Sunset Riders is a Wild West run-and-gun arcade game released by Konami in 1991. Up to four players take the roles of bounty hunters Steve, Billy, Bob and Cormano. Its eight stages include five on foot, two on horseback and one on a train, and after the last one the game loops at a higher difficulty. If Cormano beats the Stage 5 boss, he wears the boss's sombrero for the rest of the game.
The arcade game was followed by two quite different home versions, both released only outside Japan. The Genesis version (1992) was heavily redesigned, with just two playable characters, while the SNES version (1993) stays close to the arcade original but was censored in several places.
In June 2020, Hamster brought the arcade game back in its Arcade Archives series for Nintendo Switch and PS4.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Sunset Ridersshown at the AMOA show in September 1991 | Arcade | October 1991 | Konami | 1 |
| NA | Sunset Riders | Genesis | December 1992 | Konami | 1 |
| NA | Sunset Riders | SNES | October 1993 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | サンセットライダーズEnglish Wikipedia gives 9 July 1991 in the text and November 1991 in the infobox | Arcade | 1991 | Konami | 2 |
| EU | Sunset RidersMega Drive | Genesis | April 1993 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Sunset Riders | SNES | Nov 26, 1993 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | Sunset RidersArcade Archives | PlayStation 4 | Jun 11, 2020 | Hamster | 2 |
| JP | Sunset RidersArcade Archives | Switch | Jun 11, 2020 | Hamster | 2 |
Also known as: サンセットライダーズ JP2
Box art by region
NA Sunset Riders 
EU Sunset Riders
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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ContentGenesis
The Genesis version keeps only two of the four hunters (Billy and Cormano) and four of the eight bosses. It splits each of four chapters into two stages, shows boss dialogue as text, changes the bonus stages and adds a two-player versus mode.1
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CensorshipSNES
The SNES version gives the saloon dancers more modest outfits, removes the Native American enemies of Stage 6 and renames their boss Chief Wigwam, replaces the female dynamite throwers with men and drops the hunting dogs.1
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GameplayArcade
The arcade game came in two cabinets: a two-player version with free character choice and a four-player version where each hunter has his own control panel.1
Reception
Game Machine listed it as Japan's third most successful table arcade unit in December 1991. The SNES port also scored well (Super Play 87%, SNES Force 89%), and IGN ranked it the 88th best SNES game.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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