More Than River City Ransom / Super Dodge Ball: Kunio! (Kunio Three Kingdoms/RCG2 at TGS, Oct. 2/3)

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I will say, it's kind of amazing that we're actually getting not one, but two Nekketsu Kouha entries after more than two decades.

And Sekimoto being involved with this one sure explains why this is a gritty story about beating the tar out of robots and costumed weirdos from the future.

Let's just hope it fares a little better than Kishimoto's previous effort (Double Dragon IV).

 

[DarthEnderX]

I will say, it's kind of amazing that we're actually getting not one, but two Nekketsu Kouha entries after more than two decades.

Well, it hasn't been nearly two decades.

River City Melee - 2016
River City Rival Showdown - 2016
River City Super Sports Challenge - 2015
River City Knights of Justice - 2014
River City Tokyo Rumble - 2013
And so on...

The series has actually been getting games fairly consistently.
But 3 games and an NES game collection all in the same year is certainly an upswing.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Well, it hasn't been nearly two decades.

River City Melee - 2016
River City Rival Showdown - 2016
River City Super Sports Challenge - 2015
River City Knights of Justice - 2014
River City Tokyo Rumble - 2013
And so on...

The series has actually been getting games fairly consistently.
But 3 games and an NES game collection all in the same year is certainly an upswing.

Well, there's actually two branches in the series (technically 4, if one takes the US continuity that ends with RCR Underground, and the Renegade sequels in Europe): Nekketsu Kouha, in which the characters are of a realistic height, and Downtown Nekketsu, in which the characters are super-deformed and cartoony. Needless to say, one of them had less games. There's a reason that some people eventually got tired of the 8-bit SD aesthetic and wanted something different. Both branches also have some slight differences (e.g. Nekketsu Kouha deals more with organised crime and tends to be less wacky than DN in regards to violence).

In any case, WF's recent involvement has certainly helped to give the series a bigger push to squeak out of niche status.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think sometimes they just do a different art style for a game to try it out.

Like, Tokyo Rumble(Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun SP: Rantō Kyōsōkyoku) was explicitly a Kouha game, is a direct story sequel to Renegade(Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun), but looks and plays like RCR.

 

[Perkilator]

I officially support for Misako and/or Kyoko!

 

[DarthEnderX]

I don't agree with your character picks, but I'm glad you're supporting the franchise at least!

 

[BigShad]

I officially support for Misako and/or Kyoko!

Now I don't mean any flack or disrespect by this, and your character choice is fine and all, but what makes you choose them over Kunio? Or, like, do you support them alongside Kunio or something?
I'm just curious, I've seen several new supporters who just hop on the bandwagon with those two just because RCG is a fine game and later ask "Who's Kunio?" in the same breath.

 

[Perkilator]

Now I don't mean any flack or disrespect by this, and your character choice is fine and all, but what makes you choose them over Kunio? Or, like, do you support them alongside Kunio or something?
I'm just curious, I've seen several new supporters who just hop on the bandwagon with those two just because RCG is a fine game and later ask "Who's Kunio?" in the same breath.

I just think the girls click with me more.

 

[BigShad]

https://www.kuniokun.jp/kobayashisan/en/
An update to the Kobayashi site's up now! This shows some game info. ...honestly it's a bit spoiler-y, but considering this "out-there" mechanic I guess I can see why they spoil just a little bit.

 

[shinhed-echi]

I’m pretty confident in Kunio as a DLC character. Not sure if FP#5, but definitely sometime through this game’s life.

He’s just that perfect of an under the radar pick which has tons of Nintendo support which will make everyone go “....ooooooooh..!”
Kind of like Terry except harder to ignore because Kunio has popped up plenty of times.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I was expecting a Prince of Persia-esque approach to regaining your progress anyways.

Spoiler

Changing your gender though? Did we just accidentally stumble into Dragon Quest or something?

That said, reviews for River City Melee Mach are coming in.

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/river_city_melee_mach

I’m pretty confident in Kunio as a DLC character. Not sure if FP#5, but definitely sometime through this game’s life.

He’s just that perfect of an under the radar pick which has tons of Nintendo support which will make everyone go “....ooooooooh..!”
Kind of like Terry except harder to ignore because Kunio has popped up plenty of times.

Somewhat harder; I can't deny that recent Kunio games have been niche before RCG cropped up.

 

[BigShad]

I gave a brief update with some actual ideas this time, namely spirit battles. If anyone happens to have any ideas, let's see 'em!

 

[DarthEnderX]

I dunno if I've mentioned it here, but because RCR is so tied together with Double Dragon, especially these days, I'm really hoping if Kunio gets in that he comes with some Double Dragon spirits. Ideally, a Billy+Jimmy battle and an Abobo battle at least. Or if I can't get that, I need to at LEAST get a Ryūji+Ryūichi.

