Gunman Clive
Developer(s)Hörberg Productions
Publisher(s)Hörberg Productions
  • JP: Flyhigh Works
Director(s)Bertil Hörberg
SeriesGunman Clive
Platform(s)Windows, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, iOS, Android, Switch
ReleaseAndroid
  • WW: 2 April 2012
iOS
  • WW: 20 April 2012
Windows
  • WW: 2 May 2012
Nintendo 3DS
  • EU: 20 December 2012
  • NA: 3 January 2013
  • JP: 22 May 2013
Wii U
  • NA: 3 September 2015
  • EU: 3 September 2015
  • JP: 28 October 2015
Switch
  • EU: 17 January 2019
  • NA: 17 January 2019
  • JP: 13 June 2019
PlayStation 4
  • WW: 22 May 2020
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Gunman Clive, released in Japan as Gunman Story (JP: ガンマンストーリー) is a platform game developed and published by Swedish development studio Hörberg Productions. It was first released for Android on 2 April 2012. The game follows Clive, a lone gunslinger in a futuristic Wild West, as he tries to save the mayor's daughter from a group of technologically well-armed bandits.

In 2015, a sequel, Gunman Clive 2, was released, in which Clive must save the world from the group of bandits from the previous game.

Gameplay and plot

Gameplay screenshot

Gunman Clive is a side-scrolling platform game. The game is set in the year 18XX. The player controls the character Gunman Clive or Ms. Johnson[1] as they fight enemies across 20 levels to rescue the mayor's daughter. The player has to traverse a 2D world filled with moving platforms, traps and enemies.[2] The player can pick up power-ups such as a spread shot, explosive bullets, and a laser gun. Enemies vary from bandits who carry rifles and dynamite to animals such as pelicans and wolves. Bosses appear in every fifth level. All the player characters have life meters.[1]

The 2D graphics are in the style of sketches, making the game resemble an interactive flip book. Gunman Clive's soundtrack pays tribute to the Western genre of video games. The differences between Gunman Clive and Ms. Johnson are that Ms. Johnson is slower, freezes in place while shooting, and has a skirt that can slow down descent.[2] A third playable character, a duck, is unlocked after completion of the game.[1] Gunman Clive has three difficulty settings, which differ in how much damage the player character takes with each hit and where the player character respawns after death.

Development and release

Gunman Clive was developed by Hörberg Productions and designed by Bertil Hörberg. Some time after development of Gunman Clive, Hörberg, a gay man, regretted the lack of gay representation in the game. When developing the sequel, Gunman Clive 2, Hörberg made a point to include the character Chieftain Bob partly with the intention of him being included in the Wii U port of the game, where he is portrayed kissing Clive.[3]

In Japan, the game was released by Flyhigh Works.

The game was approved through Steam Greenlight in November 2013.[4] In October 26, 2015, Bertil Hörberg released a one level ROM of Gunman Clive for the Game Boy line[5] and for the Super NES on May 30, 2016.[6]

Reception

Gunman Clive received generally positive reviews after its release from both mainstream and video game journalists. The gameplay, art and style were praised by Destructoid, which said that its major flaws are its short length, game freezes during the second boss fight, and sometimes inappropriate soundtrack. Destructoid also noted that the game takes many ideas from the Mega Man series. Destructoid described it as "a steal at $2" and said that "fans of 2D action platformers need to check it out. If Hörberg Productions is ever graced with the opportunity to develop a mainline Mega Man game, I'm confident that fans of the series would be happy with the results."[1] IGN described it as "a brief experience, but still one well worth experiencing if you’re looking for a fine $2 platformer on your 3DS. The stellar game design is emboldened by the three different characters you can play as. From start to finish, Gunman Clive is a fantastic platformer, good enough that it is worth playing multiple times to play as every character."[2]

Sales

By January 2015, more than 400,000 copies of the game had been sold, with over eighty percent of sales on the 3DS.[14] The Gunman Clive HD Collection was sold 9,000 times until January 2016.[15]

Legacy

A sequel, Gunman Clive 2, was released for the Nintendo 3DS on 29 January 2015. The story now takes Clive around the world to chase after the leader of the bandits from the first game.[16] In June 2015, Bertil Hörberg announced the two games would be released on the Wii U as Gunman Clive HD Collection.[17] The collection was also released on the Nintendo Switch on January 17, 2019,[18] and PlayStation 4 on May 22, 2020.[19]

Clive, Ms. Johnson and the duck enemy appeared as three of the playable guest characters in the 2D action RPG game Drancia Saga for the Nintendo 3DS.[20]

Clive will appear as an assist character in the upcoming indie fighting game Fraymakers.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Holmes, Jonathan (8 January 2013). "Review: Gunman Clive (3DS): In the year 18XX". Destructoid. ModernMethod. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ronaghan, Neal (22 February 2013). "Gunman Clive 3DS Review: It's hard to argue with a fantastic platformer for only two bucks". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Andriessen, CJ (March 25, 2019). "The creator of Gunman Clive talks giant robots, gay kisses, and going indie". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Tach, David (14 November 2013). "Valve greenlights Gunman Clive, Black Gold Online and more". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Carter, Chris (2 November 2015). "Gunman Clive creator releases ROM of his game on Game Boy Color". Destructoid. ModernMethod. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Arnott, Justin (May 30, 2016). "Gunman Clive Now Available on SNES... Wait, What?". Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Gunman Clive for 3DS". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Gunman Clive for iOS". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Gunman Clive Critic Reviews for 3DS". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Gunman Clive for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (26 December 2012). "Gunman Clive (3DS eShop) Review: Mega Clive". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Slater, Harry (13 April 2012). "Gunman Clive". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Colette (13 April 2012). "'Gunman Clive' Review - A Playful Sketch of the Wild West". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (3 February 2015). "Gunman Clive Sales Pass 400,000 Across All Platforms". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Gunman Clive HD Collection Has Sold 9000 Copies But Has Still Made A Profit". Nintendo Life. 2016-01-18. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  16. ↑ "Gunman Clive 2 for Nintendo 3DS". Nintendo eShop. Nintendo. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Treese, Tyler (26 June 2015). "Gunman Clive HD Collection Coming to Wii U". GameZone. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  18. ↑ @BertilHorberg (December 17, 2018). "Gunman Clive HD Collection will be released on Switch on January 17 for $3.99 / €3.99" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Romano, Sal (2020-05-12). "Gunman Clive HD Collection coming to PS4 on May 22". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2020-05-17. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  20. ↑ Lite_Agent (2016-09-03). "[N-Direct] Drancia Saga (3DS): details, trailer + western release". Perfectly Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  21. ↑ "A New Assist Joins Fraymakers!". YouTube. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
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