Well, it's about time. Not officially available anywhere since making its arcade bow (outside of the well-intentioned but obviously weaker home ports on the SNES and Mega Drive, at least), Konami's phenomenally good Western-themed run n' gun Sunset Riders has finally been re-released as part of Hamster's superb Arcade Archives line. The arcade original almost hit Xbox 360 as part of its ill-fated Game Room line, but this is the first time the original arcade version of Sunset Riders has been playable at home – short of buying your own cabinet.
And what a treat it is. One of Konami's best games ever and produced at the height of the company's powers, Sunset Riders is a multiplayer blast through a world inspired by the Spaghetti Westerns of yore; we're talking cowpokes, saloons, can-can girls and a fistful of dynamite. We were a little surprised that Sunset Riders has made it to the Switch in an unedited form, given its cheerfully un-PC genre pastiche and stereotyped characters such as Chief Scalpem and Paco Loco – but here it is, all present and correct.
Four versions are available here; the Japanese two and four-player versions, as well as the equivalent worldwide cabinets. The differences are negligible, but whichever one you pick you're going to have a good time. Choosing from four different characters – each with marginally different weapons – you'll head out across the American frontier, unloading round after round into a constant stream of enemies as you search for your bounties.
Each stage sees you up against a different outlaw, and each of them is brilliantly memorable. Highlights include Simon Greedwell (who spouts the game's iconic "Bury me with my money" catchphrase once defeated), The Smith Brothers (one of the era's greatest boss battles) and final antagonist Sir Richard Rose, but every boss battle in the game is superb and full of neat, creative touches. Most importantly, each requires a different set of tactics in order for the player to succeed.
Set pieces are varied and exciting, seeing your chosen vaquero run atop a herd of stampeding cattle, ride on horseback alongside a thundering steam train, or ascend a mountain to reach a Native American chief's settlement. It's concise to a fault, with no level outlasting its welcome and the difficulty pitched surprisingly reasonably for a coin-op game; interestingly, the SNES port back in the day was actually more difficult in places. It's tough to get through unscathed – and the bosses have plenty of tricks up their sleeves – but it's eminently doable, which is refreshing in the often painful world of arcade gaming.
Getting around is a breeze, and your character and their world are pretty versatile. As well as the expected eight-way shooting, you're able to execute a slide manoeuvre and leap from ground to the upper level of a stage, ala Shinobi (which recently saw a Sega Ages Switch release itself). You can enter saloons to get power-ups and scramble across suspended ropes hand-over-hand, flipping yourself up and over them to dodge bullets. Enemies are dynamic in their pursuit and they'll emerge from windows to take potshots, or run on-screen to hurl a stick of TNT at you – which, naturally, you can throw back at them. Additionally, there are plenty of gimmicks to interact with, such as hanging barrels you can shoot down to squash your opponents flat, or mounted Gatling guns you can use to break through fortified doors later in the game.
The rousing, orchestra-hit-filled soundtrack (from Snatcher composer Motoaki Furukawa) fits perfectly with the gorgeous, expressive graphics; these brilliantly blend the Hollywood Western style with a frisson of pure anime, resulting in a consistent, characterful experience that never betrays itself. It's the Saturday morning cartoon that never was. These aesthetics combined with the rollicking pace of Sunset Riders provide an instant and mostly sustained adrenaline rush.
In what's largely a flawless piece of work, it's a shame that they threw in a tedious bonus round – it's not as though the game needed livening up and it's a pretty dull way to earn extra points. Taking the form of a first-person shooting gallery, you simply angle the stick towards the enemy cowboys as they pop up in sequence, then hit the fire button. It isn't fun, and even at just a minute or so it goes on for too long. It's just a couple of brief interludes, but they're entirely unwelcome when you just want to get back to the good stuff. Speaking of which, roping in a second, third or even fourth player turns this into one of the most amusing party games on Switch – and it's not even a party game.
That's really the only criticism we can level at Sunset Riders, though; it's one of the best games Konami ever made, finally available in the typically faithful Arcade Archives manner. As usual for this line, the extras are limited to checkpoint saves, leaderboards and dipswitch options, but you're here for the game. And what a game it is. Unlimited continues mean you can brute-force your way through the entire game if you're particularly weak-willed, but we'd strongly advise against that – limit yourself and you'll find a challenge that only grows more enjoyable the better you get.
