Wikipedia

Sheriff(video game)

Sheriff,[a]also known asBandido,is a 1979multi-directional shooterarcade gamebyNintendo.It is one of severalWestern-themed video gamesfrom the 1970s, along withWestern Gun,Outlaw,andBoot Hill.The player controls a countysherifftasked with defense of a town against bandits, to rescue the captured woman. It was a commercial success in Japan, where it was among the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1979.

Sheriff
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Genyo Takeda[8]
Artist(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
Genre(s)Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player,two-player[9]
Arcade systemNintendo 8080[10]

Gameplay

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Screenshot

The game's concept is Nintendo's firstdamsel in distresstheme, predatingDonkey Kong(1981). The player controls Mr. Jack,[11]asheriff,against a gang of attacking bandits, to defend the town and rescue Betty,[11]the captured woman.[12][13]

Sheriffdistinctly features two separate controls: ajoystickfor movement, and a dial control for aiming and firing, a configuration unusual forarcade gamesand nonexistent in consoles at the time. The joystick moves the character and the dial aims and fires, each in eight separate directions, allowing Mr. Jack to walk in one direction while shooting in another.[13]The movement joystick is set with a considerable time delay before moving.

16 bandits (also referred to as "gangs" )[11]surround the outer rim, marked by a dotted "fence". Bullets from either Mr. Jack or the bandits can destroy the fenceposts, and they can function as defensive walls or aiming obstacles for the player. Larger barriers also exist on the midpoint of each side of the screen, and bullets from either Mr. Jack or the bandits will slowly erode these. The top and bottom barriers display the current level number.

The basic action taken by the enemy bandits is to walk around the outer rim while firing bullets at Mr. Jack, but they will sometimes enter into the central area, along with a change in game music. Mr. Jack must avoid touching the bandits, dodge bullets, and shoot all 16 bandits to complete each level.

Occasionally, acondorflies along the top of the screen in much the same way as the UFO inTaito'sSpace Invaders.Shooting the condor awards the player a random amount of bonus points.

At the end of every round, a briefcutsceneis shown. Depending on how many rounds the player has completed, this cutscene either shows Betty being chased by the bandits[14]or reuniting with Mr. Jack. Whenever the latter is shown, the player's score is doubled.[15]

Development

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The game was developed byNintendo R&D1in 1979, designed byGenyo Takedawith art byShigeru Miyamoto.[8]Some sources[16][17][18]assert thatIkegami Tsushinkialso did design work onSheriff.

Release

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The game was originally released in two formats: an uprightcabinetand a cocktail (tabletop) version. These versions were imported to Europe, Asia, and America. In America, the game was distributed by Far East Video.[19]In the UK,Sheriffwas licensed for production and distribution by Bell-Fruit Manufacturing in an upright cabinet. Bell-Fruit's core product range at the time was fruit/slot machines.Sheriff(and laterPuckman) marked the company's first, and short lived, diversification into the market of video games as licensee, so the cabinet design for this territory differs considerably from that of the Japanese version. Although it features the same marquee andbezeldesign, it shares many properties more commonly associated with slot machines, such as a lack of side art or cabinet decals. However, the game's title in this region remains unchanged asSheriff.

In North America, the game was distributed byExidyasBandido.As was common practice for arcade games at the time, the game was sold as if it were Exidy's own creation, with all mentions of Nintendo being edited or removed. This version of the game renames Mr. Jack and Betty as "Our Hero" and "Pretty Priscilla" respectively.

A few rare and early prototypeSheriffarcades made and distributed with the help of Sega were shipped out to North America (mainly in Canada) to test market the game before Exidy obtained the rights and distributed the game as Bandido. These rare prototype arcades were hand converted from factory by Nintendo and Sega from previous Nintendo Space Fever B&W cocktail cabinets and were also the only instance ofSherifffeaturing a black & white display.[citation needed]

A modified version of the game was released exclusively in Japan byTaitoasWestern Gun Part II.This version features edited graphics and replaces most of the game's music with portions of songs such as the theme toThe Magnificent SevenandOh My Darling, Clementine.It is unknown if this version ofSheriffwas authorised by Nintendo.[20][21]

Reception

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The game was a commercial success in Japan, whereSheriffwas among the top ten highest-grossingarcade games of 1979.[22]

In 2012, 1up wrote thatSheriffput Nintendo on the right track as a game developer.[13]

Legacy

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In 2003 it was re-released as part ofWarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!,released for theGame Boy Advance.InWarioWare,Sheriffwas included as both a microgame and as a minigame ( "Wario's Sheriff" ) in whichWariotakes the role of the sheriff. Standard controls apply to the microgame version, but in the minigame version, the L/R buttons can make the sheriff face in the opposite direction without moving. The time delay for moving the sheriff was removed, and the sheriff's walking speed is greatly increased from the original. When the player's points double after completing a certain number of levels, the sheriff also gains extra lives, considerably reducing the game's difficulty.

