#2 Sunset Riders
The gritty seriousness of titles like Red Dead Redemption is great and all, but sometimes I pine for the flamboyant romanticism of the Old West. A return to Konami’s four-player arcade side-scrolling cowboy shoot-em-up would fill that gaping hole in my heart.
Sunset Riders stars four bounty hunters named Steve, Billy, Bob and a pink sombrero and poncho-wearing badass named Cormano. It’s essentially Contra set in the Old West, featuring powerups found in saloons, horse-riding, bull stampedes and an outlawed crime lord whose dying wish is to be buried with his money. The sheer joy of playing this game with four people in the days of the arcade was unrivaled, even considering Konami’s 1991 beat-em-up darling The Simpsons Arcade Game. A sequel or reboot of the series with online co-op is in order.
