One of the best games for the NES, and the best beatem up game for the NES, even possibly of all time.
1.) Super Double Dragon
2.) Final Fight
3.) Streets of Rage
4.) Fighting Force
5.) and River City Ransom
Now in a crowd of such of venerable games, how does River City Ransom stand out as one of the best? Simply due to excellent graphics and sound for the time, superb game play with revolutionary features for the time, and just an all around fun experience.
Gameplay: This is where the game is so groundbreaking. At first you have just simple move, and run by double tapping a direction, and kick, punch and jump. Knock a guy down you can throw him, either to the ground again, or at an enemy, or even off a cliff. You could even swing him as a weapon. Speaking of weapons, there were brass knuckles, sticks, stones, chains, trash cans, tires, boxes, and lead pipes (which were my favorite). In general the sticks and stones did less damage, with the lead pipe doing the most damage. You could just pummel the enemy with the weapon or you could throw it, or run and throw it for extra damage. Downed enemies drop money ranging from 50 cents to up to 20 dollars for bosses.
Now, that is simply what you could do without anything else. Here is the best part of the game. You could periodically run into shopping malls and such which offered foodstuffs, books, shoes, toys, and other products and use your hard earned money to buy things. This may sound trivial, and sort of comical, but anything you purchase and use gives you increased stats. This game had the RPG element to it before any other game, other than a true RPG. You had punch, kick, speed, throw, weapon, defense, stamina, willpower, etc. All of these stats would make you more effective. I.E. say you had maxxed out throw. You could just casually throw an item and kill a regular enemy. Or if you didn't have quite maxxed out throw, you could run and throw the object and still score a one hit kill. Same goes for any other stat.
For instance, buy a pair of cowboy boots and your speed and kick increase dramatically. Buy a teddy bear, the game says you squeeze the stuffing out of it and your strength goes up. There are just so many items to buy.
Now wait, at bookstores you can purchase technique books which do other very interesting things. Say you buy a copy of Stone Hands, your punch literally goes like a machine gun. Push the button once, and you swing your fist 5 times. Grand Slam does the same thing, but with weapons. This makes the game tremendously more easy at times, but boy is it fun.
Also, some of the items are eaten in the store you go to, but others can be taken out, like in fast food places or pharmacies. This is handy for tough boss battles.
My only gripe is that you can die and lose half your money, which can be frustrating at times, but with a game like this, it is simply silly to not enjoy it with a friend.
Graphics: At the time this game was released, the graphics were without compare. Super deformed sprites ruled this game, however it had a distinctively Japanese anime feel that gave it its own charm. As you progressed through the town, each local was different, even though you would fight in construction zones or school areas a lot, they all were different.
Sound: The soundtrack consisted of a few synths, namely Roxy's theme, the shopping theme, the travelling theme, the boss themes (which there are many), the indoor factory and school themes, and my favorite of all, the Double Dragon theme. If you consider yourself old school and have played the greats, you will know this theme by heart. That alone is 9 out of 10 points. Also, the sound when enemies get smacked is hilarious, also, each weapon or fist has a different sound. Boxes sound like a dull thunk, while a lead pipe is a ding noise.
Value: Sure you could run through the game in maybe an hour, but half the fun is buying all the weapons and becoming ultra powerful. I haven't ever said to anyone, no I won't play River City Ransom with you.
Tilt: It should be evident from reading the rest of the review, this game was revolutionary at the time it was released. Sadly it was overlooked by many people. It should get a sequel, and a worthy sequel that has the same heart and soul as the original River City Ransom has.