Downtown Nekketsu/RCR question

[dog$]

Short topic headers tend to piss me off, but I really just have a simple question and Searching through a few threads here didn't tell me anything new. But at any rate, it has come to my attention that there are more than several games in this line that came out after River City Ransom and with each day I get more pissed for having never played any of them. I'd probably know the answer myself if most Japanese websites regarding this series would provide ANY goddamned screen shots.

So, I know someone here knows the answer:

"The Best Version of River City Ransom (or direct sequel thereof) is called ______________ and is on the _________ system."

And -if- the answer is Downtown Nekketsu for the PCE-CD system, just buying a Turbo Duo would the the simplest way to play the game, right? (Same as Dracula X Rondo?)

[sleeve]

Too bad Johnny Undaunted never comes by here anymore.

The best version of Downtown Nekketsu Monogotari, the JP name of River City Ransom, is allegedly on the PCE-SCD. I say "allegedly" since I haven't played it. To play it you'll need a Turbo Duo, PC Engine Duo, or PC Engine with System Card 2.0 at least. Same as Dracula X in other words.

rezo might be able to shed some light on this question as well.

[rezo]

Do you mean "Best version of river city ransom" or best beat them all in the Downtown Nekketsu/Kunio kun series?

As far as the PCE ver. goes, it has an updated soundtrack, and some added voicework and nothing I remember that detracted from it greatly. However, I don't own it and only played it enough to try it out =\. There was also a version on the x6800.

"The Best Version of River City Ransom (or direct sequel thereof) is called "Downtown Special! Kunio kun no Jidaigeki da yo zennin shuugo" and is on the "famicom" system."

As for the series overall, in order of quality,it goes like this-

Kunio kun no jidaigeki (famicom- follow up to RCR.)-

edo era Kunio game. I suppose its the japanese version of "old west" flashback scenarios. Anyways, it has the RCR engine, but massively updates the amount of moves you can get, along with a more expansive game area and many secrets. AI partners can join you in the fight if you don't have a 2nd player,and they do a good job of being beaten. You can "collect" new partners as you play through the game.


RCR (various - fam, PCE, x6800 )

Nekketsu Kakutou densetsu (famicom -2 on 2 tournament fighting.) -

create a character as one of four class types, and team him up with a partner for a 2 on 2 tournament. Each type has a unique fighting style, and I believe "Special" maneuvers for your characters are chosen based on your blood type or whatever information you put it. The arenas you fight in are quite varied with mines ,electric wall, and conveyor belts and such. Amazing game. Best of its kind I think.


Kunio-tachi no banka(sfc-"update" of the original. ) -

standard beat them all, with a pretty in-depth story(for this type of game) a wonderful soundtrack and some of the better graphics you'll see on the SNES , though the characters do look odd at times. There are 4 players to use and you can cycle through them freely. Riki, Kunio, and two girls. Special attacks are simple and are done by pushing an attack button while blocking, though in this game you rely on your regular abilities.


Shodai nekketsu kouha kunio kun(sfc - rpg elements, simple combat =\)

It has all of the shopping and such that is in RCR, so people refer to it as "River City Ransom 2", but the combat is pretty plain. You level up and gain maneuvers, but the abilities you gain are standard attacks and never develop beyond that. Its just taking time to be able to fight normally.

Renegade/nekketsu kouha kunio kun(famicom/arcade)

Its Renegade. I never played the arcade rom. . .actually, thats also why Super Dodgeball on the NEO GEO isn't listed. =\


sports + extra-

Nekketsu! street basketball! Ganbare Dunk Heroes (fam)-

Amazing game. Crazy hyper arcade style basketball, with multiple hoops(that can be stolen) , blatant combat, special maneuvers for each team, great graphics sound, gameplay, everything.

Kunio no nekketsu soccer league (fam. update of "Nintendo World Cup")

Features deeper gameplay than its predecessor, though very similar, along with weather effects and the curious "showboat" ability after each goal. (you can jump around and celebrate and I'm not quite sure why -_-º)

Kunio kun no dodgeball (sfc) - update of the standard dodgeball gameplay. You can build a team and gain new maneuvers/characters as you play.

ike ike nekketsu koukou hockey bu(fam) - Arcade style hockey game. With each team you defeat in story mode, you gain the option of taking their uniforms and adopting their abilities. Its a difficult game.

