Short Version: A faithful recreation of the arcade classic, Jakks Pacific’s Big Buck Hunter Pro TV Video Game is a nice alternative when you’re too lazy, broke, or inebriated to make it out to your local watering hole to play the real thing.
Features:
- Plugs directly into your TV via RCA cables attached to shotgun controller
- Full game is built into the controller itself
- Wireless sensor bar sits on top of your TV
- MSRP of $39.99
Pros:
- Pretty close recreation of the arcade version
- Easy enough for just about anyone to pick up and play
- Good value for around $40
Cons:
- Gun controller is a bit small, resulting in underwhelming pump action
- On-screen aiming cursor’s slow reaction time is distracting
Review:
Ah, sweet memories of being in my early twenties. My friends and I would have just had our asses handed to us twice in the double-header softball league we somehow thought we’d be able to conquer year after year, our postgame analysis short-lived at the dive-bar-turned-cougar-hangout called Bunny’s on Excelsior Boulevard in the Minneapolis suburb I called home for years and years. All of it was simply a warm up to the marathon session of Big Buck Hunter that’d inevitably take place until closing time week in and week out.
Now I’m 30 and living in Boston. A dull heartache comes and goes in early May of every year as my Minneapolis friends work out their attack positions and flanking maneuvers for the upcoming softball season (if anyone in a semi-serious Boston softball league needs a first baseman or outfielder, please let me know). Most of my friends have kids now and last I heard, Big Buck Hunter’s been replaced by a quick beer or two from a cooler after the game interspersed with discussions about mortgage rates and paid time off.
But I digress. You probably want to hear about this game now.
It’s good. Well worth the $40, in my opinion. I’ll admit that I haven’t played the very latest arcade versions of Big Buck Hunter, but this play-at-home game feels pretty close to the original arcade version as well as Big Buck Hunter II.
The gun controller is a little bit on the cheap side but feels like it ought to be able to withstand some manhandling. My main gripe with it is that the barrel’s pretty short, which makes the pump action of the fore-end somewhat unsatisfying. Other than that, though, it’s a decent – not as nice as the arcade version but, hey, this thing costs $40.
The on-screen aiming cursor is the main weak point of the entire package. Its slow reaction time makes your main objective – trying to shoot moving animals – a bit frustrating. I eventually overcame this by training myself to ignore the cursor and use the sight on the gun barrel. Even though the cursor’s slow to react, the game will indeed register where the gun’s aimed when fired, not where the cursor happens to be located.
Those minor gripes aside, this Big Buck Hunter fan has been a happy camper. For roughly the same amount of money that you’d spend playing the arcade version for a few hours, the home version provides a similar enough experience to make the purchase worthwhile.
Big Buck Hunter Pro TV Video Game [Jakks Pacific]
Dude, why tease us with just showing us your girlfriend’s arms.
Let’s see some leg.
looks not so fun
thanks for alot
thanks for the review. my wife is trying to find this for me for christmas, but cant find it anywhere. everyone is sol out. where can she find it at? Thanks. oh, yeah, awesome game!!!
Bob,
I am not sure where you are located but I just saw these this weekend (Dec 12/13) at 2 Target stores on sale for $29.99. Good luck!
thanks susie q. will def try to pass hints to her to look at target! Thanks again!
where else besides target sells the 40$ big buck hunter game?…….in the st paul, minn, area………….thanks….
where do we find the big buck hunter pro game nere watertown n.y 13601
target i paid 29.99 for it cheper than walmart
It says crude humor…can someone give me examples of what is said?
I have a 5 year old son in the house: But also have a 19 year old son and husband. Want to know what crude humor is defined as….
if it is like the arcade game crude humor would be, it tells you you need practice, your terrible, etc. I have never heard a you really suck. I have a 4 year old that loves to play the game. We are trying to find one for home. Its too expensive to play at a bar or arcade.
Jeff, I am in Minneapolis and would also like to know? Target has been sold out of these up here for quite some time!
We have one ,but need another WHERE DO WE FIND IT !!
Target (in Raleigh, NC). I was $40. You might can get it online.
I just looked Target.com has them online.
just bought the buck hunter….the picture and the deer work great…….but the cross hairs don’t move as quick as the gun………IS THAT THE WAY ITS GONNA BE? ////// //
We had so much fun with this on Christmas Night. But now when we want to play the game is telling us to calibrate again and again. Like there is a freeze. Has any one else had this problem and know what to do?
Hi Diana, I would like to know if new batteries where the answer to the problem with the buck hunter game???? I would like to buy one but I don’t want to spend $40.00 if it freezes.
Sorry it took so long I have been gone. No the batteries were not the answer. We love this game no matter what the age is. Is there any one who could tell us a fix on the freeze. Of course new batteries didn’t fix the problem. I even went out and bought another one for my Grandchildren at my home. Yesterday it froze. We even used the very same spot for shooting. Help, Help, Help. We love this game.
Diana
diana-THE SECRET IS…………NEW BATTERIES!
i have a 3yr. old granson love to play this game my wife really gets in to it it is agood game it use to cost me at least 20.00 at the dinner al the time i paid 29.99 at target in watertown .ny i got one for my 13yr. old to my buddy wants one and he 60yrs old
i bought two of these games for my 4 year old for christmas. we live in alabama and hunt all season long every year. this year was too cold for him to be out in the deer stand so he played this game after christmas, until it started that freezing up that people are talking about. when the first one started acting up, i went and found another one to buy. i thought it was just my luck that i bought a dud and the second one would be fine. wrong!! it started doing the exact same thing. it would freeze up earlier and earlier each time that you started to play the game, now my 4 year old doesn’t have his favorite gift of the year. new batteries was not our answer. we put in new batteries twice on each game and nothing changed. if anyone else is having this trouble please post your comment so we can find out what is going on with ours. right now, we don’t own a game ( i returned both of them to the store) and we would like to buy another for him to have and play.
I am also on my second game. We got our for Christmas and had a hoot. Now we have the same freezing problem on the second one and am really frustrated because the game is so fun. I have heard that there is a recall but have not been able to verify as Walmart exchanged the first for the second with the same problem.
I replaced all the batteries last night and the game is working perfectly. I can tell you that both of the games that we have had goes through batteries very quickly. I am going to try to find a battery that has more staying power so that we can play for more than an hour or two. I have also gone through painstaking efforts to get the perfect distance and combination to get the quickest response from the game. Once you find that combo don’t move from that spot. Most fun and challenging cheap game we have ever played in our home.
you said it alll……….
IM TELLING YOU AGAIN……..MINE FROZE TOO…….STUCK NEW BATTERIES IN THE GUN………….WORKS GREAT……….MAYBE ONLY IN SO ST PAUL MINNESOTA…………..