SNES Shooter Action 1994

Wild Guns

Reviewed by Marcus Webb & Elena Castillo · Updated June 2025

Natsume's 1994 SNES gallery shooter combining western and science fiction — Wild Guns is a screen-fixed shooting gallery where players control Clint or Annie shooting enemies on a layered background plane while dodging incoming fire. Two-player simultaneous co-op, a wide array of weapons collected from enemies, and a unique design that doesn't resemble any contemporary SNES game.

🔑 Cheats & Codes 🎲 Trivia 🎮 Games Like This

💡 Wild Guns — Key Facts

→ Wild Guns was developed by Natsume and published by Natsume
→ Released in 1994 on SNES
→ Genre: Shooter, Action
→ We rate it 8.9/10 — highly recommended
→ Natsume's 1994 SNES gallery shooter combining western and science fiction — Wild Guns is a screen-fixed shooting gallery where players control Clint or Annie shooting enemies on a layered background plane while dodging incoming fire. Two-player simultaneous co-op, a wide array of weapons collected from enemies, and a unique design that doesn't resemble any contemporary SNES game.

Overview

Wild Guns asks two things simultaneously: move to dodge, and aim at something completely different from where you’re moving.

The learning curve is understanding these as separate inputs — the character and the reticle are not the same thing. Once that distinction clicks, the gallery shooter design opens.

The Fixed Frame

The scene is fixed. Enemies populate the background layers while Clint or Annie stand in the foreground. Players control both the character’s position (for dodging) and the targeting reticle (for shooting) as separate independent movements.

Cabal and Blood Bros on arcade used this format in the late 1980s. Wild Guns is the finest SNES implementation of the idea — extending the format with the steampunk western setting, the weapon variety, and the co-op mode.

Robot Cowboys

The aesthetic combination — western frontier meets advanced technology — shouldn’t work as coherently as it does. Robot gunslingers in frontier town settings. Mechanical cattle. Steam-powered aircraft firing at players across a saloon backdrop.

The visual identity is unique. No other SNES game looks like Wild Guns. The genre is uncommon; the setting doubly so.

Annie and Clint

Two players, two characters, two targeting reticles covering the screen simultaneously. Co-op Wild Guns creates more chaos but also more coverage — four independent inputs (two characters moving, two reticles aiming) eliminate enemies from multiple screen positions at once.

The game was designed for two players. Solo play works and is a full experience; co-op is the intended format that Wild Guns: Reloaded expanded with four-player support in 2016.

Our Review

8.9

Excellent / 10

🎮

Gameplay

★★★★★

🎨

Graphics

★★★★★

🎵

Audio

★★★★★

🔄

Replay

★★★★★

Gameplay

Wild Guns is a fixed-screen shooting gallery (similar to Cabal or Blood Bros) where the player stands in the foreground of a scene while enemies populate the background layers. Players move a targeting reticle to shoot enemies while simultaneously moving the character to dodge incoming fire. The two actions are independent — the reticle and character move separately. Weapons include standard Gatling gun, TNT (area bombs), laser rifle, and others collected from enemies or as stage rewards. Two-player simultaneous co-op has Clint and Annie working together. Six stages escalate in enemy density.

Graphics

Wild Guns' steampunk-western visual aesthetic is unique in the SNES library — robot enemies in cowboy hats, mechanical horses, frontier town environments with science fiction elements. The sprite work is detailed and the visual identity is completely distinct from contemporaries.

Audio

The Wild Guns soundtrack provides appropriately western-influenced music with guitar-driven themes. The score creates the frontier atmosphere while matching the game's action pace.

Replayability

Six stages with two characters' different handling, weapon collection, and two-player co-op provide replay. The score attack element rewards improvement in enemy elimination efficiency.

Historical Significance

Wild Guns (1994, SNES) is one of the few examples of the Cabal-style gallery shooter on SNES and one of the finest implementations of the format on any platform. The game was a modest commercial success in North America and became sought-after in collector markets as a rare but high-quality SNES title. Wild Guns: Reloaded (2016, PS4/Switch/PC) is a modern remake with 4-player support and new content, which introduced the game to a new audience and confirmed its design's continued relevance.

✅ Pros

+ Dual reticle/movement control creates unique gallery shooter mechanic
+ Steampunk-western aesthetic unlike any other SNES game
+ Two-player co-op with Annie and Clint
+ Diverse weapon collection system
+ Six stages with escalating enemy density

❌ Cons

- Fixed-screen gallery shooter niche format not for everyone
- SNES cartridge relatively rare and collector-priced
- Six stages relatively short
- Steep learning curve for dual reticle/movement control

Also Known As

Wild Guns SNESワイルドガンズ

Wild Guns FAQ

How does the dual control system in Wild Guns work?

Wild Guns uses two simultaneous inputs that operate independently. The left analog stick/D-pad moves the player character (Clint or Annie) left and right on the screen to dodge incoming enemy fire. The reticle (targeting cursor) is moved separately to aim at enemies in the background. The two inputs are completely independent — the player can move left while aiming right, or stand still while swinging the reticle rapidly. This creates a coordination challenge: while dodging incoming bullets by moving, the player must simultaneously aim accurately at enemies in the background. Players who treat the reticle as the character's position find the game confusing; understanding the separation of character movement and targeting is the learning curve.

What weapons are available in Wild Guns?

Wild Guns features several weapon types that change gameplay significantly. The default Gatling gun fires rapidly in a small radius around the targeting reticle — effective against clustered enemies. TNT bombs destroy everything in a wide area — limited supply but essential against clustered enemy groups. The Laser Rifle fires a piercing beam through multiple enemies in line — effective against formations. Other weapons appear as pickups from destroyed enemies or as stage rewards. The Gatling gun is the primary weapon for most encounters; TNT and special weapons are managed resources used at optimal moments. Two players in co-op can specialize in different weapons for more efficient coverage.

Is Wild Guns available on modern platforms?

Wild Guns: Reloaded (2016) is a modern remake available on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam). The remake includes the original two characters (Clint and Annie) plus two new characters (Doris and Bullet the robot dog), 4-player simultaneous co-op, new stages, online co-op support, and visual improvements while preserving the original's mechanics and aesthetic. Wild Guns: Reloaded is the recommended modern way to experience Wild Guns — the additional characters and 4-player support enhance the co-op design. The original SNES version is available through original hardware. The SNES cartridge commands significant collector prices due to limited original production run.

What is the steampunk-western setting of Wild Guns?

Wild Guns takes place in a science fiction alternate American West where the frontier setting coexists with advanced technology. The result is a visual blend: saloon towns and frontier landscapes populated by robot cowboys, mechanical horses, and steam-powered enemies. The game's antagonists include mechanical gunslingers, robot bulls, and mechanical aircraft in frontier aesthetic. Clint is a traditional bounty hunter archetype; Annie is seeking revenge for her family's death. The setting creates an aesthetic that differs from both pure western games and pure science fiction games — the combination of saloon environments and robot enemies creates something unique in the SNES library.