The player controls a county sheriff tasked with defense of a town against bandits, to rescue the captured woman.

The player controls Mr. Jack,[11] a sheriff, against a gang of attacking bandits, to defend the town and rescue Betty,[11] the captured woman.

Larger barriers also exist on the midpoint of each side of the screen, and bullets from either Mr. Jack or the bandits will slowly erode these.

The basic action taken by the enemy bandits is to walk around the outer rim while firing bullets at Mr. Jack, but they will sometimes enter into the central area, along with a change in game music.

Sheriff (and later Puckman) marked the company's first, and short lived, diversification into the market of video games as licensee, so the cabinet design for this territory differs considerably from that of the Japanese version.

Although it features the same marquee and bezel design, it shares many properties more commonly associated with slot machines, such as a lack of side art or cabinet decals.

[citation needed] A modified version of the game was released exclusively in Japan by Taito as Western Gun Part II.

When the player's points double after completing a certain number of levels, the sheriff also gains extra lives, considerably reducing the game's difficulty.

Mr. Jack later returned in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as an assist trophy where he fires a succession of eight bullets in a random order on the battlefield at the enemies of the summoner.