This game takes place in a locale similar to Wheeling, Illinois. A metropolitan city is being terrorized by a gang of criminal thugs known as "Hoppers". The problem has grown so bad that not even the regular city police can stop them. Upon seeing this, the mayor calls in a special police unit armed with sub-machine guns who are dedicated to stop the crime wave at all costs and give the city back to the law-abiding citizens. They are the only ones that can save the city from the Hoppers' criminal vicegrip on the city.
Gameplay
This game is an arcade lightgunrail shooter that up to two players can play simultaneously. Players have individual life bars, and are armed with sub-machine guns. The players have to shoot the "Hoppers" down, without shooting innocent victims and fellow policemen. Players take damage if enemies shoot the player or hit them with a projectile. If players shoot an innocent victim or policeman, they will also receive damage. Sometimes enemies try to shoot an innocent victim, so the player would have to shoot the enemy that is trying to risk the innocent victim's life; doing so will increase the player's life by one point. There are six stages in the game, with two "bonus" or "accident" stages depending on the player's accuracy. If the player has a satisfactory accuracy rating, the "accident scene" is played in which players battle a rush of criminals while trying to avoid shooting the civilians. If a player didn't shoot well enough in the stage, a "Practice Round" is played instead in which the players shoot pictures of criminals while not shooting the pictures of civilians. Players can also shoot items to get power-ups:
Police badges offer score bonuses.
The Full Fire power-up provides the player with fully automatic machine gun capabilities which comes with a limited number of bullets.
The shotgun cartridges make the number of shotgun bullets increase by one bullet, per cartridge, with a maximum of 9.
Reloading is done by shooting off screen. The end of each stage contains a boss fight, and all of the bosses have life meters as well. The game also features voice samples. Enemies usually taunt the player by saying: "Go to Hell!", "I'll kill you!", "What do you think of that?!" and "Yah!!". Innocent victims appear and shout: "Help!", "Don't shoot!" and "Help me!", while policemen say: "Freeze!" or "Hands Up!".
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Under Fire on their April 15, 1994 issue as being the sixth most-successful upright arcade unit of the year.
