Cowboy Kidz

Cowboy Kidz is a side-scrolling action game set in the Wild West, where players take on the role of a young cowboy tasked with cleaning up a lawless frontier town. The objective is to hunt down six notorious outlaws—including Mad Dog and The Masked Marvel—by navigating through various districts, from the dusty main street to the local saloon and jailhouse. Gameplay involves dodging obstacles, climbing ladders, and engaging in shootouts with henchmen while managing a limited supply of ammunition. To progress, players must collect money dropped by enemies to purchase essential upgrades and bullets from the town's shops, blending platforming action with basic resource management and exploration.

Amstrad CPC

Released in 1990 by Byte Back, the Amstrad CPC version of Cowboy Kidz is often cited as one of the more vibrant ports due to its bold use of the system's color palette. Utilizing Mode 0 graphics, the game features chunky but highly colorful sprites and detailed backgrounds that bring the Western setting to life with more visual depth than the Spectrum counterpart. While the scrolling is typically less fluid than on the C64, the gameplay remains responsive, and the layout of the town is accurately preserved. The port effectively balances the need for exploration with the hardware’s ability to render multiple enemies and projectiles. Owners of the CPC 6128 could enjoy faster loading times, but the game was well-optimized for the entire CPC range, offering a solid and visually appealing budget experience that successfully captured the spirit of the arcade-style original.