Wild Guns (1994)

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About This Game

Wild Guns is a 1994 space western shooting gallery video game developed by Natsume for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in the Wild West with steampunk and sci-fi influences, the story follows Annie and her bounty hunter Clint, seeking revenge for the death of her family. The player controls either Annie or Clint sidestepping and jumping in the foreground while shooting down enemy robots in the background and dodging enemy bullets. These gameplay mechanics combine elements from third-person shooters and light gun games. Development lasted five months on a small budget with a team of only three core members and two support staff. The team leads had previously worked together on The Ninja Warriors (1994) for the Super NES, and so chose to develop for that system. Wild Guns was heavily influenced in its gameplay and artistic design by arcade games such as Blood Bros. and Dynamite Duke. The game's scenery, characters, and sound design drew ideas from the Western film genre and the science fiction manga Cobra, creating a space western setting. Wild Guns received positive reviews at its initial release, and in retrospective reviews is considered a cult classic. Critics have praised the gameplay of what has become a niche genre, as well as the cooperative mode and graphical attention to detail. The game was re-released on the Virtual Console for the Wii in 2010 and Wii U in 2014. An enhanced remaster titled Wild Guns: Reloaded was released in 2016 for PlayStation 4 and in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, featuring classic gameplay with enhancements such as additional characters and stages. On January 25, 2018, Natsume announced on their Twitter page that the Reloaded edition would also be released on the Nintendo Switch later that Spring in North America and Europe.