Level grinding is something I can’t really endure anymore, and we usually miss these kind of old-school annoyances because “those were the day, back then”. Level grinding is something I’m not willing to do today, but back then that was the way RPGs (or action games with RPG elements, in this case) were played, and that’s something the younger and more easily impressionable version of me was capable of enduring.Īside from that, the game’s amazing, and while it isn’t as popular as other franchises from the 8-bit era, River City Ransom is considered a cult classic that has influenced some of today’s gaming landscape.
The issues I have with River City Ransom are that I can’t really digest some of the gaming nuisances from back in the old days. It added RPG elements into an action game like not many titles did before, so it’s basically an experiment on its own. The game was pretty well ahead of its time. Well, River City Ransom is indeed a great game, but like many other old-school games, it is better appreciated when you look back to the days when the title was released. So every time I go back to River City Ransom, I eventually get bored and then I just rush my game to the end, not looking forward to repeat that once again-until nostalgia tricks me to do it once again later on. Once you learn Grand Slam (which grants you the ability to spam weapon attacks in rapid succession), the game practically becomes a joke, and no one can withstand your never-ending barrage of traumatizing fury. Even worse, the colorful and engaging gameplay that the game has at the beginning is replaced by simply spamming attacks on your enemies using Stone Hands and Dragon Feet (the fighting techniques that let you punch or kick your enemies three times with a tap of the button) until you’re done. This exposes another of the game’s weaknesses: it just stops being fun to keep beating the same guys over and over. I’m required to level up my character so I can deal with later gangs and bosses, so I need to keep beating enemies up and down-or even re-beating some of the previous bosses-and collecting the money they leave when you defeat them. Then, I beat Moose-the game’s first boss-while I’m on my way to the Waterfront Mall, and around that moment…I realize the game is not as good as I remember.įrom that point on, food and healing items get way more expensive, and tougher gangs chip crazy amounts of damage from my health bar. I start the game and have a lot of fun beating a few mobsters on my way I head to the Grotto Mall and have some pancakes at the Rise & Shine Cafe if I have enough money, I’ll buy the Stone Hands or Dragon Feet technique at the Grotto Book Store. All of this tends to trigger my nostalgia at some point, and I feel like punching and kicking my way into River City Ransom once again…and every time I do that, it always goes somewhat like this: The gameplay-despite its simplicity-is mind-numbing fun the moment you punch or kick the first mob of enemies, you’re pretty much hooked and ready for more. The game’s surroundings are also 8-bit pixel art at its best every location is unique and you won’t have a problem trying to differentiate some spots from others (and that’s useful since you’ll need to do some backtracking later on).
The game radiates with inspiration the cartoony characters are something you can’t just let go-they’re way prettier than many other sprites from the NES era.
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