(sometimes written ''Bonanza Brothers'') is a 3D-style, 2D side-scrolling stealth action game developed and released by Sega in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. It is one of the earliest arcade games powered by the Sega System 24 arcade system board. It was ported to various home systems, including the

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, Master System, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-CD, and several home computers.

Gameplay

''Bonanza Bros.'' is a side-scrolling stealth action game, with

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

and

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

elements. The players take the roles of one or both of the brothers Robo (1P, red) and Mobo (2P, blue) (Mike and Spike in some PAL versions), who may have been modeled on

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

. The object of the game is to travel stealthily around each building while avoiding guards, retrieve several objects within a time limit, and move to the roof where a

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...

is expecting the player with the loot. In this fashion the plot and gameplay resemble the older

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

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. Some guards have a

riot shield A riot shield is a lightweight protection device, typically deployed by police and some military organizations, though also utilized by protestors. Riot shields are typically long enough to cover an average-sized person from the top of the head to ...

and can only be hit when moving away. A player loses a

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

if hit by a guard's projectile or melee attack, attacked by a dog, pressed by a door, or by failing to make a jump onto a springboard or zipline and landing stuck in the ground. Losing a life in these ways causes the player to drop all items. Running out of time both costs players a life and forces them to restart the stage.

Development

According to Sega, they used "top-flight

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

" to "create super-vivid characters and scenes" for the game.

Ports

The arcade game was ported to the

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as ...

, Master System,

TurboGrafx-CD The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thou ...

(Japan only),

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

(Europe only),

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

(Europe only), Commodore 64, Amiga,

Sharp X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wit ...

(Japan only) and Atari ST, with minor graphics differences, depending on the system, and some changes in the gameplay, mainly in the bonus stages.

Reception

''Game Machine'' listed ''Bonanza Bros.'' on their July 15, 1990 issue as being the third most-popular arcade game in Japan at that point.

Julian Rignall Julian "Jaz" Rignall (born 6 March 1965, London, England) is a writer and editor. He has also produced content for corporate websites such as GamePro Media, publisher of ''GamePro'' magazine and ''GamePro.com'', marketing collateral and adverti ...

of '' Computer and Video Games'' praised the arcade game's originality and "stunning" graphics, calling it a "rather nerve-wracking game of hide and seek" while stating it's "a very different sort of game that taxes your brains rather than your reflexes." ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' recommended the arcade game to those who like the use of planning and timing rather than sheer speed of reaction. ''

Mega Zone ''MegaZone'' was an Australian video game magazine which ran from July 1988 to October 1995, ultimately publishing 56 issues. ''MegaZone'' started out as a bi-monthly, multi-platform magazine named ''MegaComp'' which was originally published ...

'' magazine enjoyed the Mega Drive version for its usage of digitized speech and stating "The Best thing about this game though is it's witty. The whole idea is clever and the way the characters act is like an old Laurel and Hardy or Keystone cops movie." '' MegaTech'' said the two player mode action is fun but does not have challenge, giving criticism to the game's difficulty for being too easy. Console XS praised the genesis version saying it has a very decent presentation and neat graphics and they criticized the game’s difficulty being very easy. Gamesradar ranked Bonanza Bros. at #47 in their "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time".

Legacy

It was included in the Japanese version of '' Sonic Gems Collection'' (it was removed in the Western release). It has also seen a

Sega Ages is a series of video game ports, remakes, and compilations published by Sega. It consists of Sega arcade games and home console games, typically those for the Sega Genesis and Master System. The series was launched on the Sega Saturn in 1996. Ent ...

release on the PlayStation 2, and that version was included in the English compilation ''

Sega Classics Collection is a series of video game ports, remakes, and compilations published by Sega. It consists of Sega arcade games and home console games, typically those for the Sega Genesis and Master System. The series was launched on the Sega Saturn in 1996. Ent ...

''. The game appeared as part of the ''

Sega Genesis Collection ''Sega Genesis Collection '' (''Sega Mega Drive Collection'' in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Sega for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The collection includes twenty-eight Sega ...

'' for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game next appeared in ''

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection ''Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection'' (''Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection'' in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by Sega for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation features ...

'' for

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

. The game is also playable in ''

Sega Genesis Classics ''Sega Genesis Classics'' (released as ''Sega Mega Drive Classics'' in PAL regions) is a series of compilations featuring Sega Genesis video games released for Windows, Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The collections a ...

'' for PlayStation 4,

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, Nintendo Switch and PC. There are also 3

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

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

and Sega Saturn, and later packaged with the

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 Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. ...

. A third arcade game, '' Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt'', was released in 1995 by Sega and ported to the Sega Saturn in Japan by

CRI CRI or CRi may refer to: Organizations * Canadian Rivers Institute, for river sciences, University of New Brunswick * Cancer Research Institute, New York, US * Centro de Relaciones Internacionales (International Relations Center), Universidad N ...

. ''Bonanza Bros.'' was also included in '' Sonic Gems Collection'' but only for the Japanese Market. Due to its violent content, it was removed from the US and PAL releases along with the '' Streets of Rage'' series 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. It was later released in Europe on February 2, 2007. It was also released for cell phones using

SoftBank Mobile is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...

. The title was referenced in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Robo and Mobo later appeared as playable characters in ''

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a 2010 kart racing video game, produced for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS (February 23, 2010), and Microsoft Windows (March 3, 2010), featuring characters from multiple List of Sega video game franchises, Sega franchises. The game ...

'' and made a cameo in the "Race of AGES" track in ''

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012, for PlayStation Vita in December 2012, for Windows in January 2013, for Nintendo 3DS i ...

''. A "''Bonanza Bros''." slot machine has been released by

Aristocrat Leisure Aristocrat Leisure Limited is an Australian gambling machine manufacturer, which has its administrative and research headquarters in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde. It has marketing and development offices in South Africa, Russia, and the Uni ...

Notes

References

External links

*
''Bonanza Bros.'' at arcade-historyGenesis Collective PageBonanza Bros game
port on Sega Mega Drive * *
Bonanza Bros for Sega Mega Drive in gamefaqs.
*

Bonanza Bros (sometimes written ''Bonanza Brothers'') is a 3D-style, 2D side-scrolling stealth action game developed and released by Sega in 1990. It is one of the earliest arcade games powered by the Sega System 24 arcade system board. It was ported to ...

can be played for free in the browser for free on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

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