never played this. i think i owe it to myself to play it sometime.

I loved this game! It was fun and the ''replay-ability'' was great!

This game is a MUST download!

BARF!

Great game.

Awesome title. I remember playing this at my cousin's house during the summer when I was younger. I bought the GBA update a while ago and it's still great (albeit, shorter than I remembered). Definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't played it yet.

i can't wait for this one. i really hope it's true and not just speculation. i just bought Double Dragon 2 for the original gameboy off of ebay (which was originally a japan-only sequel to this game that had the sprites and music changed to make it more double dragon-like for it's north american release). that game is amazing (though super short)

This is one of my all time favourites! Me and a friend used to play it all the time. Hope it still holds up.

This game is AMAZING! One of NES' best games. It's so rare to find one, I tried forever with no success. I never had the opportunity to play it on the GBA, so this is a must download for me. Barf!

(if this one is released, then Nintendo World Cup Soccer must be next)

If this game didn't exist, one of G4's best comedy shows would not exist either.

a wonderful game that should come to the VC for everyone to enjoy. If that happens i'm definately getting it.

This game is a classic!! If you were into old school side scrolling beat em' ups, you'll love this. It takes a chapter from Double Dragon but makes it much more dynamic & fun to play. It even has a bit of an RPG quality since you acquire new moves & have other variable attributes.

I think the music in the preview alone speaks for itself & the stocky character design makes it a charm to play..

I can't wait for this on the VC!!

I've unfortunately never had the opportunity to play this one back in the day. I can't wait to download it.

Wonder when this is coming out. Can wait. Wonder if Earthworm Jim is coming to vc too...

I feel obligated to play this as much praise as it has gotten over the years. I played it only briefly back when it was more contemporary....I'm sure I'll like it just as many others have....

Best of genre, no question. Fantastic game, and will be an instant download for me. Great, smooth gameplay, fantastic music, very easy to pick up and play, fun two-player, and some apparent stat-building depth!

Man, this game was awesome. I put countless hours into playing this game when I was little and will likely put in countless more once this is released.

Really fun game, kinda goofy with certain animations but overall well worth the 5 bucks.

Crossing what can be crossed for this game to be released this week, both in EU and NA! Pretty, pretty please...

A true cult classic, and for good reasons! Surprisingly deep gameplay for a NES side-scrolling brawler, hilarious jap design and plenty of comedy. Keep your eyes peeled for this release.

"BARF!"

Newbies need to check out this game. The guys on the River City Ransom message board at GameFAQs all agree with me: best NES game ever.

I hope this game comes out soon.. heard its really good.

How can this game NOT be out yet?

It is now PoisonedV, only in the EU

I'll get this when another game is released that I want. I'm short on money this week.

I just added some Points, and somewhere else expressed a wish that this game would be released. It's like destiny!

This game has a sequel?

Hey Drake this actually isn't the only fighting Kunio game released in our regions. I'm pretty sure Renegade is part of the series.

I remember playing this gem with my cousins. More recently though, I bought the GBA remake. The game was a lot shorter than I remembered, unfortunately. It was still a joy to play it through. BARF is still a priceless death rattle. I'd like to see Nintendo World Cup released on the VC.

"This game has a sequel?"
Yes. Several.

FINALY!!!!!!!!! Though I hoped more for Double Dragon 2, this game still kicks ass

best beat em up game ever, with excellent tunes

lordbowser: What I meant was it's the only Kunio fighter with RPG elements that we got. Renegade was more like Final Fight. I'll reword it slightly though.

A lovely gem, my youngest brother owns it and we´ve played it a lot. Co-op only! And don´t forget to eat loads of candy.

Hey Nintendo, please keep in mind that the US really wants this game too, mm, k? We also would like the Mega Man games!!

Not to mention that the USA wants Mario's Super Picross also.

This game is truely great. However, I wouldn't say its better than Double Dragon II, that, for me, is the money.

And while we're at I, I think Europe really wants Tecmo Bowl and Axelay.

