Lethal Enforcers

Lethal Enforcers was created as an arcade shooting video game by Konami in 1992. The game was ported to the Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega CD in 1993. The game makes use of a revolver-shaped light gun known as the Konami Justifier, which was included with the game. In the case of console versions, a standard controller can be used in lieu of the light gun. Lethal Enforcers also spawned a sequel: Lethal Enforcers II: Gunfighters, followed by the much different (and fully computer-generated) Lethal Enforcers 3.

The game puts the player into the boots of a police officer who has been assigned to stop a growing crime wave that puts the city's security in jeopardy.

Lethal Enforcers has five stages or 'assignments': 'The Bank Robbery', 'Chinatown Assault', 'The Hijackers', 'The Drug Dealers', and 'The Chemical Plant'. During each stage, the player must shoot the armed criminals without harming any innocent bystanders or fellow officers. One shot is usually enough to kill most enemies. At the end of each stage, there is a boss that must be defeated in order to complete the assignment. Bosses often shoot projectiles at the player.

In-game, the player's gun can carry up to 6 bullets. To reload, the player must aim their lightgun away from the screen and pull the trigger. In case of the console versions, if a controller is used, the player only needs to press a specific button to reload.

At the beginning of the game, three to five life units are available. In the arcade version, more can be purchased by inserting additional coins. Life units are also awarded based on how many points the player scores while playing the game. Every time the player is shot or an innocent person or officer is shot, one life unit will be lost. The game ends when all life units are gone, but continuous play is available.

There are different ranks that the player can attain, depending on how well the player performs. The ranks are: Patrolman, Detective, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and Commander. When the game begins, the player's rank is Detective, and after each stage the player will be promoted, provided they have not killed any innocents. If the player has killed innocents on any stage, they will either maintain their rank or will be demoted.

Additional weaponry can be found throughout the game that will gives better firepower: automatics, Magnum bullets, rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers and machine guns. The grenade launchers and machine guns can each be used only once, but the automatics, the Magnum bullets, the rifles and the shotguns can be reloaded the same way as the regular gun. If the player is shot while they have one of those weapons, however, they lose any special guns they have collected and will return to the regular gun.

In the arcade version, a DIP switch allows users to set the game to "Arcade Mode" or "Street Mode". In Arcade Mode, one assignment follows directly after the other where, between each assignment, there is a target practice session where the goal is to try to shoot all the required targets to improve the player's accuracy. Street Mode gives the player a choice of which stage they would like to go to, including a target practice stage.

The Assignments
At the beginning of each assignment, the player will look at a black screen with four photos of what to expect. A fellow officer will assist players in taking out the criminals. He will appear in "The Bank Robbery", "Chinatown Assault", and "The Drug Dealers". Players must be careful not to shoot him, or they will lose a life.


 * The Bank Robbery: This is a warm-up stage where the player can get a feel of virtual realistic shooting. He or she starts out inside the bank. Most of the enemies are behind the counters. The player must kill the robbers wearing ski masks and other criminals, but not the bank tellers or other employees. A police officer will briefly appear and take out an enemy before moving away. The player then proceeds to the back of the alley. After engaging in (and winning) a firefight in the back alley, the player takes part in a high-speed chase. As always, he or she must eliminate all enemies including a passing motorcyclist. The player can shoot the tires of cars to slow them down, or destroy the gas tank to set the cars on fire. In each of the cars, the player should just be able to make out the top of a robber's head when he's not aiming at the player. The player can then attempt a head shot or just wait for him to completely expose his head. After clearing the cars, the first boss will appear from the side of the "Chemical Waste Service" van. He has a rocket launcher so the player must shoot the projectiles to avoid getting hit. When he is eliminated, the bank robbery mission is complete.


 * Chinatown Assault (Downtown Assault in the Super NES version): In this stage, ninjas and other gun-toting villains have invaded Chinatown. They are terrorizing the innocent population with acts of violence. The ninjas (wearing traditional blue robes) mostly carry knives, and they will either throw them or stab the player from up close. The player will start out on a street in Chinatown. He or she must eliminate all enemies, including the ninjas, in order to advance to the next area, which is the subway. Again, the player must not shoot any innocents. It is worth noting that the name of a restaurant seen on this level differs depending on which version of the game is being played (for example, in the arcade version, the restaurant is called the China-Inn). Further information is available here. The player then moves on to the subway entrance. A lot of the enemies will pop up from behind the escalator, the turnstiles, the pillars and the kiosk. After killing all of the bad guys in the entrance, the player will move on to the train platform where a subway car is sitting in the background. There is a sleeping man on the bench here, but this man is an innocent victim so the player cannot shoot him. After clearing all the enemies on the plaform, the train starts to move. The enemies sticking their heads out from the big windows of the subway train are easy to kill. The ones that are popping up from behind the subway door's windows are a little harder but not difficult. After killing all the enemies, the player will face another boss, a knife throwing ninja. The player must shoot the incoming knives to avoid getting impaled. When the boss is eliminated, Chinatown is saved.

A notable reason why the Super NES version had "Downtown Assault" as the stage name was because of Nintendo's censorship issues in the early-to-mid '90s. This stage's references to Asian people including "Chinese Restaurant" being changed to "Restaurant" were deleted by the company to prevent being offensive.


