PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 7 of 12

Apparently Butch Cavendish isn't done ruining our name yet, as he even has the Native American distrusting us. Now we have to put things right again if we want to continue.

First | Previous | Next | End

Now that you've cleared your name, the gunshop and the doctor will be back at regular prices again.

The next area is Native American territory, but despite Tonto telling us that the people are friendly, we find out that's not exactly the case when we head north.

You'll be side-scrolling instead of looking through the first person view. Stay in the middle and be ready to aim the gun at other guys at horseback before shooting. The faster you are, the less likely enemies will be able to throw axes at you. If you stay in place, the guys up top will never throw their barrels.

After that section, Tonto will mention that something strange is going on. When you go further, you'll have to do another section of this. After this second section, Tonto will tell you to meet with the chief of the territory to see what is going on. If you need to heal and get more bullets, do so now.

The first teepee you'll see is not where you need to go; however, if you need money at this point in the game, go there now. You'll be facing Native American enemies in this area, and you can get a bit of money from them. Some of them will come out of teepees, and others will be on walls where you can't reach them. Once you advance the plot, you won't be able to grind money anymore.

The second teepee you'll see if actually where you need to go. Compared to the first teepee, some of the Native American enemies will come out of the sand to attack you. Tread lightly as you head north and meet with the Chief.

When you talk to the Chief at the end, he will tell you that Butch Cavendish told him that a masked man would try to rob their country. As a result, they attacked you. Thankfully, the Chief is much more forgiving than the townspeople from the last area of the game, but in order to gain his trust, we must go into the craggy mountains to the south to get a rainbow eagle egg. If you can bring him an eagle egg, he will respect our bravery, trust us and let us move on.

From here, you'll automatically return to the overworld map. From here on out, the Native American enemies in both teepees on the map will be gone, and there will be a marker in the big mountain to the south. After you heal up and stock up back in Brownsville, head over there.

At the beginning, load up the silver bullets and keep them equipped. Watch out for rocks at the start, and jump up to move the screen upwards some more to get more rocks to show up. 

The buzzards take three silver bullets (or four standard bullets).

The rocks with the lighter colors on them will fall down when you stand on them. Thankfully, you can jump your way back to safety.

The coyotes will run at you, and take one bullet to kill no matter what.

At the end of the platforming section, always have one foot off the edge before jumping forward.

The next section is the climb to the egg. It helps to defeat the eagle first, which is pretty easy to do. Get the eagle to dive at you, get away and then turn around while the eagle is at your level. If you can hit the eagle, keep shooting bullets to keep it at your level, and it will eventually fly off. From here, you can take all the time you need jumping up the platforms to get to the egg. There are also no enemies here other than the eagle, which makes things much easier once you defeat the eagle.

Once you get the egg, heal up and stock up back at Brownsville if you need to, then return to the second teepee. With no enemies in the way, you can easily head north and talk to the chief to hand over the egg before continuing on to the next area.

PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 6 of 12

In this entry, we find out somebody has impersonated us while committing crimes. Now we have to clear our names if we want to go after Butch Cavendish.

First | Previous | Next | End

Tonto will tell you that something feels wrong before you enter Silver City. When you enter, however, you will get arrested. Tonto will bail you out and tell you that someone is committing crimes while pretending to be you, and was last seen in Amarillo.

Once you're out of the town, go east to leave, as nobody here is going to help you, including the person running the gunshop. Head north and face the enemy on horseback. This time around, you'll be on horseback, but the controls are the same as the first-person corridor shooting segments we've played in earlier areas. Just remember to watch your bullet count and shoot the men, not the horses, as shooting the horses does nothing.

To the north is Amarillo. Head there, and you'll see some guy who looks just like you run to the right. To advance the plot, just leave the town. If you decide to stick around, however, keep in mind that while the doctor and gunshop owner to the east will help you, it will be reluctant, as they will double their prices due to their not trusting you. As for the townspeople, don't even bother talking to them; you'll get nothing out of it.

You can buy the long barreled pistols at this point in the game, assuming you have the money. Since I'm absolutely loaded, I buy it here when I could get it for $400 down the line. The reason? The added range is really going to be helpful, as your bullets will travel the whole length of the screen.

