NOTE: I originally posted this review in issue 5 of 2.5D

     It's time to saddle up, and head into the wild west. There's baddies to dispatch, and bounties to be collected. Sunset Riders is based off of Koniami's arcade cabinet of the same name, and plays like a wild west version of Contra. You get your choice between four bounty hunters (Steve and Billy have the old reel gun revolvers, while Bob and Cormano go to town with their trusty shotguns) with which to tackle the game's eight levels, and claim the bounty of the game's eight bosses.

     The game plays similar to Contra. You move from one side of the screen to the next dispatching enemies, and getting gun upgrades (one that gives you double guns, the other that gives you rapid fire) in Contra eight way aiming fashion. The controls are smooth, and the levels usually offer two tiers with which to fight baddies on Shinobi style. In the similar Contra fashion there are one hit kills (on the regular enemies), and one hit deaths. The bosses, who take quite a few shots to take down, are no pushovers either. Sunset Riders also contains stages similar to the vehicle stages in the Contra games where you'll hop on your trusty steed, and dispatch baddies on horseback while dodging their fire, and other obstacles they throw in your way. Each new level gets progressively more challenging as the game moves on, but don't worry, if the the task gets too daunting for one person alone to handle, you can always hook in a second controller, and get the help of a buddy. In fact, Sunset Riders is played best with a friend, and truly shines as a two player game. There's even a slight hint of competition, because the player who does the most damage to the bosses is the one who gets the bounty. There's a little shame in seeing your character keep his head down while your friend's character celebrates his victory in an "In your face" moment. There is also a special bonus mode that shows up twice in the game where you shoot enemies in a Lethal Enforcers fashion except the enemies don't fight back, and you can only aim in the eight directions of your D-pad. This mode also encourages friendly competition to see who can shoot the most in the time allowed.

     The only flaw in the game that I could think of is that it may be too hard for people of the younger generation. The bosses and stages are quite challenging due to the one hit deaths, but Contra fans will feel at home. Other than that the controls are smooth. You'll have no trouble controlling your jumping, shooting, or the preforming slide maneuver. The soundtrack is rocking for a Snes game (minus a few muffled voice tracks from the boss characters). The graphics are clean, and the game runs smooth through and through.

Bottom Line: Sunset Riders is one of the best action games of the 16-bit era, and the Snes version is as close to the arcade experience you can get without shelling out the dough for the actual arcade machine. It's awesome whether going it alone, or with a friend. If you love Contra, but have somehow managed to overlook this game, then you owe it to yourself to play. It's one of the best in it's class. This is Konami at it's finest. You won't be disappointed. I promise.

Note: From what I hear the Genesis version only had four of the eight arcade levels, and wasn't as good as the Snes version. I don't have the Genesis version to compare it to the Snes version, so I can't make a proper comparison.