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crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8


River City Ransom probably needs no introduction in this subforum. It's an open world side scrolling brawler with RPG elements, released in 1989 for NES by Technos.

I have to be honest with you though: I have never played this game beyond two minutes before starting this series. I never had an NES when I was growing up, and the times when I've tried this game very, very briefly in the late 90s I honestly just couldn't understand why it was so critically acclaimed.

My name is Blint, and my co-host Dvid and I have been running a channel called #BADATGAMES since August. One of our subscribers recommended that we try this game out for our channel, and I went along with it hoping I'd have a more mature approach to it this time around. Decades have passed since I've last played it, and I have grown as a person, grown to become one that plays games and shouts at them, and records all of it.

I gave this game a chance. And I have to say I probably needed to make the commitment of recording for me to truly learn to enjoy this game. You see, since I didn't have any consoles in the 80s or 90s, I never had the chance to learn how to approach and appreciate games that are hard as balls.

The fighting mechanics are deceptively simple. Walk, run, punch, kick, jump, pick up, throw...that's it. Simple on the surface, but it allows for so much emergence that I only realized during recording. I was sincerely surprised. It took me 4 or 5 episodes of gameplay until it actually hit me how much I love this game. The Advanced difficulty is hard as heck (excellent choice for a first playthrough, I have to say...) but it gives you a profound sense of growth, of learning, as you learn how the mechanics interact, how you can use them to your advantage. It grew on me so much that I honestly just can't wait for our next recording session. God drat you, real life, for getting in the way of our gaming.

We publish new episodes twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

River City Ransom is our first LP on this subforum, and we're a very, very young YouTube channel, so any and all feedback is welcome, especially criticism! Thank you, and enjoy!

Videos:

:siren: :synthy: Playlist :siren:


Part 1: CUT ME SOME SLICK



Part 2: TAKE THE CRATE TO THE FACE



Part 3: INEXISTENT STRATEGY



Part 4: YOU DIED?! WHY



Part 5: OOP- I KILLED YOU



Part 6: I AM HERE TO PUNCH



Part 7: KILL ME! AAH YES!!



Part 8: THANKS FOR THE BAT, IDIOT



Part 9: REFINING OUR STRATEGY



Part 10: A NEW LOW



Part 11: DEATH BY TRASHCAN



Part 12: NOT EVEN ASHAMED ANYMORE



Part 13: MONEY WELL SPENT



Part 14: LOOK AT THE PIXEL BUTT



Part 15: BRASS FUCKLE



Part 16: GETTING IMPATIENT



Part 17: I NEED A BREAK



Part 18: COMPELLING GAMEPLAY



Part 19: IVANA FIGHT THIS GUY



Part 20: CHECK THAT FLANK



Part 21: OMELETTE DU TURQUOISE



Part 22: EAT MY FLIP



Part 23: PERSONAL BODYGUARD



Part 24: HIGH SCHOOL



Part 25: FINALE


:siren: :synthy: Playlist :siren:

Hilarious highlight GIFs of our expertise from our #1 fan, Niggurath. Thank you!!

Niggurath posted:


And the jumping went on forever and ever into the night...

Niggurath posted:


I assume this is what you did to the pizza delivery man to get your free 'za.

Niggurath posted:

The most dangerous mosh pits occur in the warehouse:


Also I'm always constantly amazed at some of the high skill deaths you guys are able to suffer under:



crab avatar fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Mar 16, 2016

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Espresso Steampunk
Sep 27, 2008
Very cool, this game takes me back! I'm curious to see how you'll approach it... maybe make a bonus video on the stat system? I remember looking up gamefaqs and realizing how complex things get. Never bother with Acro Circus.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



Why is everything so glitchy?

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Xander77 posted:

Why is everything so glitchy?
Oh crap! Honestly I thought that after so many years NES emulation has to be absolutely flawless by now so I just assumed that's how this game was because of the original hardware's limitations or something. Unfortunately we've already recorded 7 episodes so it'll take a while until we can look into this. Thanks for letting us know! Bear with us for a bit :)

Espresso Steampunk posted:

Very cool, this game takes me back! I'm curious to see how you'll approach it... maybe make a bonus video on the stat system? I remember looking up gamefaqs and realizing how complex things get. Never bother with Acro Circus.
Thanks! I'll look into the stat stuff after we finish, I kind of like to have a blind experience when I'm playing. We're sort of winging it and it makes the learning experience all the more rewarding. The system does seem fairly complex. Really well hidden behind what looks like a silly little beat em up at first glance.

primaltrash
Feb 11, 2008

(Thought-ful Croak)
If you're having fun with RCR, take a break and check out a translated Riki Kunio sometime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd14C6WMqwM

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

armoredgorilla posted:

If you're having fun with RCR, take a break and check out a translated Riki Kunio sometime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd14C6WMqwM

That's the second time someone recommended that game since we've started this series so it has to be good. Thanks! We've also got a rec for Nintendo World Cup which also seems super fun.

