River City Ransom: Underground

Very surprised to see this awesome game get delisted. Anyone that sees this will likely have the game already. Lucky us.

Had alot of fun with this one, shame it got delisted!

I've had this for years, but finally got around to playing this after it got delisted. So this is probably falling on deaf ears, but as a longtime RCR fan I had to comment. Very cool, but very infuriating game (I've been told it used to be worse). Spritework is very good, the levels look very expressive and alive. The 8-bit faces your enemies make when you're beating the piss out of them makes you feel like you're really slugging it out with them. Combat however... Combat is very visceral and very satisfying 1v1, but a majority of the time you're fighting 5 other guys. All the time. On every screen, even in the mall. Until you go to the dojo and get a few moves under your belt, every fight feels like a life-or-death slog and you have to constantly do this until you have enough to either buy a move or scrape together $6 to use the sauna to restore HP. It's exhausting, it's draining, and absolutely not fun. Yes, you can just run past everyone, but you're not making money and you never really get to take a moment to rest. You're CONSTANTLY under attack. Gang members seem to be much faster and much more proficient than you, from no-dash lunge knockdowns (Bombers), to …

Steam has desperately needed a Thumbs In The Middle review for a long time now but I'm coming down on the negative side of this On the most positive end: this game's combat and combo system is incredibly deep and intricate, it competes with the upper echelon of hardcore beatemup games like the good Devil May Crys and God Hand and rewards extreme execution. The 8-bit visuals and sound are pulled off well here but even at the time it came out the style was getting a bit stale, and it's nothing particularly notable. Where the game falls apart is just its entire structure and how repetitive and grindy it is. It feels like it takes forever for characters to even start being fun to play as, unlocking moves and leveling up their stats is a massive grindy chore and you just get sick of it. So despite how deep the combat is and how well-made a lot of the characters' kits are, because it takes too damn long to upgrade them you basically just end up playing a single one rather than experiencing any of the variety the game has to offer. I honestly think they could have quadrupled the amount of money every enemy drops and it would STILL be a chore to get everyone's moves.

excellent sequel to the original. lots of fun for a side scrolling beat em up!

fun tough many fighters get rich.