I wasn't aware that Renegade was apart of the Kunio-Kun series; is it any good?

"I wasn't aware that Renegade was apart of the Kunio-Kun series; is it any good?"

The arcade version is decent. The NES port sucks ass.

Looks quiet good, but not enough for me to spend my nes points i have saved up!

Bought it yesterday, love it!!

Sorry America

Has anyone else noticed the chronic slowdown in this game? A 60hz version really would have been good. Otherwise it's very fun and challenging.

<This is me, having awfully lot of fun playing this game.

Even though, where can I find a list of whta food is doing what to my stats? There are dozens and it will take hours to earn enough mony to try them all...

Hauld on...Waffles cost $4.10? What a rip-off!

I've always heard a lot about this game, but never played it... It looks really awesome. I hope it comes out!

GTA for the NES

KhaoShar: You can find a list of what food raises what here: http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/nes/rcr/

To me, this is even more fun than Double Dragon 1 and 2.

ARGH! Everytime I come here & see this as the featured review it's like another slap to the face.. MAN, do I want this game!!

For the love of me, release this in the US already...

I've just downloaded this and after a few minutes of "this is rubbish", I'm now hooked!

nintendo you better release this in the U.S or your ass is mine!

finally, about two months after its european release.

CAN'T WAIT!!! Haven't played this in over a decade and the GBA remake was good, but no co-op was really bad. Plus who doesn't want to have the original?

this or street fighter 2 turbo?

Its apples and oranges. They're both similar but completely different. Nobody can make up your mind for you because they are both good, it all depends on what kind of game you're looking for. Scrolling fighter or one-on-one fighter.

bested by what? double dragon 3? BARF!

Timmy, it all depends on how you spend your time playing the wii.
If you have some friends who love SF2 Turbo & visit frequently I would say SF2 Turbo, if you play alone most of the time I would say get River City Ransom first. That's just my opinion. FYI SF2 is my favorite game of all time...unless i have a copy of wetrix at my disposal.

why choose? get both.

The quote of the century BARF! Buy this game..no seriously do it!..GO!!!

I have this game on my original NES and I guarantee you, it is the best game on the Virtual Console so far.

"I have this game on my original NES and I guarantee you, it is the best game on the Virtual Console so far."

I love River City Ransom too.... but with games like Super Metroid, Super Mario Bros 3, and tons of games that are easily on a whole other level of greatness than RCR, your guarentee is pretty much worthless.

Not trying to be a prick or anything. I like this game and I'll likely download it as it's a very good game. I'm just saying. There are at least 9 or 10 better games on the VC than this by FAR.

I didn't know there were more in the series nor that there was a GBA version. I do know that this is an essential purchase. Even today, this game is highly enjoyable and can be played over and over again.

@Karma: Sure Super Metroid (IMO) is the best SNES game of all time and SMB3 (I like SMW a tad bit better) is awesome to and others like LttP, but RCR is a classic that has held up extremely well over time and is one of the most intuitive and fun beat 'em ups of all time. It really needs a true seqeul.

For any oldschool gamer this will be a $5 very well spent! (Co-op is an extra fun factor as well)

Doesn't get any better than this.

Definately one of the defining games of the NES era. Personally I'm not that great at this game but I will download it simply because no NES game collection seems complete without it. I am VERY close to completely replacing my entire NES cartrige collection now. The only games I have left to replace are Bionic Commando, Mega Man 1 through 3, Blaster Master and Castlevania III. I have a few Disney games as well but because they are licensed based, I don't think they'll ever make it to Virtual Console.

Downloaded it asap (first day) and I am so glad that you could use the quick save with the Wii, I HATED using the codes for saving your stats since this is a long game (I still can't believe they managed to pull off fun level grinding in a Beat 'em up). This version is definetly better than the original because of this.

Though I really hope Million (dev from Technos) makes a new River City Ransom with multi-player (the only weak spot of the EX verison), that'd be awesome.