 * The Hijack: To many players, this is a hard stage. It takes place at Metro International Airport where terrorists are attempting to hijack a plane. The player's mission is to neutralize them and prevent them from taking away the plane. Some of the hijackers will throw grenades at the player so he must shoot the grenades to avoid taking damage. Innocents will appear here so the player must be careful not to shoot them. In the first area, hijackers will appear behind the van and the truck, out of the small windows where the passengers board (just behind the truck), a remote-controlled trailer beside the plane, and from the open door of the plane. After the area is secured, the player will move on to the baggage loading zone. Extra weapons are hidden inside the baggage. After that, the player proceeds to the third area of the stage. Along the way, the player will encounter an enemy (a heavily armed hijacker wearing body armor and armed with an assault rifle) hiding in a cargo box that will take multiple hits to be destroyed. The grenade launcher is also available in this stage. After killing all the enemies here, the plane begins taking off. It is difficult to take down the enemies sticking their heads up from the small windows of the plane so the player must time his shots correctly and accurately. However, the enemies that open the doors of the plane are easy to kill. In the end, the player will face the boss, who is piloting the plane. He has backup men so the player must kill the men before concentrating on the boss. The boss' weapon is a grenade launcher. The player must shoot the grenades to avoid getting hit. When he is defeated, he commits suicide by blowing up the plane, and the airport is secure.


 * The Drug Dealers: The player is sent to the shipping docks to stop a drug deal from happening. (A short video of this stage can be found here. In the first stage, enemies will pop up behind the cars. One enemy will pop up behind the trunk of a red car, along with a shotgun available for use by the player. Several enemies are also standing on top of the moving boxes. After securing the area, the player will proceed to another area where a cruise ship will be passing by. Most of the enemies will appear on the boat, while a few will appear close to the player. After this section is cleared, the player proceeds to the next stage, where they can see trucks inside the garage of a big building near the shipping docks. One of the trucks houses two enemies who try to drive up towards the player. After clearing the enemies in this area, another high speed chase takes place, similar to the one in "The Bank Robbery". Again, the player can shoot the tires and/or the gas tanks of the enemy vehicles. The boss at the end is flying a helicopter. He mans a turret and shoots artillery shells at the player. As always, the player must shoot the incoming projectiles to avoid losing a life. After the player deals out enough damage to the helicopter, it crashes and the mission is complete.


 * The Chemical Plant: A chemical plant sabotage is taking place. This is the last and arguably the hardest stage of the game. There are two types of enemies here: those who are wearing a yellow uniform (with a gas mask), or those who are wearing a blue uniform with a cap. As the player proceeds further into the stage, they will encounter enemy tanks. Shooting the tanks' guns will destroy them. There are volatile barrels in this stage and if either the player or the enemy destroys them, the player will switch into night-vision mode. Enemies will pop up in front and behind the flames along with more tanks to kill. When night-vision mode is over, the player faces off against the final boss. He is piloting an Apache helicopter. The player must watch out for the helicopter's machine guns, missiles and rockets. After the helicopter has been shot down and destroyed, the chemical plant is secure and the game is over.

Enemies

 * The Bank Robbery
 * Robber with ski mask, black shirt, and black pants. Weapon is a MAC-10 Machine gun.
 * Blond man with sunglasses, grey suit with necktie, and gray pants. Weapon is an MP5 Machine Gun. He is a carryover to the subway scene in the Chinatown Assault mission and the car chase in the Drug Dealers mission.
 * Brown haired man with sunglasses, black jacket, black shirt, and black pants. He's armed with a shotgun.
 * Brown-haired woman with sunglasses, blue robe, and a short black skirt. She is armed with a handgun.
 * Black-haired man with sunglasses, brown trenchcoat, and dark green pants. He's armed with a sniper rifle.


 * Chinatown Assault
 * Ninjas with sunglasses, blue Chinese robes. Either armed with a MAC-10 Machine gun or knives.
 * Long-haired man with sunglasses, and beige suit. Armed with a handgun. Carryover to The Drug Dealers Mission.
 * Man with yellow shirt, and brown jacket. Armed with a shotgun.
 * Black-haired man with sunglasses, grey jacket, and grey pants. Armed with a MAC-10 Machine Gun. Carryover to the Drug Dealers Mission
 * Man with dark blue shirt, and black pants. Armed with a sniper rifle. He is a carryover to the Hijack Mission.
 * Long-haired Asian woman wearing a red robe and sunglasses. Armed with a handgun.


 * The Hijack
 * Hijacker with beige cap, beige vest, and a gas mask. Armed with an M16 Rifle
 * Hijacker with blue cap, blue uniform, and sunglasses. Armed with a MAC-10 Machine Gun.


 * The Drug Dealers
 * Man with black suit, and armed with a handgun.
 * Brown-haired man with dark blue suit, and blue pants. Armed with an MP5 Machine Gun.


 * The Chemical Plant
 * Man with yellow uniform, blue pants, and a gas mask. Armed with an M16 Rifle.
 * Bearded man with sunglasses, blue uniform, and a blue cap. Armed with a MAC-10 machine gun.

Trivia

 * The game takes place in the city of Chicago: in the Chinatown Assault stage, the player can see the Chicago 'L', and the Sears Tower is visible in the background when playing the arcade version of the game.


 * According to a photograph of an opened wallet on the game's control panel, player 1's name is Don Marshall and lives in Chicago, Illinois.


 * All enemies wear either ski masks, sunglasses, or gas masks.


 * The Super NES version changes all bloody bullet holes and wounds on the screen to a white colour, implying normal bullet holes and scratches.


 * With its realistic revolver-shaped controller, photo-quality graphics and violent content, the game was a source of controversy in the United States in the early 1990s and was cited as an example in the Congressional hearings on video game violence.