The Lone Ranger (NES, 1991)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5/8* Story-6.5
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*FP view encounters
+
Getsu Fuuma Den/Gargoyle's Quest-like structure and gameplay with more variety in gameplay styles (separate overworlds (game is divided into one hub area per boss or quest) with narrow paths you can travel and which have non-random encounters on them - can't really avoid most of them though, TD view town exploration and encounters (some mazes/dungeons as well)+side view action segments+FP view maze areas w/ random encounters (some on rails horseback segments as well), NPCs (some give quests) and shops in town, weapon/item inventory, buy equipment with money received from killed enemies)
Get info on where to go next from your native american sidekick
Pretty nice intro (pretty well realized old western theme (takes place in the 1880s), ) and pretty good cutscenes in-between some areas
Blurs the line between friendly and hostile areas with some enemies in towns
Two different ammo types that you can switch between on the fly (silver bullets do more damage and pass through enemies)
Diagonal movement and attacks
Can speed up or skip dialogue
Pretty impressive use of the sound chip
Can exit side view levels where you entered them
Shoot in 7 directions in side view segments (Contra)
Kinda cool how you can get attack from either cardinal direction in the FP view segments (later used in Panzer Dragoon; press A while the cursor is in the direction that is flashing red in the HUD)
Can escape from boss rooms
Fast travel by train in some areas (costs some money, in the first area it's kinda pointless though)
One auto-scrolling side view segment on horseback
Some decent bosses (the giant eagle which basically harasses you while you make your way towards its egg, final boss)
Some interesting level design gimmicks (ricochet mechanic in one TD view segment, enemy turret that you can man yourself) and enemies (wall and ceiling climbers, camp bosses can throw back dynamite that you throw on top of them)
Memorable chapter/area 4 - get captured via a scripted event and then impersonated in chapter/area 4 (makes it so you can't buy anything for a period of time however you can backtrack to area 3 via the train and buy stuff there). Also get to visit a town of crooks (brownsville) and everyone there thinks you're the impersonator
Can stand still while aiming in TD view
Some large sprites (final boss' machine part)
+/-
Some FP view maze segments with random light gun encounters including some single screen mini-games (the training mini-games are tough to get a full score on as you need 100% accuracy and to reload when you empty your magazine but it's not that hard to do well enough to get your money back)
Linear overarching structure? (can visit a few towns at once in each area but there seems to be only one correct path that lets you progress to the next one in most of them (area 3 might be an exception at the part where you seek out three bosses), )
Can generally backtrack to the previous area
Password save only (not that long) and you can only save in-between areas
Can buy healing in towns
No strafing or dodging
Resource management (ammo is fairly expensive early on, can use a password to start with max money and ammo)
Reloading mechanic in all segments - one of the first examples outside of light gun games?
Pretty forgiving melee hit detection
Touch damage however both you and the enemy takes a hit
Can shoot NPCs (you lose 4 HP as a penalty, can't punch them however)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
No jumping in TD view segments
Friendly outdoors NPCs are all women and enemies all men
Off screen enemy respawning if you move a couple of screens away
Overworld enemy encounters in an area disappear if you beat the side view level in that area (can still grind on town enemies)
Health drops are very rare outside of the FP view segments (sometimes non-existent in towns). Ammo drops are non-existent outside of the FP maze segments
Gambling mini-game (third area)
During overworld battle encounters you just need to get to the other side - not kill anyone
Dynamite acts like a smart bomb during FP view segments but not elsewhere
Doesn't show bosses' health bars
No traversal tools or movement abilities gained (you gain a horse after the first area but it doesn't change how you travel and the horseback FP view segments might as well have been on a train or something in terms of gameplay since you don't control the horse)
No puzzles
No health bar or movement speed upgrades
-
No checkpoints - since you can only save in-between areas and an area/chapter can get pretty long this can make the game pretty frustrating (could've added them or let you carry a couple of healing items)
Some control/interface issues (no run move in TD view segments and there's some dead space, can't buy in bulk, somewhat loose scrolling when moving south in TD view segments, no jump height control, can't shoot straight down even if jumping, some text can't be sped up nor skipped, can't jump onto or off of stairs (see CV), get stuck on corners if moving up against them)
Need to grind a bit before the final side view level (long level and you meet two bosses in succession at the end)
