
	Platform NES Genre Action / RPG Developer / Publisher Technos Japan Corp. Year Released 1989
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River City Ransom

river city ransom,nes

I’m just about the last person that should play an RPG. I’ve got no patience for copious amounts of dialogue, building up character attributes, or the undead trying to pull your spleen out for some perceived wrong. River City Ransom (RCR) is an action game - a great punch and kick marathon - draped with RPG elements. Actually, it’s infused with RPG elements right from the beginning but since it’s set in the underbelly of River City - a thug ridden metropolis - and not in some unpronounceable fantasy realm, it’s easy to get into.

The premise is simple enough: Some nasty guy named, Slick, has kidnapped Ryan’s girlfriend. Not only that, he has the city under his control with his “gangs of students and evil bosses.” It falls upon the shoulders of Ryan and Alex to save the city and rescue Ryan’s girlfriend. In the process, they take on such criminal gangs as the Generic Dudes and the Jocks, and get inside information from Slick’s own girlfriend, Roxy.

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At your disposal are your basic punch, kick, and jump combinations. Alex and Ryan can also pick-up a variety of useful fighting tools, such as sticks, rocks, old tires, boxes, and chains to augment their power. If RCR were strictly an action game, this would be enough for gameplay. RCR is no ordinary action game! You get the chance to upgrade just about everything about Alex and Ryan, like will power, stamina, and defense. There are a variety of restaurants serving everything from

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Chow Mien to Nero Pizzas, which, when eaten boosts various aspects of your character. It boils down to trial and error to figure out what food boosts which attribute - whether it explains them all in the manual or not I have no idea, I can’t find my manual. Plus there are oodles of shops selling all sorts of interesting wares. Then there are the “equipment” shops that sell boots, candy, steaks, and books. (Not to mention the sauna, where you can see Alex and Ryan’s respective bare asses, and the Secret Shops.) For example, if you buy a book called, “Stone Hands” your punch turns into a rapid-fire volley of fists after reading it. You can’t find these items lying around - you have to buy them all and buying all these goodies from the various merchant malls is a burden on your wallet. To get more money, you have to beat down the various gang members for their pocket change. (Gangsters usually give one last quip before dying, my favorite being, “BARF!”)

The various gang members range from super-intelligent to dumb as a post. But no matter the intelligence, none will jump to a higher level to get you. This means you can run through areas without taking any damage if there is a fence or something to jump onto. Of course, you won’t collect any money and you’ll get your butt whipped later on because you haven’t upgraded your skills. Most times you’ll face off against only a few enemies at a time, but sometimes you’ll come across gang members that attack very aggressively and fighting them off is a real challenge. They’ll throw things and perform running kicks to keep you on your toes. The boss characters provide more than enough challenge - you’ll die more than a few times.

When you do die, you’re shot back to the last mall area you passed through. Most of the frustration from starting over and over is alleviated by the password feature. The passwords themselves are incredibly long and one letter out of place means you’re going nowhere. And it doesn’t just start you off wherever you wrote down the password, but it does give you whatever equipment you’ve bought and ensures you don’t have to battle an already defeated boss.

The graphics, sound, and control are straightforward. There are not a lot of fancy effects happening here. Graphics are on the blocky side but are offset by their large size. The inventory interface is easy to use for a NES game and general control is good, although it can be annoying performing jump attacks since you have to hit both A and B to get your character to jump then hit punch or kick.

If 8-bit console RPG’s are your thing, you might want to check out River City Ransom - if only for the chance to battle through a more contemporary setting.

- Omni


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