Conclusion
Sunset Riders finally gets its due as this beloved arcade classic hits Switch with a bang. It's nothing but pure side-scrolling boss-blasting fun, the likes of which are often imitated but never quite captured. There's a reason so many people remember this game so fondly; it's got personality to spare. One of the greatest games that Hamster has deigned to release and as far as we're concerned one of the crown jewels of Arcade Archives. Can we have the spiritual sequel Mystic Warriors next, Hamster? Please?
Comments 96
Man I loved this one as a kid! Glad it still holds up, thanks for reviewing it!
Sold! Will grab this when I'm home from work. Used to play this in a dodgy arcade attached to one of the local pubs in my town. Also I may or may not have played it on MAME... Great game. See if my wife wants a game this evening.
I'm amazed that this game isn't being slammed by the far-left media for being misogynistic and racist in it's depictions of the characters.
To clarify, this is not my view, as I think the game is rather innocent and benign. Just surprised, that's all.
Sunset Riders is a great game, will always love it. I always choose Cormano, best outfit plus twin shotguns go boom lol
how is this compared to snes version
This is one of the best games ever.
@Anguspuss
The SNES was definitely a strong port of the arcade, though it couldn't quite match it. Plus this version has the full 4 player support.
@TG16_IS_BAE You don't have to be "far left" to be anti-racist.
But like you said, it's rather innocent and benign, so I wouldn't expect much backlash, especially given it's an old game.
@Quantaur thx
Will the quality ever stop, yep will get this. Nearly got the M.D. version all those years ago. Time to dive in xx
Man, this now has me thinking about my SNES copy, it fetches a pretty penny on ebay.
Did I miss the difficulty settings. This is FN hard. That said I'll dominate Raiden
BEST RUN N' GUN EVER, PERIOD! Seriously though, its difficulty and polish gameplay and multiplayer make this a solid must-have even for non-fans of the genre.
Loved the SNES version. Gonna pick this up next payday
Does anybody know if it supports online multiplayer?
@Steel76 Vendetta and Crime Fighters, oh man. Bury me with my munny
@Bobb Nope, none of the Arcade Archive games do, sadly.
Thank you @Damo
Sad, but understandable
"un-PC" 🤔🤔🤔
Interesting euphemism there
Played a lot of Konami arcade games back on the day, unfortunately I never played this one. But that’s about to change.
In all seriousness better grab it now just in case it get's yanked down. Nowadays all it takes is one (seriously just one!!!) person to be "offended" (or outraged, pick your poison) and it will be a part of the New History (it never happened and/or existed).
If the Christmas song "Baby It's Cold Outside" and now the cartoon kids show "Paw Patrol" (it's a cartoon police dog!!!!) got the boot due to being offensive now nothing is safe.
@SuperWeird To be fair, it’s perfectly possible that by picking out Western tropes and taking the p*ss out of them, they were actually ahead of the times. There’s two ways to combat bigotry, face it head on or make it seem so laughable that nobody would take it seriously.
What are the differences between the Japanese and world wide versions?
@RustedHero The Paw Patrol thing is a joke, made up in order to annoy people like Eric Trump. It worked, evidently.
Honestly, this is the best of the Konami arcade beat 'em up games from the 90s and sadly, likely the only one we'll ever see on the Switch due to licensing issues preventing the other ones from ever seeing the light of day (TMNT, Turtles in Time, Simpsons, X-Men). But at least we got this gem.
@RustedHero Please leave the politics at the door. I come here to escape that, even if briefly.
@RustedHero "Nowadays all it takes is one (seriously just one!!!)" What an exaggeration.
First time playing this, color me impressed!
@bozz @kingbk Apologies. I just love this game so much. I pumped so many quarters into it back in the day. This one and "The Simpsons" arcade game were where you spent the allowances but boy was it fun. LOL it was like early training for slot machines when we get older.
TMNT! I realize that it's no longer Konami's, but DO IT
@SuperWeird Totally agree, it’s just the tendency of the far left media to over blow these things. I find myself in the middle because I think both sides have good things to say, so just clarifying just in case.
@kingbk Public forum. Nobody is breaking any rules and the conversation has been pretty chill. I too, would prefer to escape politics but that’s what the game is for. A public forum where anybody might say anything is not the ideal escape we would prefer!
@Steel76 Dude, nobody talks about Monster Maulers. Criminally underrated. Same as Golden Axe- revenge of Death Adder. Holy smokes is that a great game. Both need to be in the archives like, two years ago lmao.
