The Lone Ranger
System: NES
Release Date: August 1991
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Action
Become the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains in the Lone Ranger! The Ranger is John Reid and the manual and game contradict one another on if the former leader of the Texas Rangers was your dad or brother. Either way, he was murdered by Butch Cavendish and his gang. Now, the President of the United States has been kidnapped Butch’s crew. The Lone Ranger, his friend Tonto, and his white steed Silver have eight chapters of action in front of them in order to save the day. Can you?
The Lone Ranger has compatibility for the Zapper, which I didn’t get a chance to try out, but definitely want to. What Konami has put together here is a varied mash up of level types to go through. They’ve done this before with the polarizing Bayou Billy, but at the end of the day, I don’t think the Lone Ranger is as love it or hate it, because it’s a better game. The Lone Ranger begins without his trusty steed and Tonto instructs him that he needs to find Silver. You enter the first town you come to, Tuscon. There are ladies walking around that you can talk to for the occasional bit of information. But be careful of any dudes you see, they want you dead. You can pound the daylights out of these guys with your fists, or you can press the Select Button to switch to bullets.
The bottom right corner always shows the bullets loaded in your six shooter. Attacking is always controlled with the B Button. When you unload your clip, you must press the B Button to reload. This can get you if you’re not paying attention fully. I took a few extra bullets to the chest thanks to this mechanic. You need a steady supply of money throughout your adventure, as each reload will run you ten bucks for standard bullets and twenty for the stronger silver bullets. There’s a bottle shooting minigame that can net you an extra $50 if you shoot all 18 bottles. There’s also a poker minigame that you can bet up to $10 a hand on. These really aren’t necessary, as enemies drop plenty of cash as you shoot them in the name of justice.
Most of the game takes place in these top down towns and outside stages, but there are plenty of other modes, as well. There are a number of side scrolling Castlevania style stages. This is your platforming segment, but luckily the Lone Ranger is both an accomplished jumper and able to fall long distances without getting hurt. You can aim your gun in eight directions, which you’ll need to do to take out your enemies. These levels can be difficult if you don’t take your time, but the appearance of light blue clad bandits throwing TNT is a harbinger of health. Killing them gives you a heart worth 4 health points.
There are occasional segments of 3D maze sprinkled in. They aren’t complex mazes requiring maps, but every few steps, you’ll have to fight off a wave of enemies in all four directions. Using the controller, you move your crosshairs around the screen to shoot enemies and their projectiles. Some of them will leave money, ammo, or health. Holding the A Button and a direction changes the way you’re facing, which you’ll have to do when you see red flashing in your compass. There’s also a similar scene on horseback where you must do the same.
The Lone Ranger’s journey plays out as a series of fetch quests. Get directions from Point A, then move to Point B. Get the item, talk to the person, or kill the bad guy. The end of quests put you into battle with a boss. They all have some pattern that you need to exploit, like this guy that you need to jump and shoot at to trick him. I took a number of tries to kill some of the bosses, but they are all killable. The final boss sequence is quite complex and took me a lot of attempts before I finally pulled it off, saving the President, and riding off into the sunset!
Graphics: 3.0
Everything looks pretty good. The sprites are nice, the backgrounds are detailed, even if they are hamstrung by the lack of colors.
Sound: 3.0
The music is serviceable and very Konami, but the main theme is done really well and the voice sample sounds good for the NES.
Gameplay: 3.0
Each of the game modes plays decently enough. I don’t remember being frustrated or unhappy at any point because of game design.
Difficulty: 3.0
If you die, you are sent back to the beginning of the chapter, so you don’t want to die, but I think that is a fair punishment.
Fun Factor: 3.0
It plays well and I had a good time, enough to go back with the Zapper in the future.
Overall Rating: 3.0
The Lone Ranger earns a B. Konami melded the gameplay of Snake’s Revenge, Castlevania, and the light gun shooter. It comes recommended by me!