#565: Sunset Riders
Like Contra but with cowboys
Initial release: July 9, 1991
Platforms: Arcade, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo
Developer: Konami
When Konami developed Contra in the 1980s, they sort of inadvertently created a new genre. The run-and-gun genre had been a thing for some time already — Front Line, now forgotten, was the likely basis for later games like Commando and Ikari Warriors — but it was Contra that codified the platformer variant, moving from a top-down view to a left-and-right side-scroller with an emphasis on heavy action. Contra was a smash hit, of course, and by the 1990s, Konami owned the arcades (or at least time-shared it with Capcom.) 1991 saw the release of a quirky little run-and-gunner, in the vein of Contra, that swapped out the commandos and aliens for cowboys and outlaws — Sunset Riders.
Sunset Riders is one of those games that has maintained a bit of cult status among arcade aficionados; with frenetic gameplay that supports up to a whopping four players, visuals that pop pretty well with a slightly anime, slightly western comic book aesthetic, and the hook that you can shoot in all eight directions and jump between two separate tiers, it’s a wild ride that takes you through eight fairly varied levels plus a couple of bonus rounds.
There isn’t really much of a plot to the game. The final villain is Richard Rose, a British outlaw with a taste for fancy clothes and rose motifs; the three bosses before him are a collection of stereotypes, including the prerequisite Native American stereotype. (Interestingly enough, in the SNES version, this character’s level replaces the horde of Native American fighters with regular cowboy bad guys, probably to avoid any unfortunate implications.) Depending on which side of the cabinet you’re on, you’ll be playing as one of three generic cowboy heroes and one Mexican dude in a poncho and sombrero. They all have fairly different guns that give them a bit of character, and like the bosses all have voice lines. If you play as the Mexican hero, he actually swipes a hat from one of the bosses and wears it for the rest of the game, which is a cute touch.
From dusty little towns to a train ride to a trip through the forest, with a couple levels involving climbing mountains or the side of buildings for some verticality, it’s a pretty variable mix of common western settings. The horseback stuff throws in a little bit of variety to the gameplay, but it’s still pretty much the same stuff.
The game had a couple of console ports as popular arcade hits often do; the SNES version is damn near arcade perfect, with some effects having been removed as well as the player count reduced to two. The Genesis version by comparison is significantly more compromised, the levels reduced by two and the overall design being more obstacle-focused, making the game more difficult.
Sunset Riders is a decent enough time. While I don’t think it’s particularly original — and playing it alone is honestly tedious — it’s entertaining enough, shot through with a little humor (like the slightly racy saloon show) to give it a more comedic vibe than the likes of Gun.Smoke. It probably won’t be replacing Contra on anyone’s best-of lists, but it’s worth about 45 minutes of your time.
