Back in the mid 90’s, the console scene around the world was booming. You had the Super Nintendo that continued to pump out title after title, hit after hit, and it just never seemed to stop. One of those classic titles and is still widely considered to be a cult hit is Wild Guns. The original title released for the Super Nintendo back in 1994 by Natsume, a small but popular Japanese gaming company who were looking to burst onto the scene with something fresh. Wild Guns proved to be a success, giving players a steampunk and sci-fi western experience unlike any other. Of course, you had titles before Wild Guns such as the popular Sunset Riders but what Wild Guns created was an entirely fresh, taking inspiration from games like Dynamite Duke and even going as far as drawing design ideas from Cobra the anime.

The shooting gallery style of gameplay is still considered to be a niche genre by many but Wild Guns helped to usher in more titles of its kind, such as Sin & Punishment for the Nintendo 64, another sought after cult classic. So fast forward to 2018 where we now have Wild Guns: Reloaded, the same awesome game from the 90’s which brought Natsume critical success, which can now be played on the go for the Nintendo Switch. We saw this title on the PlayStation 4 but what makes Wild Guns: Reloaded for the Switch a treat is that it’s now portable and can be played just about anywhere at anytime.

Anyone who loves a great challenge in a video game will surely find Wild Guns: Reloaded to be an enjoyable experience. With a handful of beautifully designed levels to choose from, and an awesome cast of characters to try out, this is one game that any Switch owner simply can’t ignore. Each character possesses a different type of ability which can be helpful in some stages you play on, while an array of powerful power-ups allow you to take out a group of enemies in a flash. Clint and Annie are the main protagonists of the overall story, where Annie sets out to seek revenge against the Kid family for abducting and killing her family. She asks Clint for assistance and the two set out to seek justice and retribution. In Reloaded, there are of course new options to try out such as local multiplayer, more enemies and stages, which only provide more appeal to an already critically acclaimed title. Every stage comes with its surprises so constantly going back to figure out every enemy pattern is a satisfying ordeal, and when you successfully master every character, it only creates a higher feeling of reward. With all that being said, let’s jump right into this classic shooting gallery title and provide you with more reasons why this should be on the must have list.

One thing that immediately stands out about Wild Guns: Reloaded is that it retains everything from the original, but only adds in more content to provide more replay value. The same team who developed the original also worked on Reloaded and so you can really feel that authenticity when playing. You immediately boot up the game and are transported back in time to your childhood, reminiscing over how awesome the Super Nintendo was and the soundtrack to the game being so freaking cool. All the retro style effects are still very much intact and so you never feel robbed of that nostalgic experience. Most classic titles that often receive remakes tend to modernize the visuals to keep up with the times, but that tends to create a divide since you don’t truly get to experience the game for what it actually was. In Wild Guns: Reloaded, you totally feel like it’s 1994 again but this time, you actually have all these new characters to try out and beat the game with.

Perhaps that’s where the thrill comes in because as we said before, each character possesses different abilities which can be used to take out specific foes. You have Bullet, the courageous little pup accompanied by his robotic sidekick, who specializes in playing keep away while optimizing the drones’ strengths to zap multiple enemies with its powerful lock-on mechanic. Then you have Doris who’s quite unique because she throws out grenades which do massive damage, and the longer you hold down the button she can throw multiple grenades to demolish an entire group. She also has the ability to throw out a sort of tool that allows her to immobilize enemies and take them out with more grenades. If an enemy approaches you up close, you can jump in the air and produce a powerful ground pound, killing them on the spot. By pressing the X button on the Switch, you unlock every character’s special attack which is essentially a more upgraded version of their normal based attacks, and of course crushes everything on screen. So if you’re ever in a pinch and just need some breathing room, the X button is your friend. Clint and Annie are still very much the same in terms of their abilities and are totally fun to use if you’re new to the game.

They’re both like the Ryu and Chun Li of Wild Guns: Reloaded just as a point of reference meaning that, they’re easy to pick up and play but will still require some mastery to get the best out of their usage. Doris and Bullet require a little more skill to use as their abilities require you to do multiple things at once, and so hand-eye coordination with them is much higher. We opted for Bullet because despite his moveset, his evasion skills are arguably the best in the game. Not only can you dash to avoid incoming enemy attacks or double jump to avoid incoming fire, you can also latch onto your sentry drone and hover around in the sky to avoid everything all together. He’s just a very fun character to use that when mastered, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Wild Guns: Reloaded is simple in its concept but totally in depth once you start to play it long enough. Every new stage entails something intriguing which motivates you to come up with new strategies and ways to adapt on the fly. No stage ever feels the same and even when you go back to replay a level there’s just another small detail that stands out, and grabs your attention. Having the opportunity to play this with friends as well is also what makes this game such a thrill because now, you can take all of the action with you anywhere. Just set up your Nintendo Switch with a few friends and enjoy all the fun on one screen. There’s just nothing negative to say about this game because it doesn’t shy away from the original, all Natsume did was just turn an already delicious sandwich into a five star treat. All we can say is that if you haven’t played it before, then now’s the time to do so!

Wild Guns: Reloaded will certainly go down as one of the best niche titles of all time in our books, and that’s great to see. It’s by no means revolutionary in this day and age but it really brought a new genre to life back in the mid 90’s when players were looking for something fresh to dig into. We’d love to see more titles like Wild Guns: Reloaded on the Switch because the system really takes advantage of the local multiplayer concept very well, and even when playing by yourself things just feel so fluid. We hope you found this review to be worthwhile and that it provided enough incentive for you to go out and grab a copy. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest game related news, and Twitch to catch us playing all these awesome games live!

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