@KingBowser86 Turtles in Time, arcade version? Or the one simply called TMNT the Arcade Game? I could use both to be honest lol
@AG_Awesome there’s a great website called “the cutting room floor,” where you can type in the name of a game and it will pull up all the regional differences. It’s been a really handy website for me, as a collector, because some games are pretty wildly different from region to region. I’m sure they will have an article on Sunset Riders, check it out!
Awesome! Now I'd love to see Cadash added to their line up
Sounds like i'll have to try this one. With this and Raiden on the way, it seems like Hamster's Arcade Archives series will finally get more attention again.
@AG_Awesome I'm not sure if there are huge differences on this one as there are with some other arcade games including some of Konami's. There are certain points where there is Japanese text in that version, such as telling you to pick up the dynamite or to run along the backs of the bulls. Usually, the "world" versions of the games wouldn't see too many changes from the original.
These guys should port the original arcade versions of:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Simpsons
Lucky and Wild
Rad Racer
I am so happy this got released. Konami’s JailBreak got removed as a future Arcade Archives release on Wiki, I was worried the same was going to happen to this
Best Arcade Archives game releases so far IMO
A shining star in the Hamster lineup. Still have the original snes and Genesis versions in complete & mint condition!! Played the hell outta the Genesis version when I bought it launch day. Played it for 3 hours today. Such a great game!! Bought it for PS4 too!! Slopping over with so much charm!! More please Hamster!! Raiden next!!
Bought this as soon as I got home from work. I still own the SNES cart but I try not to play it too often because it's so expensive!
@TG16_IS_BAE @RustedHero Here is what I would say to those far-lefter media idiots, "Leave our TV shows, movies, books, and video games alone!!!"
As for this game I look forward trying it out.
I use to play this all the time at the bowling alley and in arcades. Can't wait to play again.
I’d like to see Xain’d Sleena (Solar Warrior/Soldier of Light) myself.
Hard game but fun.
From Konami I’d love to see The Simpsons and TMNT.
I do remember seeing this game's other spiritual sequel around as a kid.
Wild Cowboys of Moo Mesa.
But it's a shame that game is extremely unlikely to get re-released, being an obscure cartoon license. (from the days when Konami was buying almost any license they could and actually turning out good games with them.)
Been about 25+ years since I last played this game at our local leisure centre after swimming. Its been a long time begging Konami to rerelease this and I'm so happy its still held up very well even after all this time.
Now to support it further and nab it on PS4 as well. After all, can't let this one spend another 2 and a half decades till its next rerelease....
Yeah, it really is one of the great run 'n' gun games. And I like the bonus game on SNES so I'm not sure why you don't like it here.
@RustedHero
Ain't nobody coming for your 1990's cowboy video games made by Japanese guys. Statues of genocidal, racist traitors that never should have existed to begin with are fair game though
@Stargazer So it seems but vandalism is still vandalism.
@Luigivaldo Best? I have never played it, is it up there with classic Contra, Metal Slug and turrican games?
Im jist waiting for PETA to pipe up and say running across the back ot cattle is cruel.
@TG16_IS_BAE It sounds like an over-the-top parody like the Punch-Out!! series. Those usually get a pass on the use of cultural stereotypes.
@TG16_IS_BAE Preferably, TMNT IV SNES or TMNT Arcade.
@Kidfunkadelic83 Pokemon is animal abuse.
I mean, my Pokemon always looked so happy, so I'm not sure what they meant by that lol
@KingBowser86 THE GOOD STUFF
@CaptnDave Cadash would be amazing, Alien vs. Predator, Salamander 2, Ray Force...literally a metric ton of good arcade games that need the ACA treatment.
@BulbasaurusRex Yep! Hahaha, also just played through Sunset Riders from start to finish. Just as fun as ever, and wow, an indicator of a very out of touch period in time! "Die, Gringo!" from that fourth boss made me laugh out loud. I was smiling from beginning to end. What a legendary game.
This is racist.
@bozz It happens.
For instance Me-TV pulled several episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies with the promise not to air them again after a viewer complained on their Facebook page.
Just one person got them yanked from a national classic tv network.
@Shinobi1Kenoby There wasn't a true arcade version of Rad Racer.
What was out there was the NES game running on Nintendo's Playchoice-10 arcade hardware.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayChoice-10
Playing it on a NES will yield the same experience. And on something like an emulator or Nt Mini or AVS, you can even utilize the garish Playchoice-10 color palette to complete the look.
