Previous Next

Buffalo Bill is famous for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because he killed lots of buffalo: over 4,000 of them in the late 1870s (to provide meat for labourers constructing the Kansas Pacific Railway). Secondly, and more relevant to this review, he set up his legendary Wild West Show in 1883.

Tynesoft's Games, like the original, feature Indians, cowboys, sharp-shooters and rough riders in a contest of strength and skill. There are six events, all of which contain some humour.

Knife-Throwing has you lobbing sharp blades at a Red Indian woman in a leather bikini, who's mounted on a spinning wheel. Hit the wheel and you score points; hit skin and the screen drips blood.

Trick Shooting is split into two sections; a firing range and a bottle-smashing event.

Next there's Bronco Riding - only for the seriously deranged. Follow the direction arrows with your joystick and you might just stay on your hoss for longer than a couple of seconds.

The Stagecoach Rescue isn't a real event as such, but it involves a lot of good ol' joystick waggling and an old-fashioned punch-up, as you attempt to wrest a coach from the hands of a dastardly Red Indian.

The last two games - calf-roping and steer wrestling - are very similar: right-to-left scrolling action in which you bring wild moo-moos to the ground before the time runs out. Silly but enjoyable.

Buffalo Bill is all very well presented: before you start there's a 1-4 player option and the chance to register your name. Each event is then multi-loaded, but there's the opportunity (as there was in Summer Olympiad) to try each one again as many times as you want.

For every contest there's a different thigh-slapping Wild West tune (these include reasonable renditions of the Lone Ranger theme and The Camptown Races), a neat title pic and an individual high-score table.

There's not much wrong with Rodeo Games: it needs a lot of skill to master, the three difficulty levels and four-player option keep you interesting, and it's good fun to play. The only real criticism you can make is about the price: it's a fiver too expensive.

Take a look anyway - it could be worth trading in your Six Shooter for.

It's not the most original game format, but it's a nice angle to take and works as well as any of the other games on the ST.