Virtual shoot’em-up blazes onto Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Players in Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s virtual shooting gallery ride abreast on 16 “horses” with motion-based saddles while firing laser six-shooters at targets on a large projection screen.

Opening in Spring 2008, the 4 1/2-minute separate-admission Desperados Sheriff Academy game starts with a short practice round, shooting at flying bottles and cans.

The real action begins with a gunfight in the center of a Wild West town where the bad guys pop up atop rooftops, behind barrels and even from under rocks. After a horse chase across the desert, the final standoff takes place in a saloon. Showgirls continue to dance throughout the shootout. (Play the online game.)

Players ride on their own mounts arranged in tiered rows with individual LED scoreboards on the handlebar reins. Special effects include air blasts, smoke smells and fog clouds.

I’m torn about the virtual shoot’em-up game. Although I don’t like the sight of gun-wielding kids, Desperados is similar to other traditional shooting galleries found at amusement parks (or on home video games, for that matter).

What do you think about gun games aimed at kids?

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland

— Brady MacDonald / Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Alterface]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 5:49 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Family & Kids, Northern California, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.