Reviews from

in the past


Easily my favorite brawler of this era. The upgrade system and RPG elements were the perfect thing this genre needed to keep it more interesting, and when coupled with an actually decent combat system it actually made for an engaging game. A lack of variety in enemy and level design would be my only real complaint.

Without doubt one of the best NES games, brimming with nonstop charm and personality and boasting an addictive method of increasing your stats. Short enough to be a blast, making these totally American and not Japanese high school punks vomit nonstop never gets old.

River City Ransom was a blast from the past! It's got that old-school charm and a surprising amount of depth – buying new moves, leveling up, all while pummeling street punks for their lunch money? Maybe a bit rough around the edges now, but back in the day, this was revolutionary stuff.

Personal favorite NES game. Just enough gameplay complexity for its time. Maybe a little too much grinding for money to unlock moves.

really solid beat em up on nes, shame the 2player slowdown is like unplayable


The closest thing we had to an open world RPG at the time.

A great beat 'em up and an NES classic.

Literally the best simultaneous 2-player game on the NES, because it's very fun, and because there's jack and shit for 2P games on NES

The NES!!! Really!!! Does not get better!!! Than this!!!!! I love the RPG elements even if "new moves" are just you doing the same move faster. Iconic soundtrack.

The best beat ‘em up ever made.

Talvez seja mais divertido em coop

Continuación de Nekketsu Koh Kunio-kun (Renegade en la versión occidental), uno de los primeros beat em ups de arcade y predecesor de Double Dragon, trasladado a consola y al jrpg. Una premisa que normalmente me parecería aborrecible, la encuentro aquí llevada con mucha inteligencia.

Los golpes carecen del impacto de Renegade, no caben más de dos enemigos en pantalla por lo que la gestión de multitudes es casi inexistente y no existe la profundidad que sí tenía su predecesor de arcade (sin ser aquel ejemplo de elegancia en su diseño), pero encuentra un giro mecánico inesperado añadiendo fisicidad a su entorno. Los cuerpos rebotan, chocan entre sí, correr guarda su inercia, puedes saltar encima de objetos, muros o compañeros y todo se presta al jugueteo. Las técnicas se alejan de los combos de un juego de lucha, (donde ejecutas una serie de comandos precisos en secuencia) y por el contrario nacen de un contexto de sistemas en fricción. Esto se potencia a dobles donde al combinar sus elementos brotan siempre resultados inesperados. Puedes agarrar una caja del suelo y golpear con ella a enemigos o lanzarla si te viene mejor, o puedes ir corriendo darle una patada en el suelo para dispararla hacia delante. Y si un enemigo la suelta al aturdirse esta rebota y sigue impactando a quien se acerque. O puedes subirte encima de la caja mientras la agarra otro personaje. Reacciones en cadena que viven en un medio físico. Y a pesar de todo, nada de eso es necesario para avanzar. Solo existe de fondo, como tantas otras cosas del juego.

El planteamiento menos lineal y el bucle típico de ser apaleado una y otra vez hasta hacerte más fuerte y lograr vengarte, tiene sentido en su narrativa de pandillero adolescente en Japón. Presta especial importancia a la construcción de su mundo, no mediante texto, sino con contexto. Presenta una cantidad de sistemas invisibles de fondo que determinan la experiencia y dan vitalidad al entorno. El comportamiento de los matones depende de la banda a la que pertenezcan, algunos huirán si los golpeas, otros se volverán más agresivos; si mantienes un código de honor en la calle, subirá tu reputación y al vencer a algunos jefes se te unirán como compañeros y su banda dejará de ser hostil; encontrarás enemigos con personalidad a los que si derrotas volverán más adelante buscando la revancha y más sorpresas que guarda el juego y que no explica en ningún momento ni te obliga a descubrir. Sumado a la fisicidad de antes, el resultado es una experiencia más amplia y completa de lo que aparenta, donde verdaderamente sientes habitar un mundo vivo.

Y es una pena que su acción no logre despegar porque todo lo que la rodea está llevado con mucho estilo e imaginación. Jugando solo termina dependiendo en exceso del grindeo y a dobles es un paseo, por lo que no termina de encontrar un equilibrio. Renuncia a la inmediatez y densidad de la experiencia arcade para buscar más profundidad en su mundo, y, aunque preferiría más contundencia y hondura en su combate, es innegable que lo que busca lo consigue.