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Part 3: INEXISTENT STRATEGY

crab avatar fucked around with this message at 10:26 on Nov 9, 2015

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

Espresso Steampunk posted:

Never bother with Acro Circus.

Look at this wrong rear end post. Just look at it.

Human Javelin is probably the least useful but also leads to the most hilarious moments.

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

Espresso Steampunk posted:

Never bother with Acro Circus.

:fuckoff:

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
Haha, this is everything I hoped it would be when you said in the sandbox you were playing blind. :allears:

Some mild tips to help you without being really spoilers. First off, you can check your money by hitting the select button, it replaces your lifebars with your wallets. Also, yes when you die your money gets cut in half. And also, I think the real problem you guys are having is going in on advanced difficulty. It's absurdly higher than novice, giving you the end-tier gangs right from the start. Like, the Frat Boys are the easiest you're seeing, and they've stopped by the second town, and they're normally mid-tier difficulty. I'm not going to tell you how to play the game, but I foresee this being a LONG LP if you stick to the hard mode. Next tip--you kinda have to find and beat all the bosses to get to the last boss. It's a bitch, I know. But you gotta do it. (there's a third exit on the area with the long bridge that leads to one encounter for example). Finally, yeah this is an odd duck in that it's a beat em up where you want to grind. There's lots and LOTS of items. This is one of my top five or so favorite NES games, having played it like crazy back in the day, and I'm still not sure how the stat system works, other than knowing it does. Also, I don't think it's a spoiler that there are items that give you new abilities. These are almost all MUST HAVES, but are not cheap. Also, it might be news to the thread that they're not all items of the same type. There's a few others that do unique moves as well besides the standard ability gaining type of item.

I love this game SO much. It's so refreshing to see someone playing it blind. I would love to see someone exploring like, the whole dang Kunio Kun series of games (there's a LOT of them), though this and Renegade are the only ones that are beat em ups that made it to the US. The rest are the weird sports games in the series. There's one from Japan that I'd love to see someone more knowledgeable play where it's a side-story game where the characters are now all in the Edo period of Japan instead of modern day. It works pretty similarly though.

primaltrash
Feb 11, 2008

(Thought-ful Croak)
Acro Circus isn't the first book I'd get, but it's a god drat destroyer later on.

Acro Circus with 99 AG or running full speed and throwing a weapon at someone with Throw 99 are my two favorite things in the game.

(its been a while, these all might cap out at 60 or something i dont' know)

discworld is all I read
Apr 7, 2009

DAIJOUBU!! ... Daijoubu ?? ?


And the jumping went on forever and ever into the night...

Also do they have cheap Chinese take out food in Hungary? I was momentarily perplexed by your confusion about what Chow Mein was.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty

Niggurath posted:



And the jumping went on forever and ever into the night...


To be fair, even after years of playing the game as a kid, that room is still tricky to get the jumps right for.

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

All right, guys, I've got a few tips.

- First off, the enemies blocking like hell is definitely a result of playing on Advanced. But you don't have to start over! For the sake of everyone's sanity, pause, go to the "LEVEL" menu, and turn the difficulty down.

- Max Power (which as you may have gathered is maximum health) is both very important and very easy to raise. Basically when you eat food to recover your stamina (health) and it fills your stamina entirely, anything beyond that will go into your max power. It's not at a 1-to-1 ratio as far as I'm aware, though. Still, grinding for money on the first two screens and heading to the cafe for binge eating sessions is definitely a valid strategy.

- Go back to the first town and buy Stone Fists. Be sure to use it from your inventory!

Beyond that, try different kinds of food so you can dick around with stats!

Scaly Haylie fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Nov 9, 2015

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8
Really happy you guys/gals are having fun watching us bleed through our eyes while we struggle with the most basic of things! I'm sure there are many people who start watching, roll their eyes, and then leave, but who am I to tell anyone to stick around watching legal torture. We might just have to dial that difficulty back depending on how utterly stuck we will get in later episodes.

