by Cowboy Kid was developed by a small company known as Pixel. If you’ve never heard of them, I don’t blame you. The vast majority of their games were released only in Japan, and they didn’t even make many of those. Baseball Stars II is their only other game I recognized.
Pixel decided to mix aspects of beat ‘em ups, platformers, and adventure games in a cartoony Wild West setting. The premise is simple: become Sheriff and bring your father’s killers, known as The Scorpions, to justice.
So, is Cowboy Kid a hog-killin’ time, or is it all hat and no cattle? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
Let’s start with the controls. The A button jumps, the B button attacks, the D-pad moves your character, the Start button pauses the game, and the Select button cycles through your weapons. If you have a map, you press Start, then A to open it. The same is true of a ladder, but those only work in caves.
Much like The Legend of Zelda, you start without a weapon. Go inside the first building you see to be given a knife. Once outside, you will be inundated with thugs. Fortunately, these thugs go down in a single hit, and the knife has a generous hitbox. Once you’ve gotten a key from the first store, you can become the Sheriff and start collecting bounties, which are the real levels. I have to give Pixel credit for making a tutorial that doesn’t feel like a tutorial. Why can’t more modern games do this?
As you explore the town and kill thugs, you’ll find random people to talk to, some of whom have hints on where to go, shops for food and gear, inns, and places to play minigames for more money. You will want to stock up on money, even if just for healing items and a map. You won’t find healing items out in the wild, and the map is quite handy to have.
Fortunately, money is easy to get. All of the enemies you kill give you a bit of money, and there are treasure chests and barrels everywhere. Also, the minigames award a decent amount of money when you win. The target practice minigame awards $450 for a perfect score.
Another interesting mechanic is that you get a bounty for defeating bosses with a bonus depending on how much time you have left. You start with 20 minutes per level, which is pretty long compared to most games that have timers.
I’ve been enjoying the game quite a bit. The controls are smooth and responsive. The enemies can be a bit annoying since they constantly spawn, but at least you always have something to do. It’s a little harder to avoid damage than I’d like, and it is a bit annoying to heal. Mostly because once you buy a healing item, it is out of stock until you exit and reenter the store. Fortunately, inns restore you to full health all at once, but they aren’t as common to find.
There are 7 bosses, each with their own gimmick. You have Slash Joe: The Knife Master, Mad Brothers: Duo of Evil, Billy Morgan: Gun for Hire, Coyote Jim: Desert Hermit, Wild Wolf Chief: The Indian, Keith: The Hawk Master, and Scorpion Master: The Leader of the Group. You can face the first 6 in any order by choosing their Wanted posters. They can be interesting, but they take a long time to kill because they have so much HP and have invincibility frames.
One cool thing about this game is that not only is it two-player, but each player has different weapons. Player 1 is a cowboy named Sam, while player 2 is an Indian by the name of Little Chief. I wish the game had given you an option to choose which character you play as, but I understand why it didn’t.
I give the gameplay an 8/10. There are some annoyances here and there, but I’ve been enjoying it way more than not.
Graphics
I love the graphics in Cowboy Kid. The goofy expressions and cartoon aesthetic work really well. You even have silly scenes like your characters taking a bath if you paid for the best room at the Inn. They are simple designs, but I think that increases the appeal.
I give the graphics an 8/10.
Music
The music isn’t going down in video game history, but it is more than I expected and even quite catchy. The boss theme and railroad theme in particular stood out to me. However, some of it is reused a bit more than I would like.
I give the music a 7.5/10.
Difficulty
You get 3 lives and infinite continues. For every new level 1 of those continues lets you immediately resume from where you died. You also start with 8 hearts, and for every 5 Sheriff badges you collect, you add another heart up to a total of 16. You lose extra hearts when you pick up skulls or when you use a continue. You have 20 minutes to complete a level, or you have to use a continue.
You can also buy bulletproof vests and hats to help protect you. The bulletproof vest protects you from damage until it breaks, and the hat protects you from birds and dropping items until it breaks. The bosses can be a bit tricky at times, but you have plenty of time to learn when you have infinite continues.
Final Score
Overall, I give the game a 7.5/10. I round my scores down; otherwise, it would be an 8/10. Cowboy Kid is a fun action-adventure game reminiscent of Mystical Ninja Goemon and River City Ransom. It’s not as polished as either series, but I recommend giving it a try. However, keep in mind that a loose copy is almost $450 right now.