Boring. I'm not a big fan of beam 'em ups and this one feels rudimentary. The nonlinearity and RPG elements are cool to see in an early beat 'em-up.

If you can't figure out where to go, this game lasts forever. If you know where to go, it's a super enjoyable couple of hours.

Gotta love those Kunio-kun games, this being the third. This is a neat enough title, your standard Kunio-kin combat with a kinda semi-open world. Worth giving a try on the Nintendo online subscription.

River City Ransom is one badass motherfucker of an NES title. It’s a notable beat 'em-up in the NES library developed by the same studio that created Double Dragon, so one can plainly see from Technos Japan’s pedigree that they’re hardly amateurs when it comes to crafting solid 8-bit beat ‘em ups. Still, considering that Double Dragon was already one of this developer’s recognizable IPs with plenty of credibility, wouldn’t River City Ransom prove to be redundant? Well, River City Ransom warrants a place in the NES library because it deviates entirely from Double Dragon in tone. Double Dragon is incredibly dated to the decade when it was released. It exudes that boisterously positive, rocking out, shredding-a-Flying V energy that permeated over the media of the 1980s. On the other hand, River City Ransom is a grittier, street-level beat 'em-up with a bluntness to it that Double Dragon doesn’t have. Basically, if Double Dragon is the stadium-filling hard rock of Ratt or Whitesnake, River City Ransom is the punk rock of Black Flag or Agnostic Front. I don’t think I’ve detailed my music taste in any of my reviews but just to be clear, I much, MUCH prefer the latter to the former. Like the abrasive punk rock I’ve compared River City Ransom to, this NES beat ‘em up fulfills a particular niche that the popular Double Dragon doesn’t.

Despite the tonal differences, River City Ransom’s premise is practically identical to that of Double Dragon, almost as if the beat ‘em up genre is stuck in a creative ghetto of story conflicts. Alex, a young man in his upperclassman high school years, is quite miffed when a gang of students from the rival River City High School abducts his girlfriend and holds her hostage. Alex obviously isn’t content with these vicious reprobates taking the love of his life to do god knows what with her, so he’s prepared to storm through hundreds of teenage goons to save her. A fellow CrossTown High School student named Ryan will assist Alex in this daunting, heroic escapade if a second player is available. Together, they’re like Billy and Jimmy if they chewed tobacco and etched crude tattoos into their arms with shiv. With the plain white T-shirt, jeans, and greased hair combo, the River City Ransom duo are akin to the blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth guys that would throw a beer can at you if you cut them off in traffic as opposed to righteous, Cobra Kai rejects from Double Dragon.

Since I couldn’t find someone to man the second controller on such short notice, I cannot speak on the dynamic of having both Alex and Ryan on the field. Logically, I would hope Ryan would still offer his aid to Alex even if someone weren’t manning his actions, for the path to Alex’s goal of saving his girlfriend is a gravelly one. The coarse stones that comprise this rocky road are the army of River City High boys who will risk their physical well-being in the interest of Cyndi’s captor “Slick,” for some reason. There isn’t anything fancy regarding Alex/Ryan’s combat that transcends the customary punching and kicking of melee fighting. Alex can pick up a weapon, ranging from chains, plywood boards, and brass knuckles, to other miscellaneous objects like trash cans scattered around the city. When Alex knocks a goon on his ass, he can hoist him over his head and smash him into his compadres to kill two birds with one stone. If that prospect sounds silly, it’s a segway into discussing one of River City Ransom’s greatest merits. Between the dirty thugs beating each other senselessly is an unexpectedly playful way of presenting it. River City Ransom has a buoyant expressiveness with its combat that surpasses the graphical capabilities of standard 8-bit pixel art. Slick’s cronies genuinely look like Alex knocks the wind out of them when stricken, which kind of looks like the face the blue fish makes when he gets a whiff of Spongebob’s rancid breath in the “Something Smells” episode. None of them need to express their pain with the interjections that pop up below the screen, most notably “BARF!,” but it's another nifty way of giving the combat a little more personality. Also, causing these street rats grievous injury is satisfying in other ways rather than seeing their exaggerated expressions. Landing a hit on any of the enemies tends to have inexact outcomes because the enemies often block Alex’s blows with swift, defensive maneuvers. Because enemy AI is surprisingly adept for the NES era, this forces the player to practice alternating between punching and kicking to the point of rapid proficiency.

