Video Game Classics: River City Ransom

Video Game Classics: River City Ransom

Some games will live forever as classics. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be taking a look at 1989’s beloved beat ‘em up River City Ransom.

Created by American Technos Inc. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, players take on the roles of Alex and Ryan, two high school students. Together, these pals must cross through River City, battling thugs to free their classmates. At the same time, they must rescue Ryan’s girlfriend Cyndi from Slick, the notorious gang lord who has crippled the city with fear.

From the start of the game, players must battle gangs of students, frat boys, jocks and gang leaders. However, players quickly realize that this action-adventure is different from other brawlers of the time. This is due to its inclusion of RPG elements, such as having to manage an inventory. Because of this, you must buy and sell items, while learning new abilities and skills to raise your stats in order to make it to later levels.

Because of this mechanic, you’ll find yourself doing lots of shopping in River City’s malls, which happen to be filled with frightened citizens, as you can tell by the fact that many have chosen to wear diapers.

So, as you may have guessed, money is a huge factor, and you gather funds by defeating foes. On the other hand, if you die, you lose half of your cash. However, in co-op you’re forced to compete for dollars, which adds a level of difficulty to the game. Then again, you can always beat coins out of your partner, which is always fun.

In terms of gameplay, River City Ransom lets you punch, kick, jump, jump kick, run, and long jump while picking up weapons. You can even throw weapons at enemies or use them to deflect incoming weapon strikes! Heck, you can even use your partner as a weapon, or have him jump on your head to throw him to higher places.

Showcasing a massive amount of variety for a game of the 8-bit era, River City Ransom even has its gang members talk through the text at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to learn their individual names. Plus, it allows for opponents to cower in fear, while bosses show no such concern, and will even taunt you.

Dismissed by many as a mere Double Dragon clone upon its original release, River City Ransom has gone on to be recognized as one of the greatest NES games ever made. This is due to its amazing depth, unique visual style, and for containing some of the best two-player platform fighting of all time.