River City Ransom EX

"At first, I was saying, "hey! This game is awesome!" Then, reality knocked on my door..."

After playing the NES version very long ago, and then playing it once again on the same medium more than 13 years later, I thought I'd give this port a shot. It looked decent from the reviews, and my GBA needed a workout, especially since I only have about 3 games on it thus far. I thought the NES game of RCR was decent at best, so I went to my local video store and decided to rent it. Wasting no time waiting, the moment I got in the car, I jammed the cartridge into my GBA (which I practically carry everywhere) and started playing. Already, I was astonished by the myriad of options, from the re-configurable A.I. partner (I'll get to THAT in a moment), to the re-configurable game gravity, attack damage level, etc., but it only took a few minutes into the game to realize that...some'n wun't quite right here...

GRAPHICS----
Upgraded from the NES incarnate of late, but that's all it is is an upgrade. The graphics still maintain their abstract, yet natural look. However, instead of wearing Greaser clothes like in the original version, all the characters now wear what looks like sleeping attire. I know I've seen this dress in Japanese culture, but when you're out on the streets looking for some heads to crack, you wouldn't necessarily be running around in THESE clothes. Other than that, though, the graphics are decent for a GBA game, though.

SOUND----
The sound design definitely has its high points. I though the music was good, despite the fact that it was basically remixed from the original. I thought the Boss tune was good, however. You pretty much know what to expect from a game that has you going around beating people up...CLUB! WHAM! KNOCK! SLAM! However, though...there is still no voice acting in this game. Once you read what the characters say when they die, though, it would probably be a blessing.

GAMEPLAY----
Okay, so the classic formula is here...you play as either Alex or Ryan, and you go through the game, beating up the gangs of River City in order to rescue girlfriend/friend's girlfriend at the rival school apart from yours. At your disposal are weapons that you can find, power-ups that you can buy from the shops around town, and of course, your dim-witted A.I. friend. Don't let the customizable personality types fool you--no matter how much you fine-tune the A.I. character's personality, he's still about as smart as a sack of rocks. He begins the game with all his stats practically maxed-out (in which you have to buy power-ups to upgrade yours; however, due to the terrible saving system, you can use his stat tracker for your player character), yet he has no idea what he's doing and why he's doing it. Most of the time he will stand around watching you get your @$$ handed to you on a platter. Other times, he will knock the mucus right out of your enemies' mouths with just one punch or kick. He obviously seems to enjoy hitting you in the process, as he has no regard for your presence no matter what you do. Feel free to get rid of him, though, as you don't necessarily need him in the game. However, he does do a good job making short work of enemies when time is critical.

Oh, and about that saving system I mentioned...this has got to be the worst saving system known to mankind. Unlike a real saving system in which you save and continue from a particular point in question, you save to one slot which supposedly represents your player character, and you may leave it alone then. Come back to load the save, and that's it's own battle right there. You can't load up everything you've done up till that point with that particular character you had unless you load the save twice. Here's what I mean...once you load the save, the game asks to load it. Okay, fine. But, either you reload it again so your A.I. character will be the same as you with all your dumbed-down stats, and restarting from some other point in the game other than where you left off, or not load the save at all. Feel free to take a painkiller for the headache I just gave you.

Okay, now that we've collected ourselves, let's move on to the good stuff. What I've always liked about RCR was that, whenever you defeat an enemy, they say something ridiculous. Not in a bad way, though...well, at least not for all of them. Most of them say things like "I'm out of here!" (or something like that), or "I want my mommy!" The developers actually put in some pop-culture references with the enemies, which weren't found in the original. I don't need to run through them (mainly because I forgot exactly what they said), but if you ever happen to come by this game in a bargain bin or something, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Other than those, there really isn't much else to say about the game, other than the fact that almost everything, from the in-game gravity to the difficulty of the A.I. partner, can be modified in some way. It's a beat-'em-up, and I'm pretty sure that's what the game was going for in the first place, like always.

BOTTOM LINE----
It may be worth a rental for a weekend or so, but there isn't much replay value if you don't necessarily like retreading your way through a game to continue maxing out your stats to the point where enemies will die in one punch. It's a pick-up, play, and put it away, that's what it is to me. 6.75 (rounded up to 7).

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/06