Game Journal: Bonanza Bros. (1 Credit Clear, Speedrun World Record)

I got a 1 credit clear of Bonanza Bros (a 1990 action stealth game by SEGA) in 16:41, which is the speedrun world record at the time of writing.

It's a great game that hits a perfect blend of stealth and action. You have to sneak up behind enemies with riot shields (unless you snipe them while they're moving in the Z axis), but enemies will stop chasing you once they're offscreen so you're encouraged to run in guns blazing a lot of the time too. Enemies also get back up a few seconds after you shoot them, so you need to move quickly to survive.

Unfortunately several enemy types (e.g. melee enemies) are a bit too easy to dodge, so a lot of the stealth setpieces can be ignored in speedruns. It's still a fantastic game and an important entry into the stealth genre, and I highly recommend it!

The game doesn't take too long to learn (for non-speedrun play) and there's not much else like it. The closest games I can think of are modern indie semi-stealth games like Hotline Miami, Katana Zero and Rain World. I truly think that the particular way this game mixed stealth and action would still feel fresh and ahead of its time if it released as an indie game today.

WARNING: The home console versions of the game (Mega Drive, Master System, Amiga etc) are all extremely different to the arcade version, with drastically different enemy AI and removed setpieces and stages etc. I strongly recommend sticking with the arcade version of the game.