River City Ransom is a side-scrolling beat-em up rpg hybrid that's definately worth a download on the virtual console.
River City Ransom was a beat-em up/ side scrolling game with rpg elements added to the mix that was released in 1989 by Technos for the NES. You know what else Technos made? Double Dragon. You know its going to be a great game in their hands. It may seem weird that rpg elements are implemented in the game, but they work quite well and fit in nicely. The story takes place in River City, where a man named Slick has captured your girlfriend, taken over River City High School, and held the town under ransom. You play as Alex, and it's up to you to defeat Slick and his gangs all around town and rescue your girlfriend.
The fighting is the highlight of the game. You can play single player or co-op with a friend, and its fun either way. The gameplay has some resemblances to Double-Dragon, but it's still very different. For example, you can punch and kick, and use weapons against enemies like brass knuckles, lead pipes and even rocks. But that's where the similarities stop. The game isn't consisted of levels like in Double Dragon. You can free roam in River City and really go wherever you want, but the tougher enemies are usually found later in the game. One of the things I also like about this game is that it's really funny, which would seem odd for a beat-em up game, but the cartoony sprites back up the funny dialogue that the characters say. When you kill a gang member, one thing they'll usually say is "BARF!!!". All I have to say is that's awesome. The combat is also more over the top than Double Dragon. In RCR, you can jump insanely high, do a jump kick like in the Ninja Turtles arcade game, lift up bad guys up over your head and chuck them off of cliffs, and my personal favorite is running down people on a tire. You can even buy an upgrade that lets you do a killer somersault. Another random thing that's awesome in this game is that the semi-bosses of the game are the Dragon-Twins, and when you fight them, the Double Dragon music starts playing. Awesome.
While the RPG elements work well in the game, some of it can be a bit confusing. Almost every aspect of combat has an attribute, and you can raise its level by using an item or sometimes eating food. For example, you can raise the power of your punch by eating a certain vitamin. However, there's one major problem I have with items: You have no idea what they do until you buy them. Some items cost a little too much, but it's ridiculous that there's no description for the items. If you're not using a walkthrough, you're going to waste a lot of money buying multiple items just to see what they do. I suggest finding a FAQ that shows all the items' attributes, trust me, it makes the game a lot more fun. Another complaint is that the password system is absolute garbage. Don't get me wrong, it works, but 33 characters long? Seriously? Is it necessary to have that many? If you're going to type in a password, be prepared for it to take at least 5 minutes.
If you know what you're doing, and you have all the necessary items and attributes to beat the final parts of the game, you can beat this game in about an hour. Yeah, it's pretty short, but its still a ton of fun to play today with or without a buddy. I recommend not using a walkthrough telling you where to go, because its fun exploring River City on your own, not with a pre-determined path. If you have an extra 500 Wii points or if you just got a point card and you like classic NES games or if you enjoy a good beat-em up, River City Ransom is a great game to download on the Virtual Console.