When you leave town, you'll see the imposter run away to the north to Brownsville. Tonto will tell you that it will be better to wait until you have the cover of nightfall on your side to sneak in there due to the large amount of wild gunmen lurking about.

When it becomes nightfall, everything becomes shades of blue, including your status bar at the bottom of the screen. You'll have to face not one but two men on horseback on the overworld map, but they shouldn't be too difficult. Once you beat them, you won't have to face them again. If you need to, go north and west to Brownsville. Heal up at the doctor, who will be immediately to the east of where you enter.

From here, go to the far north end of town and enter the big house. You'll want to be careful as you take everyone down on the way up to the top floor. At the top floor, advance carefully. Thankfully, you can refill a little of your health here.

You'll then start making your way down to the bottom floor. You'll find another enemy with a heart when you get all the way back down to entry level. When you enter the door, you'll face the imposter. Equip the silver bullets before heading to the right. The imposter will shoot three bullets in quick succession, but if you have a long barreled pistol, you'll be able to take him out a little more easily. Just watch those bullets and hide out close to where you came in if you need to. Six silver bullets will do him in. Once you beat the imposter, you'll be able to clear your name and move on, but not before the imposter tells you that Butch Cavendish has an outrageous plan and that he will get you.

PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 5 of 12

In this entry, I show off how to get more than enough money to complete the game with, then we move from town to town to take down some outlaws.

First | Previous | Next | End

This is a good part of the game to get a ton of money in. Go to the ghost town between Albuquerque and Laredo, then go up to the upper right corner. Just keep moving left and right. You'll get two guys who will keep re-spawning, both of which take two shots to kill. One of them gives you $10 and the other gives you $15. Keep shooting them until you're out of bullets, then go to El Paso, stock up on 50 cases of standard bullets and head back until you have enough to stock up on 50 cases of standard bullets, 50 cases of silver bullets and 10 sticks of TNT, which are the maximum amounts of weapons you can have in the game. From here, you can keep getting more money this way, but $5000 should be more than enough to get through the game.

From here, you'll need to get to the far south side of the area and enter the ghost town that is there. There is a church in the center of the town that you need to enter. Get in, then make your way to the right and take down the enemies as you go. Be careful on the second floor so you don't fall into the pit below.

The boss is a guy in a purple jacket who jumps back when you shoot at him. Trap him behind the wall to the left and hit him with silver bullets as he drops down during his jumps. He'll go down in no time.

From here, head to El Paso and restock and heal. After that, head to Albuquerque and go to the house to the right of the hotel. The woman in the house will tell you that the gunslinger who injured the sheriff is holed up in the hotel. Go to the hotel, talk to the woman at the desk and you'll go inside for a first-person area. Be ready to face enemies, too.

From here, go west, then follow the path north. Keep going until you see a fork in the road. Go east and follow the path from there. At the next fork in the road, go west. There will be a door at the end. Enter it.

From here, you'll be in another first-person area. Take out the bad guys. You'll soon face a guy in a green poncho. Keep shooting him in the head to take him out and shoot down the sticks of dynamite he throws at you at the same time. Once you leave the hotel, go east to leave.

Restock and heal at El Paso, then head to Laredo. Enter the first house you see. The man inside will tell you that the railroad is in danger. Head to the train station. You'll be told that the masked man has boarded a train and may have taken people hostage.

Take the train to Silver City. From here, it's another top-down segment. Take care when shooting down the bad guys as you head to the right, and let them shoot their six bullets and reload so you can move in from there if you have to.

At the end of the train, load up with silver bullets. Head to the right, and when you see the guy in the green shirt and black pants, head to the left immediately to get him away from the passengers. If you can do it, you can get him trapped behind the coal car and you can shoot him with silver bullets from there. He will shoot multiple bullets at a time, so be ready to move out of the way of the bullets before firing. He'll eventually go down, and you'll take out your third wanted criminal before heading to Silver City.

PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 4 of 12

For the third part of the game, you'll have to noodle around and talk to people until something happens. Thankfully, I was able to figure things out, but it can still be easy to get confused here.

First | Previous | Next | End

At the start of the area, Tonto will tell you that the towns in the area were booming due to the gold rush, but now that all of the gold is gone, some of the towns are now ghost towns.