Downtown Nekketsu Baseball monogatari (sfc) - The arcade gameplay is toned down for this one. But the variety in what you can do with various players is pretty deep. I think its a solid baseball game overall, but don't expect the over the top gameplay you get from their other arcade-style sports games. There are special hits/pitches/base running/fielding techniques, but they are in short supply and with the exception of hitting, aren't used often. However, the amount of regular hits and pitches is where the gameplay is. Pop it up, hit a grounder, sacrafice bunt, you can pick directly from a menu, and the same goes with pitches, which can also be modified based on the position of the catcher and pitcher.


nekketsu koukou dodgeball bu: soccer hen (fam.MD. Nintendo World Cup, but its better)

Nintendo World Cup, with actual variety between teams, as well as humorous story scenes. Its the same soccer captain/beat up you enemies/ gameplay you're familiar with.

Super Dodgeball - its super dodgeball. famicom version features 4 player beanball.

volleyball (GB) -

I didn't care much for this. Volleyball game, 8 teams I believe, each with one special maneuver, and besides that, the general diving and spiking volleyball gameplay.



the track and field games and Kunio no Oden round out the bottom.

Downtown Soreyuke(crash and the boys street challenge) - well, better than the other track and field games of its time, and Toudou's scenes are funny. .. its interesting anyways, , underwater fighting, and the rooftop javelin run are interesting. Unfortunately, the grapple(judo?) tournament takes a page from "tag team wrestling" and you have to grab/pick your move from a menu. The moves look nice though, but the way you pull them off is pretty weak. There's also hurdles and hammer toss. You can buy items to increase your chances in a given event, but the winner is determined by whoever has the most money left, so this isn't always the best thing to do.

Nekketsu Koushin. . .something something. . .Harukana Kin Medal - Curious race gameplay(through a city, I don't remember the second level), fighting and scrambling for position as you go. The competitions change as you get further, and they include a fighting tournament and such, but I must confess to never competing the game x_X

Kunio no Oden - puzzle game. standard "drop items to erase pairs and maybe set it up the combo" puzzle gameplay. I didn't play it much and am very curious as to how it ended up existing.

[dog$]

Prompt responses kick ass, thanks.

So none of the SFC titles are really of any worth? Kuniotachi No Banka is the one that's in the black case (lower left corner) on that pic, right?

And I didn't know if the best RCR would be the best Kunio beat'em up or whatever since, thanks to Techno Japan's wonderful titling system, I had no idea if RCR had a direct sequel or whatever.

What does Jidaigeki have over Kuniotachi Banka?

[NeoZeedeater]

Yep, Banka is the black case one.

It's a shame the Super Famicom ones aren't better. I bought Shodai last year and I was not impressed. The gameplay just isn't fun like RCR.

Renegade was also released by Sega for the Euro-SMS in the '90's.

[rezo]

the sfc titles are of worth. . .but Kunio's golden age was on the famicom. I think its important to know this, as dissapointment is all that will come from learning of the sfc games after experiencing what they did on the famicom =\. All of the best games are there, dodgeball excluded. The SFC games aren't all in the downtown nekketsu style(Downtown Nekketsu was a term reserved for the SD kunio games, I think,at least, thats how I use it).

basically, jidaigeki is in the RCR style(it does have slowdown), while banka is just a regular beat them all type game. Though good.

Both games feature two enemies at a time gameplay, but the engine in jidaigeki is much deeper, with the insane amount of moves you can use, as well as the higher level of interactivity. Lets say there's a bucket next to someone on the floor. You can kick it into them for damage. I also believe you can pick it up and put it on their heads. There's a rickshaw in the game, you can switch from pulling it behind you to wielding it as a weapon. Conversely, banka features no weapons at all(I think this is a plus for most beat them alls though, as weapons tend to simply decrease your capabilities for more strength). . . The areas also have more variety, with the slippy ice section, as well as being caught in a current while fighting in water( you can turn some of these effects off). Banka's environments are not all flat backgrounds though. There are collapsing floor, objects on the ceiling to grab on to and kick from(and only kick) as well as a pretty creative fight at a carnival. There are also simple bike riding levels to break things up.

Banka is a straight level based game, jidaigeki features a fully explorable world along with a map feature to show you where to find whatever gang you're tracking down/avoiding. This does lead to some moments of doing a lot of traveling without any fighting though, but the freedom is worth it.

Jidaigeki features much more maneuvers than RCR, including the screw ability(you fly across the screen as if you were one) as well as a tornado kick and others. Banka's special maneuvers are more subdued. Their functionality is similar to a standing punch for the most part, so many will simply before for completing combos, although they also have a tactical quality attached to the fact that you have to be in a blocking position to use them.

Banka is a good game, but it doesn't compare to jidaigeki.

[Low]

PCE RCR has a increased color palette, additional background animation (nothing major: flags, animals, clocks), and I'll have to play it again but I think there's less slowdown/flicker from the NES rev.

PCE Kuno Dodgeball is decent too, though I really detest the size differences in characters. *-neo