River City Ransom EX

"Classic Beat Em' UP."

When I first heard about River City Ransom at my friends house some years ago, long before the GBA revision (dare I say remake) came out. The conversation went something like this:
Friend: Hey, have you ever played River City Ransom?
Me: No, what's that? Is it a board game or something?
Friend: No, it's a NES game.
Me: Oh...what do you do in it.
Friend: You beat people up, steal their money, and then go buy stuff at the mall.
Me: Are you serious? That's crazy.
Friend: Yeah, it's fun.

So Needless to say we played it on his NES later that night and I loved it. It was Double Dragon with money and restaurants. Yeah there is some girlfriend getting kidnapped story but......YOU GET TO BEAT PEOPLE UP AND BUY STUFF AT THE MALL!!! How great is that! This was the first game I played where there we're things in the game that had seemingly nothing to do with progressing the story, which now with games like Grand Theft Auto is common place. So when I heard that River City Ransom was coming out on the Gameboy Advance I got pretty excited. At the same time Nintendo was releasing its first run of the classic series and I had assumed that it was going to be a port of the old 8bit version. So the big day came when it was released and I rode my bike down to my local gamestop and picked it up. To my surprise it wasn't part of the classic series (which now I realize was kind of silly to assume) but released by Atlus separately. When I popped it in my Gameboy the first thing I noticed were the graphics were updated to 16-bit quality. It's still basically the same just with much nicer looking graphics. In fact, it had been updated quite a bit which, as I played through it, was for the better instead of the worse.

The first thing you might notice when playing the game is the strange set-up. You can't save your progress in the story. So every time you shut off your GBA you have to start all over again at the beginning. You CAN however save you character progress, basically your characters items and levels. Which means that while you have to start over every time storywise, you can pick up where you left off as far as your characters progress. Strange isn't it. But in a way it puts the focus on getting a really powerful character that you can use over and over again. Which I thought was a nice change from the usual linear fashion most games follow. The actual gameplay itself is great. It's just like Double Dragon with Punch Kick simplicity but expands into special customizable moves (which you buy at Bookstores in the form of books that teach you techniques). Eventually, with enough cash, you can learn techniques that are so powerful you could practically beat the game in your sleep, no joking. But in addition to those, there are plenty of interesting techniques and items to use that don't unbalance the game. Unlike Double Dragon (from what I remember) the game is similar to an RPG in its stat system. Your character has a variety of stats that affect the way your character plays. As you maximize these stats with different items you buy from the malls, your character will be able to deal out more damage, run faster, jump higher, and do various other things. So fighting the gangs is important to getting your character ready for fighting the bosses later on in the game. Another interesting thing is the hidden respect stat, which you can't actually view. This stat determines a few different things from whether a certain character will join you to fight against the gangs (yes other characters will follow and fight along side you), to whether you see certain scenes and interactions. The only way to keep this stat high is by not being cheap! So fighting respectably is encouraged instead of just strafing enemies with running attack moves.

So what is the point of the game? Well, You can play as either Alex or Ryan. Alex goes to River City High School, which was held hostage by the evil dragon twins. Luckily he had skipped school the day it was held hostage. Ryan goes to a nearby high school named Cross Town. A fellow classmate named Slick who is somehow connected to the Dragon Twins had kidnapped Ryan's girlfriend. Both kids being the toughest kid at there school and end up joining forces to fight the evil that has taken over their City!.........right, it's cheesy but charming.
So as Alex and Ryan set out to fight against there foes they have to travel through the city to get to Cross town high. During their travel they encounter gangs that rove the streets looking for young punks to beat up. Unfortunately Alex and Ryan fit that profile and have to fight their way through the city. But lucky for them, there are many rest spots where conveniently located shopping malls exist. Here Alex and Ryan can buy food, books, prescription drugs, and many other things along the way that will help them and power up to fight their way through the city to Crosstown High!

Overall this game is a Joy. If you don't like beat em' ups then it probably isn't for you. Although if you liked games like Double Dragon and Battletoads and are ready for a RPG like twist on it, then this game is right up your alley. The best part is the replay value and customization. You are encouraged to keep playing until you max out your character stats. Also there is a deep customization options, from difficulty to character appearance. I'm pretty tough on games, but this one meets up to its promise.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/04