Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle
released on Dec 20, 2018
We're proud to present you this compilation of 18 titles from the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun series. Among the 15 Kunio-kun titles, 11 of these had not been released in North America yet! All the in-game text has been translated in English. Choose between playing the "original version" or the "quality up version", where the mechanics and the game commands have been improved!
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Everything I've ever wanted. Thank you Arcsys.
Overall:
It's a collection of 14 NES games with ELEVEN freshly (officially) translated Famicom games. They are all worth checking out and some of these Kunio games are way ahead of their time.
Individual Game Thoughts:
Double Dragon:
It's rough but fun in spots. Impossible without save-stating, at least for me. Not interesting enough to beat.
Double Dragon II:
Way better than I. Reasonable difficulty with some old-school nonsense heinous design. Fun. The earliest "fun" brawler?
Double Dragon III:
I don't like how this looks or feels. It is way harder than 1 or 2. It looks like they added some cool mechanics... you can use nunchuks? but I was not intrigued enough to get past the first level.
Renegade/Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun:
This is... not so good. You just beat up a bunch of dudes in one screen? I can't get past the first level.
Super Dodge Ball/Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club:
This game is pretty fun but the mechanics are a bit inscrutable. I can't really tell when my running shots will work or not and figuring out who to control is a little wonky. That being said, for an early sports game, this game is sweet.
River City Ransom/Downtown Nekketsu Story:
This game has a lot of cool parts. The action is fun and the stat progression system is enjoyable in such an early beat-em-up. However, the random nature of the stat gains (you eat food and there is no indication of which food raises which stats) and the opaque nature of the story progression work against it. Still, it's cool to see River City Ransom in its original Japanese form and kind of fascinating to witness first hand the localization gymnastics that companies felt were necessary in the late 80s/early 90s.
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club - Soccer Story:
This is a funnish soccer game. The A.I. does A LOT of the work for you. You only control one player (usually Kunio of course) and you rely on your A.I. teammates to do well, which in my experience, they sucked at.
Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!:
This is... hilarious but not very well-playing. You participate in four different nonsensical "field day" events that basically serve as prototypical and too long Mario Party mini-games. I could see this being pretty fun if you were playing with four humans.
Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama!:
This is my favorite game in the collection so far. It is a sequel of sorts to River City Ransom/Downtown Nekketsu Story. The stat progression is simpler here: equip items and beat up enemies. The story progression is simple too -- beat up enemies. The historical Japan setting was fun as well, it felt like Kunio was a Kurosawa hero. It's clear that the Yakuza series is a direct descendant of these Kunio beat-em-ups but somehow I did not see the lineage clearly until playing this game. This is the only game in the collection so far I have found engaging enough to "beat".
Go-Go! Nekketsu Hockey Club Slip-and-Slide Madness:
I actually quite like this one. The gameplay is a little better than the soccer in that you can control everyone on the team. I especially like how you control the goalie and the defense at the same time like a foozball table. However, the games are WAY too long. I could have been down to see what the story mode holds but I'm not playing 15 minutes games. If they aren't exactly that long, they FELT that long.
Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal/Crash'n the Boys Street Challenge:
How did a weird track and field game (and it is weird you play golf by doing the hammer throw) get localized as "Crash n' the boys street challenge"? Fascinating localization nonsense. Anyway... this game contains five mildly amusing sub-games. I like the idea of rooftop pole vault but I hate the controls. Hammer throw golf was mildly entertaining. Probably enough fun with two human beings.
Nekketsu Fighting Legend:
A post Street Fighter II fighting game. Your characters basically level up as they go through a ladder and the fighting is entertaining enough. A respectable Famicom fighting game.
Kunio-kun's Nekketsu Soccer League:
Similar to the first Kunio soccer game but this one adds the simulation elements that have been building as the series goes on. You can give your teammates pep talks, call your girlfriend, use items, and track statistics. The gameplay is a little better than the first although the A.I. still does too much of the work for you. It's impressive to have a sports sim like this this early.
Nekketsu! Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes:
Whoa. This game is wild. This was released 8 months after NBA Jam... and it just plays like a way more insane NBA Jam. It's two on two and there are THREE hoops on each side. I had no idea what I was doing but Mike and Eddy from New York happily kicked my ass playing as Kunio and Riki. They were doing slam dunks that went through all three hoops and I was gleefully and embarassingly enjoying getting smashed. Worth experiencing even for a bit.