Mr. Jack has appeared in theSuper Smash Bros.series starting withSuper Smash Bros Melee,in which he appears as one of the many collectible Trophies in the game. Mr. Jack later returned inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii Uas an assist trophy where he fires a succession of eight bullets in a random order on the battlefield at the enemies of the summoner. He appears again as an Assist Trophy and Spirit inSuper Smash Bros Ultimate.

Notes

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  1. ^Japanese:シェリフ,Hepburn:Sherifu

References

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  1. ^"Sheriff arcade video game pcb by Nintendo Co., Ltd. (1979)".arcade-history.
  2. ^arcadeflyers, Daniel Hower, Eric Jacobson."The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game Flyers: Sheriff, Nintendo".flyers.arcade-museum.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006).アーケードTVゲームリスト quốc nội • hải ngoại biên (1971-2005)[Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 57.ISBN978-4990251215.
  4. ^"L.A. Distrib Holds 6th Annual Show"(PDF).Cash Box.1979-12-15. p. 41.
  5. ^Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006).アーケードTVゲームリスト quốc nội • hải ngoại biên (1971-2005)[Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 128.ISBN978-4990251215.
  6. ^McFerran, Damien (2018-02-26)."Feature: Shining A Light On Ikegami Tsushinki, The Company That Developed Donkey Kong".Nintendo Life.Retrieved2020-06-09.
  7. ^Calvert, Darren (24 March 2015)."Feature: Before They Were Enemies, Sega And Nintendo Worked On One Of The Rarest Arcade Games Ever Made".Nintendo Life.Retrieved16 April2021.
  8. ^ab"Iwata Asks: Punch-Out!! - Investigating a Glove Interface".Nintendo.August 7, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon January 11, 2010.RetrievedAugust 11,2009.
  9. ^Sheriffat theKiller List of Videogames
  10. ^"Nintendo 8080 hardware".GitHub.MAME.Retrieved19 May2021.
  11. ^abc"Nintendo Sheriff Arcade Machine".Nintendo Arcade. April 20, 2015. Event occurs at 18:53.
  12. ^"Interview: Nintendo Arcade Collector Shoots From the Hip With Rare Sheriff Cabinet".Nintendo Life.December 29, 2014.RetrievedApril 25,2018.
  13. ^abc"Where Were They Then: The First Games of Nintendo, Konami, and More".1UP.Archived fromthe originalon October 17, 2012.RetrievedApril 25,2018.
  14. ^"First cutscene".YouTube.6 July 2014. Event occurs at 2:44.
  15. ^"Second cutscene".YouTube.6 July 2014. Event occurs at 5:19.
  16. ^"Company:Ikegami Tsushinki - GDRI:: Game Developer Research Institute".gdri.smspower.org.
  17. ^ドンキーコング trọng tài についてちょこっと khảo えてみるArchived2010-03-12 at theWayback MachineThinking a bit about Donkey Kong, accessed February 1, 2009
  18. ^It started from Pong(それは『ポン』から thủy まった: アーケードTVゲーム の thành り lập ち,sore wa pon kara hajimatta: ākēdo terebi gēmu no naritachi),Masumi Akagi(Xích mộc thật trừng,Akagi Masumi),Amusement Tsūshinsha(アミューズメント thông tín xã,Amyūzumento Tsūshinsha),2005,ISBN4-9902512-0-2.
  19. ^"Sheriff arcade flyer".Retrieved2021-08-19.
  20. ^"Western Gun Part II Longplay".YouTube.25 February 2021.
  21. ^"Western Gun Part II Flyer".1980.
  22. ^"ベストスリー bổn giấy điều tra"[Best 3 Paper Survey](PDF).Game Machine(in Japanese). No. 136.Amusement Press, Inc.February 1980. p. 2.
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