PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 1 of 12

Can you believe that there's a full-blown video game based on The Lone Ranger? I can't either. This one stayed in America. And that's a shame. Because even if you're not familiar with the source material, it's still good quality gaming on the NES.

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Here is the basis of the story of this game, which you can read here.

Texas Ranger John Reid and his older brother, Captain Dan Reid, were part of a group of six Rangers in pursuit of a gang of dangerous outlaws led by Butch Cavendish. Assisted by a tracker named Collins (who was secretly employed by Cavendish), the Rangers were lulled into thinking that the gang were camped in an area on the far end of a canyon called Bryant's Gap, but Collins had lied to the Rangers; Cavendish and his men were actually waiting in ambush on the rim on both sides of the gap. As it was near dark, Cavendish's plan was to open fire on the Rangers as they rode through and keep shooting until they were sure the Rangers were all dead.

Cavendish was convinced that all of the Rangers were killed in the ambush, but John survived, nursed back to health after being found by an Indian named Tonto, who remembered John as he had once saved Tonto's life when they were boys. When John recognized Tonto, he remembered the name the Indian gave him: "Kemosabe", which meant 'trusty scout'. Tonto then made the observation that John was the only Ranger left, calling him the "lone ranger". John realizes that he will be a marked man once Cavendish finds out that he survived, but Tonto reassures him that he made six graves while burying only five men, so the outlaws will think John died with the others. Now with a strengthening determination to bring Cavendish and his gang to justice for their crimes, John decides that his name must remain buried with his brother and his colleagues and resolves to assume a secret identity and wear a disguise; it was Tonto who suggested that John wear a mask for a disguise, which he made out of cloth from his brother's vest. When John declares that he'll be the Lone Ranger, Tonto vows to help him.

During the ambush, Dan confided in John that his wife and son were coming from the East, and urged John to look after them in the event of his death; he also expected John to leave the Rangers and work the secret silver mine they owned together, and to see that his family gets his share, which John promised. Once recovered from his wounds, John hires an old friend, a retired Ranger named Jim, to work the mine for him. John tells Jim about the ambush and his intent to become the Lone Ranger and then makes an unusual request for Jim to forge silver bullets for him. Thinking that lead bullets would be just as effective, Jim asks why such an unusual request; John explains that the silver bullets are to be used not as a weapon, but a symbol, a symbol of justice to remind himself and others that life, like silver, has value and is not to be wasted. Jim agrees with the idea and makes the silver bullets. John swears Jim to secrecy about his true identity, then tells him that as far as anyone else is concerned, the mine belongs to him. Jim agrees, and John, with Tonto, rides out for the first time as the Lone Ranger.

At first, the Lone Ranger adopted an outlaw persona, which made it easier to infiltrate outlaw camps and capture the members of Cavendish's gang, a task that took years to complete. But even while doing this, the Lone Ranger made it a point to help anyone along the way who needed it. His adventures and heroic deeds earned him and Tonto a widespread reputation as being champions of justice, revered and admired by the good, feared and reviled by the bad, respected by both.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto were now on the trail of Cavendish himself when he fired from ambush on the two of them inadvertently killing the Lone Ranger's horse. Needing a new mount, the Lone Ranger recalls seeing a magnificent wild white stallion who lived in Wild Horse Valley, and decides to search for the horse while trailing Cavendish. They find the great mustang in a fierce death battle with a buffalo, who had gained the upper hand and was about to finish the horse off when it was shot and killed by the Lone Ranger, who then nursed the wounded horse back to health. As much as the Lone Ranger wanted the horse for his own, he was willing to let it go as it fought for his freedom and deserved to be free. When Tonto remarked on the horse's gleaming coat saying it looked "silver white", the Lone Ranger decided that Silver would be a good name for the horse and called out to it. In a gesture stronger than gratitude, the horse stayed on and became the Lone Ranger's partner. The Lone Ranger then trains the wild stallion who learned quickly, and after a few days was ready.

When you start the game, you'll be able to choose between using the controller or the Zapper to play the first-person shooting sections. I use the controller.

When you start the game, you'll need to find your horse Silver in order to travel further into the West. Rumor has it that Silver has been spotted in Tucson.

On the overworld, use the Control Pad to move around. When you see a town, walk into it to enter it.

The nearest town is Tucson, to the west. Go ahead and go there.

In the towns and top-down areas, use the Control Pad to move around, attack with B and talk to people with A. Use Select to switch between your fists and your other weapons. Start pauses the game.

At the bottom of the screen is the HUD. The yellow bars are your health, and if you lose all your health, you'll be forced to continue from the beginning of the section of the game you are playing.

There will always be one person in the town who will tell you which town you are in.

The train station will allow you to go from one part of the overworld map to another for the price of a train ticket. You won't be able to do anything with the train station until you progress through the game, and I end up never using it myself.

The gunshop will allow you to buy standard bullets, silver bullets (which do double damage, travel farther and are useful for bosses) and TNT sticks (which can be used to take care of enemies above you). 

The doctor lets you heal for a price. Keep fighting enemies to get that money. Be careful; some enemies will have guns while others will also throw knives.

There will be enemies in the town. Amazingly, the hitbox on the fists is pretty generous, though we will be using our gun eventually.

Someone in one of the houses in the south side of town will tell you that a white horse has went to the other side of the river. By entering houses, you can talk to people. Use A to speed through the text. B lets you leave.

To use your gun, switch to standard or silver buttons. If the chamber is empty, press A to load. You'll have six bullets. When you shoot all of your bullets, you'll need to press A again to reload the gun with the bullets you currently have equipped. If you need to switch bullet types, do so before reloading.

By going all the way to the south where the river is, you'll find Silver, but you won't be able to reach Silver because the bridge has been pulled up. If you go up to the man in the building near the bridge, you'll find out that the bridge is up to keep outlaws from moving in and out, and that you'll need a letter from the sheriff of Dodge City in order to cross.

Dodge City is between the bridge and Tucson. The sheriff will be in a building with the word "Sheriff" above it. Some towns have this, while others do not. By talking to the sheriff, he will ask you to take down the outlaws in the mountain to the west.

Carson City is further to the west. There is a house in the northwest corner that acts as a firing range. Just pay $10, and you'll be able to practice shooting in first-person mode. You have to shoot down eighteen bottles, and you'll only have eighteen bullets. If you can somehow memorize where all the bottles will fly to and you can shoot them all, you'll get $50; otherwise, you'll get $1 for every bottle you shoot down. There are two sets of patterns for the bottles, and the game switches between them every time you play the firing range mini-game. This is an easy way to get a lot of money early in the game if you have the time and patience.

When firing the gun, you'll need to press A when your gun is empty to reload. Keep that in mind and immediately reload once you fire your last bullet. This is true not just for the firing range, but whenever you're using the gun in the town, in first-person sections, in side-scrolling sections or any part of the game where you can use the gun.

When facing enemies with guns, one thing you can do is wait for them to shoot six bullets and mentally count how many bullets they fire as you go. When they fire six bullets, they will take a few seconds to reload. Use this as an opportunity to move in and make the outlaw pay.

Some enemies will re-spawn in the towns, so be careful.

The cowboys in black that move around on the map are top-down areas you'll have to go through in order to pass by. No matter where you face enemies, they will always leave a little bit of money that you can pick up. Also, some bad guys will take one hit to kill while others will take two. Also, you cannot clear the overworld map of black-clad outlaws; if you get through one enemy section, then get through another, the enemy for the first enemy section will return to the overworld map.