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Sheriff
警长
Sheriff is a 1979 action arcade game developed by Nintendo. The player controls a sheriff character trapped inside a circular arena surrounded by a ring of outlaws who close in from the outer edges of the screen. Using an eight-directional joystick to move and a separate dial or button to aim and fire, the player must shoot all the outlaws before they breach the inner boundary. Enemies advance steadily and can fire back, requiring constant movement and precise shooting. The game supports two players taking turns. Difficulty increases across rounds as outlaws move faster and attack more aggressively. Sheriff was one of Nintendo's early arcade efforts before their later breakout titles, demonstrating their hardware and game design work during the late 1970s coin-op era.
- Developer
- Nintendo
- Released
- 1979
- Platform
- Arcade
- Genre
- Action
- Players
- 2P
- Rating
- 4.6 / 5 (2.2K)
- Last updated
Sheriff Controls — Arcade Keyboard Keys
Default keyboard bindings for Sheriff on our in-browser Arcade emulator. Plug in a USB or Bluetooth gamepad to auto-detect mappings, or rebind any key from the emulator settings menu.
| Keyboard | Console button | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| ↑ | Joystick Up | Move up |
| ↓ | Joystick Down | Move down |
| ← | Joystick Left | Move left |
| → | Joystick Right | Move right |
| X | Button 1 | Primary action (jump / confirm) |
| Z | Button 2 | Secondary action (attack / cancel) |
| S | Button 3 | Tertiary action |
| A | Button 4 | Quaternary action |
| Q | Button 5 | Fifth button |
| W | Button 6 | Sixth button |
| 5 | Insert Coin | Insert coin |
| 1 | 1P Start | Start / Pause |
Coin and Start are convention "Insert Coin: 5" and "1P Start: 1". Some arcade boards expect specific button mappings — check the in-game prompts on coin-up.
Rebind any key from the EmulatorJS in-game settings menu (gear icon → Controls). A connected gamepad auto-maps to the same buttons.
Sheriff Longplay & Gameplay Videos
Watch a full playthrough of Sheriff on Arcade before you dive in — recommended for getting a feel for the game's pacing, story beats, and difficulty curve.
Watch longplay on YouTube
"Sheriff" Arcade longplay 1979
External references
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Sheriff released?
Sheriff was released in 1979 for the Arcade.
Who developed Sheriff?
Sheriff was developed by Nintendo, available to play in your browser on RetroGameSpace.
How many players does Sheriff support?
Sheriff supports up to 2 players, ideal for couch co-op or competitive sessions on the Arcade.
What type of game is Sheriff?
Sheriff is a Action game for the Arcade, playable instantly in your browser — no downloads, no installs.
How can I play Sheriff for free?
Open this page and click "Play Now" — Sheriff runs free in your browser via WebAssembly emulation. No account, no payment, no installer.
Do I need to download anything to play Sheriff in the browser?
No. Sheriff streams from a public archive into a browser-side Arcade emulator. Nothing is installed on your computer.
Can I save my progress in Sheriff?
Yes. Save states are stored in your browser (IndexedDB) per game, and you can also use any in-game save the original Arcade cartridge supported.
Does Sheriff work on mobile devices?
Yes — the Arcade emulator runs on iOS Safari and Android Chrome. Touch controls overlay the game; landscape mode is recommended.
Is it legal to play Sheriff this way?
RetroGameSpace is a transient caching reverse-proxy and does not host first-party copies of Sheriff. Game files are fetched on demand from publicly-accessible archives. You are responsible for compliance with your local laws and the bring-your-own-ROM principle.
