In 1989, River City Ransom was released on the Nintendo and instantly invented a whole side-genre of beat-'em-up games. One where you can level up by eating burgers, and beat people up until they say "Barf". Since River City Ransom's release, a number of notable sequels have been created.In Japan, the River City games are part of the broader Kunio-Kun franchise. In the west, the River City name has started to act as the de facto brand name. However, we are dealing specifically with the River City Ransom-esque beat-'em-up RPGs in the series. So, no sports titles or arena brawlers (though those games are also a ton of fun).
9 Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story
Well, there were things that were tried here, and it seems this was a game that was made on a smaller budget. However, while we can applaud the effort, it just didn't end up coming together to make a great game. For starters, despite carrying the River City Ransom moniker it doesn't play like a River City Ransom game.
You do level up, and you do backtrack, but there are no shops - and instead of being set in the streets of the city, it is all set in barren, industrial settings. It also has a confusing mechanic where certain enemies can only be damaged by a certain character. This is the weakest game in the series and, outside a few returning characters, really doesn't feel like it has much connection to the rest of the series at all.
8 Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki
The sequel to the sequel. This is another title set in feudal Japan. Nekketsu Jidaigeki is one of the many quality River City Ransom experiences on the 3DS. Unfortunately, it is one of the games that never made it to the west, quite possibly due to it being a follow-up to another game that was never released outside of Japan.
Here you will trade your brass knuckles for the katana, and travel the Japanese countryside knocking around goons. Though it plays well, the stages aren't as detailed and interesting as they were in the previous title. Which is too bad. Still, it has all the things a River City Ransom fan is looking for and is another entertaining entry in the series, if not necessarily the most entertaining entry.
7 River City Rival Showdown
Here we have an entry into the series that thoughtfully attempts to remix the tried, tested, and true River City Ransom formula. We have a clock that ticks down. The goal is to get as strong as possible before the concluding event on the third day. As such, you will miss a lot of events, making the game ideal for repeated playthroughs.
Certain tasks will reduce your timer more than others, so there is a real balancing act here. And you need to accrue strength if you are going to be victorious, so you need to set aside time for increasing stats, as well. The implementation of the time system feels vaguely like what you would see in the Way Of The Samurai games. This is a super fun and engaging take on the classic.
6 River City Ransom
This is where it all started. While River City Ransom isn't the first Kunio-Kun game, it established the specific style of Beat-'em-Up that has persisted ever since its release in 1989. Marvelously, while many of the early beat-'em-up games may be a little rocky when played now, River City Ransom is absolutely the exception to the rule. This is a title that is brimming with ambition. The RPG mechanics keep it feeling fresh and give it an excellent sense of progression. The little dialog bits that appear at the bottom of the screen also give the game a tremendous amount of charm.
The PC Engine port is probably the best of all the versions of this classic. However, the Game Boy Advance has the EX version, which adds a ton of content (including the ability to recruit characters). Unfortunately, the lack of co-op prevents it from being the definitive version of River City Ransom that it would otherwise have been. No matter how you play it, River City Ransom is a classic game that is a ton of fun to this day.
5 Nekketsu KÅha Kunio-kun Special
So, one of the first games to release in the Kunio-Kun series was Renegade. Renegade is unquestionably not a River City Ransom-style game. However, during the 3DS's legendary Kunio-Kun run, Renegade was remade and turned into a true-blue River City Ransom title (shops and leveling included).
It is gloriously well done. It even includes a psuedo-remake of the famous Kunio-Kun dodgeball game (known as Super Dodge Ball). The original Renegade is a classic, but it had not aged well, it is wonderful to see it given such an incredible facelift. Too bad it was never released in the West.
4 Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki da yo Zen'in ShÅ«gÅ!
Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki da yo Zen'in ShÅ«gÅ! is two things: one, a mouthful, and two, the sequel to River City Ransom. You heard that right. Despite the original being a hit in the West, its sequel would never officially leave the shores of Japan. It may be because of the setting, as instead of being set in a modern city, it is set in feudal Japan.
All the staple River City Ransom elements are here. You can increase your stats with food you purchased at the shop, and purchase items that teach you new skills. The gameplay remains largely the same, except the stages are far more intricate and often feature a number of layers to them. In almost every way, this is a sequel that improves on the already excellent base game. It is just too bad it never made its way West.
3 River City: Tokyo Rumble
Tokyo Rumble isn't the first sequel the series received, but it is the first direct sequel that feels like it builds off of the original intelligently, faithfully, and while having the original's setting return (from the Japanese games, that is). Also, and this is a big deal, it is one of the 3DS games that was actually released in the West.
Tokyo Rumble looks great. It is doing something very similar to Octopath Traveler's HD-2D aesthetic. They also went the extra mile with the translation and made sure to give us the actual Kunio-Kun characters (instead of their Americanized counterparts), while still delivering a lot of the charm that the original game's translation was able to impart. Yes, that does mean you will have your opponents crying “Barf”. This one is a winner and absolutely a good reason to dust off that 3DS.
2 River City Ransom: Underground
The sequel to the American localization timeline. You heard that right; we are through the looking glass. This is a fantastic title. It has an expansive cast of interesting characters. It has fast, fluid, and engaging combat (that often fills the screen with absurd numbers of enemies). It makes sure to deliver the camp that the original game was so loaded with.
However, where Underground really excels is the superb animations. The sprites themselves look like the natural progression of the original River City Ransom sprites, but they really put forward an incredible effort in making their moves and attacks animate beautifully. There are a few side-quests here and there that miss the mark, but for the most part, the game gets everything right. It is truly a fantastic follow-up to the original.
1 River City Girls
In the era of the beat-'em-up resurgence, this may be the best of the lot (and there are a ton of excellent games releasing in that space). River City Girls is a colorful, irreverent, quirky title that balances a rewarding progression system, an engaging combat engine, and an excellent sense of humor. Oh, and it looks great and has a killer soundtrack.
River City Girls feels like the culmination of everything the River City Ransom series has been building to over these years. It may be a little too in-your-face for some people, but if you can gel with the manic humor, you will find an incredible beat-'em-up that is worthy of your attention.