Mad Dog McCree is the first released by . It originally appeared as an in 1990.
The game gained considerable attention for its live-action video style, bearing similarities to contemporary films. Its success inspired a series of similar live-action games in the following years.
In a series of stages, the player must shoot enemies before they fire, avoid shooting innocent bystanders, and reload each time their six-round revolver is depleted of bullets. Shooting a bystander or getting hit by a gunfighter results in the loss of one life out of three and is followed by a clip showing the town doctor commenting on the player's actions.
However, this traditional gameplay is interspersed with "showdowns", which are fast draw duels that play the same as American Laser Games's later release . The arcade version is equipped with a specialized light gun which can detect whether or not the player had properly lowered the light gun at the beginning of the duel. Home versions of the game attempted to simulate this mechanic by having the player's gun unloaded at the beginning of the duel, and not allowing it to be reloaded until the same moment when the arcade version would allow the player to draw.
The home versions allow the player to choose from three difficulty modes.