Alex’s road to rescuing his girlfriend is as long as it is exhausting. Given that his journey begins at the entrance of his high school and all of his adversaries attend the high school in another district, he probably won’t be home in time for dinner. The breadth of the riverside cityscape in River City Ransom is arguably a greater point of innovation than its vibrant graphics. The trajectory between Alex’s school and the dastardly River City High barely deviates from a lengthy straightaway trek, with a few notable destinations off to the side such as a few parks. Still, one has to consider how video game levels were typically rendered during this simpler era of the medium. Progression for the majority of games on the NES was spliced into levels with no cohesion between the transitions. Any screen passed on River City Ransom’s map can be revisited at any point, albeit inconveniently on foot without any quicker traveling method. Correct me if I’m mistaken, but this cohesive world design in this type of urban environment is the closest an NES game has come to being a progenitor of the open-world genre that Grand Theft Auto would eventually serve as its definitive architect. Considering that Grand Theft Auto hadn’t laid out the schematics of the genre properly until three gaming generations onward, seeing an NES game provide the bare essentials of the ambitious genre’s core tenets competently is fairly impressive.

Across the narrow course to Alex’s goal are a few other more conspicuous destinations. After traversing through a slew of streets, Alex will stumble across a bustling city block filled with innocuous townsfolk instead of rampaging River City High boneheads. These lovely little metropolitan areas sandwiched in between the map are not only respite areas for Alex to briefly rest his weary head. If Alex is knocked unconscious after withstanding too many body blows, the last metropolitan area he visited will serve as a checkpoint. See, other NES developers? You don’t have to be so stingy with your game over penalties! To stave off even needing these sections as safety nets in the first place, they also provide a smattering of wares alongside the strip malls. Alex can sit down at a restaurant to order several food items to restore his health, and the eclectic choice of cuisines gives the impression that River City is the refined, foody brand of a modern metropolitan area. Alex certainly looks grateful for his home’s sophisticated palette, but I’m sure all of the restaurant employees wished that he wasn’t so eager to eat that he carelessly gulps down the plate along with the food. Besides consuming fuel for his body, these areas also offer Alex the option of providing sustenance for his mind at the library. Alex can check out a few books and read them at his own pace in the pause menu. Digesting the pages within will unlock fresh variations to Alex’s moves, including a speedier attack frequency and an airborne somersault to supplement the abysmal jumping controls.

However, the features included in these rest stops all cost a pretty penny, and that’s relevant to River City Ransom’s biggest issue. Obviously, I don’t expect these businesses to treat Alex like a charity case for the noble cause of saving a teenage girl from a band of hooligans. Still, the chump change that falls out of these hooligan’s pockets is the only source of income in the game. It comes in varying quantities, but never enough to cover the steep expenses with some of the necessary items. There is no other means of earning coinage in the game besides shaking it out of enemies. I forgot to mention that even if the player masterfully evades all damage, they’ll still have to shovel food into Alex’s mouth. Their caloric properties will also maximize his base stats such as health, offense, defense, speed, etc. The beefier thugs located near the perimeter of River City High that brutally tag team Alex before he has time to catch his breath aren’t the only reason not to neglect to upgrade his stats. In order to gain passage through the pearly gates of River City High, Alex has to defeat three major bosses beforehand. These bosses only show their faces if Alex has vanquished all of the lower-level grunts on the screen, so each moment of the game is a mix of guesswork and endurance. I also glossed over the fact that the total sum of Alex’s money is halved as a demerit for dying. With Alex unable to conserve his energy by avoiding combat because there might be a boss lurking in the grass, overwhelming Alex and knocking him unconscious is a constant. River City Ransom is ensnared in a catch-22 situation where the player needs to fight to eat, but fighting also necessitates the need to eat. Sometimes, the portion of food needed to remain healthy cannot be afforded because of constantly buying smaller ones to prevent the game from pickpocketing Alex’s wallet upon his demise. As admirable as integrating RPG elements into the beat ‘em up genre is, especially for the NES era, I can’t beam with excitement over the richer gameplay mechanics because their ambitions boil down to a painstaking grinding session to afford progression.

