The result is a high-powered adventure where avoiding slow-moving neon colored shells is first priority, and responding with devastating authority is the second. Finally, the enemies, who duck into the cover of buildings and shadowy spots to avoid fire (as can your character at certain points), are reminiscent of RT’s. The humor and gritty realism of MS are immediately evident, as cartoonish characters and mass-slaughtering both make appearances. All three were bullet-dodging run-and-gunners that required reflexes and quick thinking before anything else. Portions of Rolling Thunder, Contra (created by Konami, who is responsible for this as well), and Metal Slug - which was to come later on, and may have studied under SR - can all be found in Sunset Riders if you look hard enough. Cliché speeches and quick-draw shootouts set the tone for an enjoyable, atmospheric adventure, rivaled only by the titles that it acts as a hybrid of. Although it’s stereotypical to the point of cheesiness, the result a game with a sort of beaming charm. The elements underneath come together to form a hilarious duck-and-dodge adventure, with both extremely breezy and painfully tough stretches. Instead of coming off as a mindless clone, however, it blankets the action in a magnificent Wild West theme, which, thanks to the utilization of spectacular visual and auditory imagery, remains powerful, authentic, and consistent throughout. Sunset Riders gets away with something that it shouldn’t: it fuses bits and pieces from other games past to form its own over-the-top highlight reel. Bobs are office productivity consultants.
In chronological order, the first lie is that in the Old West, there were cowboys named Bob.