Topic: Kunio-kun appreciation thread

@Tasuki If you're talking about the period drama it's a beat'em up if I'm not mistaken.

And apparently I wasn't wrong when I feared they wouldn't release a translation patch for us the early buyers who got the Japanese release long ago. After all it's not the same file as it wasn't planned as a global release from the beginning I guess.

Did a Play through of the soccer game tonight which is alot harder then. Nintendo World Cup. For one thing the half's are shorter by half (on NWC they were 3 minutes long where as here they are a minute and half) and the fields are a random material not all grass like in NWC. Still I had fun with it and manged to beat it. I also played the Japanese version of River City Ransom, which wasn't too much different, I think except for the names and the sprites in uniforms rather then tshirts and jeans there wasn't a difference.

Over all I am enjoying this collection.

@Tasuki Yes, in theory the gameplay is basically the same, but Japanese version's story is different. In fact, NWC has a background story, it seems that dodgeball club players take over soccer club members after they get food poisoned. That was omitted in the localized versions. Plus, they play against other high schools, whereas in the West it's a World Cup. Too bad all this lore has to be read in Japanese in this collection.

I have some knowledge of Japanese, but for some reason the text in these games scrolls automatically and you have to be fast.

@Moroboshi876 Actually it's all in English. There might be an option for Japanese text but honestly I didn't look since I can't read or understand Japanese.

It's understandable why they changed the story to the World Cup since at the time of original release there was nothing connecting the Kunio games in the west and soccer was.getting more and more popular in the US (it would be in other 4 years that US would actually host the World Cup).

That is one thing though I wish this collection had was Nintendo World Cup but I figure it must be something due to EA having the rights to FIFA games and in a sense World Cup.

@Tasuki Ah, I see what happened here. You downloaded the digital release, which is available in the West since February 20. Well, I have the Japanese physical release since December 2018, and that unfortunately comes in Japanese only (I mean texts in-game) and there isn't any patch with the new translation for that release. After all, when that came out there wasn't any localization in sight.

@Moroboshi876 Yeah I got the digital copy. I would have preferred having a physical copy but I have been wanting this game since I heard about it's release in Japan so I got it as I couldn't wait any longer lol.

Picked up Stay Cool Kobiyashi San a few days ago and started it tonight. It's definitely an interesting game but it does feel like a Kunio game. Took me a while to figure out what I had to do in the game but once I did it's alot of fun. It's not as good as say River City Girls but if you are a Kunio fan like me then it's worth a playthrough.

Pre-ordered River City Girls Zero from Limited Run Games. Looking forward to this since I enjoy the Kunio games and the first River City Girls game.

@bimmy-lee Yeah I remember when I first got up to Randy and Andy (as they are called in RCR) and they said that they were called the Dragon Twins and then that music hit and then they attacked using a spin kick like the one in Double Dragon it blew my mind. I actually didn't find out that the same guy did both games till many years later so at the time I just thought it was a nod to the Double Dragon series like the creator of RCR was inspired by Double Dragon to make River City Ransom or something along those lines.

Wow, I didn’t know this thread existed, cool. I picked up Stay Cool Kobayashi San last night. It reviewed just okay, but I’m thinking I’ll enjoy it as a fan of the series.

@Tasuki - Weird, I didn’t get a notification for your reply. I just saw this thread, flipped through, and saw you tagged me on the last post. It’s amazing how much guess work and connecting the dots we had to do back in the day. That spin kick is brutal, it’ll take a huge chunk of health. I’d love a modern crossover of the two series by WayForward and Arc.

@bimmy-lee I just thought this would be a bit more appropriate place to discuss the Kunio series rather then hi-jacking the TMNT thread.

Yeah it helps to be a fan of the series to understand Stay Cool Kobayashi. I think I might go back and replay that one since it's been awhile since I played it.

Yeah the spin kick can be brutal in RCR the easiest way I found to fight the twins is learn the Grand Slam technique and find your self a chain. If you start hitting them while they are talking you can just keep wailing on them till they are defeated. Did you ever do a playthrough of River City Girls as Kunio and Riki?

@Tasuki - Yeah, you can get in massive damage before they finally stop talking. After that, you can pretty much just brute them. I started a RCG playthrough on hard with Kunio last year, but I pulled off it last summer to play The Takeover and somehow I haven’t gone back. I really have meant to finish it with at least one of Kunio or Riki. Is anything different with them? I was only a couple stages in and hadn’t noticed anything.

@bimmy-lee Honestly story wise I didn't notice much difference. Like you I only played a few of the levels and got distracted by other games. I did notice the game was a bit easier playing as Kunio and Riki other then that the only reason I can see as playing as them is the sake of completion.

@Tasuki - I definitely want to finish that file and close the loop on that game, I’ll feel accomplished this way. I leveled up both Kunio and Riki on my original file and liked Kunio’s moveset a bit more, but either of them seemed like they could wipe the floor with all the River City trash once their leveled up.

So, is Stay Cool Kobayashi kind of an arena brawler where you have to be X amount of foot soldiers to trigger a boss fight? I guess I should get Melee Mach to complete my Kunio collection on Switch. You have any experience with that? Shiryu loved it in his review, but I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy it.

@bimmy-lee I have River City Melee: Battle Royale SP on PS4 which I got from LRG which I think is the first game in the Melee series. I never played Melee Mach but if it's anything like Battle Royale SP I will skip that one.

Battle Royale SP isn't bad per say but to me it feels like Smash Bros Kunio style and I am just not big on Smash Bros type of games. I can see where the Melee games could be fun with some friends as a party game but other then that unless you are a die hard Kunio fan or are looking for a game to play with some mates for fun I would pass on it.

@Tasuki - I finished new game plus on RCG last night. It’s the same story as the first play through, but the game sends swarms of more powerful enemies, especially in the later screens. It’s really fun.

I over estimated the difficulty and did some grinding on my original file to get the playables up to level before I started it, but turns out it was too much. It was a savage, no death walk through. I’d recommend tackling it between levels 10-15. I started out with everyone at or near level 20, and by the time you get to levels 25-30; it’s almost impossible to be stopped. You can brute every screen and boss.

I tried out Stay Cool Kobayashi and kinda hated it. Not sure if I’ll give it another try. It seemed as weird and confusing as Friends of Ringo Ishikawa.

Started my 2nd play through of river city girls. I'm really liking Kunio's air throw. It reminds me of Ryuji Yamasaki's super in King of Fighters.

@Wargoose - The air throws are very satisfying. Riki has a familiar air throw as well. New game + is a lot of fun, enjoy. I started a third play through because I still need to find two yakuza boss statues.

@bimmy-lee Oh wow I missed your reply sorry about that. Yeah Stay Cool was a bit weird defiantly not the best in the series more of an oddity more then anything. I still have to finish my second playthrough of RCG, but the one that is on the second playthrough is on my PS4 which isn't hooked up at the moment. I do have RCG on the Switch and Xbox Series X but I don't have a finished play through on those ones. I should do it, but I keep getting distracted by other games.

@Tasuki - No problem dude, I think I went silent for a while there before I got back to you. Just figured I’d update you after picking RCG back up again. Two more yakuza boss statues and I’ll be ready for the sequel.

@bimmy-lee Just finished river city girls with all the statues. I do really like both endings. Funny twist. Also hitting the crime boss out of the building feels very fatal fury.

Wondering which game to pick up next. I've got the kunio kun collection on Switch already. So I'm looking at the 3 3DS games, Stay Cool Kobayashi or River City Zero. Anyone think one of them stands out?