River City Renegade (初代熱血硬派くにおくん Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, lit. "The Original Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kunio") is a beat 'em up role-playing game released exclusively for the Super Famicom on August 7, 1992. The game was developed and published by Technōs Japan and is the first Kunio-kun game for the console.
The original Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun was a beat 'em up, but River City Renegade is an action role-playing game that combines elements of the beat 'em up genre. The game is set in Osaka, where Kunio and other Nekketsu High School classmates are on a field trip and get involved in an incident between two rival factions: The Osaka Alliance and the Osaka Union. Similarly to the original game, real world places from Osaka, such as Umeda, Shinsaibashi, Ebisuchō, etc. are used. Characters are also appropriately proportioned just like in the original game, instead of using the chibi art style that Downtown Nekketsu Story made popular.
An official re-release of the game with an English localization was announced to be apart of the Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics collection on January 22, 2025 and was subsequently released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Steam on April 23, 2025.
Development[]
Plot[]
A student-only electric train has departed from Tokyo Station and passes through Kyoto Station. A group of second-year students from Nekketsu High School, among them Kunio, are aboard this train. Their destination is Osaka, the city of laughter and swindling. Kunio is sleepy and tired, but Hiroshi suddenly calls out to him.
"Kunio! Yoshihiro will guide us through Osaka! Let's go together!"
Yoshihiro is a classmate who originally transferred from Osaka to Nekketsu High School, so he knows the city well. However, Kunio is tired, so he refuses Hiroshi and Yoshihiro's offer to move around Osaka and instead heads straight for the hotel to rest.
Kunio comes across Riki on the way to the hotel who coincidentally was also on a school trip and is staying at the same hotel. While making their way to the hotel, Kunio is suddenly attacked by a delinquent. Kunio ends the fight quickly and makes his way to his room to rest as if nothing happened. Soon, Kōji enters Kunio's room to tell him that Hiroshi is being attacked by delinquents in the hotel's underground parking lot. After rescuing Hiroshi, the Nekketsu High students gather in one of their hotel rooms, where Hiroshi asks Kunio if he can accompany him to meet with his correspondence partner in Osaka. Following their meeting with the Osaka Alliance's leader, Miho Yanagisawa, Hiroshi is hospitalized by members of the Osaka Union. Wanting to get revenge for Hiroshi, Kunio agrees to help the Alliance fight back against the Union and their grip on Osaka.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay is closer to the original Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun and Downtown Nekketsu Story, but has unique elements exclusive to the game.
Speaking with NPCs[]
Players are able to press the A button near non-playable characters to speak with them.
Day and Night Cycle[]
The game includes a day and night cycle. Some events only occur during the day and others during night. At night, the encounter rate increases, as there are more drunks and delinquents lurking around. A bug may cause some events that are meant to happen in the day to instead take place at night.
Battle[]
While moving around the city, some NPCs might stop the player and cause a random encounter. The music changes and the screen stops scrolling with the area where the encounter took place becoming the battle area. The player cannot escape from fights, so the only option is to defeat all the enemies or be knocked out. Some NPCs might join the player if they get involved in the fight and can't get away from it in time. In some parts of the story, the player will be accompanied by allies that can also assist them.
If players defeat all enemies, they'll receive experience points. Enemies may also drop prepaid cards, the game's currency. In a two player game, only the character who defeated the final enemy receives any dropped items. It is possible to attack NPCs that are not involved in fights, however they do not drop any money or items when defeated and the experience they give is very little. If the player is defeated, they will be taken to the hotel room where Kōji is staying in. If only one player is defeated, the the remaining player must return to this room to get the other player.
Level Up[]
After gaining a certain amount of experience, the player will level up. This will increase their stats with certain levels granting new special moves. It is also possible to learn Spirit Techniques, which can be used in the menu to trigger various effects.
Items[]
Items are able to be bought at vending machines using prepaid cards or earned through minigames. In addition to this, items can also be dropped by enemies or rewarded as the player progresses through the story.
Equipment[]
River City Renegade uses an equipment system of weapons and armor.
Weapons[]
Areas[]
Characters[]
Playable characters[]
- Kunio - The main protagonist of the game. A righteous delinquent who serves as the guardian of Nekketsu High School. He is controlled by the first player.
- Riki - The banchō of Hanazono High School and the rival of Kunio. He is controlled by the second player and is uninvolved in the story, though he will occasionally speak some of the player's lines or fill in for Kunio entirely if he is knocked out.
