First released in 1983, “Crossbow” is a light gun shooter that uses a fixed controller in the shape of a crossbow. That light gun design, which looks just like the real thing and is even the correct size, makes the cabinet immediately jump out from the crowd. After all, not every machine featured a full-size crossbow attached to the front. Created by Exidy, the game would later be ported to various other platforms, including the Commodore 64 and Atari 2600. It was also designed to be easily converted post-release with new games and themes.
“Crossbow” effectively tasked the player with protecting a group of adventurers who moved sideways across the screen. A variety of enemies would attempt to attack the NPC characters, and the player would shoot them with the crossbow before they could cause any damage. From here, it was possible to choose what location to visit next from a range of options. The gameplay would continue in a similar manner until the game was completed, with new adventurers added to the roster after each completed round. This made it harder to protect them all, as there were more targets for enemies to shoot. The good guys could also be hit by the player, causing them to walk slower to make the game more challenging.
The arcade cabinet was well received when it launched. Trade magazine Play Meter praised the gameplay while also noting that it was expensive to play, with players forced to regularly add more money to continue playing. In a retrospective look back at arcade games, Flux named it among the top 100 ever released.
