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Billy the Kid returns in a cleaner disk release with corrected graphics, expanded cheats, revised timing, and a more polished presentation.
A Light-Gun Western With a Second Shot
Some old computer games feel less like sprawling adventures and more like a quick visit to an arcade cabinet. Billy the Kid belongs firmly in that camp: a compact virtual shooting gallery designed around a light gun, quick reactions, and a very simple premise.
The game was first released as part of a bundle with Cheetah’s Defender light gun. Only later did it receive a standalone release from Virgin Mastertronic, giving players a chance to pick up the shooting game without the original hardware package. That history matters because the controls were clearly built with a light gun in mind. Using a keyboard is possible, but it never feels like the natural way to play.
My first impression was that Billy the Kid might be little more than a disposable target shooter. After spending more time with it, I had to soften that judgment. It remains basic—there’s no disguising that—but its straightforward design has a certain old-school charm. You see the target, line up the shot, and try not to waste time or ammunition. It’s the kind of game that doesn’t ask for a weekend commitment. It asks for one more round.
Why the Light Gun Still Matters
The main weakness is also the clearest clue to the game’s original purpose. Keyboard controls don’t quite capture the immediacy of aiming at targets on screen. The movement feels less natural, and the action loses some of its snap when every shot has to pass through a keyboard interface.
A light gun, by contrast, suits the game’s structure far better. The entire experience is built around pointing and firing, so the dedicated controller removes an awkward layer between the player and the target. It’s a small distinction on paper, but in practice it changes the rhythm considerably.
That doesn’t make the game complicated. Billy the Kid is still a simple shooting gallery, and its appeal depends heavily on whether you enjoy that stripped-down format. Players hoping for a deep western adventure will come away disappointed. Players who like compact arcade challenges may find that the simplicity is part of the attraction.
A Corrected Disk Release
The refreshed version addresses several problems in the original disk release while adding a handful of useful extras. The work comes from Slider, who has gathered the changes into a new edition rather than leaving the game as a basic untouched reissue.
The result is less a dramatic remake than a careful restoration and adjustment. The core gameplay remains intact, but the surrounding details have been cleaned up. That’s exactly the right approach here. Rebuilding Billy the Kid from the ground up would miss the point; correcting rough edges keeps the original character while making the release more comfortable to use.
The update includes an expanded cheat mode, giving players more room to experiment with the game’s mechanics. Cheats are particularly welcome in a title this compact. They can turn a short session into a small sandbox, allowing players to inspect what the game does without constantly starting from scratch.
A second presentation option has also been added in the form of an alternative branded loading screen. Small touches like this may sound cosmetic, but loading screens were part of the personality of old disk releases. Before modern menus and instant restarts, that brief pause was often your first glimpse of the software’s identity.
Graphics Tweaks That Do More Than They Seem
The release also replaces the Mastertronic logo with the Codemasters logo. It’s an odd little change to modern eyes, yet branding was never merely decoration in the home-computer era. A loading screen could tell you which label, distributor, or collection a game belonged to before you even reached the title screen.
Several loading screens and location screenshots have been lightly modified as well. The update increases the apparent number of colors by making better use of brightness. This is not a complete visual overhaul, and it doesn’t suddenly transform the game into a colorful arcade spectacle. Instead, the adjustment gives existing screens a slightly broader visual range.
That restraint works in the game’s favor. The artwork remains recognizably old-school, with the hard edges and limited palette you’d expect from the hardware. Still, the modified screens feel a little less flat. I wasn’t sure at first whether the changes would be noticeable during ordinary play, but comparing the presentation more closely made the difference easier to appreciate.
A Tiny Technical Fix With a Big Purpose
One of the more technical changes concerns the IM2 table. It has been moved into memory freed after the graphics were compressed. That relocation prevents the code from corrupting three bytes on the sheriff screen.
This is the sort of correction most players will never see directly, which is usually a sign that it has done its job. There’s no flashy new feature attached to it. The benefit is simply that the affected screen behaves properly rather than carrying a small but persistent defect.
Retro software often contains these fascinating little compromises: a few bytes placed in the wrong spot, a graphic that leaves behind an unwanted mark, or a timing assumption that works on one machine but not another. Fixing them can feel like tidying a crowded workbench. Nobody notices the cleaned-up corner until something stops falling over.
Timing Options and Machine Compatibility
The revised edition also adds timing selection based on the Pentagon standard. For players who care about how classic software behaves across different hardware configurations, that is an important inclusion.
Timing can affect the feel of an old game more than expected. A program may run too quickly, too slowly, or simply behave slightly differently depending on the machine and its timing characteristics. Giving the player a suitable standard helps keep the game closer to its intended rhythm.
Again, this isn’t the kind of feature that changes the basic premise of Billy the Kid. It does, however, make the release more considerate of the hardware environment. A light-gun game depends on responsive timing, so anything that helps preserve that responsiveness is worthwhile.
The Complete Feature List
- An expanded cheat mode.
- An alternative original-style loading screen.
- The Mastertronic logo replaced with the Codemasters logo.
- Removal of an unwanted stray mark from one bottle-fragment sprite.
- Slightly modified loading screens and location screenshots, with increased color range achieved through brightness adjustments.
- Relocation of the IM2 table into memory freed by graphics compression.
- Prevention of the three-byte corruption affecting the sheriff screen.
- Timing selection based on the Pentagon standard.
- A translated instruction manual.
Taken together, these changes show a release that pays attention to both visible presentation and hidden technical behavior. The list is not enormous, but it covers the kinds of details that can separate a merely preserved disk from a genuinely improved one.
Should You Give Billy the Kid Another Look?
Billy the Kid remains a modest game. It is short, simple, and much better suited to a light gun than a keyboard. That mild criticism needs to stay on the table: the game’s limited design means it won’t satisfy anyone looking for depth or variety.
Yet the corrected release makes a good case for revisiting it. The expanded cheats add flexibility, the screen adjustments provide a cleaner presentation, and the technical fixes remove several rough edges without changing the original character. It feels less like a new game and more like the version the old disk release should have been.
The release is available through Виртуальная TR-DOS, giving curious players a chance to try this compact western shooting gallery in its updated form. Just remember to bring the right expectations. Billy the Kid isn’t trying to become a grand adventure; it’s aiming for a quick draw, a handful of targets, and a satisfying little burst of retro hardware personality.
Billy the Kid works best when treated as a focused arcade-style diversion rather than a full-scale western. The light-gun design remains its biggest strength, while the corrected disk release gives the game a cleaner, more dependable frame to live in. Would you still reach for the light gun, or would the keyboard get another chance?
ЧАСТО ЗАДАВАЕМЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ
- What is Billy the Kid?
Billy the Kid is a simple virtual shooting-gallery game designed primarily for use with a light gun. - How was the game originally released?
It first appeared bundled with Cheetah’s Defender light gun before receiving a standalone release from Virgin Mastertronic. - What does the corrected disk release change?
It adds an expanded cheat mode, revised loading screens, branding changes, graphic corrections, improved color presentation, timing selection, and technical memory fixes. - Why is the IM2 table relocation important?
Moving the table into memory freed by graphics compression prevents the code from corrupting three bytes on the sheriff screen. - What controller works best with Billy the Kid?
The light gun is the most natural option. Keyboard control is available, but it feels less responsive and less suited to the game’s target-shooting design.
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