Sunset Riders

Sunset Riders
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Director(s)	Hideyuki Tsujimoto
Composer(s)	Motoaki Furukawa
Platform(s)	Arcade Mega Drive/Genesis SNES
Release date(s)	Arcade: September 1991 Mega Drive/Genesis: December 1992 SNES: 1993
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Arcade Single player, 2–4 player (co-op) Mega Drive/Genesis 1–2 player (co-op, versus mode) SNES 1–2 player (co-op)
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	JAMMA
CPU	Motorola 68000 (@ 16 MHz)
Sound	Z80 (@ 4 MHz) YM2151 (@ 3.579545 MHz) K053260 (@ 3.579545 MHz)
Display	Raster 288 x 224 pixels (horizontal) 2048 colors

Sunset Riders (サンセットライダーズ, Sansetto Raidāzu) is a side-scrolling run and gun video game developed and released by Konami as a coin-operated video game on the JAMMA arcade platform in 1991. The game is set in the American Old West, where the player takes control of a bounty hunter who is seeking the rewards offered for various criminals.

The coin-op version was released in two variants: a two-player version and a four-player version. Home console versions of Sunset Riders were released for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1992 and for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, to a positive reception.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot showing Steve on the game's third level

The game, which is set in a fanciful version of the American Old West, revolves around four bounty hunters named Steve, Billy, Bob, and Cormano who are out to claim rewards given for eliminating the most wanted outlaws in the West. At the beginning of each stage the player is shown a wanted poster.

Sunset Riders can be played by up to two or four players, depending on the version of the game. In the two-player version each player can choose which of the four bounty hunters (Steve, Billy, Bob, and Cormano) to play as at the start of the game, while in the four-player version each character is assigned to a different control panel. Steve and Billy wield revolvers, while Bob uses a rifle and Cormano uses a shotgun. The controls consists of an eight way joystick for moving the character and aiming their guns, and two buttons for shooting and jumping. The player can jump between higher and lower floors by holding the joystick up or down while pressing the jump button. There's also a slide move that allows the player's character to avoid enemy fire by pressing the jump button while the joystick diagonally downwards.^[1]

Power-ups and bonus items can be obtained by entering saloons or defeating certain sack-carrying bandits. The power-ups comes in the form of a golden sheriff badge that gives the player's weapon auto-fire, and a silver badge that grants him a second gun (allowing him to shoot at two directions at the same time). Both power-ups can be equipped at the same time. Other weapons that can be used by the player include dynamite sticks carried by female bandits (which can be thrown back at the enemy before it explodes) and a mounted Gatling gun available only in the last stage. An easter egg in the game is if Cormano is selected and facing the Level 6 boss. Should the player defeat this boss, Cormano will be seen claiming the defeated boss's sombrero and wearing it for the remainder of the game.

The objective of the game is to reach the end of each stage and defeat the outlaw awaiting at the end. When more than one person are playing, the player who deals the most damage at the boss will be the one awarded with the stage clear bonus. While most of the game has the player moving on foot, Stages 2 and 7 both begin with a segment where the player fights against bandits on a horseback. In addition, there's a bonus minigame at the end of Stages 2 and 5 where the player must shoot at enemies from a first-person perspective coming from eight different positions before time runs out. There are a total of eight stages in the game. Once the final stage has been cleared, the player proceeds through multiple endless loops where the difficulty is set on the hardest level hereafter.

The player will lose a life if he gets shot by the enemy, trampled by bulls, caught in an explosion, and so forth. When that happens, he will lose any power-ups he has obtained on his next life. The game is over when the player runs out of lives, although the game can be continued by inserting more credits.

Release

Sunset Riders arcade PCB

Sunset Riders has been originally released for arcades in September 1991. Two years later, the arcade version was reprogrammed to two home consoles. The home versions were only released in North America and Europe.

Sega Genesis

The Mega Drive/Genesis version of Sunset Riders features the most changes made to the game between the two home versions of the game. Out of the four main characters from the arcade game, only Billy and Cormano are featured. The two characters in the Genesis version were given surnames that they originally did not have in the arcade version (Billy Cool and Cormano Wild).^[2][3] The controls are identical to the arcade version aside from the addition of two shooting buttons instead of just one: one button allows the player to walk and shoot at the same time, while the other shoot button keeps the character still when pressed down, allowing the player to change their aim only.^[4]

Only four of the eight bosses from the arcade version are featured (Simon Greedwell, Paco Loco, Chief Scalpem, and Sir Richard Rose), and each of the four chapters are divided into two stages. Each boss dialogue is worded in a text bubble instead of voiced. The power-up icons have also been replaced as well. Unlike the other versions, the player can cause a dynamite stick to explode by shooting it. To access the bonus stages, the player must collect a Star-shaped item located in either stage of each chapter. The bonus stages also differ from the ones in the arcade version: the player chases after a moving wagon on a horseback, while the woman in the wagon tosses bonus coins and extra lives at the player's path.^[5][6][6][7]

In addition to the standard game mode, the Mega Drive/Genesis version features a two-player versus mode. The players must shoot each other until one of the players runs out of health.^[8]

Super NES

In contrast to the Genesis version, the SNES version of Sunset Riders features relatively few changes. The barfly that kisses the player character in Stage 1 as well as the saloon dancers from Stage 4 are dressed more conservatively compared to the arcade version. Hunter dogs, which were present in first segment of the final chapter in the Genesis version, were removed. The Native American enemy characters from Stage 6 were removed and replaced with regular outlaws, leaving only Chief Scalpem (who is renamed Chief Wigwam and re-voiced in the SNES game) as the stage boss. The dynamite-tossing female bandits were replaced with male bandits as well.

All boss and cutscene dialogues are subtitled. While most voice clips are carried over from the arcade, some voice lines are either re-worded or replaced with other less offensive lines for censorship purposes.

Reception

Sunset Riders was mostly very well received by video game press. Sinclair User gave the arcade game an 82 out of 10, opining it "plays very well and should prove an interesting challenge for your finely honed arcade skills."^[9] In a more reserved review, Zero rated the arcade original a 3 out of 5, calling it a "fairly fast shoot'em up with a sense of humour."^[10] The "rather splendid" SNES version was given an overall score of 87% by Dan Jevons from Super Play, who described it as "another winner from Konami's stable;"^[11] it also received an 88% and an 89% from two reviewers in SNES Force.^[12] Hobby Consolas gave the scores of 86% to the SNES version and 78% for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis one,^[13][14] while Mean Machines Sega rated the latter as 84%, noting it as "surprsingly good".^[15]

Retrospectively, Jamie O'Neill from Nintendo Life awarded this version eight stars out of ten, writing it "is bright, colourful, fantastically well animated, with superb music and sound. It understands its place as a Western game and within the run-and-gun genre, by combining imaginative characterisation and humour, with well-paced action set-pieces, plus variety in its gameplay."^[16] Retro Game Age gave it a same score as well, opining "Sunset Riders remains a fun romp that still presents some challenge to get through and is just as fun to play now as it was almost 20 years ago."^[17] IGN ranked it as the 88th best game the SNES.^[18] Nick Gibson from Sega-16 rated the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis port a 7 out of 10,^[19] while the arcade original was rated 80% by Arcade Attack.^[20]

See also

• Mystic Warriors
• Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
• List of Western video games

References

External links

• Sunset Riders at the Killer List of Videogames
• Sunset Riders at MobyGames