It's a collection of 14 NES games with ELEVEN freshly (officially) translated Famicom games. They are all worth checking out and some of these Kunio games are way ahead of their time.
Individual Game Thoughts:
Double Dragon:
It's rough but fun in spots. Impossible without save-stating, at least for me. Not interesting enough to beat.
Double Dragon II:
Way better than I. Reasonable difficulty with some old-school nonsense heinous design. Fun. The earliest "fun" brawler?
Double Dragon III:
I don't like how this looks or feels. It is way harder than 1 or 2. It looks like they added some cool mechanics... you can use nunchuks? but I was not intrigued enough to get past the first level.
Renegade/Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun:
This is... not so good. You just beat up a bunch of dudes in one screen? I can't get past the first level.
Super Dodge Ball/Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club:
This game is pretty fun but the mechanics are a bit inscrutable. I can't really tell when my running shots will work or not and figuring out who to control is a little wonky. That being said, for an early sports game, this game is sweet.
River City Ransom/Downtown Nekketsu Story:
This game has a lot of cool parts. The action is fun and the stat progression system is enjoyable in such an early beat-em-up. However, the random nature of the stat gains (you eat food and there is no indication of which food raises which stats) and the opaque nature of the story progression work against it. Still, it's cool to see River City Ransom in its original Japanese form and kind of fascinating to witness first hand the localization gymnastics that companies felt were necessary in the late 80s/early 90s.
Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club - Soccer Story:
This is a funnish soccer game. The A.I. does A LOT of the work for you. You only control one player (usually Kunio of course) and you rely on your A.I. teammates to do well, which in my experience, they sucked at.
Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day!:
This is... hilarious but not very well-playing. You participate in four different nonsensical "field day" events that basically serve as prototypical and too long Mario Party mini-games. I could see this being pretty fun if you were playing with four humans.
Downtown Special Kunio-kun's Historical Period Drama!:
This is my favorite game in the collection so far. It is a sequel of sorts to River City Ransom/Downtown Nekketsu Story. The stat progression is simpler here: equip items and beat up enemies. The story progression is simple too -- beat up enemies. The historical Japan setting was fun as well, it felt like Kunio was a Kurosawa hero. It's clear that the Yakuza series is a direct descendant of these Kunio beat-em-ups but somehow I did not see the lineage clearly until playing this game. This is the only game in the collection so far I have found engaging enough to "beat".
Go-Go! Nekketsu Hockey Club Slip-and-Slide Madness:
I actually quite like this one. The gameplay is a little better than the soccer in that you can control everyone on the team. I especially like how you control the goalie and the defense at the same time like a foozball table. However, the games are WAY too long. I could have been down to see what the story mode holds but I'm not playing 15 minutes games. If they aren't exactly that long, they FELT that long.
Surprise! Nekketsu New Records! The Distant Gold Medal/Crash'n the Boys Street Challenge:
How did a weird track and field game (and it is weird you play golf by doing the hammer throw) get localized as "Crash n' the boys street challenge"? Fascinating localization nonsense. Anyway... this game contains five mildly amusing sub-games. I like the idea of rooftop pole vault but I hate the controls. Hammer throw golf was mildly entertaining. Probably enough fun with two human beings.
Nekketsu Fighting Legend:
A post Street Fighter II fighting game. Your characters basically level up as they go through a ladder and the fighting is entertaining enough. A respectable Famicom fighting game.
Kunio-kun's Nekketsu Soccer League:
Similar to the first Kunio soccer game but this one adds the simulation elements that have been building as the series goes on. You can give your teammates pep talks, call your girlfriend, use items, and track statistics. The gameplay is a little better than the first although the A.I. still does too much of the work for you. It's impressive to have a sports sim like this this early.
Nekketsu! Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes:
Whoa. This game is wild. This was released 8 months after NBA Jam... and it just plays like a way more insane NBA Jam. It's two on two and there are THREE hoops on each side. I had no idea what I was doing but Mike and Eddy from New York happily kicked my ass playing as Kunio and Riki. They were doing slam dunks that went through all three hoops and I was gleefully and embarassingly enjoying getting smashed. Worth experiencing even for a bit.