Some difficulty spikes (area 7 camp bosses - basically have to just take them out before they kill you, last mine area/area 6 level and boss (unless you corner the boss and get him stuck in a jump loop), the FP view encounters waste too much ammo and the side and rear attacks happen a bit too fast - gets pretty frustrating without a zapper or enough dynamite) and dips (second boss if you just walk up to him and shoot as he'll just keep jumping on the spot, can stun lock various later bosses so that they don't get to attack much, train boss, safe spot vs the impersonator boss, area 6 boss that spawns enemies, safe spot vs the second to last boss)
Some other FP view maze issues (overly frequent random encounters, no maps - thankfully you don't need to backtrack out of them after finding what you came for, and you do also have a compass), however there aren't that many of them in the game
Enemies tend to get stuck on obstacles in the TD view segments - this can be exploited even against some later bosses
So-so first boss (battle of attrition unless you stocked up on dynamite because you can't possibly dodge his shots while shooting him due to his higher rate of fire+longer reach)
No HP refill after beating a boss
The two additional guns you can buy (medium barrel in area 3 and long barrel in area 4) don't add anything besides more range to your attacks and those are the only new weapons you can get after the initial two bullet types and dynamite. There could've been a knife or sword, shotgun and a rifle at least (or perhaps spread and auto-fire upgrades even if not realistic, or the molotov cocktail some enemies use)
Some trial & error (some cheap enemy and hazard placements later on, quest progression in the third area - have to ask seemingly random NPCs to trigger being able to face the three bosses, in area 4 you shouldn't buy anything in brownsville before liberating it from the outlaws - you'll pay 2x for the long barrel, beginning of the eagle boss segment, final boss)
Not quite enough variety within the different segments themselves
Pretty sparse and sometimes a bit awkward dialogue ("I have no idea" - about what?). Some NPCs also say the exact same thing
Can't replay beaten side view levels
Repetitive looking overworld areas and later towns also look samey, Kinda bland backgrounds at times
Some enemies are positioned so that you can't reach what they drop
Some tedious parts (some pointless ghost town areas in area 3, falling down and having to get back up in the mine area levels)
Too many forced horseback encounters in area 4
Can't remove mines with dynamite
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*FP view encounters
+
Getsu Fuuma Den/Gargoyle's Quest-like structure and gameplay with more variety in gameplay styles (separate overworlds (game is divided into one hub area per boss or quest) with narrow paths you can travel and which have non-random encounters on them - can't really avoid most of them though, TD view town exploration and encounters (some mazes/dungeons as well)+side view action segments+FP view maze areas w/ random encounters (some on rails horseback segments as well), NPCs (some give quests) and shops in town, weapon/item inventory, buy equipment with money received from killed enemies)
Get info on where to go next from your native american sidekick
Pretty nice intro (pretty well realized old western theme (takes place in the 1880s), ) and pretty good cutscenes in-between some areas
Blurs the line between friendly and hostile areas with some enemies in towns
Two different ammo types that you can switch between on the fly (silver bullets do more damage and pass through enemies)
Diagonal movement and attacks
Can speed up or skip dialogue
Pretty impressive use of the sound chip
Can exit side view levels where you entered them
Shoot in 7 directions in side view segments (Contra)
Kinda cool how you can get attack from either cardinal direction in the FP view segments (later used in Panzer Dragoon; press A while the cursor is in the direction that is flashing red in the HUD)
Can escape from boss rooms
Fast travel by train in some areas (costs some money, in the first area it's kinda pointless though)
One auto-scrolling side view segment on horseback
Some decent bosses (the giant eagle which basically harasses you while you make your way towards its egg, final boss)
Some interesting level design gimmicks (ricochet mechanic in one TD view segment, enemy turret that you can man yourself) and enemies (wall and ceiling climbers, camp bosses can throw back dynamite that you throw on top of them)
Memorable chapter/area 4 - get captured via a scripted event and then impersonated in chapter/area 4 (makes it so you can't buy anything for a period of time however you can backtrack to area 3 via the train and buy stuff there). Also get to visit a town of crooks (brownsville) and everyone there thinks you're the impersonator
Can stand still while aiming in TD view
Some large sprites (final boss' machine part)
+/-
Some FP view maze segments with random light gun encounters including some single screen mini-games (the training mini-games are tough to get a full score on as you need 100% accuracy and to reload when you empty your magazine but it's not that hard to do well enough to get your money back)
Linear overarching structure? (can visit a few towns at once in each area but there seems to be only one correct path that lets you progress to the next one in most of them (area 3 might be an exception at the part where you seek out three bosses), )
Can generally backtrack to the previous area
Password save only (not that long) and you can only save in-between areas
Can buy healing in towns
No strafing or dodging
Resource management (ammo is fairly expensive early on, can use a password to start with max money and ammo)
Reloading mechanic in all segments - one of the first examples outside of light gun games?
