Gallagher's Gallery



Gallagher's Gallery is a live-action laserdisc video game, released by American Laser Games in 1992 (see 1992 in video gaming). It is often considered the most bizarre game released by the company, due to its atypical premise and goals. It is also one of American Laser Games' more obscure titles, despite the popularity of the comedian playing the main character.

Plot
The game stars the well-known comedian Gallagher, who gives advice and comments on the player's actions throughout the game. The plot is not entirely clear or particularly well-defined, but the objectives are set out by Gallagher himself. The player, armed with a pistol or toy gun. The anonymous player character can choose from four different locations - given names such as The Food Store, Gadget Land, The Playroom and The Sheriff's Office - where the comedian lets him or her know which objects must be shot; generally, the items that Gallagher deems broken or unnecessary, or those he simply dislikes, must be targeted. One memorable line in the game occurs when Gallagher encourages players to "shoot that diet soda".

The largely random elements of the surroundings that Gallagher declares must be hit include oranges, diet colas, eggs, gumball machines, alarm clocks and fish tanks, but, as opposed to most other live-action games by American Laser Games, people must not be shot. The game was featured on the 1992/1993 series of GamesMaster, as a celebrity challenge in which two actors from The Bill played the game. One of their tasks was to shoot food inside a TV dinner tray, but only the food the fly lands on. This also included canned food in which they has to avoid the dog food, but shoot the other cans instead.

Once the tasks have been completed, the player moves on to Gallagher's main gallery, where targets include basketballs and rubber ducks. The final challenge involves the comedian's famed stunt of smashing a watermelon using his oversized "Sledge-O-Matic" mallet. The player must stop this several times by repeatedly shooting the large hammer, but not Gallagher himself.

Gameplay
As was mentioned before, the controls are practically limited to the player having to use his gun to shoot objects and select locations, with few other options. The weapon can be reloaded at any time. If one makes a mistake, including failing to hit a specified item, Gallagher taunts the player, sometimes giving advice. Up to two players can take part in gameplay.