If it's Billy+Jimmy, it should be against Ryu and Ken. If it's Ryūji+Ryūichi, then it would be against a pair Kunios. Either way, the music should be the Double Dragon theme.

Abobo would be either Donkey Kong or Incineroar. The music should be this.

 

[Oddball]

For a River City Girls Spirit battle, I'd actually use Bayonetta and Peach, both armed with bats. Probably in Onette.

 

[BigShad]

The Kobayashi website's updated again today. Some sub-characters and basic enemies have been shown.
https://www.kuniokun.jp/kobayashisan/en/
Seems this is just confirming more and more that this title's really gonna focus on the weird stuff the series has been known for in the past.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

The Kobayashi website's updated again today. Some sub-characters and basic enemies have been shown.
https://www.kuniokun.jp/kobayashisan/en/
Seems this is just confirming more and more that this title's really gonna focus on the weird stuff the series has been known for in the past.

Not surprised, seeing as Hiroyuki "Mokeke" Sekimoto, the Downtown Nekketsu guy, is involved as co-director. Right now, the game's pitch to ArcSys be like:

On a side note, I saw this on TV Tropes under Author Saving Throw:

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san being developed without WayForward's involvement is this for the Japanese Kunio fanbase, who weren't particularly thrilled with the changes to gameplay, aesthetic and characterization that River City Girls brought on.

WF probably won't be allowed to make more Kunio fanfics for a good bit, I'd say.

 

[Wonks]

Hold on--there's a new Kunio spin-off gam coming out in early November? Right when we're supposed to learn of the 5th DLC character?

I know I shouldn't get my hopes up...but I will.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Hold on--there's a new Kunio spin-off gam coming out in early November? Right when we're supposed to learn of the 5th DLC character?

I know I shouldn't get my hopes up...but I will.

Relax, Terry isn't out yet (in November), we don't actually know when the 5th character's getting shown off.

 

[Oddball]

So I just unlocked Kunio and Rikki in River City girls. It's not the the design I'd use for the guy if he got in the game, but I really do like a few of the moves they gave him and would like to see those incoporated into his Smash moveset.

The hamburgerbite/headbutt attack and the spa towel snap were pretty cool additions

 

[BigShad]

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san has released today! I'm sure this game will be at least pretty fun. Someone's already uploaded gameplay footage.

 

[BigShad]

I got a chance to play some Kobayashi-san through the week, here's my impressions of it:

Spoiler: Obvious, Major Spoilers Ahead

In all honesty, it's kind of underwhelming. The system is really, really great and unique -- and also very simple, which is fine. However, there's really not that much enemy variety, and there's a few minor things that get under my skin like it being kinda hard to tell the Red Moya-Men and Purple Moya-Men apart. Also, the English isn't TERRIBLE, but could be a lot better. It's like they just machine translated the whole thing to English.
Also, most of the bigger bosses can be stunlocked to a degree if you time your basic attack chains just right and keep a fair distance away from them so they don't use their get-up attack, allowing you to completely skip their gimmicks. One that really got under my skin was the Purple Boss, since at any point it wants it can just pull you in from any angle and heal itself, and it likes to stay on different points of the Y-axis a LOT. I've had a point where it stunlocked me, then pulled me in to heal a lot of health, downed me, and then after I got up he did it again and killed me.

However, at least the devs knew that this game was gonna be a bit of a chore, because as you beat bosses and clear the game you can upgrade Kobayashi to flat-out two-shot the Purple Boss with his special attacks if you properly time them. I think I already got the true ending, which involves you picking the 'Love' option, and all three of the brown bears, and then beating the bosses in a certain order, but I dunno if that's just a good ending or one of many endings.

I really, really, REALLY loved the music however and I hope someone uploads all of the tracks to Youtube some day. And the voice acting is really great, but it gets a tad goofy due to literally EVERY SINGLE THING having a voice line. Even the Option descriptions have voice lines.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Well, there's NL's verdict of it.

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/stay_cool_kobayashi-san_a_river_city_ransom_story

It still beats Double Dragon IV, Kishimoto's previous effort.

 

[UnderratedPlayer2401]

I am IN, if this is still a thing.
Also, how has nobody brought up River City Ransom EX yet?

 

[BigShad]

I am IN, if this is still a thing.
Also, how has nobody brought up River City Ransom EX yet?

We're still very much alive, thank you!
I think River City Ransom EX was a pretty good port of the original, especially if you played the game in single player. A shame there's no multiplayer mod or anything, nor an English patch of what's considered to be an "official rom hack" (that is, a rom hack of the same game made by the same people) that makes the game more difficult.

