I was so confused when the game just cut to black after an AC fight, asked me to save, and the credits rolled

I actually like this game though, didn't even care about the lack of story, I liked how you can select a ton of missions at once. It's pretty good

It's pretty satisfying maneuvering around some of the AI and learning how to beat the double AC fights and that one triple one.

Also the Stinger/Phantasma and Nine-Ball Seraph superbosses are just awesome callbacks

If you hate this game you got filtered

After taking a brief detour into the realm of sports games with a dodgeball themed spin-off (because why not), the Kunio-Kun franchise would return back to its beat-’em-up origins with River City Ransom. As mentioned in my review of Super Dodgeball, the first game in the series, Renegade, while not a terrible game or first entry by any means, was pretty rough around the edges, and had plenty of annoying elements that kept it from being that good. So, it would make sense that for this new entry in the series, it would be a complete overhaul, changing many different elements from the original game, while also retaining the same style and same basic gameplay that had been established in that game. And unlike other sequels at the time, such as Zelda II and Castlevania II, which butchered this type of reconstructing, the reconstruction of this game makes it flourish with flying colors.

This is without a doubt the best game in the series so far, and a MASSIVE improvement over Renegade in just about every single aspect. There is no questioning why the formula made for this game would be reused for future titles in the series, as well as other unrelated games later down the line, because it works significantly well, standing out from plenty of other beat-’em-ups at the time. Of course, it isn’t perfect, but for what we got here, this may just be my new favorite beat-’em-up released for the NES.

The story is basically the exact same as Double Dragon (not surprising, considering its the same company), but I guess they make up for the copying by having alternates of the Double Dragon main characters as bosses, the graphics are pretty much the same as Super Dodgeball, but this time around, there is no sprite flickering to get in the way of all the nice animations and pretty colors (thank god for that), the music is very good, with some pretty enjoyable tracks to be found in there, the control is mostly solid for this type of game, but there are some parts of it that do irk me, which I will get into later, and the gameplay takes the beat-’em-up formula that was popular and possibly oversaturated at the time, and evolves it.

The game is primarily still your typical 2D side-scrolling beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the uniquely named main characters, Alex and Ryan, travel through many different areas of the River City, beat up all of the goons that you run into on your way, pick up and use several weapons to your advantage along the way, and fight plenty of bosses that stand in your path. In comparison to other beat-’em-ups at the time, though, there is plenty that makes this game stand out from others. On the lesser side of the new stuff, this game carries the same personality that Super Dodgeball brought to the series, and amplified it even more, with plenty of animations and text boxes for the characters to give them plenty of personality, and thus, making them much more memorable, and making the game much more appealing.

This simple beat-’em-up gameplay, this time around, is now mixed with plenty of different new elements. First of all, rather then traveling from stage to stage, you travel through one big interconnected world, making the environments in the game (even if they are generic) feel more alive and memorable. In addition, there are plenty of RPG elements implemented into this game as well, with you being able to upgrade your stats via purchasing items at stores, and there are plenty of stats to upgrade as well. Not only does it give you a fighting chance against the foes you will face, but it definitely gives you a sense of growth and progression throughout the game, with this feeling amplified even more with additional moves that you can learn as well. It makes fighting enemies and bosses later down the road much more manageable and fun…… I mean, unless you are me, and you just use a weapon the entire time to cheese every single fight to win. That’s also an option.

And yet, of course, it can’t all be perfect. First of all, remember back when I covered Double Dragon II: The Revenge for NES, and I complained about the jumping mechanics being implemented into stages where you could potentially die because of it? Well, guess what? The shitty jumping mechanic returns in this game too! To be fair though, this time around, it is more so a minor annoyance rather then something that can straight up get you killed, but still, it is an annoyance nonetheless. Secondly, sometimes the enemy AI can be pretty bullshit, specifically whenever you enter a new screen, or the enemy comes in off screen. There were plenty of times where I would travel to a new location, or another enemy would come on screen, and before I could do anything, they would bash the shit out of me, and you can imagine how that can get aggravating.

Overall, while having some minor issues here and there, this is not only a fantastic beat-’em-up for the NES, but a fantastic way of reinventing the series after what had been established in both Renegade and Super Dodgeball. I would definitely recommend it for those who want to check the series out, as well as where it all started from. Don’t even bother playing Renegade, just stick to this one instead. Now… if only we can stay in the same genre for more than one game at a time, that would be great............. please?

Game #292