Recently, a wide variety of interesting import titles has been released in Japan. Throughout the rest of the week, GameSpot News will be spotlighting one or two each day.

　　Today we'll look at two Namco Guncon-compatible shooting games, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s Elemental Gearbolt and Electrocoin's Guntu Western Front June, 1944.

　　Elemental Gearbolt combines the gameplay of traditional gun titles with that of shooters like Panzer Dragoon. Rails bring one or two players through stages such as forest, desert, and cathedral, where they fire on enemies, obstacles, power-ups, and crystal encased friends. Three gun settings are available: a quick shot; a slower, wider, and more powerful shot; and an even slower, wider, and more powerful blast. Extended animated sequences further a storyline concerning a struggle for rulership of a world where magic and technology have mixed. Players go up levels after acquiring experience and have their shots magnified by the number of hits in a row they've accomplished.

　　Guntu Western Front June, 1944 sees the player as a one-man army deep behind enemy lines in the middle of WWII. While the title could have turned out as a mix of Time Crisis and Castle Wolfenstein, the designers instead tried to emulate a pre-Lethal Enforcers style gun game. It is easily one of, if not, the worst shooting titles ever created. With graphics that are clearly last generation, Guntu's character and explosion animations are made up of somewhere between three and five frames each. It is unclear if the Nazis in the game are supposed to be goose stepping into battle, or if they're just incredibly poorly animated. The title's main offerings are unlimited rounds and pop-up. Forget the war, in this game, the player's main enemy is boredom.

　　Elemental Gearbolt will be released in the US next year through an as-yet unannounced publisher, while Guntu Western Front will not.

　　Be sure and keep an eye out for VGS reviews of both titles in the coming weeks.