Konami re-releases Lethal Enforcers II !!!

Crimefighter · April 2, 2021

CHICAGO - This past weekend Konami made a surprise announcement they were re-releasing Lethal Enforcers II The Gunfighters, in refurbished cabinets, ROM upgrade chips for existing arcade owners, and Steam users. Health officials however are crying foul over the updated game.

In 1992 the original Lethal Enforcers hit the arcades where players assumed the role of a Chicago police officer fighting against a criminal organization invading the city, first encountering them at a bank robbery then proceeding through six different stages. The home versions were bundled with a revolver-shaped light gun known as the Konami Justifier.

The game gained controversy for its use of photo-realistic imagery and was one of the video games part of the 1993 Congressional hearings on video games, led by senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl. Toy stores pulled the game off the shelves in response to Lieberman claiming the red and blue guns looked too much like real revolvers. Along with Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, which were also part of the hearings, the Genesis version was one of the first video games to be rated MA-17 by Sega's Videogame Rating Council. Compared by today's standards, the game is extremely tame when looking at Mortal Kombat 11.

In the sequel, the game took on a wild west theme where you are out again to stop a bank robbery from a band of outlaws then putting a stop to their attempts to heist a stagecoach and a train.

Some programmers at Konami frustrated over the endless lockdowns and being constantly told to wear a mask came across this 27 year old arcade game during a week of playing many past titles. When they started playing they began joking with each other about the mask wearing enemies and became inspired to do an unprecedented ROM update.

While the game plays exactly as the original, the update adds a number of enemy taunts not in the original game. This feature however is activated via the Konami goroawase code. Insert a credit, then fire the left gun five times, the right gun seven times, and the left gun three more times and press start. If successful, the title screen changes from The Gunfighters, to the Mask Shamers.

While the Centers for Disease Control demanded Konami recall the game fearing it would encourage violence against those who enforce mask mandates, numerous arcade owners who themselves have been struggling to survive with several key gaming centers throughout the country forced out of business rushed to update their machines burning and installing new ROMs to take out their frustrations over the pandemic restrictions.

Health officials say this game sends the wrong message by having players shoot people who advocate wearing masks, however video gamers welcome this release of their pented up frustration over the pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdcDL2M7AiU