Memorized every nook and cranny of Contra III? Saddle up with Sunset Riders, an under-appreciated Konami shooter for the trusty Super NES. While players will find themselves inside the boots of one of four cowboys instead of the crusty headbands of space commandos, fans of the subgenre will know that the spirit remains the same.
visuals
Sunset Riders looks surprisingly close to its sidescrolling arcade cousin. The bright, cartoony rendition of the Ol' West presented here is decidedly more Bonanza than Deadwood, but it works well on the SNES. From a moving train to a sketchy saloon to some non-descript dusty cliffs, environments manage to be different enough from each other and still maintain the wild west setting. The character and enemy animation is nothing special, but does keep steady throughout the fast-paced action.
audio
Sadly, the sound department seemed to have taken the day off when it came to, well, everything. From the eardrum-piercing 8-bit screech that attempts to pass as music to the enemies who all scream in the exact same tone, pitch and length when they die, audio is easily the game’s biggest flaw. Adding on to the embarrassment, in a move that was so badly-executed that it induces out-loud laughter, Sunset Riders actually features recorded voice acting. Lines like "Bury me with my money," and "Alright ma’am. We won't shoot him," are whimpered out by what were probably third graders who'd hit puberty early. Rest assured, players who don't chuckle when they hear the phrase "master of unlocking" might want to keep the volume down.
gameplay
The rules are simple, and will resonate with any Contra or Metal Slug fan: shoot anything that moves. While you will perish with one shot from an enemy (the same goes for them), luckily for the player, non-boss foes are armed with magically ultra-slow rounds that not only take several seconds to cross the screen, but glow brightly and are easily spotted. Power-ups are available, which will either give the titular cowfolk a rapid-fire shot or add another gun to their holster.
End-level bosses vary, though mostly only in their choice of weapon with which to kill you. They mostly boil down to learning their patterns and attacks and exploiting whatever downtime you have to fill them full of bright green lead. Unfortunately, there's no way to change the speed in which characters cross the screen, so players will be stuck moseying through the levels at the game's leisure.
That's it, pretty much. The levels obviously get more intense as you gradually make your way through them, and at times players are treated to a bonus game that recreates corny shooting galleries, cardboard enemies and all. Fans of shoot-'em-ups may complain that the game is a bit on the easy side, so 1337 players, especially, should crank up the difficulty upon first play.
multiplayer
Nothing's changed here other than the fact that two players can blast through the levels together. Anyone who's ever played a co-op game knows the benefits here. Just make sure to watch the dynamite.
overall
Sunset Riders is a twitch game at heart, and ultimately, those who follow the subgenre still (all 13 of them) are the ones who will get the most out of it. It's fetching some prices on eBay just now that are frankly not worth it, but it's definitely something worth looking out for at local pawn shops and Goodwills.
Sunset Riders Snes