Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa is a 1992 coin-operated arcade game based on the animated series of the same name. The game was released by Konami and is a side-scrolling “run ‘n gun” action game similar to the publisher’s previous wild west-themed game Sunset Riders. Moo Mesa creator Ryan Brown worked closely with Konami on the game’s development.
The player characters in the game are The Cowlorado Kid, The Dakota Dude, Marshal Moo Montana, and Buffalo Bull. The game can be configured to allow up to four players to play simultaneously.
The game’s controls consist of an eight-way joystick and two buttons for shooting and jumping. Pressing both buttons simultaneously will cause the player character to perform a stampede attack, do a spinning jump, or use any equipped item like dynamite sticks and tomahawk blades. The player can uncover a variety of power-up items by shooting flying chickens, which includes a rapid-fire Machine Gun and a Power-Up for wider bullets. Unlike Sunset Riders, the player has a three-unit life gauge that allows the player to take three hits before losing a life.
