River City Ransom : Happy Retro Memories

Some of the happiest moments of my childhood were spent playing video games, I am and have always been a gamer at heart. Someone recently asked me what my favorite game of all time was, and after thinking for a moment I replied “River City Ransom for the NES.” They had never heard of it.

River City Ransom was a side scrolling beat-em-up action game, playable by up to two people. A lot like Double Dragon, but not nearly as well known. What made it stand out was the little RPG elements of character progression, inventory and the ability to pick up where you left off. River City Ransom was released in 1989. Onboard memory for save games was not the standard yet, so being able to enter a hex code to continue a prior game session was pretty cool.

Defeat enemies dropped money, which could be spent at shops in several towns. My favorite purchases were a skill book called Dragon Feet and a pair of Texas Boots. It's funny, the little things you remember from 25+ years ago. Dragon Feet technique was like a rapid fire kick, coupled with the kick damage bonus from the Texas Boots. That combination pretty much carried me through to the end of the game.

Playing with two players was even better and a lot of fun. Coordination was very important, not only to watch each other's backs, but also to stay out of each other's way. Often times throwing a pair of brass knuckles across the screen had as much chance at hitting an enemy as it did hitting your buddy in the back of the head. And accidentally getting hit with a full salvo of Dragon/Texas kicks was a massive chunk of hit points, if not death.
River City Ransom was an awesome game, too bad not many got a chance to experience it like I did.

Oh, and btw, while looking for some pics to add to this post, I may have discovered a new revival of the River City Ransom franchise. If anyone has played it, please let me know if it is as good as the original. I will try to get my hands on it either way.