Supporting characters[]
- Hiroshi - A student at Nekketsu High School and the best friend of Kunio. Before the events of the story, he began writing letters to Miho and learned of her situation in Osaka. In one letter, he mentioned Kunio as someone who never lost a fight, which lead her to recruiting him into the Osaka Alliance. Hiroshi is present during the beginning of the game as he is rescued by Kunio from some delinquents and goes with him to meet Miho, though he is later beaten up by members of the Osaka Union and is subsequently hospitalized. He originates from Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun.
- Kōji - A student at Nekketsu High School who is a member of the school's dodgeball team. Throughout the game, he can be talked to or called through one of the phones across Osaka in order to save the player's game. He originates from Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club.
- Genei - A student at Nekketsu High School who is the ace goalkeeper of the school's soccer club. He originates from Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story.
- Masa - A student at Nekketsu High School who is the captain of the school's soccer club. He originates from Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club – Soccer Story.
- Miho Yanagisawa - A second year student at Sakuramiya High School and the leader of the Osaka Alliance. She is the younger sister of Masaki Yanagisawa.
- Izawa - A first year student at Ebisu High School and a member of the Osaka Alliance.
- Saori - A second year student at Senri Girls High School and a member of the Osaka Alliance.
- Ōmi - A second year student at Noda Nigh School and a member of the Osaka Alliance.
- Masaki Yanagisawa - A member of the Osaka Union. Known as Masaki the Jikokuten, he is one of Osaka's Four Kings and rules over Ebisuchō. Although his fighting potential is high, he never uses it to his full extent as he is a strong believer of justice and dislikes violence. After learning that his sister Miho was kidnapped, he betrays the Union and looks for his former friend Ogura.
Bosses[]
- Hokuto - A member of the Osaka Union. Known as Hokuto the Tamonten, she is one of Osaka's Four Kings and rules over Umeda. She specializes in quick fighting techniques.
- Urabe - A first year student at Ebisu High School. He was a former member of the Osaka Alliance, though he'd betray them and join the Osaka Union in search of power. During his betrayal, he kidnaps Miho and hands her to the Union.
- Wada - A member of the Osaka Union. Known as Wada the Zochokuten, he is one of Osaka's Four Kings and rules over Namba. He attempts to recruit Kunio into the Union after watching his fight against Urabe, though this ultimately fails.
- Honda - A member of the Osaka Union. Known as Honda the Komokuten, he is one of Osaka's Four Kings and rules over the Osaka Port. He has an immense amount of strength and makes use of wrestling techniques in combat.
- Yoshihiro - The main antagonist of the game. After capturing and locking away the Osaka Union's founder due to him getting in the way of his expansion plans, he took control over the group and began acting on his plan. With ambitions on eventually taking control over Tokyo and the rest of Japan, he transferred to Nekketsu High School in order to take out Kunio. While in Osaka, Yoshihiro joined Kunio in the Osaka Alliance in order to know all of their plans and wouldn't reveal himself as the leader of the Union until he shot Masaki.
Other characters[]
- Nakazaki - A member of the Osaka Union and a subordinate of Hokuto.
- Miyashita, Kizaki, and Yukimura - Members of the Osaka Union and subordinates to Masaki.
- Yasuyuki - A member of the Osaka Union and a subordinate of Wada.
- Takaki - A student at Nekketsu High School who is shown beaten up by members of the Osaka Union.
- Ogura - A former friend of Masaki who initially joined the Osaka Union with him in order to help protect Osaka. He'd lose his sense of justice and become power hungry after Yoshihiro's takeover of the Union. He is later defeated by Masaki on the rooftop of the Tsūtenkaku Tower.
- Tōyama, Kumeda, Kitamura, and Furuya - Police officers who are able to be seen in Umeda and Shinsaibashi during parts of the story. While entrances in Shinsaibashi are being guarded by the police, Tōyama is able to be fought and has an overwhelming amount of strength.
- Shagān - A mysterious genie who is able to be summoned through the exceedingly rare Mysterious Ring item. Upon being summoned, he is able to grant the player a single wish.
Re-releases[]
The game was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Steam as part of the Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics collection. This version replaces references to the Hanshin Tigers with the Ligers and Lotteria with Latterio.
Gallery[]
For see the gallery of River City Renegade you can see River City Renegade/Gallery
External links[]
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