River City Ransom

[danzibr]

First, I'd like to share this if some aren't aware.

Also, I was wondering about the plot in River City Ransom. Now, I really love the game, even going so far as to totally max characters (well, just one), but... what's with the plot? It confuses me. Now, it probably shouldn't because it's so simple, but at the end there's like some crazy plot twist... but there's not that much plot to twist.

Anyways, great game.

[OracleofWuffing]

Well, River City Ransom itself is a sequel of a different game or two, and also it's inside the Super Dodge Ball series. There's already been at least one sequel that I know of on the SNES, and it was rereleased for GBA, so yeah, it's kinda a classic in its homeland. Oh, and that zany olympic-games-esque Street Challenge on the NES. Anyhow, looking at things, there was also a River City Soccer Hooligans game released just last year.

As far as I can recall of the plot, it's pretty much that you and your friend (rival from a previous game) were cutting class, and while you were out, some gang lord decided to hold all of the students from your school captive, mostly your girlfriend (hence "ransom," I guess), while giving orders to all the lesser gangs to pretty much run afoul of the town.

Spoiler

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And also, said gang lord is an expy/homage/reference from the Double Dragon games, so I guess you gotta play those to understand it.

[Shpadoinkle]

RCR is a great game, but having to buy stuff one at a time gets to be a pain in the ass...

Also, that article is from March, so it looks like the plans for an actual sequel fell through. Oh well. At least we've still got the remake on the GBA.

There's no real plot to speak of (which is part of what makes it so fun; the game is built on a semi-plausible but still fundamentally ridiculous premise.) Cindy's been kidnapped, go beat the piss out of every other teenager in the city to save her. That's the entire plot.

[danzibr]

Well, River City Ransom itself is a sequel of a different game or two, and also it's inside the Super Dodge Ball series.[...]

I have to disagree with this statement. I've seen games similar in spirit, but not sequels. Just because the same company made the games, doesn't mean they're in the same series.

For example, I wouldn't say Final Fantasy VIII is a sequel of Final Fantasy VII.

Sorry if this came off as mean, as I like the rest of your post, just wanted to say I have a different opinion on what I quoted.

RCR is a great game, but having to buy stuff one at a time gets to be a pain in the ass...

Also, that article is from March, so it looks like the plans for an actual sequel fell through. Oh well. At least we've still got the remake on the GBA.

There's no real plot to speak of (which is part of what makes it so fun; the game is built on a semi-plausible but still fundamentally ridiculous premise.) Cindy's been kidnapped, go beat the piss out of every other teenager in the city to save her. That's the entire plot.

Urgh, I hope it's still in the making...

[chiasaur11]

My favorite bit is there are 2 playable characters.

Ryan is a standard protagonist. Baddies kidnapped his girl. He's going to rescue her. Simple.

But Alex? He just likes hitting people.

He's the default player character.

And the Scott Pilgrim game is pretty RCR-esque. Good soundtrack, amazing spritework. Fun times.

[Yhynens]

I have to disagree with this statement. I've seen games similar in spirit, but not sequels. Just because the same company made the games, doesn't mean they're in the same series.

For example, I wouldn't say Final Fantasy VIII is a sequel of Final Fantasy VII.

Yeah, but they are in the same series. And in RCR's case, most (all, maybe, I'm not sure--at least all the beat-em-ups, anyway) of the games actually star Kunio-kun, who is the MC in the Japanese version of RCR. If you like RCR, you should try the other Kunio-kun games, but that would probably be prohibitively difficult if you were only using legal channels. They're pretty much the best of the genre. Relevant wikipedia article here.

And yeah, the Scott Pilgrim game is hands down the best thing about that franchise, but man is it grindy. At least on Hard, anyway.

[OracleofWuffing]

I have to disagree with this statement. I've seen games similar in spirit, but not sequels. Just because the same company made the games, doesn't mean they're in the same series.

No, seriously, what Yhynens said. If you just want the pseudo-sidescrolling combat, you're looking for Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade) and Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zen'in Shugo on the Famicom/NES and Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun on the Super Famicom. It's the same characters, same city, and same school whenever a school's present.

Urgh, I hope it's still in the making....

For what it's worth, it sounds like there's a 3DS title expected for this December, and GameFAQs still has the Wii version scheduled for 2011.

[chiasaur11]

No, seriously, what Yhynens said. If you just want the pseudo-sidescrolling combat, you're looking for Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade) and Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zen'in Shugo on the Famicom/NES and Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun on the Super Famicom. It's the same characters, same city, and same school whenever a school's present.

Same characters, but they don't have, if I remember, the RPG elements that make RCR a classic.

[OracleofWuffing]

Q: What is Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun?
A: Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun is the Super Famicom sequel to the
arcade/Famicom game, Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun, which was the main inspiration for the Double Dragon series. It's a side-scrolling fighting game with RPG elements. You gain experience points, learn new moves, and wear equipment like gloves, shoes and linings to increase your status.

Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with that title, so I could be wrong, but I normally feel pretty comfortable relying on the fanbase to tell me whether or not the game they're fans of has RPG elements.

[danzibr]

Yeah, but they are in the same series. And in RCR's case, most (all, maybe, I'm not sure--at least all the beat-em-ups, anyway) of the games actually star Kunio-kun, who is the MC in the Japanese version of RCR.

No, seriously, what Yhynens said.

Same characters, but [...]

Oh man, you all just blew my mind. I actually played a Kunio-kun game once and had nooooooooooooo idea Alex of RCR was Kunio-kun. Yeah, my mind is blown.

[GungHo]

I loved Super Dodge Ball. Played that thing until the NES died. And then when it came out on VirtualConsole, I played it until I was threatened with divorce.

[Shpadoinkle]

Okay, so, I've been trying for ages but I CANNOT recruit Blade and I have no idea why not. Earlier today I even went so far as to run into a wall 130 times (no, that's not a typo) upon starting a new game and VERY carefully avoiding doing anything that might lower my reputation until I fought him.

I'm not hitting downed enemies, I'm not using cheap weapons or techniques, and I'm not running away (I fight every gang I encounter- I think this MIGHT have something to do with it because I vaguely recall reading somewhere that your reputation goes down if you beat up the same gang a lot.) I go through the game until I fight Rocko, who tells me to go fight Blade, which I do, but I've never been able to recruit him.

I'm clearly missing something but I can't imagine what it is. Help, anyone?