Probably one of the best NES games ever. Absolute classic. Let's make the Generic Dudes go "BARF".
. Excellent control, RPG elements add great depth to combat
. Awesome, charming graphics, that gives everyone personality
. Fantastic sound and music
. Great bosses and good sense of pacing
The Bad:
. A little grindy
. LONGEST PASSWORD SYSTEM EVER
River City Ransom. Ah, yes this game. I got to play this on the Wii's virtual console, expecting it's awesomeness, but it's just better than I would have expected. Sadly this game was over-shadowed by a much higher profile game, Double Dragon 2, when it was realised. Boy, did people miss out. It's probably one of the most underrated games ever, but it's probably one of the best.
The story follows two dudes, Alex and Ryan. They just got a note from Slick, the person who is pretty much in control of River City. He took Ryan's girlfriend, and now Alex and Ryan must save her! It's basically a "save the princess" deal, but that's not necessarily bad. You'll meet plenty of whacky and crazy characters along the way, like the Generic Dudes and the Frat Guys, all with funny things to say, like "Is this fun anymore" or BARF". The way this ordeal is set up is quite funny, especially the ending. SPOILERS: After Alex and Ryan defeated the evil Simon "Slick", all the gang members become honor students and Cyndi (Ryan's girlfriend) went back to the mall to do her shopping!
The gameplay is much like Double Dragon (hence the fact that Technos Japan developed both games), but with some added twists. There are RPG elements to the game, where you can customize your characters abilities like health, attack, defense and all sorts of things. There's a crazy amount of depth in this game. You can learn new moves, eat food to gain new stats and you can do this all with a friend.The game also has a smart and easy block system to make things much easier and helps to avoid damage by pressing one of the attack button when an opponent is attacking. The game also has weapons, much like in Double Dragon, but unlike that, you can keep them, as long as you want. Weapons do help out against these big baddies you'll face along the way called "The Zombies." Rocks, iron knuckles, steel pipes, trash cans, your own freaking partner! The boss battle vary in quality and difficulty. Some are easy like Moose and Slick (weird the final boss, right?) and some are punishingly difficult, like the Twin Dragons, basically a rip-off of Double Dragons' Billy and Jimmy, calling them Andy and Randy and I love that! The only problems with the game I can find is that the game is a little grinding, if you want the good stuff, like disposable health items and new moves to learn, but hey you can cheat with the password system right? Well.... if you can remember the codes.... River City Ransom has probably the longest, most annoying password system ever! Lower and upper case letter?! Numbers?! 24 digits and 48 for 2 player?! OH MY GOD. But for all the things that the game has, it's excusable. There are two difficulty setting, but they don't seem much different from each other. Besides the fact that enemies are a bit harder to kill. There's not much a difference.
The graphics are just astounding for the system, especially the character sprites. They show so much detail and expression for just about everyone, it's hard not to enjoy it. The environments are just so Nintendo, just being so old school and that's fantastic. Traveling to malls, to River City High, construction sights, parks, everything is just awesome. The eccentric detail the characters is what really makes the game shine. Not to mention, the in game text is always going saying really funny things, as stated before. Hell, some gang members can run away in fear from you. The game is just that awesome.
The sound is just pure 8-bit and I like it that way. From the awesome boss battle music, to the cutesy shopping music in stores, the music is just superb in every way imaginable. The sound effects are great, as well. Coins bouncing up and down, hitting gang members in the face, jumping, everything is just spectacular!
Overall, this game is just crazy innovative for it's time and hasn't aged a bit. With the crazy, deep combat, great music, funny moments and all around classic, you can't go wrong with the game... except the password system. But either way, this game is timeless and an absolute must-play.
Overall: 9.6/10