River City Ransom Goes Underground in this Kickstarter Drive

[Shawn Zipay]

River City Ransom was one of the greatest games of all time. I can say this because studies have been done to back my wild claims. Scientific studies, no less.

So it is great to hear that a sequel is finally trying to be made. The team behind River City Ransom Underground has a new Kickstarter underway that hopes to bring back the 8-bit beat 'em up in grand fashion.

You're backing a 2.5D open world beat'em up with RPG elements, just like the classic game, for the Windows platform. We're making River City bigger, adding more stores, items, and bringing the cast and crew into the modern era. You'll reunite with old friends (and punch them in the face), meet new ones, and play through an epic story in an urban, open world. Yes, the game will feature local co-op play, and online co-op depending on our distribution partners on launch day.

We've evolved combat based on the mechanics of the golden age of console fighting, and we're pushing to get sophisticated, crafty opponent AI into the game. You're not safe standing on your bench anymore!

The lowest price you can donate in order to receive a copy of the game when/if it's released is just $15 (CAD), which really isn't that bad of a deal at all. Their Kickstarter page has various pledge levels and includes a full rundown of what to expect. It also includes a video with gameplay footage.

[K-16]

Hmm... I wonder how the Japanese feel about this? On one hand, Conatus Creative (cool intro logo by the way) is very well-versed in the Kunio-Kun legacy, but on the other hand, it looks as if River City Ransom is now becoming its own spin-off rather than being the next installment of localized Kunio-Kun.

If that's the case, we get our dream game as a sequel to River City Ransom, but the Japanese don't gain anything from this (unless Million Co. still has plans for Kunio-Kun). It could be as easy as ironically localizing RCR:U for the Japanese audience (name changes, art changes, etc.), but the plot of being nearly 25 years later tells me it's not about high school anymore, and the theme of Kunio-Kun has always been about rival school gangs, so to me it looks as if River City Ransom is now its own independent series designed for western audiences.

Then again, the game barely passed pre-production so I know that it's still early, and perhaps Conatus Creative does have plans to make this a Kunio-Kun game for Japan. I would imagine giving them River City Ransom instead of Kunio-Kun would be like getting them Super Mario USA when they're familiar with Doki Doki Panic. I don't know, I guess I should hear from a Japanese gamer to answer that one.