Genre: 2D / Rail Shooter / Modern, Western CDs: 1 (363.1 Megs) Players: 1 or 2 Player (Co-Op) ESRB: Mature
 Realistic Violence
Publisher: Konami Retail Barcode: 0 83717 17014 3 Memory: 2 Block
Developer: Konami Sony ID: SLUS-00293 Accessories: Light Gun
Released: August 6, 1997 PSRM: 003680


Box Copy
There actually really isn't any copy on the back of the box, just simply pointing out enemies / locations in the game.

Discussion
This review will be heavily biased; this is one of my all-time favorite games.

Not so much for it being located in my hometown, but because the game is chock full of non-racial stereotypes and it giddily swims through all of them.

You play a male (1P) or female (2P) police officer and must fight your way through the baddest-of-bad guys in the Windy City. Each stage focuses on one of these stereotypes, with a very obvious and very climactic battle at the end of the game. You’ll go from the bank robbers, to Chinese mafia, hijackers, drug lords, and of course, the chemical guys.
In the sequel, you play sheriffs in the old west. Same as above, only now it’s wind swept tumbleweeds and steam trains instead of the El.

The game supports Konami’s Justifier light gun, and it works admirably. The game is designed around the pop-up style of game play. Bad guys with about 4 frames of animation will roll out, pop-out, stand-up, and pop-over at you to drain what little life you’re given. You’re ranked on your shot percentage and if you accidentally killed any innocents. You can find and use shotguns, machine guns, and other different weapons, but really they all do the same thing.

Everything is going to seem extremely outdated by today’s standards, but damn it, the game was just fun. There is one small catch though; not enough virtual quarters. The game was originally designed to be a quarter munching beast, and it still is. Konami only gives you 30 or so continues split between two people to try and win the entire game. Playing on anything other than Easy will result in you dying a bit back from the final boss encounter. Snag a GameShark code or two for health and just keep firing away.


 		 Trivia
  • Go local! This game was developed back when Konami still had a Buffalo Grove, IL location. In Lethal Enforcers 1, almost all of the background images are of real life locations and views. The China Level takes place in Chicago's Chinatown (I've been to the actual building), the rain battle takes place on the "El" (elevated train track),  the skyline is obvious, and the post office was in a local neighborhood. During the helicopter boss fight with the drug lords, the Chicago skyline scrolls by on repeat about 300 times.
     
  • In Lethal Enforcers 1, there's a somewhat comical way to tell who the bad guys are: whoever has sunglasses or masks on, shoot them! Anyone with a bare face is an innocent!
     
  • Lethal Enforcers II references the original's path in terms of stage progression, only with the Old West's equivalent. Stage coaches have replaced cars, a steam powered locomotive stands in for the "El", and both games start off in a bank.
     
  • The games were available separately on the Super Nintendo, Genesis, and Sega CD. The Super Nintendo version was amazing, but censored port. The Sega versions had inferior graphics, but much better gun response time.
     
  • Speaking of the 16 bit games, Konami stayed true to the arcade light guns during that era. The game came boxed with the Man's 1P Blue Light Gun. You could mail order the female's 2P Pink Gun, which plugged into the first via a phone cord. For the PlayStation version, Konami simply settled for the all-ready-out Justifier.
     
  • Due to it being designed as a 'quarter-cruncher' for arcade consumption, the last two stages in both games can get brutal very quickly. There are GameShark codes to help with this problem, but there's an alternate path for those who refuse cheat device help. Leave the game in 'Street' mode, and the game will allow you to Level Select. Play the last two stages first, so you can burn up continues with less worry. Playing the stages in reverse will actually make it seem easier as you go!
     
  • One of the few games to truly answer the question of "How many bad guys CAN you fit into a sports car?". The answer is of course, "Too many."
     
  • There actually IS a Lethal Enforcers 3, but I couldn't find enough information on it to post more about it. It seems like it's just a Japanese arcade exclusive.  
     
  • The attractive looking female in the banner is the 2P character from the arcade.
     
  • Neat tribute: The image of the hand and Justifier on the back of the casing matches the same potion the gun and hand are in at Lethal Enforcers 1's title screen.
     
  • In LE1's title card screen shown before each level, the bottom right clip always concerns the boss character.
     
  • In what has to be the most amusing stab at the local law enforcement (back then), almost every time an innocent 'officer' character pops up and yells, "Put the gun down!", there is no one on screen. They simply shoot at nothing and retreat off screen.
     
  • One of the poncho-adorned characters in LE2 strikes an odd resemblance to another Konami character: Sunset Rider's Cormano Wild.
Variants / Misprints
There are no variants yet for this game. 		 
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