Tin Star (video game)

Last updated
Tin Star
SNES Tin Star cover art.jpg
Developer(s) Software Creations
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Producer(s) Minoru Arakawa
Designer(s) Marcus Lindblom
Ste and John Pickford [1]
Programmer(s) John Buckley
Artist(s) Philip Bretherton
Writer(s) Malcolm McGookin
Composer(s) Chris Jojo
Matthew Cannon
Suddi Raval
Platform(s) Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s) Rail shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Tin Star is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Software Creations and released by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in North America in November 1994. Starring anthropomorphic robot characters, it follows a seven-day adventure of the titular sheriff who fights the criminal Bad Oil Gang from taking over the town of East Driftwood.

Contents

It includes both third and first-person stages, and players can control the reticle either with a standard SNES controller, Super Scope, or the SNES Mouse. It is the third Software Creations game to be published by Nintendo, after Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (1994) [2] and (only in Europe) Plok! (1993). The game received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the presentation, especially the graphics and humor, but criticism of the monotonous gameplay and lack of challenge.

Gameplay

SNES Tin Star.png
SNES Tin Star (Showdown).png
Tin Star includes levels of both a third and first-person perspective, but all involve the player controlling the reticle.

Tin Star is an arcade-style [3] shoot 'em up game. [4] [5] It is compatible with the standard Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) controller, the Super Scope, and the SNES Mouse, [6] [7] [2] and is the first SNES game to be playable with all controllers. [8] From Monday [9] to Sunday, [10] each day consists of shooting practice with a jug, action stages, and a fast draw with a Bad Oil Gang member. [11] The game has 31 levels, unusual for a shoot 'em up game at the time. [8]

Though all sequences involve the player controlling the gun reticle on screen, [12] they differ in gameplay style, featuring side-scrolling stages in the third-person and first-person sequences similar to Lethal Enforcers . [4] [13] The third-person segments take place on rides, stampedes, and in town, and the first-person levels are located in jails, banks, and saloons. [2] Tin Star fights the Bad Oil Gang involved in various activities, such as robberies of trains [14] [15] and banks, [16] prison breaks, [17] and shootouts. [10] [16]

Cash is gained by shooting enemies, and lost by wasting bullets and damaging the town. [18] Cash is used to save progress, [19] and the balance determines the ending of the story. [11] There are objects to hit, such as canteens that regain Tin Star's hit points. [19] However, if the canteen is hit in a stage, the bonus stage afterward is disabled. In the bonus stage, cash is obtained by shooting stars that surround a woman on a spinning disk. [12]

Plot

Tin Star, a six gun-armed sheriff with Mo Crash as his sidekick and Aluminum as his horse, [20] tries to save the town of East Driftwood from an overthrow by the criminal Bad Oil Gang. [21] Led by Black Bart, its members include four Johnson brothers, Tiny, Bugsy, Lucky, and the Kid; and two Oil brothers, Snake and Crude. [22] Bad Oil members have different strengths and incapacities, such as Snake Oil being fast with the gun but having poor aim, and Tiny Johnson being the opposite. [20]

Tin Star's journey is chaotic from the start; a coach ride to the town is surrounded by criminals trying to shoot him, [9] and when he arrives, he is instantly bombarded with missions of stopping the Bad Oil Gang's shooting of a saloon and cattle stampede. The town has just built its first railroad, which serves as its route to other prisons for the town's criminals to be sent. Many of the Bad Oil Gang members are sent to jail following multiple attempted train robberies; however, as Tin Star places the gang's Snake Oil in the slammer following a showdown, the inmates escape by wearing disguises and digging the ground for exits. [17]

The Bad Oil Gang return to East Driftwood and shoot up the town disguised as women, taking advantage of the "Good Guy Code of the West" which restricts lawmen from shooting women and children. They try to rob a bank, [16] take over another train, and trigger another cattle stampede. [15] He dissolves all the incidents, in the process loophole-ing around the women-and-children rule by stating it applies only when unarmed females and juveniles are together. However, Tin Star is still unable to capture the group.

Tin Star is threatened with another quick draw by the Bad Oil Gang's The Kid Johnson. However, Tin Star faces the "Good Guy Code of the West" again, as The Kid, although an experienced gunfighter, cannot be shot due to being a child. The Kid goes away without any injuries, but the gang's leader, Black Bart, requests the kid disappear, and hires a town civilian to spread misinformation about Tin Star murdering the child. Tin Star is convicted of shooting a child and has his sheriff badge revoked, only to be taken by Black Bart, who replaces him. He is then knocked out by Mo's big brother and enemy, Schemp, and the Bad Oil Gang dumps the body in the middle of the desert.