@KingBowser86 @Shinobi1Kenoby @TG16_IS_BAE
Both TMNT and Turtles in Time would be amazing! And yes to The Simpsons! Problem with the The Simpsons now is I'm confident it's a total loss with licenses etc. To be honest I don't recall getting past the 3rd stage in that game. Usually ran out of quarters!
@Anguspuss This is the arcade version, much better
@nessisonett Blazing Saddles!
As far as I'm aware, the classic Konami games you guys are longing for have seen semi recent emulated releases on modern gaming hardware. Too bad so many of you apparently missed out, unless the wishes are just because you'd like to see them hit the Switch.
While the licenses didn't appeal to me so they were some of the few classic arcade games I've passed over the chance to buy, I'm 99% certain that Konami's Simpsons, X-Men, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saw Xbox Live Arcade releases on the 360 (And likely releases for the PS3 as well). Alas though, I think all three were delisted well before the Xbox One backwards compatibility initiative, so owners can only play them on an actual 360.
And while we have to go all the way back to the PS2 era and 2005, Wikipedia says that even Turtles in Time made it out on the PS2, GameCube, and original Xbox. I can understand the desire with the age of these systems and today's HD televisions in wanting this one revisited on a modern platform like the Switch, but it's nice just the same that there's an official option to enjoy the emulated arcade original on consoles that many of us own at least one of at NintendoLife.
If nothing else, the fact that the wishes of many of you actually happened just a few years ago should give you hope that these Konami games could again resurface officially down the road.
@Atariboy Come on, that's not the case. No major network is going to pull a decades-old show because of one person. Be reasonable. People complain about things on a much bigger scale on a daily basis, far more than one or two people at a time, and things don't get pulled all the time. If it got pulled it's because of a massive pushback and not just down to one person.
@Atariboy
The versions of TMNT and Turtle in Time on Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox don't use any of the original sound effects or music.
TMNT has only a loop of one song playing throughout and the voices removed, while Turtles in Time uses music from the DS games with rerecorded voices that are pretty terrible.
This wasn't on Konami's recent Arcade Classics release because lazy
@bozz It happened as I said it did. Not making it up.
There's no massive campaign against certain old episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies (If so, I'm sadly sure CBS would pull the allegedly problematic episodes from the syndication package; Yet anyone can pull up the CBS Syndication Bible and see that all 274 episodes are available).
While I obviously can't say with 100% certainly that there weren't private complaints, publicly it was just one complainer on MeTV's Facebook page and the channel quickly replied with an apology to the person and a promise not to air those episodes in the future.
In the unlikely event that someone is out there reading this that is familiar with this show and wonders what episodes were in question after seeing my comments, it was the several episodes with a recurring character named Shorty Kellums that had the viewer upset (And which MeTV now skips).
It's too bad since the episodes in question are entirely innocent and among the better episodes of the later seasons of the show.
@Toy_Link That's too bad that Turtles in Time has issues on that release. Doesn't sound like a good option to enjoy it.
@RustedHero Dude, I would always get a dollar from my parents, try to beat level 1 of the Simpsons on gosh darn max difficulty, and leave a dollar poorer!!
@Toy_Link Yikes that IS awful.
@Toy_Link @Atariboy The SNES version of "Turtles in Time" is arguably the better version anyway, since it has an extra stage and not much of a performance drop-off. You just lose the ability to play with more than 2 players.
Just purchased it. I grew up on the Sega Genesis version and loved playing the heck out of it. Imagine my surprise decades later when I found out how gimped it was compared to the SNES version, and now I get to play the full arcade version, yay!
Any fan of this game should also check out "Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Messa" via emulation. It's based on the comic and cartoon by Ryan Brown (who worked on TMNT) and is once again made by Konami. That game and Mystic Warriors are probably as close as you'll get to a Sunset Riders sequel.
So awesome! Easily my favourite arcade game of that time. Lots of money spent renting it on either SNES or Megadrive (can't remember which one, probably both, countless times). 4-player arcade version too! Stoked! I'll be hitting up that e-shop asap it seems!
@KingMike yeah, mystic warriors gets mentioned but not C.O.W.B.O.Y.S? It's probably the best of the three.
Only played the snes version. Just bought it on Switch.
