Deathwish Enforcers Special Edition (v1.2b9)

San Francisco turns into a lurid 1969 cartoon of gangsters, graveyards, biker crews, and gleefully tasteless action-movie satire. Deathwish Enforcers Special Edition is a side-scrolling arcade shooter that channels the fast, theatrical spirit of Sunset Riders while swapping the Wild West for crime-ridden city streets. Its tone is deliberately outrageous, packed with pulpy jokes, exaggerated villains, and the kind of B-movie excess that treats every alleyway as a stage for chaos. Big Boss X sits at the center of the criminal takeover, giving the campaign a simple but satisfying target beyond surviving each screen.

Players pick from a roster of elite cops, including the added character Maxwell Bondage, then blast through seven compact stages filled with enemies, hazards, and oversized bosses. The controls favor immediate pick-up-and-play run-and-gun action: move, jump, fire, grab weapon upgrades, and unleash a character special when the screen becomes too crowded. Beating down certain foes can produce useful rewards, while changing environments keep the action from becoming visually static, moving from narcotics-soaked streets to undead-infested cemeteries and violent biker territory. Up to four people can play together locally, making it especially suited to a couch session where coordination matters less than keeping the bullets, jokes, and bodies flying.

What separates it from more polished modern shooters is its commitment to old-school spectacle and parody rather than realism or precision-heavy mastery. The Special Edition’s faster pace pushes it closer to the arcade games it affectionately mocks, while Gryzor87’s retro-styled funk soundtrack gives every shootout a grimy, energetic pulse. Expect coarse humor and intentionally provocative scenarios, not a serious crime drama; much of the appeal comes from seeing how far the game takes its exploitation-film sensibility. Fans of Sunset Riders, Metal Slug, and short arcade campaigns with local co-op should find plenty to enjoy, while newcomers can jump in easily as long as they appreciate deliberately crude comedy.