Pretty Good
The graphics of River City Ransom are actually rather nice! The style is very similar to Double Dragon, only the characters are much more "cartoony". The backgrounds are bold and colorful, and vary from city streets and bridges, to parks with trees, warehouses, and malls. The different locations give you a good feeling of being in a city. Even though they tried to disguise this game as an American city by putting "US Mail" on the mailboxes, it is clearly Japanese and has an anime flavor to it. The characters all pretty much look alike, with the exception of their faces and shirt colors. Some characters wear glasses, and some have different eyes or hair.
Sound: 5.5/10
Of all the aspects of RCR, its sound appears to be the one thing that people are most divided on. The music is okay, but for the most part, feels average. There isn't a whole lot of variety. I really like the main theme, but it repeats quite a bit. It sounds kind of "sixties-ish", which keeps with the overall atmosphere of the game.
The Gameplay:7.5/10
At first, RCR's controls felt a little bit "floaty" to me. I didn't like the slow pace at which my character moved around. However, I became used to it after awhile, and discovered that by double-tapping left or right, it makes him run at super speed across the screen. The basic kicking and punching is easy and those controls feel more intuitive than most beat-em-ups I've played, such as Double Dragon or TMNT2.