Why am I riding a mine cart on a dinosaur... in a gravity field?!
— Kajak of Let's Race With RPGM summarizing the mechanics of the games.
Created by Bertil Hörberg, Gunman Clive is a 20-stage 2D Platformer starring the titular character, whose goal is to rescue his beloved Ms. Johnson from evil bandits and rustlers. Originally an iPhone/Android title, the game was later ported to the Nintendo 3DS eShop, all versions sold at $2. The gameplay combines classic Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man gameplay.
The Android and 3DS versions gives you the option of playing as Gunman Clive or Ms. Johnson in a Role reversal.
The sequel is available for 3DS and Steam.
An HD Collection featuring both games was released on the Wii U eShop on September 3rd, 2015. It also adds Chieftain Bob to the playable roster on the first game. The collection was ported to the Nintendo Switch on January 17th, 2019, and also released on the PlayStation 4 on May 22, 2020.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Girl: If players choose to be Ms. Johnson, she'll end up in the role of Gunman Clive.
- All Deserts Have Cacti: Serving as only background objects.
- Badass in Distress: If you choose to play as Ms. Johnson (or Cheiftain Bob in the HD Collection) in the first game, it's Gunman Clive who is taken captive and she has to rescue him.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: What's more, space suits haven't been invented yet.
- Big Bad: The Duck in the sequel.
- Bottomless Pit: What's a good platformer without one?
- Colossus Climb: The final boss of the sequel. You need to shoot the weak spots to expose the boss's frame before being able to climb on it.
- Competitive Balance:
- Ms. Johnson lacks the ability to Run-and-Gun, unlike Gunman Clive. She's also a bit slower (that dress does get in the way, you know). However, she can slow her descent à la Peach.
- The Duck doesn't use a gun, pretty much making Duck Mode an enforced Pacifist Run. He does have limited flight capabilities, however. He also doesn't take on any of the bosses. His size also makes dodging much easier.
- In the sequel, Chieftain Bob jumps higher, runs faster and makes more damage than the others, but his only weapon is a spear, forcing you to rethink your bosses' strategy and to spend the flight levels avoiding fire that you can't return.
- Damsel in Distress: Ms. Johnson in the first game, if you choose to play as Gunman Clive.
- Distressed Dude: Gunman Clive in the first game, if you play as Ms. Johnson.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Or rather, the duck.
- Doomed Hometown: The first level of the sequel is a retread of the first level in the original, only on fire and falling apart courtesy of the bandit attack.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: Not just goons, but wild horses, wolves, pelicans, ducks, rabbits...
- Everything's Better with Samurai: The boss of World 3 in the sequel.
- Excuse Plot: Rescue the damsel/hero from the bad guy.
- Flawless Victory: Getting through a stage without taking a hit will reward you with the "No Damage" bonus.
- Gatling Good: The first boss has a minigun.
- Gratuitous Ninja: They start showing up as regular Mooks in World 3 of the 2nd game.
- Gravity Screw: Later stages will have parts when the gravity is messed up, and so is your controls.
- Humongous Mecha:
- The 2nd boss turns from a train into a giant robot.
- Another one at the final level of the game.
- The final boss of the sequel, which you must do a Colossus Climb on to reach its "brain".
- Joke Character: The Duck in the 3DS version as it can fly, but cannot attack. The real challenge is getting through the game as a duck.
- Kangaroos Represent Australia: World 4-1 in the sequel.
- Killer Rabbit: Actual rabbits are among the many things trying to kill you.
- Life Meter: You get more in Easy mode and less in Hard mode.
- Made of Explodium: Seriously. Since when do eggs that comes out of a pelican's mouth explode on contact?
- Minecart Madness: Stage 7 serves as this.
- Mirror Boss: Shadow Clive, the penultimate boss of the first game. Although he does not change if you pick Ms. Johnson.
- Mobile Phone Game: Originally for the iPhone and Android. It was ported to the Nintendo 3DS on January 3rd, 2013.
- No Ending: Duck Mode in the first game just adds "The End" to the results screen of the final non-boss level, then returns you to the title screen.
- One Bullet at a Time: Seems that way, at least. The Spread Gun only lets you set off two salvos at a time, and the Magnum has an especially slow rate of fire.
- Proj-egg-tile: Pelicans spit explosive eggs out of their beaks.
- Riding into the Sunset: Played completely straight in the horseback riding level in the sequel.
- Rule of Cool: All your guns will show an empty cartridge ejecting every time you fire. This includes the revolvers.
- Schizo Tech: Where to start? The game takes place in the 19th century, yet Clive has pistols that can fire mortars, homing shots, lasers, and weird bouncy things, the last few levels have you riding a rocket and traveling through a space base after the game's damsel is whisked away in a UFO, robots are among the game's Mooks, and the bosses include a guy with a minigun (not designed until the later half of the 1900s) and black sunglasses (also not in existence until the 1900s), an android/cyborg with an extendable arm, and two Humongous Mechas, one of which transforms from a train engine to its battle form.
- Secret Character: Exclusive to the 3DS and Steam versions. Beat the game to unlock a duck as a playable character.
- Self-Deprecation: The trailer
takes a few jabs at itself and the author. - Shout-Out: Many of the platform elements are straight off Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man.
- Ms. Johnson can float in the air like Princess Peach from Super Mario Bros. 2.
- Some of the weapons you get are a throwback to Contra.
- The Spikes are a One-Hit Kill like in Mega Man.
- The third boss has a extendable robotic arm. (the developer did work on Bionic Commando: Rearmed, so it's an amusing self-reference)
- The penultimate boss is very similar to an iconic one in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. In fact, he takes the same pose that Link did in that game when injured.
- The final boss is very similar to Giant Donkey Kong.
- it also has same attack patterns of Tiki Tong.
- The sequel has two rail shooter levels very similar to something from Star Fox.
- An early level in the sequel has the player climb a shaft while avoiding falling Tetris pieces. The entrance to said level also mirrors the classic Super Castlevania IV castle entry sequence.
- The horse-riding level in the sequel plays out similarly to the jeep levels from The Adventures of Bayou Billy.
- Everyone in the game seems to have the last name Johnson (e.g. Ms. Johnson, and the places like Johnson's Coal Mine, Johnson's Gun Shop, and so on), which is a likely reference to the running gag in Blazing Saddles where everyone was named Johnson.
- Silly Walk: Ms. Johnson's dress isn't very conducive to running, so instead she awkwardly shuffles around when she moves.
- Space Western: The final levels of the first game are set in space.
- Spread Shot: One of 4 weapons you can get.
- Stealth Sequel: Duck Mode in the second game is revealed at the end to be a prequel telling how a duck became the leader of the bandits.
- Swallowed Whole: A One-Hit Kill attack from the World 4 boss in the sequel.
- Temporary Platform: Platforms with the down arrow fall when you step on them.
- Unexpected Shmup Level: Stage 16 serves as this.
- Video Game Demake: A very rare official and accurate version. The game's developer felt that the game most strongly resembled an original Game Boy game, so he...made it into a Game Boy game. It's just one level and he doesn't plan to continue working on it, but it actually runs on original Game Boy hardware.
- The Western: The first game starts as a stereotypical Wild West shootout, before taking a turn into sci-fi. The sequel starts with the Western town being destroyed, and your character leaves the Wild West relatively early.
- World Tour: The sequel has your character chasing a robot across several continents.
- Year X: The instruction manual indicates that the game takes place in the year 18XX.
