| Sunset Riders | |
|---|---|
Japanese Arcade flyer. |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Hideyuki Tsujimoto (director) |
| Composer(s) | Naohisa Morota Motoaki Furukawa |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Mega Drive/Genesis SNES |
| Release date(s) | (Arcade) September 4, 1991 (Mega Drive/Genesis) March 3, 1993 (SNES) August 6, 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 |
| 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 style shoot-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in 1991. The game is set during 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 2-player version and a 4-player version. Home versions of Sunset Riders were released for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1992 and for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993.
Contents |
The game, which is set in a fanciful version of the American Old West, revolves around four bounty hunters who are out to claim rewards given for eliminating the most wanted outlaws in the West. There is no true "storyline" aside from collecting progressively larger rewards. At the beginning of each level the player is shown a wanted poster, showing the criminal, the reward for stopping them, and the line "Wanted dead or alive".
The player can play as one of four bounty hunters: Steve and Billy are armed with peacemakers (for faster shots), while Bob and Cormano both use shotguns (for wider shots). In the 2-player version, each player can choose the character they want to control before starting the game, while in the 4-player version each set of controls is assigned to one specific character.
The game's controls consist of an eight-way joystick for moving the character and two buttons for shooting and jumping. The player's gun has unlimited ammunition and can shoot forwards and upwards while the player is standing or jumping. The player can jump between different floors when possible by holding the joystick up or down while pressing Jump. During the upper levels, the player can shoot downwards (diagonally or vertically) while crouching (whereas on the ground level, the player can only shoot forwards while crouching). The player can also slide by holding the joystick downwards diagonally while pressing Jump.
Two badge-shaped power-ups can be obtained by defeating sack-carrying enemies: the Silver Badge grants the player a second gun, allowing their character to shoot at two directions at the same time; while the Gold Badge allows the player to fire continuously with the shoot button press down. Both power-ups can be used together. The other two items includes gold dust piles and roasted chickens, which will provide the player with additional points. The player can also find power-ups by entering certain buildings as well. Certain enemies will also throw dynamite sticks at the player, which can be picked up with the shoot button and tossed back at them. The player loses a life every time they get hit by the enemy, along with any power-ups they may have been wielding.
The game consists of eight stages. The objective is to reach the end of each stage and defeat the outlaw awaiting at the end in order to collect the bounty offered for the boss. The further the player progresses through the game, the greater the bounties will become If more than one player is playing, the player who does the most damage to the boss will get the entire bounty at the end. Some stages feature segments where the character is riding on a horseback. In addition to the regular stages, there are also bonus stages set from a first-person perspective where the player must shoot at enemies coming from eight directions.[1]
There are three types of hidden items in the arcade version. All of the gun power-ups are lost when the player gets killed.
There are a total of eight levels in the arcade version. Each boss says a short phrase at the beginning and end of each battle. A few of the phrases contain minor translation errors. Most of the game consists of side-scrolling on foot, however Stage 2 and Stage 7 are done primarily on horseback. In addition, there are two bonus rounds, one after Stage 2 and the other after Stage 5.
The bonus stages are played from a first-person perspective, where the joystick is used to aim a targeting cursor. The player has a limited time to shoot up to 50 enemies that pop up in various locations on the screen. The enemies do not fire back, so the player cannot lose anything from playing these stages.
The Mega Drive 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 Mega Drive version were given surnames that they originally didn't have in the arcade version (Billy Cool and Cormano Wild).[2][3] The controls are identical to the arcade version aside for addition of two shooting buttons instead of just one: one buttons allows the player to walk and shoot at the same time, while the other shoot buttons 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, and each of the four chapters are divided into two stages: the objective of the first stage is to rescue a kidnapped girl awaiting at the end, while the second stage ends with a boss battle. The bosses featured in this version are Simon Greedwell, Paco Loco, Chief Scalpem, and Richard Rose. The bounties for the first two bosses are different as well (Greedwell's bounty was increased to $20,000, while Paco's was reduced to $40,000). Paco Loco's stage was changed to the traintop battle where the player fights El Greco in the arcade version. The power-up icons have also been replaced as well (the Gold and Silver badges were changed into a small picture of a Bullet and a Gun respectively). 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 differs from the ones in the arcade version, in which 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 Genesis version features a two-player versus mode where each player will fight each other to a gunfight. The player must shoot each other until one of the player runs out of health. The first player to win two out of three rounds will be declared the winner. There's also an Option Mode that allows the player to adjust the main game's difficulty, number of lives and continues, as well as the game's controls.[8]
In contrast to the Mega Drive version, the SNES version of Sunset Riders features relatively fewer changes, as it features all four main characters (although only up to two players can play) and all eight stages with their corresponding bosses.[9][10][11] The power-up items are also the same.[12] Instead of an additional shooting button like the Mega Drive version, the sliding ability is now assigned to its button.[13]
The SNES version however, features changes that were not made in the Mega Drive version. 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 final chapter in the Genesis version has been removed. Also, the Native American enemy characters from Stage 6 were removed and replaced with regular outlaws, leaving only Chief Scalpem (who is renamed Chief Wigwam in the SNES game) as the stage boss. The dynamite tossing female bandits were removed from the SNES port as well (although, they were not in the Mega Drive version either).