Bonanza Bros.

Bonanza Bros.
Japanese/English arcade flyer of Bonanza Bros..
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s) Sega (Arcade/consoles)
U.S. Gold (Home Computers)
Composer(s) M.A
Platform(s) Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Virtual Console, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx-CD, Sega Mega Drive, Sharp X68000, Windows, ZX Spectrum, PlayStation 2
Release Arcade
  • WW: June 18, 1990
Sega Mega Drive
  • NA: May 16, 1991
  • JP: May 17, 1991
  • EU: December 15, 1991
Sharp X68000
  • JP: October 18, 1991
Mobile Phones
  • JP: December 31, 2002
  • EU: February 2, 2007
Genre(s) Platformer, Stealth
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system Sega System 24
Display Raster, 496 x 384 pixels (Horizontal), 16384 colors

Bonanza Bros. (ボナンザブラザーズ) (sometimes written Bonanza Brothers) is a 1990 3D-style, 2D shooting platform arcade game by Sega. It is one of the earliest arcade games powered by the Sega System 24 arcade system board.

Gameplay

Bonanza Bros. is a shooter, platform game where taking the role of one or both of the brothers, Robo (1P, red) and Mobo (2P, blue) (Mike and Spike in some PAL versions), who were modeled after The Blues Brothers. The objective of the game is for the player(s) to stealthily move inside a house avoiding guards, retrieve several objects and move to the roof where a blimp is expecting the player with the loot. In this fashion the plot and the gameplay resembles the older Atari 2600 title Keystone Kapers but with added features that are similar to the ones in Lock 'n' Chase. Two players can play cooperatively at the same time, as the screen is always split in two.

The places the brothers burgle include a bank, a millionaire's mansion, a casino, a mint, an art gallery and a treasury. While similar in graphics and gameplay, the story and the Bonanza Bros.' role changes from the original Japanese to the early western versions: in the former, the duo are thieves attempting to steal valuable treasures for profit whilst avoiding getting arrested; in the latter, they are recruited by the Police Chief of Badville to test security facilities and help the Police recover evidence from various crooked businesses and institutions, but on the threat of jail if they fail to do so.

The player can walk, jump, shoot and move behind a column or large furniture, which allows both hiding and dodging shots from the guards, which can't be neutralized definitively, only stunned for a few seconds using the gun or pressing a door against them. They are alerted by sounds or with the Brothers entering their field of vision, and then either hide, call for help or fire against the player. If the player is hit, The player drops all objects and loses a life. Some guards have a riot shield and can only be hit when moving away.

The arcade game was later ported to the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx-CD (Japan only), ZX Spectrum (Europe only), Amstrad CPC (Europe only), Commodore 64, Amiga, Sharp X68000 (Japan only) and Atari ST, with minor graphics differences, depending on the system, and some changes in the gameplay, mainly in the bonus stages. It was also included in the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection (it was removed in the Western release). It has also seen a Sega Ages release on the PlayStation 2, and that version was included in the English compilation Sega Classics Collection. The game appeared as part of the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game next appeared in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

There are also 2 spin-offs to the game. The first is called "Puzzle & Action: Tant-R" which was released in the year 1992, the second called "Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R", which was released in the year 1994. These two arcade games were ported to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Saturn, and later packaged with the Sega Ages release of Bonanza Bros. on the PlayStation 2. They are considered spin-offs as they do not follow the action genre of the original game, as they are instead puzzle games. A third arcade game "Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt" was released in 1995 by Sega, but was ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan by CRI.

Bonanza Bros. was also included in Sonic Gems Collection but only for the Japanese Market, it was removed from the US and PAL releases along with the Streets of Rage series (Bare Knuckle series in Japan) in order to preserve its universal rating. However, Bonanza Bros. made its first appearance on the recent Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2 in North America as the PS2 version of Sonic Gems Collection remains in Japan and Europe.

On January 29, 2007, the Mega Drive/Genesis version of Bonanza Bros. became available for download on the Wii Virtual Console in America.[1] It was later released in Europe on February 2, 2007. It was also released for cell phones using SoftBank Mobile.

Robo and Mobo later appeared as playable characters in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and made a cameo in the "Race of AGES" track in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

A "Bonanza Bros." slot machine has been released by Aristocrat Leisure.

References

  1. ↑ "Wii-Kly Update: Four New Classic Games Announced for Wii Shop Channel". Nintendo of America. 2007-01-29. Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
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