Hogan's Alley

ホーガンズアレイ (Hōganzu Arei)NES, Arcade, Wii U1984

  1. JP1984
  2. NA1985
  3. EU1985
  4. RU—

Hogan's Alley used the same name everywhere; in Japan it is written ホーガンズアレイ and belongs to the Famicom light gun series. It needs the NES Zapper, and the Wii U Virtual Console re-release swapped the Zapper for the Wii Remote.

Hogan's Alley is a light-gun game that Nintendo released for the Famicom in Japan on 12 June 1984 as part of its light gun series. It was directed and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, with music by Hirokazu Tanaka, and takes its name from the FBI Academy's Hogan's Alley shooting range.

The player shoots cardboard cutouts of gangsters while sparing the police officer and civilians. Game A shows the targets in three fixed spots, Game B moves the action to a city street, and Game C is a trick-shot game in which you keep cans in the air. Together with Duck Hunt, it was one of the first hit video games to use a light gun.

In North America it was one of the 17 NES launch titles, released on 18 October 1985, and a VS. System arcade version did well in the US and Europe. Artist Cory Arcangel later hacked the game for his work I Shot Andy Warhol, replacing the targets with images of Warhol.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Hogan's AlleyNintendo VS. System; also on PlayChoice-10 Arcade Mar 1, 1985 Nintendo 2
NA Hogan's AlleyOne of the 17 North American NES launch titles NES Oct 18, 1985 Nintendo 2
NA Hogan's AlleyVirtual Console, played with the Wii Remote Wii U Jan 7, 2016 Nintendo 2
JP ホーガンズアレイHōganzu AreiFamicom light gun series NES Jun 12, 1984 Nintendo 1
EU Hogan's AlleyNintendo VS. System Arcade August 1985 Nintendo 2
EU Hogan's Alley NES Dec 15, 1987 Nintendo 2
JP ホーガンズアレイHōganzu AreiVirtual Console Wii U Jun 22, 2016 Nintendo 1

Also known as: ホーガンズアレイ JP1Hōganzu Arei JP1

Box art by region

  • Hogan's Alley box art, North America release
    NA Hogan's Alley
  • Hogan's Alley box art, Europe release
    EU Hogan's Alley

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • GameplayWii U Virtual Console

    The Wii U Virtual Console release was modified to be played with the Wii Remote instead of the NES Zapper.2

Reception

The VS. System arcade version was a major hit in the US and Europe and topped the RePlay arcade charts by November 1985. Computer Gaming World named it the Best Target Game for the NES in 1988. Japanese Wikipedia puts worldwide sales at 1.27 million copies.2

Sources

  1. 1ja.wikipedia.org
  2. 2en.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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