Sheriff (video Game) - Sequels

Sequels

Many players were unable to cope with the 8-way joystick of the original game, leading to its relative unpopularity. The sequel, Sheriff 2 was released in 1979, with the characters changed to cute animals, and a greatly simplified control system. The 8-way joystick used for shooting was replaced with a normal button, so the sheriff can only shoot in the direction he is facing. Another game pattern was also added, where the bandits enter into the central area, but run straight through the top half instead of chasing the sheriff. The player can gain bonus points if he manages to shoot all of the bandits while they are running through the central area. However, Sheriff 2 was not distributed widely enough to gain any sort of following.

The game was left forgotten for over two decades after the two arcade releases, but was reanimated in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. In WarioWare, Sheriff was included as both a microgame and as a minigame (Wario's Sheriff) in which Wario takes 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 amount of levels, the sheriff also gains extra lives, lowering the game's difficulty considerably.