River City Ransom

"The greatest game ever?? (No but close)"

River city ransom I remember when this game came out in the US (I think it was about 1989 or 1990).
I saw the walk thru in nintendo power magazine and I remember not being too impressed with the way it looked, at that time you had double dragon, final fight and crime fighters, and I recall thinking this game was way too kiddie).

Later that year (or the following year) I picked up a copy on sale for $20 at Toys R us. Fate shined on me that one fateful day in toys R us (the title I wanted to buy wasn't there, and me being impatient brought this because I played pretty much everything else there). I took it to my best friend (Greg's) house, and we have never stopped talking about it since. This is one of the best video games ever made period.

I'm all grown up now, I sold/traded all of my childhood stuff years ago, and recently had a conversation with Greg about the fun we used to have with ''RCR'', so I whipped out the the credit card, ordered it (still own a NES top loader), sat down with Greg and played it, and I have to say ''the fun is back''
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Game play-
This is a classic fashion beat em up style title, that has SD (super deformed characters), RPG elements, many hours of humorous game play, and most importantly fun. 10-of-10
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Story -
Ryan and Alex get a note: '' I hold your city captive and Ryan's girlfriend hostage. With my gangs of students and of evil bosses, no one can defeat me ~Slick.

With that it's off to defeat slick, his bosses and rescue Ryan's girlfriend. 8-of-10
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Audio-
The sounds compared to what we have today (stereo, Dolby and Dolby DSS)don't even compare, however for it's time the music is top notch. Sounds are pretty crisp clear, lots of bone breaking snap, cracks and pops. music is top notch, some pretty catchy tunes and even a ''special guest song'' from another title. 7-of-10
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Video-
As I stated before I wasn't initially impressed with the S/D look but it grows on you.
Colors are bright, crisp and clear. Also the animation is done extremely well, and fits well in the humor department (some of the visual expressions are hilarious). 8-of-10
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Control-
Standard nes button lay out, some moves very easy to perform, others very annoying. I also felt the control was a little sluggish but not a huge hindrance. 7-of-10
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The Good-
A Great classic ''buddy beat em up game'', lots of hours of game play, lots of fun to discover secrets, hilarious animations, interesting leveling/power up system.

The Bad- Not a true RPG, cheap battles, cheap bosses, lack of AI, sluggish and some times unresponsive controls.

The ugly-
Beating a man until he says ''barf'', me RFLMAO in tears when I jack some on up with the fatal steps attack.
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Re-playability - This is the type of game that current titles should be molded after. This game can be played for eons and you won't get tired of it. (I hope I stand as proof for this one). 10-of-10
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Overall -
I my opinion this is one of the greatest games ever made, it has it all, humor, game play, decent sounds, a decent story and the most important ''FUN''. 9-of-10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/03, Updated 05/19/03