Pretty forgiving melee hit detection
Touch damage however both you and the enemy takes a hit
Can shoot NPCs (you lose 4 HP as a penalty, can't punch them however)
Enemy drops disappear after a few seconds
No jumping in TD view segments
Friendly outdoors NPCs are all women and enemies all men
Off screen enemy respawning if you move a couple of screens away
Overworld enemy encounters in an area disappear if you beat the side view level in that area (can still grind on town enemies)
Health drops are very rare outside of the FP view segments (sometimes non-existent in towns). Ammo drops are non-existent outside of the FP maze segments
Gambling mini-game (third area)
During overworld battle encounters you just need to get to the other side - not kill anyone
Dynamite acts like a smart bomb during FP view segments but not elsewhere
Doesn't show bosses' health bars
No traversal tools or movement abilities gained (you gain a horse after the first area but it doesn't change how you travel and the horseback FP view segments might as well have been on a train or something in terms of gameplay since you don't control the horse)
No puzzles
No health bar or movement speed upgrades
-
No checkpoints - since you can only save in-between areas and an area/chapter can get pretty long this can make the game pretty frustrating (could've added them or let you carry a couple of healing items)
Some control/interface issues (no run move in TD view segments and there's some dead space, can't buy in bulk, somewhat loose scrolling when moving south in TD view segments, no jump height control, can't shoot straight down even if jumping, some text can't be sped up nor skipped, can't jump onto or off of stairs (see CV), get stuck on corners if moving up against them)
Need to grind a bit before the final side view level (long level and you meet two bosses in succession at the end)
Some difficulty spikes (area 7 camp bosses - basically have to just take them out before they kill you, last mine area/area 6 level and boss (unless you corner the boss and get him stuck in a jump loop), the FP view encounters waste too much ammo and the side and rear attacks happen a bit too fast - gets pretty frustrating without a zapper or enough dynamite) and dips (second boss if you just walk up to him and shoot as he'll just keep jumping on the spot, can stun lock various later bosses so that they don't get to attack much, train boss, safe spot vs the impersonator boss, area 6 boss that spawns enemies, safe spot vs the second to last boss)
Some other FP view maze issues (overly frequent random encounters, no maps - thankfully you don't need to backtrack out of them after finding what you came for, and you do also have a compass), however there aren't that many of them in the game
Enemies tend to get stuck on obstacles in the TD view segments - this can be exploited even against some later bosses
So-so first boss (battle of attrition unless you stocked up on dynamite because you can't possibly dodge his shots while shooting him due to his higher rate of fire+longer reach)
No HP refill after beating a boss
The two additional guns you can buy (medium barrel in area 3 and long barrel in area 4) don't add anything besides more range to your attacks and those are the only new weapons you can get after the initial two bullet types and dynamite. There could've been a knife or sword, shotgun and a rifle at least (or perhaps spread and auto-fire upgrades even if not realistic, or the molotov cocktail some enemies use)
Some trial & error (some cheap enemy and hazard placements later on, quest progression in the third area - have to ask seemingly random NPCs to trigger being able to face the three bosses, in area 4 you shouldn't buy anything in brownsville before liberating it from the outlaws - you'll pay 2x for the long barrel, beginning of the eagle boss segment, final boss)
Not quite enough variety within the different segments themselves
Pretty sparse and sometimes a bit awkward dialogue ("I have no idea" - about what?). Some NPCs also say the exact same thing
Can't replay beaten side view levels
Repetitive looking overworld areas and later towns also look samey, Kinda bland backgrounds at times
Some enemies are positioned so that you can't reach what they drop
Some tedious parts (some pointless ghost town areas in area 3, falling down and having to get back up in the mine area levels)
Too many forced horseback encounters in area 4
Can't remove mines with dynamite