Well, there's NL's verdict of it.

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/stay_cool_kobayashi-san_a_river_city_ransom_story

It still beats Double Dragon IV, Kishimoto's previous effort.

I'd say this review is mostly true, though I also have a slight distaste towards it for trying to compare it so harshly to River City Girls. Both games (and Rival Showdown) were in production at the same time, and I'm 99% sure that Stay Cool Kobayashi-san had a much smaller budget considering this is a subsection of Arc Sys we're talking about here, rather than the full promotion and sheer advertising that River City Girls had.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

At any rate, at least Stay Cool goes for cheap, and some PS4 users seem to like it, with an average of 4 and a half stars out of 5 via 11 user ratings, at the time of this writing.

Not the best Kunio by any means, but not a total clunker either.

 

[BigShad]

Been a while, hasn't it? Got some news.
For starters, if you look deep enough on twitter you'll see Kunio's got a japan PR account now. But more importantly, another new Arc Sys game is coming out that features him, Misako, Kyoko, and plenty of other Arc Sys characters.

New Arc Sys title, "Code Shifter", is an 8Bit action adventure game that combines many ASW IPs such as #GuiltyGear, #Blazblue, Double Dragon, River City series, etc. There will also be a 4 Player Brawl Mode, where you can fight as different ASW characters. https://t.co/h5gxtFnMvT pic.twitter.com/hXqfUYgkA5

— The Fighting Gamer (@TFGCrossNetwork) January 9, 2020

Multiple posts in there, but it's an action-adventure game, also with a 4-player brawl mode.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Noice, I didn't see any reports about that. You could almost say it's ArcSys' own Smash Bros.

Also, Kunio was featured on RTC recently, but…I don't go there.

 

[BigShad]

Noice, I didn't see any reports about that. You could almost say it's ArcSys' own Smash Bros.

Also, Kunio was featured on RTC recently, but…I don't go there.

Really? Damn, wish I remembered to be there, but I took a quick peek and it seems more and more people are getting the common sense to abstain if they don't know someone rather than dropping their percentages all around. And, anything I could've said there has already been covered. If anything I'm pretty happy with the results, since they seem to accurately reflect that Japan Smash poll I posted probably a year ago.
As in, hardly anyone thinks he's getting in, but they either want him or are cool with him.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

...why are the sprites in it so ugly?

It's not nostalgia pandering when most of those characters didn't exist in that timeframe.

The River City and Double Dragon casts look fine but BB and GG? Look atrocious.

 

[BigShad]

...why are the sprites in it so ugly?

It's not nostalgia pandering when most of those characters didn't exist in that timeframe.

The River City and Double Dragon casts look fine but BB and GG? Look atrocious.

I'm not quite sure what their deal is either, especially when even some of the characters there are more of their modern-day redesigns like Kobayashi. Hell, I kinda had a hard time telling who Bimmy and Jimmy were until I noticed that Abobo was right near them and they were both right near each-other.
And it clashes so much with everything else, and not even in a decent way like River City: Rival Showdown had it.
Like look at this, the MC isn't 8-bit, why is everyone else? They could've made them hand-drawn chibis, or, anything really.

And then the cover art is just so weird.


like I get WHY they're doing it. This chick and her pals are trying to get a game within their game out and they've gotta beat up the viruses using bits from their in-development game, okay, but everything just clashes so weirdly.


Edit: Oh, and here's the trailer

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I think it was done for the sake of visual consistency, I guess. It'd be even more weird to have 32-bit/3D characters blend in with 8-bit ones.

The actual issue is that, like Rockman 8 FC, the GG/BB designs in question were never meant to be developed for 8-bit visuals in the first place.

Though at least there's an actual excuse for sprites not remotely meshing in, even if it does smack of ArcSys' MUGEN-esque low-budget game habits.

I'm really interested in finding out who directed this, it must have taken a particular amount of...substances to think all this up. It honestly would have been better to just have Colorful Fighters by itself than go through this self-indulgent fanfic just to get everything. It's not like Pocket Rumble was going to make people ignore this.

 

[Oddball]

The game just looks ugly to me. many of those character designs are too complex to work well in psuedo 8-bit style. They just beg for a more complex color scheme. It's even weirder that their menu select pictures looks much more complex than 8-bit.

Even if the entire game had been done in an 8-bit style, it wouldn't have looked that great.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I don't understand why Misako and Kyoko are an Ice Climbers-esque duo.

Anyway, not super interested in this, but it's cool to see ArcSys hold Kunio and Double Dragon up alongside their other characters.