I thought I enjoyed River City Ransom for the punk rock scuzz that emits from its pores, which still holds truth. Beyond that, I’ve discovered that River City Ransom is still superior to Double Dragon and other NES beat ‘em ups of the same ilk because it showcases an evolution of the genre. River City Ransom is not a game content with offering short-term goals, bland presentation, or having the player simply infer that they’re getting stronger by beating the levels. River City Ransom expands on the base foundation of the beat ‘em up across every facet of the genre. It’s bigger and bolder, but that’s also to its detriment. Still, this isn't a case of River City Ransom shooting for something out of its league on a primitive piece of hardware. Reworking the currency system could’ve been a feasible task, and doing so probably would’ve made River City Ransom a household name alongside Nintendo’s titles in the history books. Still, even with a gigantic, glaring flaw, River City Ransom is still better than all of the practical beat 'em-ups on the NES.

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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com

Oh yeah! I guess I did play one of these before even playing any of the River City Girls games! I forgor...

Yeah I mean, it's kinda cool, too old of a beat em' up for my taste. Only other thing I can say about it is that the game cover is the only reason I played it. It is way too funny considering how the game actually looks.

i think i could body the squids irl if i really tried

Delivers a knockout combo of beat-'em-up action and RPG elements that hits the sweet spot. Coming from Crash 'n' the Boys, I appreciated the game's laser focus on combat. Its charming visuals, engaging soundtrack, and responsive controls make every brawl a blast.

Retro Yearly List #16 [1990: River City Ransom]

For the first beat 'em' up game in my personal list, I've chosen what is considered a hidden gem.

RCR offers a different approach for the genre, adding elements of RPG and almost an open-world experience, since you can walk through the screens back and forth and skip the enemies if you want, but you wanna beat them to collect coins and upgrade your character, otherwise, you will have a hard time beating the bosses, that's the overall system of progressing here, and I kind of like it, but there is a chance you will get stuck with all options you have.

Some bosses are optional but there are a mandatory few to reach the end, they look all pretty much the same, there is no big difference between their attack patterns, in fact, all enemies in the game use just punches, kicks, and weapons to hit you, so there is no diversity on this point.

I liked both the graphics and the music, which are really catchy, with a little great reference towards the end.

The game offers several options of items to purchase which will give you different abilities, which are just buffed versions of the basic attacks. You will also increase your HP and your status by purchasing them, but the game does not provide details of what you are getting until you do, this can be annoying if you don't know the game, I used a little guide for it and it helped me a lot to not making bad deals.

Difficulty is ok if you know what to do, since you can overpower your character with the right items and farm points. But in any case, if you die you just respawn at the next already visited mall, with half of your cash.

Overall, it's a beautiful game with an innovative approach and a good blend of different genres.

And by the way, wtf are these passwords?
BARF!

A huge achievement for the NES library: a beat'em up/RPG hybrid...wish the framerate was a little better.

Bir NES oyunu için harika içeriklere sahip. Hem dövüş oyunu, hem RPG elementleri var, hem harita keşfi var, yaşayan kasabalar ve mağazalar var ve upgrade'ler de var. Rahat 5 yıldızlık bir oyun olabilecek bir oyunmuş aslında ama tek bir kritik sorunu var; çok grind istiyor. Oyunu sıkıcılaştıracak kadar grind istiyor ve grind yapması zevkli de değil. O zevkimi baltaladı işte.

i like when they say BARF!!!

One of the best games on the NES. Great beat 'em up with light RPG mechanics that is surprisingly pretty manageable in terms of difficulty.


newgrounds.com would have u think this game is waaayyyy more popular than it actually is, or maybe that’s just me.

Weird to consider this a "hidden gem" on the NES, since it gets ported wherever NES games are available, but it's true. This is a usually overlooked NES title that did a good job blending RPG and Beat'em Up elements into a single experience. If you're the kind of person who plays NES games, this is one you can't miss.

One of the few NES games that holds up imo

terrible at fighting games, and honestly games in general but this was fun . it's uh a game. it's a game. funny, cheesy, corny premise, love it. save ur girlfriend from some guy named slick