NES Zapper

Page contents last updated on August 9, 2024

Platform:	Nintendo Entertainment System
Accessory Type:	Light Gun
Model #:	NES-005
Release Year(s):	1985 (gray), 1988 (orange)

The Nintendo Zapper is a staple of the NES. Most consoles were bundled with the Zapper and a copy of Mario/Duckhunt. If you were to ask someone about playing their NES in its prime, most will tell you a tale of saving the princess and trying to shoot the dog in Duck Hunt with their Nintendo gun.

Assuming that you are shooting at a CRT and not a flat-panel display, the NES Zapper is still a very enjoyable piece of hardware to kill time. Duck Hunt is nice and all, but there are quite a few games that also use the Zapper. Other NES games in my collection that utilize the Zapper include Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman, and Gumshoe. Hogan's Alley and Wild Gunman are target-practice games with some cool extra modes. In Gumshoe you are trying to navigate some guy through an obstacle course by shooting him with the gun.

The gray variant of the Zapper is the original model that launched alongside the NES. It's futuristic-space-gun design and bright red trigger clearly indicate that the Zapper is a toy. In order to comply with a toy gun regulation that would go into effect in November of 1988, Nintendo would change the exterior color of the Zapper to bright orange so that it would be even more obviously a toy.