Choco1980 posted:

Beat all bosses. Grind. Get items.
Welp thanks for this. Sure, we could have read a basic introduction of the game and not go through our personal hells as we're trying to finish a nearly thirty year old game, but where's the fun in that?! :unsmigghh:

Espresso Steampunk posted:

Never bother with Acro Circus.

Chokes McGee posted:

Look at this wrong rear end post. Just look at it.

armoredgorilla posted:

Acro Circus isn't the first book I'd get, but it's a god drat destroyer later on.
Ohh controversy. Something's up with the Acro Circus and I intend on finding out what by spending several grueling hours on it without documentation or the faintest idea of what it is while a handful of people watch.

Niggurath posted:



And the jumping went on forever and ever into the night...

Also do they have cheap Chinese take out food in Hungary? I was momentarily perplexed by your confusion about what Chow Mein was.
Hahaha I love you for that gif. Sums up our LP nicely. We do have a lot of Chinese buffets but people here would probably just never eat there if they named food in Chinese so they're usually described like duck with onions and sweet and sour sauce.

Lizard Wizard posted:

Max Power. Stone Fists.
Gotcha. I think it will take us until about Part 5 or 6 when we sorta start getting the absolute basics of the stat system. It's kinda cool to think this game is from an era when terms like "HP" were not universally understood in the audience.

Choco1980 posted:

To be fair, even after years of playing the game as a kid, that room is still tricky to get the jumps right for.
*drops to knees and starts crying* THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

Oh! And most importantly: what you call boxers, we call brass knuckles.

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Lizard Wizard posted:

Oh! And most importantly: what you call boxers, we call brass knuckles.
Hahaha yeah I remembered in a later episode. *inconspicuously slips underwear off fists*

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
The worst part about the box factory is that it's one of only two areas in the whole game that expects you to platform, and the game's engine really isn't built around precision platforming AT ALL. (you'll know the second area when you get to it)

I didn't want to spoil things but yeah, you definitely want to go back to the first town and get special moves. They'll help A LOT. I try to save up and buy every special move in the game. Speaking of, as I said, there's one part way through the game gotten by a method different than the rest. The Texas Boots, when worn, allow you to trample on enemies on the ground, literally kicking them when they're down for cheap damage

Also, both because you'll never figure it out on your own, and because it's next to useless to you, there's a secret in the tunnel area. For fun, try to find it!

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

Choco1980 posted:

Also, both because you'll never figure it out on your own, and because it's next to useless to you

For now, anyway. :getin:

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Part 4: YOU DIED?! WHY


Summary of this LP so far:
  • "TAKE THE <OBJECT> TO THE FACE"
  • "HOO BOY"
  • Mindless buttonmashing and the consequences thereof

primaltrash
Feb 11, 2008

(Thought-ful Croak)
Oh my god, 3m31s, I'm dying.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
You guys hit peak two player RCR at one point there POW! "Oh poo poo, sorry man, haha!" BIFF! "you deserved that rear end in a top hat!"

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8
Frankly I'm offended. If you would've actually bothered to watch the episode it would be clear to you that punching eachother into bloody piles of pulp is part of a well thought out strategy. If you can't see our playthrough for the carefully sculpted pure tactical beauty that it is, I don't want you in this thread.

E: case in point:

armoredgorilla posted:

Oh my god, 3m31s, I'm dying.

crab avatar fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Nov 12, 2015

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
Oh I'm not denying the time honored strategy of "poo poo I died, leave the area, quick!" I'm just saying the retribution friendly fire is definitely just as much a part of RCR.

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Choco1980 posted:

poo poo I died, leave the area, quick!
I want to go back in time to the meeting where Technos decided that leaving the screen while the other player is dead, and killing the other player are both rewarding mechanics. Just brilliant.

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

crab avatar posted:

I want to go back in time to the meeting where Technos decided that leaving the screen while the other player is dead, and killing the other player are both rewarding mechanics. Just brilliant.

Dying halves your money, so one of those is the exact opposite of rewarding. Sorry to burst your bubble. :shobon:

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8

Lizard Wizard posted:

Dying halves your money, so one of those is the exact opposite of rewarding. Sorry to burst your bubble. :shobon:
I think someone on Reddit said that the surviving player gets some of that money. Confirm/deny?

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

crab avatar posted:

I think someone on Reddit said that the surviving player gets some of that money. Confirm/deny?