I thought to myself "Anything less than a 5 out of 5 on this game and I'm not coming back"

Rating games shouldn't be compared to other games, only the time period. I guess that's your opinion blah blah blah but when I found this game in college in 2004 I couldn't believe they made a game for the NES that had such amazing controls and decent physics that had hilarious outcomes... I disagree with you! lol

Now that's what I call quite good!

The game doesn't interest me much. I'm a fan of fighters, and this game doesn't look any different from the rest.

this is a good fighting game that really started it all. (actually more like double dragon but still) i like it more than double dragon (i still like double dragon) cause its more polished and has better controls. but double dragon is double dragon its amazing)

Wait... did this really get two stars, or is it the result of some weird site update glitch?

Great. Great. Great. Game. So many memories, none of which were spoiled once I downloaded this classic rpg-ish brawler.

Love it as much as when it first came out on my NES!

this game is so awesome... nothings better than grabbin a friend and runnin around beatin up frat guys and other thugs... you gotta find a list of what all the items do though cuz i found myself buying items i really didnt need at the wrong times...

so much fun though... highly recommended

Wow. this is one of the greatest NES games, second only to Super Mario Bros. I only wish it was longer. 9.3/10, especially for the price.

Fun, fun, fun!
You can find "tips" for food and items online fairly easily. (I would put a link here, but there's no need to advertise another website.)

I am so tempted to pick this up, even though I beat it numerous times on the old NES.

I just beat the game, and it was very short. And the final boss didn't put much of a fight. I give it 4 stars.

One of the greatest nintendo games ever....excellent with 2 players!

Really fun game, but I could never get my brother to play, so I never got much play out of this.

When i get my Wii this is gonna be the first game i download.
Best Beat em up ever.....
BARF!!!

I'm not really a fan of the whole beat-em'-up genre. Pass.

what would be awesome now that we got this is to get some of the sequels translated (though i know it's pretty much never going to happen).

"Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun" always looked cool supposedly it was more of a sequel to renegade on the super famicom but it was actually good.

the other one i wouldn't mind checking out is "Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun - Kunio Tachi No Banka" for the super famicom, which returned to the more cartooney look of river city ransom.

the next brawler game in the series that was released for the nes after this game (river city ransom) was, of course "Kunio Kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou!". it looks quite similar to (and plays rather similarly to) to river city ransom. the main difference being that it takes place in medieval Japan and its story concerns past relatives of the protagonists of this game (river city ransom). i wouldn't mind checking that one out as well.

also, i could go for the snes version of combatribes while we're at it

This game has the best NES box art.

I have it and I regret it. This game is horrible.

I enjoyed the game back in the day, but it hasn't aged as well as other games of the time period have. Unless you're a fan of the game from back in the NES days, I'd pass on this one.

i dont know it, but did read good things about it at double dragon comments, and after watching the video i thought: cool, same fight style, but rpg-ish
at wanted-list
i think it might actually be worth my points ( after SoM )

Fun and worth the 500points if you dont mind a short game.

This is a pretty good game.

just bought today, its very nice
i was looking at VC shop and didnt see river city ransom..
then i realised that it was under the name Street Gangs, lol
very fun to fight
the only thing i dont like is the very big password, but thats no problem

8/10 for me

anybody notice extreme slowdown with two players? disappointed. maybe it was there before and i didnt notice, but it still bummed me out. BARF!

but i LOVE this game. first VC game for me.

This reminds me of Code Monkey lol, i already have SOR2 so i dunt think its worth it to get it? However, my friend just got the wii shop channel n im thinking about gifting it to him cuz its only 500 points. Good idea?

Does this hav a save system?

Who knows how much money I've spent on peppered beef in this game lol!

Game still holds up, but I prefer the GBA remake as it has a solid framerate, more moves, plus you can form your own gang and after you beat the game once you can buy an item which allows you to create your own character. If you have a GBA find it!!

Almost as good as Double Dragon, just missing the gritty tone of the DD games. The gameplay and use of dialogue make it a worthwile addition for a beat'em up collection though.