Tin Star awakes to find his love interest and the mayor's daughter, Maria, informing him Mo has been kidnapped by the Bad Oil Gang, which is also terrorizing the saloon. Tin Star rides back to town disguised in a mask and saves Mo, stops a town shootout, finds The Kid and shows the residents he's still alive, successfully finishes off Black Bart in two quick draw encounters, destroys the Bad Oil Gang's headquarters, and gets his sheriff position back. What happens with Tin Star and Maria differs depending on the final score. Having below $750,000 results in Maria refusing to marry Tin Star, and $750,000–$999,999 results in the same with her instead marrying Mo, who inherited one million from his brother's will. If Tin Star has more than one million dollars, Maria is revealed to be Black Bart in disguise. Bart reasons that he wore it to learn Tin Star's secrets.

Development

Tin Star is the third Software Creations-developed game published by Nintendo, after Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (1994) [2] and (only in Europe) Plok! (1993). [23] Nintendo hired the Manchester developer to work on a light gun game for the SNES in compensation for not assigning them a follow-up to Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, which went to Rare. [24] The game was developed out of founder Richard Kay's concept of a Western shoot 'em up with robot characters, inspired by the 1973 film Westworld . [25] Software Creations was the first developer to hire professional artists,[ citation needed ] with a catalog including a hand-drawn animation style which Kay was a fan of. Tin Star's team included animator Scott Pleydell-Pearce and background artist Deborah Graham. [25] [26] It became one of six games featured by Nintendo at the 1994 summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES), [27] and was released exclusively in North America in November 1994. [28]

Reception

An estimated 50,000 copies of the game were sold. [1]

Critics called Tin Star fun, [lower-alpha 3] easy, [35] and suitable for young players. [32] [36] It was considered unique from other shoot 'em up games for its comic nature, cartoon graphics, [12] [29] and quick draw bosses, which Última Generación declared the best all-time aspect of games in the genre. [13] It was found to be very playable due to its decent control [36] and ability to modify cursor speed and difficulty. [12] Computer and Video Games called it the best game to use the Super Scope, [30] and GamePro and Total! claimed it was the easiest to play with the Super Scope and Mouse. [5] [32] The graphics were frequently lauded [12] [30] [36] and called by Total! journalist Frank the best on the SNES; [5] this includes the varied visual styles, [33] colorfulness, [32] [33] jocularity, [12] [13] interactiveness, [5] and attention to detail. [12] The music and sound effects were praised for capturing a Wild West aesthetic, [5] [12] and the humor and story was enjoyed by many critics, [lower-alpha 4] except Markus Hawkins of Super Play and GamePro 's Tommy Glide. [4] [32]

Reactions to the gameplay were mixed. Some reviewers thought the levels were diverse, [12] [13] [29] and others found the general experience monotonous, [3] [4] [32] limiting in challenge, [4] [5] [32] lacking in replay value, [4] [5] and taking under a day to finish. [4] [5] Hawkins was stressed by the quickdraw bosses, but lamented the recycled enemy placements and not being able to shoot at certain instances. [4] However, Consoles+ found it much harder with easy segments in scarcity; [30] and an Última Generación writer criticized a difficulty spike from the fifth to the sixth day, also finding it tough and annoying to kill small enemies. [13] Some reviewers disliked the absence of a two-player mode. [5] [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ GamePro gave Tin Score two 4/5 ratings for graphics and sound, and two 3.5/5 ratings for control and fun factor. [32]
  2. ↑ Tin Star was scored by Nintendo Power 3.6/5 for graphics/sound, 3.4/5 for play control, and 3.7/5 twice for challenge and theme/fun. [3]
  3. ↑ [12] [29] [31] [35]
  4. ↑ [3] [5] [12] [30] [31]

Related Research Articles

<i>Super Mario RPG</i> 1996 video game

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996. It was the final Mario game published for the SNES. The game was directed by Chihiro Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and scored by Yoko Shimomura.

<i>Donkey Kong Country</i> 1994 video game

Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a reboot of Nintendo's Donkey Kong franchise and follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong as they set out to recover their stolen banana hoard from the crocodile King K. Rool and his army, the Kremlings. The single-player traverses 40 side-scrolling levels as they jump between platforms and avoid obstacles. They collect items, ride minecarts and animals, defeat enemies and bosses, and find secret bonus stages. In multiplayer modes, two players work cooperatively or race each other.

In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine. Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Cartridge-based handheld consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy (1989), Atari Lynx (1989), Sega Game Gear (1990) and TurboExpress (1990).

<i>Plok!</i> 1993 video game

Plok! is a side-scrolling platform game developed by British studio Software Creations and its concepts and characters created and owned by Ste and John Pickford. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in late 1993 by Tradewest in North America, Nintendo in Europe, and Activision in Japan. Players portray the hood-headed titular protagonist, the king of the island Akrillic who is protecting it from fleas spawned by the Flea Queen, who is under the island's ground, as well as other bosses trying to overthrow Plok's power. His versatility lies in his four separable limbs, which can be used to shoot at targets and enemies, and several power-ups scattered throughout its colorful stages as "presents."

