Point Blank

Point Blank, also known as the Gun Bullet Series (ガンバレットシリーズ) in Japan, is a shooting game series by Namco for the Arcade, PlayStation and Nintendo DS. The trilogy was first released in Arcade in 1994 and was later ported to the PlayStation. Point Blank DS was released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS featuring 40 challenges from the original series. Point Blank was the first light-gun game released by Namco.

Gameplay
Players use an attached light gun (or in the case of the DS, a pen) to hit targets onscreen. Missions require speed, quick judgment or pinpoint accuracy.

The game consists of non-violent, all-ages, shooting contests like shooting targets (and avoiding bombs and civilians), shooting cardboard targets, shooting targets of the player's color, protecting the iconic Dr. Don and Dr. Dan, and other miscellaneous challenges, similar to games like Police Trainer and Area 51: Site 4.

The player chooses the desired difficulty level (Practice, Beginner, Advanced and Very Hard) which will determine how many stages must be finished to complete the game, as well as their overall difficulty. Players are shown four missions in each grouping, and may attempt them in any order. Players usually have only three lives for the entire game, though this may depend on the arcade settings. Most stages have unlimited bullets, but some have a limited amount of ammo.

Players can lose lives by:
 * Failing to complete a quota in the time limit.
 * Shooting a bomb.
 * Letting Dr. Don and/or Dr. Dan die in any mission where the player must protect them.
 * Incorrectly answering questions by shooting the wrong answers.
 * Shooting a cardboard civilian.
 * Shooting cardboard geisha girls.
 * Shooting the opponent's targets.
 * Having less points after completing a stage.
 * Failing to complete a quota and any 1-life penalty that loses multiple lives.
 * Letting the meteors destroy the Earth.
 * Running out of bullets in some stages.
 * Shooting incorrect differences.
 * Letting the aliens steal slots.
 * and more.

They are the list of types on each stages:


 * Accuracy - In this type, players must shoot the designated area with the highest points.
 * Intelligence - Players must count to 16 by shooting the numbers.
 * Memory - Players must match two cards by shooting two matching cards.
 * Simulation - In this type, players are required to shoot cardboard bad guys but not cardboard civilians. In the Japanese theme of this type, players shoot ninjas but not geishas.
 * Visual Acuity - Here, the player is required to shoot the target that matches what is displayed.
 * Speed - This type requires players to shoot targets of their designated color (depending players play from left or right).

Games

 * Point Blank/Gun Bullet (ガンブリット) (1994) (Arcade, PlayStation)
 * Point Blank 2/Gunbarl/Gun Bullet 2 (ガンバァール) (1999) (PlayStation) (arcade)
 * Ghoul Panic/Oh! Bakyuun (1999) (Arcade, PlayStation) - A spin-off title featuring a haunted house theme and 3D graphics.
 * Point Blank 3/Gunbalina/Gun Bullet 3 (ガンバリーナ) (2000) (Arcade, PlayStation)
 * Point Blank DS/Gun Bullet Trainer/Gun Bullet DS (2006) (Nintendo DS)

Development
Point Blank was originally created for the arcades in 1994 but a console version was later made for the PlayStation in 1997. This version included an arrange mode which added an alternate version of Arcade mode, as well as adding many gameplay modes alongside an RPG mode titled Quest. This game was re-created in 1999 as Point Blank 2, adding more mini-stages and replacing Very Hard with Insane. The game was once again re-created in 2001 as Point Blank 3 but was only released for the arcades in Japan and for the PlayStation worldwide.

At the 2006 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, CA, a Nintendo DS port of the game was announced. The console's stylus and touch screen is used in place of the light gun. The finished game was released in North America on June 13, 2006, two days after the North American release of the Nintendo DS Lite.

Reception
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine called characters Dr. Dan and Dr. Don an underrated "dynamic duo".