I've never even seen this in the arcade so it should be a treat.
edit: NOW can Konami bring GI Joe arcade out? Is that game stuck in licensing hell or do they just hate it? SO GOOD.
It wasn't a game in the arcades but I feel the Switch is a perfect place for someone like Hamster to release "General Chaos". It was a EA game on the Sega Genesis but that was like a thousand years ago so maybe it's just sitting around waiting for anyone to grab it!
I was hoping this would get a remake by the streets of rage 4 gang,day 1 for me.very fond memories
@sword_9mm I hadn't heard of the GI Joe game until emulation, but the pizza-arcade place I went to as a kid had a game called Devastators that was basically its predecessor (it felt like a behind-the-character version of Capcom's Commando.)
@FNL It's not that the so called 'far right' dislikes their racism removed, it is because people make work of changing small things in decades old series, movies, games, books etc. tampering with the original work.
A simple note that explains that certain depictions and sentiments are product of their time and might not be considered ok in 'current year', should be enough.
And the constant 'hot takes' of games like Animal Crossing being racist and colonial, that FFVII is problematic because it has a character that is clearly modeled after Mr. T.
Or that no womencan dress up in revealing clothing because it would objectify virtual fictional women but all the same men can strut around half naked because reasons.
It's tiresome and most woke, progressive think is so on the nose and out there that it's about as subtle as napalm on a peasant village.
@khululy lol that last analogy was savage and fierce. I’ll take it 😀
@FNL I suppose in the case of Sunset Riders, the racism is so silly that it comes off as light-hearted.
@KingMike
Yeah. From what I know there were a few of those types of games. GI Joe was so good. Mame runs it pretty well so if you emu then give it a go.
Purchased! Excellent game and such fun in multiplayer!
The bonus round definitely sorts the men from the boys!
One of my all-time favorite games, an absolute classic. Cannot wait to download this for my Switch.
Wait, there's nothing wrong with the bonus round. It's a theme appropriate shooting gallery. The only thing is you really only have time for one shot at the same position before the target goes away, so you have to get in the rhythm. Also, at least on the first bonus round, the first 16 guys' positions don't change. After that, you get a wave of singles, then a wave of doubles (two targets in succession), then the rest are triples. If you miss, just move on to the next target or else you'll be out of sync. It's pretty fun once you get the hang of it.
This was a rare, day one purchase for me and one of the best games ever made in my opinion. I’ve always considered myself pretty good at it, but I’ve already been humbled by the leaderboards. Young me would be flabbergasted to know that one day I’ll play it at my dining room table with an ice cold beverage within reach.
@masterLEON - Agreed, there’s nothing wrong with the minigame. It only comes up a few times, and it’s very quick. It’s kind of a nice little homage to gallery shooters. Not surprised you have the enemy order mapped out and memorized.
I think that would be an acceptable solution that would make sense to anyone on the left, no matter how far they fall from the center.
The problem is, though, that I don't think I've ever seen a right-winger actually bring a solution to the table in these discussions. The moment anyone even so much as mentions addressing something like racism, they turn into screeching toddlers, throwing tantrums about how the left wants to "censor" and "oppress" them. I'm not even sure that the right would go for your suggestion anyway. I mean, look at Twitter - right-wingers get content warnings placed on their tweets when they say something vile, racist or Islamophobic and they immediately accuse Twitter of "silencing conservative voices/opinions".
So basically the only option to please someone on the right is to leave the racism untouched and don't even have a warning about it.
Get a Raspberry Pi.
@Axlroselm I have a Pi with this game on it. I can play it anytime. However it's worth it to buy it on the Switch so I always have it with me. Switch is the best way to play games, so I'll always buy the classics for it, even if I already have them emulated on a million other devices, which I do.
I got an extra (1up) gun when playing the Japanese version somehow but not in the NA version. How do you get extra guns (1ups)? Is it only in the Japanese version?
Addition: I believe it is the Japanese version only. So far I’ve gotten an extra gun(1up) at $20,000 and $200,000.
Addition2: another gun(1up) on wigwams stage off the sky lifts on the cliff.
@TG16_IS_BAE Have you tried taking your medicine instead of listening to the voices in your head?
What far left media? We have center right and far right media in both the USA and the UK.
@StevenG There's only media coverage that is biased to the right? There isn't media coverage on both sides, as well as moderates?
@TG16_IS_BAE Not on television. We have center right and far right only.
@StevenG Cool man
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