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_{Cover art created using screenshots from gameplay and in-game content.}

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Hey Hive Gaming community! Finally, after months of thinking and several Hive friends inviting me to participate in this awesome community, I've decided to make my first post. And since it's my first contribution, I wanted to do it with a game that tugs at the heartstrings of nostalgia, those moments when I enjoyed spending entire afternoons playing on my NES, either alone or with a friend. It's an indie game created by WayForward and Arc System Works that revives the legacy of the legendary Technōs Japan Corp. It's none other than a spiritual successor to Kunio Kun's game, which in the West was called River City Ransom.

This is a beat 'em up game, a genre that was very popular in the 90s and, along with run and gun games, was one of my favorites because I could play cooperatively with a friend, so the fun was doubled! In this case, the protagonists are two girls: Misalo and Kyoko, who must face waves of enemies to fight their way through. As you can see, right from the intro, this game is made with a love and attention to detail that definitely caught my eye.

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But what sequel is this game to? And why do I say it's a work dedicated to nostalgia? Well, this game is inspired by the original work by Technōs Japan Corp, called River City Ransom in America. The truth is, there's no way to explain the number of hours I spent playing this title, particularly with a friend, where you had to face all kinds of thugs who had kidnapped our girl—hence the name, Ransom. Armed with our fists or any object we could find, we had to advance through waves of enemies to finally free our crush, undoubtedly a true gem of the NES.

Now that I've briefly shared my interest in this title, I decided to share my adventure playing this fantastic game. Usually, when I have games like this, I like to play them with my nephew, but unfortunately, he's already started high school and doesn't have time to play with me, so we'll be playing in single-player mode.

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So, we have Kyoko, who at first glance is very sweet and pink, or we can choose Misako, who has a bad temper and is the tougher of the two. I chose Misako because I like brunettes, and I think she has more of the attitude of a girl with a bad reputation. What's interesting is that you can configure the game mechanics from the beginning, and I was particularly struck by the layers of difficulty the game has, since we can not only adjust the difficulty at which we can start our adventure, but in the case of playing cooperatively we can adjust whether there is friendly fire, meaning that our partner's attacks can damage us.

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The first thing that caught my eye as soon as the game started was the intro, presented as black and white panels, like something out of a manga. I loved that detail because it gives the game a really original feel; it shows Kyoko and Misako bored in a math class.

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Then the plot begins when Kyoko receives a photo of Kunio and Riki getting into a van, seemingly against their will. With just that evidence, the two girls assume their boyfriends have been kidnapped and it's their duty to rescue them. If you think about it, it's basically the same story as River City Ransom, only this time the protagonists are girls. It's an interesting change since it doesn't repeat the classic Kunio-kun storyline.

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Let the Adventure Begin!

Well, like any good beat 'em up, we start with a good fight to learn the controls: A to jump, X to attack, and Y for heavy attacks. Repeatedly pressing the A button chains together combos that can be combined with strong attacks, and of course to advance we must first eliminate all enemies on screen.

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What I always liked about Kunio's franchise, and what other beat 'em ups like Final Fight or Streets of Rage didn't have, is that you could level up and increase your health, strength, and speed. This game retains that feature, and it's fantastic because it not only increases the damage of your attacks and your resistances, but you also learn new moves! Another great feature is the items you can find in the areas. There's a wide variety of objects you can use to punish your opponents, but be careful because they'll become more aggressive as soon as they see you pick up a weapon from the ground.

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The game adds a mechanic that makes it much more fun: the ability to subdue an enemy and make them your friend. The advantage of this is that they become a kind of striker, a strategy similar to games like King of Fighters or Tekken Tag, where simply pressing the left trigger makes this ally execute a tactical attack that you can use to connect combos. The fun part is that you can ally any enemy you see, and each one performs a different attack.

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Our main mission is to escape the high school to look for clues that will lead us to Kunio and Riki's whereabouts. But, following the tradition of the games in this series, there are side missions—areas that are initially blocked but that we can access later, encouraging us to return to find useful items for our adventure. Enemies, just like in the first River City Ransom, not only give us experience but also money, and the more difficult they are, the more money they give us. We can use this money later in the game to buy consumables and accessories.

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Boss Fights!

When it comes to boss fights, and considering the older systems we're talking about—systems like the NES or early arcades—the bosses in beat 'em ups at the end of levels generally had a design that, while differentiating them from the rest, wasn't particularly striking. At most, they were larger enemies or a different color. But now, 30 years after the franchise's inception, it's refreshing to have these spectacular boss entrances. They're very stylish; in fact, I don't know why, but they remind me of the Scot Pilgrim video game.

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To escape the high school, we'll have to face Misuzu. This isn't a random character; it appears in the first game of the franchise: Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, and we can confirm this because the Nekketsu! High School emblem appears on the ground. Right in the nostalgia, folks! This final boss, though slow at first, becomes unpredictable as it takes damage. Like all bosses, when it reaches its last third of health, it enters berserker mode, and its attacks become faster, stronger, and more unpredictable. After several attempts we finally managed to defeat him, in a final sequence already all beaten up he gives us a clue as to where we can find them since he saw them in the suburbs the day before.

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In the end, we managed to leave the high school and head towards the suburbs. Defeating the boss will give us money, experience, and accessories that will boost our damage and grant us a new ability. In the next post, we'll continue the search for Kunio and Riki, see what we can spend the money we've earned on, and which new enemies we can use as allies. I hope you enjoyed this prologue to this gem of a game that seeks to do justice to the forgotten Kunio-kun saga. My friends, good luck!

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Versión Español

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_{Portada creada con capturas del gameplay y contenido del juego.}

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Que tal comunidad de Hive Gaming! Finalmente, después de meses pensando y de varios amigos hivers invitándome a participar en esta genial comunidad, he decidido crear mi primera publicación. Y siendo mi primer aporte he querido hacerlo con un juego que toca las fibras de la nostalgia, de aquellos momentos en los que disfrutaba tardes enteras jugando con mi NES, ya sea solo o en compañía de un amigo. Se trata de un juego indie creado por WayForward y Arc System Works que reviven el legado de la legendaria Technōs Japan Corp, se trata de nada más y nada menos que de una secuela espiritual del juego de Kunio Kun que en Occidente se llamó River City Ransom.

Este es un juego del género beat 'em up, muy de moda en los 90s y que junto a los Run and Gun era mi genero favorito ya que podía jugar cooperativo con un amigo así que la diversión era doble! En este caso las protagonistas son 2 chicas: Misako y Kyoko que deben enfrentar oleadas de enemigos para abrirse paso y como pueden ver, ya desde la intro este juego esta hecho con un cariño y atención al detalle que definitivamente llamaron mi atención.