Time Crisis is making a comeback on modern TVs and it's not too late to pre-order

From the new Taito Evercade arcade machine, to Atari's special Pac-Man themed 2600+ and those delightful Super Micro Keychains, there are plenty of retro gaming goodies still to come in 2025.

Perhaps best of all, however, is the upcoming release of the new Plug and Play Time Crisis Gun for Modern TVs. The exciting new device is being developed by G'AIM'E, which is an offshoot of peripheral manufacturer Tassei Denki Corporation.

The Time Crisis Gun blew away its original Kickstarter target, ending its funding campaign with more than $1 million in pledges.

The Kickstarter campaign has been so successful that G'AIM'E is accepting late pledges, which means there's still time to pre-order your light gun and games before the estimated November release date.

And you absolutely should pre-order while there's still time, because the Plug and Play Time Crisis Gun is one of the best things I've tried all year.

With light gun games going the way of the dodo and woolly mammoth, G'AIM'E's upcoming Time Crisis device is something I wasn't expecting to see in 2025.

Other than a brief comeback on the original Wii, light gun games were traditionally only playable in arcades and on old-fashioned CRT displays, which means they were largely left behind with the switch to LCD, LED and OLED TVs.

Fortunately, using a combination of built-in cameras and AI, the boffins at G'AIM'E have figured out a way to make light guns work on modern television sets, and without any time-consuming software updates, or complicated hardware installations.

The key to the G'AIM'E Plug and Play device is that the manufacturer has kept things nice and simple. After connecting the miniature console to your television set and plugging in the guns, it's just a matter of calibrating your aim by shooting the targets on screen.

The size of your screen dictates how far back you'll need to stand, which is why the retail version will come with a 4M cable for your gun. Needless to say, if you have a huge TV but only a small room, you may want to double check that the device will work with your set up.

It's probably also a good time to mention that there are multiple bundles available to pre-order depending on how much money you're willing to spend.

The basic bundle contains one gun, a console with a copy of Time Crisis, and a keychain. This will set you back around £73 without shipping.

Personally, however, I would recommend the £100 bundle, which contains a gun, a pedal for reloading, a keychain and a console containing four light gun games, including Time Crisis, Point Blank, Steel Gunner and Steel Gunner 2. Point Blank is worth the additional money alone, yet alone the classic Time Crisis pedal and those two Steel Gunner games.

Finally, for around £150 without shipping, there's the Ultimate Bundle, which contains the aforementioned rewards, plus a second gun and some other trinkets. While Time Crisis is listed as one-player only, Point Blank and the two Steel Gunner games support two players, which sounds like it could be a lot of fun around Christmas.

The gun itself looks and feels like the original arcade version, featuring optional recoil to really make it feel like you're in a gunfight.

It has A and B buttons for crouching in Time Crisis (although I would recommend the pedal if you can afford it), as well as a pause and dedicated button for inserting credits.

As for the actual gameplay experience, Time Crisis and Point Blank are every bit as much fun as I remember. While my accuracy levels were initially on par with the Manchester United frontline, it wasn't too long before I was picking off baddies with headshots in Time Crisis and "accidentally" killing hostages in Point Blank.

The more I played the more confident I was that the gun was firing where I was aiming, and I certainly didn't notice any lag. I didn't play the Steel Gunner games, but Point Blank and Time Crisis felt like solid emulations, although it's probably too early to properly evaluate everything, having only played for around 30 minutes.

Still, the fact that G'AIM'E had to kick me off after I went over my allotted time should tell you everything you need to know about this incredibly exciting retro gaming revival that's launching in time for Christmas.

I really hope it lives up to its early promise, because my trigger finger is itching for some classic light gun action. Perhaps we can get a Virtua Cop revival next?