Still, I think I'd rather just see Kunio in BlazBlue x Tag Battle.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

This whole week has been weird. You got Platinum being funded by an outsider company to transition into becoming independent, this really weird merger between Pocket Rumble/Super Smash Land and a flash animation TV cartoon series from the mid-late 00s, a Pokémon Direct that's actually kind of interesting with a mainline entry not having slightly modified expansions as physical content, and some indie game about literary figures saving the world of books.

I just want next week to actually make sense in terms of news and reveals.

 

[BigShad]

I think it was done for the sake of visual consistency, I guess. It'd be even more weird to have 32-bit/3D characters blend in with 8-bit ones.

The actual issue is that, like Rockman 8 FC, the GG/BB designs in question were never meant to be developed for 8-bit visuals in the first place.

Though at least there's an actual excuse for sprites not remotely meshing in, even if it does smack of ArcSys' MUGEN-esque low-budget game habits.

I'm really interested in finding out who directed this, it must have taken a particular amount of...substances to think all this up. It honestly would have been better to just have Colorful Fighters by itself than go through this self-indulgent fanfic just to get everything. It's not like Pocket Rumble was going to make people ignore this.

I honestly don't think it took very many... substances... to think of up anything here -- except for one thing. The plot's simple, and I guess you could call it Subspace Emissary except it's gonna be nowhere near as cool because instead of Arc Sys characters talking to each-other and interacting, it seems to be just the MC changing her form into characters she collects and using assists.
Not even ditching the idea of a game where they interact with each-other for what just seems to be "real-life" game developers talking to each other (and it's likely just gonna be about the virus, and then the main villain behind the virus is probably not even gonna be an Arc Sys character but some jealous rival) is what proves they were on something.

What really proves that something in their heads is screwy is when they thought it was a good idea to hire some Tangled animator and try to mix it in with their crossover game, then instead of even trying to make their OC fit the theme they just give it that ol' cheap bone-twisting as a substitute for animation. They really should've just focused more on developing the 4-player mode and fleshing it out rather than try to make this... weird thing.
But maybe I'm being a tad pessimistic, Stay Cool Kobayashi-san was super underwhelming to me (aside from the music and good voices, which no-one has managed to rip yet) and I'm expecting for this to be too, considering it looks to be about as low-budget as this. Maybe it'll be good? Maybe they'll pull a Sonic movie and delay it to improve the in-general look of it?

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

As far as I know, ArcSys hasn't delayed anything recently. I just think the success of RCG went to their heads, thinking that any radical concept will work regardless of how good their in-house people are at executing it...

 

[Night Gale]

Code Shifter makes a ton of sense to me. ASW wanted to expand their overseas audience, which is how a simplified crossover fighter like Cross Tag Battle came to be. Though beat em ups are more accessible than fighting games and ASW has a large stake in that market as well, especially after acquiring Kunio and Double Dragon. A traditional ASW crossover fighting game with their own IPs would be welcomed, but the initial roster would be small because of their signature time-intensive character creation process. So what we ended up with is an original adventure/beat em up/crossover/fighting game that's able to cram as many characters as possible because of the faux retro sprites. It also has a story and a Western animation inspired art style; the former is probably an attempt to appeal to a bigger audience, and the latter is most likely an attempt at drawing in new fans (i.e. the people who complain about s*** like Blazblue looking too anime). In other words, they're trying to attract as many people as possible. The game looks fun af to me, especially Colorful Fighters. I'm a River City, Double Dragon, Guilty Gear, and Blazblue fan, so it's a damn good compromise imo. The story is probably meta as hell too; I wouldn't be surprised if Colorful Fighters is based on something they created and played during downtime at work.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I just think the success of RCG went to their heads, thinking that any radical concept will work regardless of how good their in-house people are at executing it...

Either that...or...

They've already made the deal to put Kunio in Smash and are making sure there's a bunch of new Kunio products out when it happens.

 

[BigShad]

So I'm sure it's safe by now to talk about SOME spoilers to River City Girls since it's been out for a while. They recently got a sneaky new patch that those who 100%'d the game might like, especially those who happen to have the conditions for a certain ending.

Spoiler

In all honesty, I'm kinda so-so on it. At one point yeah it's feel-good, and people say it's consistent with the trailers where they're, say, at a table together. And that's adorable. But take a deeper look at that scene though. Kunio and Riki are 100% disinterested, Kunio's just looking out the window and only looks at the two to snatch a good piece of food, and Riki's just looking at his phone the whole time.
I have a feeling they did it just to appease all the people who thought the end scene was weird, though at the same time at least it's a proper secret ending.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Does anyone else find it weird that Wayforward has new stuff released (or about to release) for all their current projects except for Seven Sirens? It's not like it'd be the most complicated game to finish, so I wonder why Apple is holding that up.