Bonanza Bros

Bonanza Bros is an action game for the Sega Mega Drive from 1991, ported from the 1990 arcade original by Sega AM1. The player, alone or with two, controls a pair of ghost-burglars, Mobo and Robo, who break into buildings full of guards to steal valuable items and escape safely. The buildings include, for example, a bank, a museum, or a TV studio, each offering a different layout of guards, cameras, and valuable items to steal. Instead of direct confrontation, the game relies on a stealth approach – the characters can stun guards with a pistol, but the main goal is to avoid them, hide behind the scenery, and dash quickly between rooms. Each building has its own layout of floors, elevators, and staircases, so the player must quickly get their bearings and plan a route to the target as well as a safe way out.

The graphics faithfully imitate the lively, comic-book style of the arcade original, with fluid animation and a clear, isometrically arranged layout of each building's floors. The music is upbeat and playful, matching the game's lighthearted, almost slapstick-comedic tone. Cooperative two-player play is one of the title's main strengths, since competing to finish the level faster gives the game a pleasant competitive edge. The Mega Drive port retains the clarity and fluidity of the original, so the feel of the game stays close to its arcade source despite the home console's technical limitations.

Bonanza Bros wasn't the most commercially successful title at the time of release, but thanks to its original blend of action, stealth, and humor it earned a reputation as a distinctive, well-crafted port. Today it's valued especially by fans of Sega's arcade era as an example of inventive game design that broke away from the usual platformer template, and it ranks among the more interesting, lesser-known pieces of the Mega Drive catalog. Its cooperative mode is also one of the less common examples of how rivalry between two players can be woven into an otherwise non-violent, wittily toned game.

Why play it: For lovers of an inventive blend of action, stealth, and humor, Bonanza Bros offers a distinctive experience whose cooperative mode wittily incorporates rivalry between two players.