The first city on the path when you head south at the start is El Paso. The sheriff, gunshop and doctor - from top to bottom, respectively - are all near the entrance. If you talk to the sheriff now, he will tell you that he has heard good things about you, but not much else.

At this point in the game, you can get the medium barreled guns. Get them now, as this will increase the range of your shots. Also, be careful in the towns, as it is possible to hit the female citizens with your bullets and lose health from doing so.

The townspeople in this point in the game are not very useful expect in specific circumstances.

In the upper-left corner of the town, you can play a simple variation of five-card draw. After betting some money with the D-Pad and A, you can choose which cards to throw out. "No" lets you hold it, while "Draw" lets you toss them out for something else chosen at random. Afterwards, you'll get to see what you have. If your cards are better than the dealer's, you double your money. Otherwise, you'll win nothing and you lose what you wagered.

From here, head further west. Tonto will tell you that the townspeople are scared of something. Just northwest of El Paso is Albuquerque. Head there. The townsperson to the west of the entrance will tell you to see the sheriff. If a townsperson tells you this, head back to El Paso. Also, go fight the enemies here if you need the money, but be careful. There is also a hotel here. Keep that in mind.

Head back to El Paso and talk to the sheriff. He will tell you that three outlaws have been poking about and that he injured himself trying to arrest them, then ask you to round them up. 

Before going after the outlaws, there is a town further to the northwest. This is Laredo. There is a gunshop, a doctor and a train station here, but the train has not made it to town yet. There is also a firing range in the northwest corner of the town.

Head back to El Paso. If the music changes when you enter a house, you'll be told that a bank has been robbed. This advances the plot. The bank is in the top center of town and has the word "Bank" on it. Talk to the bank teller, and he will tell you that the robbers came from Walnut Grove, which is one of the ghosts towns in the area.

Walnut Area is the ruined buildings at the far south part of the area and is guarded by enemies. The ruined buildings are enemy hideouts, and you can fight enemies there for extra money. The ghost town between Albuquerque and Laredo has a house on the north end with a side-scrolling section, and if you enter it, you can go upstairs and kill the light blue outlaw for health. To go up stairs, just stand in front of a stairway and hold Up on the Control Pad to climb up. From here, you can use Up and Down on the stairs to travel across them.

The enemies in the windows in the top-down outside section don't give you anything when shot, and they eventually come back.

PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 3 of 12

The second area of the game has us looking for Spanish treasure.

First | Previous | Next | End

At the start of the second area, Tonto will tell you that a Spanish treasure from a long time ago is hidden in the area. If you talk to the guy walking around to the south, he will tell you that the rumors about the treasure are true and that outlaws are going after the treasure, and that to find the treasure, one will have to find three pieces of a plate. He has the first plate, but you'll have to find the other two, which are in the mountain and the cave to the west.

Before you go over there, head to the single building to the south. This is the town of Clearwater. There is a doctor and a gunshop here, and further to the west is a bunch of enemies you can fight for money (although there is still the firing range in the previous area that you can still go to). All the way to the west is the village senior (or village elder, if you prefer). If you talk to him, you'll get the same dialogue you got from the guy on the map.

You'll need to use the gun to fight the guy with the rifle. Select your standard or silver bullets, press A to load the gun, then press A to fire the gun. When you run out of bullets, you'll need to press A to reload. Also, when in the towns, do not fire on the women. If you kill one of them with your bullets (which takes just one, by the way), you will lose a good amount of health.

Our first destination is the mountains to the west. Get your gun ready, and be ready to jump off the edges of platforms. The light blue enemies will drop hearts that will replenish four units of health, and the first guy throws TNT. Stay away from the TNT so the blast doesn't hurt you about a second later.

The boss here jumps around and throws knives. When he jumps up, shoot so the bullet hits him on the way down. The closer, the better. He will try to jump again. Do it again. He will keep doing this, and you will keep hitting him. You'll have the first part of the plate.

Next up is the cave. This is a first-person section. Next to your health is a dark green square with the current direction you are currently facing (N, S, E or W). Left and Right lets you turn, Up lets you move forward and Down lets you turn around 180 degrees.