<i>Super Street Fighter II</i> 1993 video game

Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers is a competitive fighting game produced by Capcom and originally released as an arcade game in 1993. It is the fourth game in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. It refines and balances the existing character roster from the previous versions, and introduces four new characters. It is the first game on Capcom's CP System II hardware, with more sophisticated graphics and audio over the original CP System hardware used in previous versions of Street Fighter II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super FX</span> 3D graphics chip used in Super Nintendo games

The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily to facilitate advanced 2D and 3D graphics. The Super FX chip was designed by Argonaut Games, who also co-developed the 3D space rail shooter video game Star Fox with Nintendo to demonstrate the additional polygon rendering capabilities that the chip had introduced to the SNES.

<i>The Legend of the Mystical Ninja</i> 1991 video game

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, known as Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki in Japan, is an action-adventure game by Konami, and was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It was also ported to the Game Boy Advance along with Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shōgun Magginesu only in Japan.

<i>Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back</i> 1993 video game

Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1993 action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software and published by JVC Musical Industries for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back. It is the sequel to Super Star Wars. The game was followed by a sequel, Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Unlike its predecessor, Nintendo wasn’t involved in its publishing. The game was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on August 24, 2009 and in the PAL regions on October 2, 2009, alongside the other games in the Super Star Wars series.

<i>Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi</i> 1994 video game

Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is an action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software and published by JVC Musical Industries for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America on June 22, 1994, Europe on March 30, 1995 and in Japan on June 23, 1995. It is based on the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. It was ported to the Game Boy and Game Gear by Realtime Associates, which were published by THQ in 1995. The game was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America on September 7, 2009 and in PAL regions on October 16, 2009, alongside the other games in the Super Star Wars series.

<i>Equinox</i> (1993 video game) 1993 video game

Equinox is an action adventure puzzle video game developed by Software Creations and published by Sony Imagesoft for the Super NES. A sequel to Solstice (1990) for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Equinox depicts Glendaal saving his father Shadax, the previous game's playable character, from the imprisonment of Sonia, Shadax's apprentice. The player acts as Glendaal, exploring 458 rooms in eight underground dungeons. The player collects 12 blue orb tokens while solving puzzles, killing enemies, collecting keys, navigating platforms and blocks, and battling bosses. It continues Solstice's isometric puzzle game style, with greater emphasis on action adventure and Mode 7 overworld map.

<i>Dragon View</i> 1994 video game

Dragon View is a side-scrolling role-playing beat 'em up for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Kotobuki System in November 1994 and published by Kemco in North America. Released in Japan as Super Drakkhen and otherwise known as Drakkhen II, it is meant to be a sequel to Drakkhen although it bears little resemblance to its predecessor. It uses the same pseudo-3D overworld system for which the series is most famous. Other features of Dragon View are its side-view action role-playing game (RPG) hybrid gameplay, its well translated first-person storyline, and its emphasis on player-driven undirected exploration. In 2019, the game was re-released through emulation for Windows. In 2022, a reproduction SNES cartridge was released by Limited Run Games.

<i>Super Ghouls n Ghosts</i> 1991 video game

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, known in Japan as Super Demon World Village, is a platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. As the third game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins series and the first not to be released for the arcade, it again depicts knight Arthur saving Princess Guinevere and the kingdom from Emperor Sardius, who has cast a spell that has revived the Ghoul Realm.

<i>R-Type III: The Third Lightning</i> 1993 video game

R-Type III: The Third Lightning is a 1993 side-scrolling shooter video game developed by Tamtex and first released in Japan by Irem in 1993 for the Super Famicom and in North America and Europe in 1994 for the SNES.

<i>The Lion King</i> (video game) 1994 video game

The Lion King is a platform game based on Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King. The game was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Super NES and Genesis in 1994, and was ported to MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Gear, Master System, and Nintendo Entertainment System. The Amiga, Master System, and NES versions were only released in the PAL region. It is the final licensed NES game worldwide. The game follows Simba's journey from a young cub to the battle with his uncle Scar as an adult.

Disney's Magical Quest is a Disney platform game trilogy released by Capcom. The games star Mickey Mouse and either Minnie Mouse or Donald Duck, who must defeat Pete. The gameplay is similar amongst all games in the series: the player must move as in a typical platform game, defeating enemies either by jumping on them or by grabbing and throwing blocks at them.

<i>Alien 3</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Alien 3 is a run and gun game based on the 1992 film of the same name. It was released for the Genesis and Amiga in 1992, then for the Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Master System.

