While the SNES version is fairly faithful, the Mega Drive/Genesis version has some very drastic changes made to the mechanics and overall gameplay. Most notable of these changes are the removal of the characters Steve and Bob as well as four out of the eight original levels. In finer detail, the set designs have been either changed or cross-transferred in some cases. The boss fights also differ due to a change in platforms or weaponry used by the boss. However, the Mega Drive/Genesis version does allow some options that are not available in the
SNES version such as the ability to shoot dynamite, a full length Native American level with enemies of its namesake, a two player versus mode, and a bonus stage on horseback. As for the layout itself, each stage consists of two parts: a half-stage where you must save a captive from a group of enemies and then the boss stage. Each half-stage takes around the same amount of length as a normal stage, so it leaves the effect of being eight stages long.
Due to size constraints voice clips of each boss were replaced with text-based voice bubbles. This was done to every speaking line in the game aside from death groans and the sound clip, "Thank you nice boys!", of which is spoken each time a captive is saved.
The Mega Drive/Genesis version has an entirely different bonus stage in which the player(s) must catch power-ups and rewards being thrown from a quickly moving wagon while riding on horseback. A gold star is required in order to make it to each bonus stage. A bonus stage occurs after every boss fight (except for the last).