push overs but not so hard that you'll get frustrated. Also enjoyed the unlockable duck mode in which you have to flap your way through the run and gun levels with no offensive capabilities. Nothing amazing but easy to recommend as a good time for 2 bucks.