For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Tropicon's Gunple: Gunman's Proof (J) (Super NES) maps.
In Gunple (or Ganpuru): Gunman's Proof for the Super Famicom, alien vessels crash near Strange Island, which is apparently an 1880s western setting. An alien criminal named Demi is causing havoc, but is being pursued by Space Sheriffs Mono and Zero. Zero possesses the body of a young cowboy, and seeks to find Mono and hunt down Demi. Along the way, he'll have to tackle a number of dungeons and find the items within that will aid him.
If you took the 2011 film "Cowboys & Aliens" and gave it a dose of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, you might end up with something like Gunple: Gunman's Proof. Seriously, take a look at those dungeons. The features found in A Link To The Past are all there, from doors and stairs and ledges and even the "welcome mats" before the boss rooms. The big thing missing from Zelda are the puzzlish elements. It seems ASCII would rather forego the puzzles in favour of more action.
Despite the western setting, this game never saw a western release. As a Super Famicom game released only in Japan in 1997, when the next generation, the Nintendo 64 was already out, I can't imagine that most gamers have even heard of this, but the A Link To The Past engine put into a wild west setting is bound to pique the interest of those who do hear of it. Thanks to longtime VGMaps contributor Tropicon, "the legacy of Zero" (see what I did there?) is mapped out for us, if we dare to take down an alien criminal with a six-shooter.
So to recognize the effort put into mapping the only sci-fi/western Zelda-style game I've ever heard of, Tropicon's Gunple: Gunman's Proof (J) (Super NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for November 2016.