<i>The Pagemaster</i> (video game) 1994 video game

The Pagemaster is a platform game released in conjunction with the 1994 film The Pagemaster for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis.

<i>The Wizard of Oz</i> (1993 video game) 1993 video game

The Wizard of Oz is a 1993 platform video game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and loosely based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Developed by Manley & Associates, it was published by SETA Corporation and released in North America in 1993 and in Europe in 1994. The player assumes the role of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Cowardly Lion in a series of levels containing hidden areas, mazes, and puzzles to bring Glinda's magic ruby slippers to the Wizard of Oz.

<i>Super Mario All-Stars</i> 1993 game compilation

Super Mario All-Stars is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four Super Mario games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Famicom Disk System: Super Mario Bros. (1985), Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986), Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988). As in the original games, players control the Italian plumber Mario and his brother Luigi through themed worlds, collecting power-ups, avoiding obstacles, and finding secrets. The remakes feature updated graphics—including the addition of parallax scrolling—and music, modified game physics, and bug fixes.

<i>Time Trax</i> (video game) 1994 video game

Time Trax is a 1994 action-platform video game developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Malibu Games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the television series of the same name, which aired from 1993 to 1994. The story follows police Captain Lambert as he tries to stop criminal fugitives from changing history and gaining control of the future, with aid from his supercomputer assistant. The player controls Lambert across eight levels, apprehending enemies using a stunner weapon capable of sending them back to the future. The player can also use martial arts to defeat enemies, or use a time ability to slow them down.

References

  1. 1 2 Ste and John Pickford. "Softography - Tinstar". The Pickford Bros. Zee-3. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Goldberg, Joshua (4 May 2017). "Tin Star". Hardcore Gaming 101 . Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Now Playing". Nintendo Power . No. 67. Nintendo of America. December 1994. pp. 102–107. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hawkins, Markus (July 1995). "US Review: Tin Star". Super Play . No. 33. Future Publishing. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Atico; Rob (July 1995). "Tinstar". Total! . No. 43. Future Publishing. pp. 50–51. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Lab Rat, The (January 1995). "The Mail: Let's Get Technical". GamePro . No. 76. IDG. p. 14.
  7. ↑ Watch Dog, The (November 1996). "Buyers Beware". GamePro . No. 98. IDG. p. 24.
  8. 1 2 "Tin Star". Nintendo Magazine System . No. 23. August 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Monday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 13. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Sunday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 19. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Screens/Stages-General". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. pp. 11–12. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Alter, Sandra (June 1997). "Test – Tin Star". Total! (in German). No. 48. X-Plain-Verlag. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tin Star". Última Generación (in Spanish). No. 1. MV Editores. March 1995. pp. 92–93. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  14. ↑ "Tuesday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 14. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Friday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 17. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 "Thursday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 16. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Wednesday". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 15. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "Tinstar". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 31. April 1995. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  19. 1 2 "Game Features/Operation". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. p. 10. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  20. 1 2 "Characters". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. pp. 20–22. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "The Legend of Tin Star". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  22. ↑ "Bad Oil Gang". Tin Star (PDF). Nintendo of America. 1994. pp. 23–27. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  23. ↑ Szczepaniak, John (June 2020). "The Making of Plok". Retro Gamer . No. 208. pp. 54–59. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Pickford, Ste (21 September 2009). "Tinstar font". Zee-3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  25. 1 2 Bevan, Mike (December 2013). "Bubbles, Baseball and Buzz Saws..." Retro Gamer . No. 122. pp. 74–79. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  26. ↑ "NU 64: Software Creations Do Their Thing". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 36. September 1995. pp. 92–95. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  27. ↑ "Other Stuff". GameFan . Vol. 2, no. 8. July 1994. p. 138. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  28. ↑ "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Boissarie, Véronique; Garnier, François (February 1995). "Super Nintendo Review - Tin Star". Consoles + (in French). No. 40. M.E.R.7. pp. 98–99. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 "Supershots". Computer and Video Games . No. 163. EMAP. June 1995. p. 82.
  31. 1 2 3 "SNES – Review – Tin Star". Game Players . No. 67. Signal Research. January 1995. p. 64. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Glide, Tommy (March 1995). "ProReview: Tin Star". GamePro . No. 78. IDG. p. 74. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  33. 1 2 3 Por Lord Marthias (February 1995). "Tin Star". Super Game Power (in Portuguese). No. 11. Nova Cultural. p. 37. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  34. ↑ "Tin Star". VideoGames . No. 73. Larry Flynt Publications. February 1995.
  35. 1 2 Carter, Chip; Carter, Jonathan (16 December 1994). "Quick! Consider These For Your Christmas Shopping List". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  36. 1 2 3 "Keeps youngsters busy with games his winter". Associated Press. 11 January 1995. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.