Sunset Riders sends four bounty hunters after outlaws, with enough trouble between the wanted posters to keep them busy. Gunmen fire from buildings, dynamite lands nearby and stampeding animals turn the ground into a hazard. Konami’s 1991 arcade game lets up to four people play together as Steve, Billy, Bob and Cormano.
The setting is a cartoon Western. Zero’s December 1991 arcade review noticed the bright clothes and slapstick: stepping on a pitchfork could be as embarrassing as a gunfight was dangerous. It described jumping onto stampeding buffalo and ducking bullets while riding a horse. The scenery repeatedly changes what the player must do, rather than merely supplying different backgrounds for shooting.
Guns and movement
Moving, jumping, sliding and aiming work together. In the SNES version, for example, holding up while jumping reaches a rooftop, while a diagonal downward direction and the slide button send the hunter along the ground. Directional aiming lets you deal with enemies above as well as those directly ahead.
Dynamite can be picked up and thrown back, but only before it explodes. Sheriff badges improve rapid fire or supply a second gun, and doors lead to bonuses. The SNES manual also describes a shooting-gallery bonus round: with two players, the quicker shot wins the reward. Cooperation through a stage can therefore give way to competition over its extras.
Different home versions
The SNES game retains all four hunters as choices, but permits only two simultaneous players. Its manual explains how a second player can join an existing game and how the options alter difficulty, lives, continues and button assignments.
The Mega Drive game offers Billy and Cormano. Game Informer’s January/February 1993 review describes one- or two-player play and a journey through a town, a train and later confrontations. Sega Retro’s account of the conversion identifies four stages divided into sections, altered bonus rounds and a separate versus mode. It is a substantial adaptation, so a description of the arcade stages should not be treated as a guide to every home edition.
The arcade game returns
Hamster released Arcade Archives SUNSETRIDERS for Switch and PlayStation 4 on 11 June 2020. Its catalogue retains four-player support and identifies Sir Richard Rose as the hunters’ main target. This rerelease brings back the arcade version rather than either of the two home-console adaptations.
Sources
- Hamster, Arcade Archives SUNSETRIDERS: original year, developer, four players and 2020 rerelease.
- Zero issue 26, December 1991, p. 92: contemporary arcade review, hunters, stampede, horse riding and humour.
- Konami, Sunset Riders SNES instruction manual, pp. 4–9: selection, two-player play, controls, options and bonuses.
- Game Informer issue 8, January/February 1993, p. 30: Genesis review, Billy and Cormano, player limit and environments.
- Sega Retro, Sunset Riders, secondary reference: Mega Drive stage structure, versus mode and changed bonus rounds.