Kunio kun; the original Renegade for Brawl Official thread

[Tlaloc]

I want to nominate Kunio kun for Brawl as a third party character.

But who is this character? Well he was created by the now defunct company Technos (the same creators of the Double Dragon franchise) for his namesake beat' em up franchise; which when was brought overseas, the games where adapted for western audiences as Renegade (the first one) and River City Ransom.

Kunio is a stereotypical japanese high school punk, who gets into fights with other gangs; because of that most of his games are beat'em ups however; there are some sport themed games from the franchise. And this is where the crossover factor comes. Kunio's soccer game was released as Nintendo World Cup outside Japan. This means that at one time Kunio was directly related to Nintendo as a second party.

Now, Kunio also deserves to get in since he is a videogame icon however this is in Japan. In an ironic twist of fate; while Kunio is iconic in Japan, outside of it, Techno's other icons the Lee brothers (Double Dragon) are more known outside of Japan. Not to mention that outside of Japan, Kunio is known not by his name, but because of Renegade and River City Ramson.

A problem that might prevent from having Kunio kun on Brawl, is that its company Technos no longer exists. However it seems the company Million now owns the rights on the franchise.

Somehow, I think that if he gets into Brawl, western audiences might want to refer to hom as River City Ransom guy, and might want his partner from the game to make an Ice Climber like duo. Well I do imagine that the second guy might appear as the Final Smash helper.

Anyway, if you wish to know more on Kunio kun, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunio

 

[CyberBenX4]

It would be nice if Kunio (with Riki being an alternate costume!) could make it into this game. Hell, I would think he would make more sense than a number of other 3rd party candidates, considering that 90% of Kunio's games have either been Nintendo-exclusive, or just had their main appearance on a Nintendo platform.

Sadly, I doubt he'll have that much of a chance of getting invited, predominantly because there are many more 3rd party characters who are both more well-known around the world, and the fact that it would probably boil down to Nintendo having to engage in talks with both Million and Arc System Works (ASW is publishing the new Kunio Dodge Ball game for the DS) to make such a thing happen.

Maybe next time...or at least, we could hope for an Assist Trophy...

 

[Mogrika]

Terrible, just terrible

 

[Tlaloc]

It would be nice if Kunio (with Riki being an alternate costume!) could make it into this game. Hell, I would think he would make more sense than a number of other 3rd party candidates, considering that 90% of Kunio's games have either been Nintendo-exclusive, or just had their main appearance on a Nintendo platform.

Sadly, I doubt he'll have that much of a chance of getting invited, predominantly because there are many more 3rd party characters who are both more well-known around the world, and the fact that it would probably boil down to Nintendo having to engage in talks with both Million and Arc System Works (ASW is publishing the new Kunio Dodge Ball game for the DS) to make such a thing happen.

Maybe next time...or at least, we could hope for an Assist Trophy...

Yeah Kunio seems to be mostly present on Nintendo consoles. Problem is that this is in Japan, as overseas for the western audiences he would appear on different names and would appear totally unrelated from one another (for example if they make a direct sequel to what was River City Ransom in Japan for the US, I doubt they will call it RCR 2, they might give it a totally different name). And so that is a downside on having Kunio on Brawl, because of the unsteady continuity outside of Japan.

Terrible, just terrible

Yes I can see this is a terrible idea for western audiences since Kunio is hardly known, but I am sure if I had placed this thread on some japanese place, many would like to see Kunio in Brawl.

 

[GreatClayMonkey]

Terrible, just terrible

don't be so negative at least give reasons. But yeah it's unlikely because he is third party and many 3rd parties are more wanted than him and popularity is what third party characters are about

 

[bballstar23]

don't be so negative at least give reasons. But yeah it's unlikely because he is third party and many 3rd parties are more wanted than him and popularity is what third party characters are about

Popularity isn't the only thing; relevance and significance to Nintendo play a key role in the decision.

 

[Tlaloc]

Popularity isn't the only thing; relevance and significance to Nintendo play a key role in the decision.

Well Kunio does seem to be important to Nintendo, but so far just in Japan.

 

[CyberBenX4]

Yeah Kunio seems to be mostly present on Nintendo consoles. Problem is that this is in Japan, as overseas for the western audiences he would appear on different names and would appear totally unrelated from one another (for example if they make a direct sequel to what was River City Ransom in Japan for the US, I doubt they will call it RCR 2, they might give it a totally different name). And so that is a downside on having Kunio on Brawl, because of the unsteady continuity outside of Japan.

And that was part of the larger problem. Many would probably be more familiar with Kunio, if Technos had either a) stuck with his original name or b) at least was consistent with his American name. I mean, we had "Alex", "Mr. K", "Crash", "Sam" and a whole bunch of others spread out amongst the likes of everything ranging from Super Dodge Ball to Crash n the Boyz. How the hell were Americans supposed to develop an affinity for a character, if they barely got to know him?

Had it been such a thing, like what AkSys is doing for Dodge Ball DS's localization (they're keeping it true to form, and Kunio = Kunio) from the jump, things probably would have been much better. But alas...

Yes I can see this is a terrible idea for western audiences since Kunio is hardly known, but I am sure if I had placed this thread on some japanese place, many would like to see Kunio in Brawl.

You wouldn't have to look too far. I remember seeing a number of 2ch forums a year ago, that stated that they wanted Kunio in. But at this rate, I think it's safe to assume that Sukapon has a better chance of getting into Smash in some way, as opposed to Kunio.