I'm not utterly sure, but try pressing select next time you're playing. Something good will happen.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
I'm like 95% sure that's not how that works, but it's been a long time since I played two player RCR...

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

Choco1980 posted:

I'm like 95% sure that's not how that works, but it's been a long time since I played two player RCR...

Yeah, please make less of a point of killing each other and more of a point of retreating to town to spend money.

Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty
To be fair, they did say they've got about 6 episodes in the can before we showed up to browbeat them about how terrible they are at this game and should be playing it the way we want them to.

get that OUT of my face
Feb 10, 2007

crab avatar posted:

We've also got a rec for Nintendo World Cup which also seems super fun.
That was one of the few games I had for the NES growing up and I loved it. It doesn't really lend itself well to an LP, though, or at least the one-player mode doesn't.

Jeedy Jay
Nov 8, 2012
Defeat DOES halve your money, but fallen players leave behind a coin that contains that very same value. If the other player is around, he can scoop it up.

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

Jeedy Jay posted:

Defeat DOES halve your money, but fallen players leave behind a coin that contains that very same value. If the other player is around, he can scoop it up.

You'd think we would have seen that happen a billion times by now if that were the case, though.

primaltrash
Feb 11, 2008

(Thought-ful Croak)
By the time the next set of videos comes out, they'll be dragon kicking boxes into enemies across the screen, rebounding off the walls with Acro Circus and one shotting enemies with a thrown weapon like pros.

crab avatar
Mar 15, 2006

iŧ Kë3Ł, cħ gøÐ i- <Ecl8
Imagine Luke and the floating light saber training bot but it's me sitting alone on the couch with a controller, pressing buttons frantically with the TV off and while blindfolded.

primaltrash
Feb 11, 2008

(Thought-ful Croak)
Fun fact: The different gang member sprites all have different stats that raise accordingly in power depending the gang they're in. Like there's one guy who kicks the hardest, one with the highest defense, one who punches hardest, etc.

There's generally no noticeable in game effect, but one exception.

One guy in each gang has almost twice the stamina of the other members. So he'll almost NEVER go down the first time you KO him.

This guy is an rear end in a top hat.

Namingway
Jul 8, 2009

Jeedy Jay posted:

Defeat DOES halve your money, but fallen players leave behind a coin that contains that very same value. If the other player is around, he can scoop it up.

In the original, this is true, but if you're playing the Wii or Wii U download version, they changed this for whatever reason. Makes the game "harder" I guess, but not in the right way. Also, are you (Choco1980) mixing up Fatal Steps with the Texas Boots, or do the boots give you Fatal Steps for free as an added bonus?

Edit: While I'm at it, mechanics chat/opinions: Stone Hands is fine, but I like to avoid Dragon Kick because it disables some of the fancy footwork you can do with Acro Circus bounces and other sweet jump kick moves. Gotta love having a high kick stat to slide boxes and trash cans into enemies, and I also love maxing out throw first because it's generally cheaper, and a fun way to kill people as well. And yourself, of course. Killing yourself and your friends is all part of the fun. This game's level of random chaos and weird physics made it pretty great, especially back in the day.

Actually, do mechanics even need to be spoiled? There's not really much to spoil on a game this old and simple.

Namingway fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Nov 12, 2015

Scaly Haylie
Dec 25, 2004

I recall playing a translated Kunio-kun game that was basically River City Ransom, but in medieval Japan, with the justification being that they were performing a period piece. Any chance you guys could take a look at that in the future?

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Choco1980
Feb 22, 2013

I fell in love with a Video Nasty

Namingway posted:

In the original, this is true, but if you're playing the Wii or Wii U download version, they changed this for whatever reason. Makes the game "harder" I guess, but not in the right way. Also, are you (Choco1980) mixing up Fatal Steps with the Texas Boots, or do the boots give you Fatal Steps for free as an added bonus?

Actually, do mechanics even need to be spoiled? There's not really much to spoil on a game this old and simple.

I'm like 95% certain it's the second option of your spoilered question to me. As well as added stat boosting.

Also, the guys have stated they're preferring to be blind and sucky so spoilers is for the best.


Lizard Wizard posted:

I recall playing a translated Kunio-kun game that was basically River City Ransom, but in medieval Japan, with the justification being that they were performing a period piece. Any chance you guys could take a look at that in the future?

I've recently discovered it myself, it's called Downtown Special for whatever reasons. It's basically a main sequel mechanically to this game. There's a LOT more platforming in it, but it works basically the same.

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