River City Ransom

"Before Grand Theft Auto, there was...River City Ransom!"

This game really came out of nowhere. Technos is happy with the wide success of Double Dragon. It's reguarded as one of the best beat-em-up's ever. Then suddenly, this mysterious little game comes out. What is this? You play as a high school kid who runs around beating the crap out of others? Wow, that's weird. And strangely addictive.

River City Ransom had some of the best graphics the NES had to offer at the time. The characters are slightly bigger than the characters from Double Dragon. While most of them look the same, since they all seem to have the same basic sprite design, they still look pretty good. All of them have the same muscular jock look, except for some different hairstyles, sunglasses, or color of the shirt. They look rather amusing, since when they get hit their eyes bug out. The character animations flow quite smoothely, They've even added some cool little things, like if your character does a jumpkick then lands, it will actually switch to him landing on the ground, then getting up. It's little details like this that really make the graphics good.

The backgrounds are amazingly pretty. They look incredibly detailed for an NES game. NES games have been known to have incredibly pixilated backgrounds. However, such is not the case here. The backgrounds are beautifully blended and smoothed out in the distance. There is not only that, but the wide variety of backgrounds. There is your opening place, the school grounds with a nice shot of the school there. There is the many streets where gangs roam for you to fight which have some nice looking trees. There are the mall areas with many different buildings you can go into. There is a tired yard which looks very detailed. The list goes on.

Story is very basic. You play as two high school kids, Alex and Ryan, who were out of school the day it was taken over by a guy named Slick. Slick sends you a letter informing you that Ryan's girlfriend has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. You two set out to save her, and stop Slick, thus restoring peace to the town once more. Blah blah blah, we all knew it was going to be something involving your kidnapped girlfriend.

Gameplay is a very innovative new bag of Beat-em-up and RPG. On first sight, the game appears simple. You walk into an area, and you find which gang is occupying it. The enemy attacks you, you beat the crap out of them. They keep coming, you keep beating them up, you swipe their money, move on to next street. Beat up gang there, fight a boss, have a burger, go back to more ass-whooping. Yea, it sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Well, on the outside it sure does seem like nothing more than Double Dragon with more combat, but really it's very different.

For starters the control has been remapped a bit. The buttons are still punch and kick, but it still feels different. The game seems more fast paced now. Before it was fight about 3 enemies on screen, fight a boss. This time the controls are more responsive, and you'll find yourself pulling off more combos more quickly as the enemies run at you. It is also alot less glitchy, which is always a good sign. You'll find yourself pulling off alot more just straight punches onto enemies, then quickly turning around and beating up some more.

The game is also now much more focued on weapons. Instead of a baseball bat, a barrel, and a whip, there are a few others now. The bat is now a pipe, and is alot more effective. The whip is still there, but is now a chain. Barrels are now either tire wheels or trashcans. There is also a knife and a brass knuckle and many different forms of the surroundings. The weapons can also be thrown much more easily, and often you will end up just throwing them instead of actually using them. So, basically, your weapons are whatever you can get your hands on. Tires,pipes,crates, even your opponent's bodies! In the few moments when some fall unconcious, you can pick them up and start whacking their friends with them! That's how evil this game is.

Instead of learning new moves like in Double Dragon, you improve new stats. You may wonder how this is like GTA. Well, here's your answer. Same basic point when you're bored. Beat the crap out of everyone you can, steal their money, buy new stuff, In GTA it was weapons. Here, it is food. The more money you have, the more expensive and exotic foods you can buy. Different kinds of foods level you up in different ways. For instance, Swordfish may raise your strength a huge amount. But, Salmon may be better for your stamina. Tea may make you better with weapons, but Coffee may give you more energy. Its a matter of experimenting and learning what you need to balance yourself out. Along with the foods, you can also buy books and antiques to increase your level and stats. It is certainly an innovative way of improving your character, and quite addictive. There's something so fun about beating the crap out of everyone in the streets then mugging them, using the money to have a yummy steak, then going back and beating the crap out of them some more. It's a living...

Sound and Music is what you would expect. Nothing really great, but nothing bad. You have a bunch of different sounds for when you use the weapons on people, but not too much of a variety. Music has a couple catchy tunes, and none of them are certainly annoying. So, it's your call what it deserves.

The game however does have a good amount of replay value. If you thought that playing through the game was fun alone, just wait till you're beating up hoardes of people with a buddy! Don't worry, Technos didn't copy Double Dragon here. You can have your buddy and you onscreen at once. And, it is alot more satisfying. There is also a nifty little password system to substitute for saving so you dont have to sit through four straight hours of leveling up your characters and beat the game.

Overall, this is a very underrated game. I am glad I was able to play it, it was definitely worth it. It was a revolutionary game for the time, and it still packs a punch now. Rumors have come out that it might be ported to the Gameboy Advance. So, keep an eye out!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/03, Updated 01/27/03