Starring anthropomorphic robot characters, it follows a seven-day adventure of the titular sheriff who fights the criminal Bad Oil Gang from taking over the town of East Driftwood.

It is the third Software Creations game to be published by Nintendo, after Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (1994)[2] and (only in Europe) Plok!

[8] From Monday[9] to Sunday,[10] each day consists of shooting practice with a jug, action stages, and a fast draw with a Bad Oil Gang member.

[2] Tin Star fights the Bad Oil Gang involved in various activities, such as robberies of trains[14][15] and banks,[16] prison breaks,[17] and shootouts.

[12] Tin Star, a six gun-armed sheriff with Mo Crash as his sidekick and Aluminum as his horse,[20] tries to save the town of East Driftwood from an overthrow by the criminal Bad Oil Gang.

Tin Star awakes to find his love interest and the mayor's daughter, Maria, informing him Mo has been kidnapped by the Bad Oil Gang, which is also terrorizing the saloon.

Tin Star is the third Software Creations-developed game published by Nintendo, after Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (1994)[2] and (only in Europe) Plok!

[23] Nintendo hired the Manchester developer to work on a light gun game for the SNES in compensation for not assigning them a follow-up to Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, which went to Rare.

[25] Software Creations was the first developer to hire professional artists,[citation needed] with a catalog including a hand-drawn animation style which Kay was a fan of.

[12] The music and sound effects were praised for capturing a Wild West aesthetic,[5][12] and the humor and story was enjoyed by many critics,[d] except Markus Hawkins of Super Play and GamePro's Tommy Glide.

Some reviewers thought the levels were diverse,[12][13][29] and others found the general experience monotonous,[3][4][32] limiting in challenge,[4][5][32] lacking in replay value,[4][5] and taking under a day to finish.

[4] However, Consoles+ found it much harder with easy segments in scarcity;[30] and an Última Generación writer criticized a difficulty spike from the fifth to the sixth day, also finding it tough and annoying to kill small enemies.