If the music changes while you're exploring, you've run into enemies. The controls for fighting enemies is the same as the firing range mini-game (the Control Pad aims the cursor and B shoots), but this will be a life-or-death situation. As you fight enemies, certain parts of the square divided into four triangles at the bottom center will flash red. If it's one of the triangles to the side, you'll need to turn to the side to face the enemy. If it is the bottom triangle, you'll need to turn around completely. If the top triangle flashes, you're facing the right direction. To turn around, you'll need to hold A, then press Left, Right or Down to either turn to the side (Left or Right) or completely around (Down).

When fighting enemies, you'll need to shoot them before they shoot you. If they throw knives or dynamite at you, you'll need to shoot down the projectile to keep it from hitting you. Also, red enemies will drop hearts. Shoot them to refill health before they disappear. Enemies will also drop money and bullets, and you'll need to shoot those things to get them before they disappear as well. When the frantic music stops, you'll be free to explore again. Keep in mind that the game does not keep track of where you were heading last, so you'll need to keep mental note of that in case the enemies have you turned around. And as always, watch the chamber for your gun in the lower-right corner so you'll know when you need to reload.

At the start, go north, then go east (west is a dead end). Follow the path, and face the enemies at the intersections as you go. Keep going north at the series of intersections, then go east at the dead end and keep following the path. When you see paths to the side, keep going west as you face the enemies. At the end, you'll reach the path leading to the plate. Walk up to it to take it.

From here, head back to Clearwater, heal up and stock up if you have to, then talk to the village senior. He will tell you that the treasure is hidden in a cave to the east, and he will tell you to go there. Head east to where the flashing sheriff's badge is on the map and walk into it to enter the cave. Get your gun ready.

Treasure Cave Map (by Gennadiy_Master)

The treasure is in the upper-left corner of the cave, and you'll have to take a certain path to get there. At the start, head west, then north, then follow the path east. At the fork in the road, head west. When you have a choice between west and north, keep going west. (There is a dead end to the north, but the light blue enemy there will drop health.) You'll need to follow the path. At the last fork, go north. You'll soon find the treasure.

Along the way, you will be facing enemies in this cave. Always keep your gun loaded, and if you need to, get your enemies to fire their gun six times so you can move in for the kill when they reload.

Once you find the treasure, head back to Clearwater, heal up, stock up and talk to the village elder. He will thank you for protecting the treasures, and you'll continue to the next area.

PrinceWatercress plays The Lone Ranger - Part 2 of 12

We've got some outlaws to rustle up if we want to cross the bridge and ride Silver, so let's get to the mountains and get to it!

First | Next | End

To buy things at the gunshop, use the Control Pad to move the arrow to what you want to buy and press A to confirm choices. B backs out. Standard bullets are your standard bullets, silver bullets are bullets that do double damage, TNT is a stick of dynamite that can be thrown to hit enemies with an explosion, and "Short Barrelled" is the short barreled gun that you start with at the beginning of the game. The short barreled gun does not have a lot of range, and you'll find guns with longer barrels as you progress. The same controls work at the Doctor's office.

I stock up on 30 cases of standard bullets and 10 cases of silver bullets, as well as one stick of TNT.

The blinking sheriff's badge icon indicates where you need to go to enter the next area. Walk into it, and you'll get there.

In the side-scrolling sections, you can aim your bullets in seven directions (all but down). Because of this, you can aim diagonally at enemies and take them out from a good distance. You can also duck and shoot down to dodge some bullets.

For best results when jumping from platform in the background to the other, make your jump forward right at the edge.

The enemies that throw barrels are best taken down from a distance.

The TNT does not hurt enemies on contact; only the explosion does.

The boss here is a guy who shoots multiple bullets at a time. For bosses, use your silver bullets. Load your gun up with silver bullets, then duck down and shoot at him. Wait for him to stop flashing before shooting him again. Four silver bullets will take him out.

Once you beat the boss, head back to the sheriff of Dodge City and talk to him to get the letter. Thankfully, the map will be clear of enemy encounters now that you've defeated the outlaws' ringleader. From here, head back to the river and talk to the bridge keeper. He will let you cross to the other side, where you will re-unite with Silver and continue to the second area of the game.

When you complete an area, Tonto will give you a password. Be sure to write it down so you can start back where you left off.

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.

Next | End

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.