thanks you all so much! as implied near the end of the video, i recently started getting back to posting on BlueSky, since i know that some people really don't like Twitter anymore (i never did). so be sure to follow me there for stuff like updates on future uploads. 💾 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 💾
You mean over an hour of whining that is sexist, elitist, or ASD in nature? Dude, if anything, it's been one of the BEST retro/indie franchises in recent years, PLUS one of its BETTER entries FINALLY got an OFFICIAL release, not just on modern consoles, but also on the SNES on ACTUAL CARTRIDGES!
33:10 A lot of Japanese exclusive Famicom games had some spicy material in them, usually in old adventure games. They were mostly in the form of easter eggs, like if you kept knocking on a bathroom door a cutscene would play of a woman in the shower or something like that. I remember there was this segment on one of the early seasons of GameCenter CX where Arino would find these easter eggs and take a photo of the find, that's how I found out about it. In general, it shows how less uptight Nintendo of Japan was compared to Nintendo of America, and it's interesting to see in terms of the games that got censored or weren't even released over here in the West. Overall, great retrospective, I hope it and your channel blows up.
Yeah, like the newest game in this series is like 2 months old if at all. And they release something regulary. On the top of my head there was River City girls 2 Rival Showdown Three kingdoms and the sequel River city girls zero In the span of like 2years
@@StriderVM it was getting new games all the time. A sequel in 97, games on the super famicon a remake in 2004, DS games up to 2008, 3 games on the 3DS from 2013-2016 and now we're only getting into the games i listed above. Ark systems didnt brought it back in any shape or form
I do really wish I grown up play NES Kunio-kun games. I feel Kunio-kun struggles to find its appeal outside Japan due to circumstances that prevent it to strive such as Technos gone bankrupt in late 1990s, confusing brand identity as a result of tossing its games to different publishers and it had up against many brawler game franchises from rather well-known game companies that marketed better and respectively had established appeal from the get go. I appreciete video essay like this to help spread out awareness and significant importance to Kunio-kun series to the gaming world.
Neglected? There's been multiple games released, consistently, nearly every year since 1986.... we should all be so lucky to have franchises we like be so "neglected"
I know what you mean, but without even watching the video yet, every one of those releases never matched the quality of RCR. Even the ones from the last decade.
ngl bro we need u to make a video talking about all the games in this franchise not being this elaborate on each one of them but something within hour and half might be great
Love this series. I wish they'd release the Double Dragon & Kunio collection for PC. (*sigh*) BTW, have you ever played a PSP game called Kenka Bancho Badass Rumble? It's like if Kunio-kun and Like A Dragon had a slightly janky portable baby.
Take a look at the Kenka Banchou series, it's like Kunio-kun but on the ps2. Every day hurts knowing there probably won't be a Kenka Banchou fan translation.
@@taliban_skate_vids does anyone know about any finished translations? Like what’s the most recent game that’s been localized official or not if any and good
@@jamesjohnston8454 There's the unfinished Kenka Bancho 2 translation, stuck in alpha so it isn't really playable, and Kenka Bancho 3 on the psp got a full US release under the name Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble. Really disappointing considering the series has like 6 games from the PS2 to the 3DS.
I have a story in mind about this high school girl trying to live like a samurai, but gets roped into a whole delinquent gang/yakuza turf war. If there was a video game of that, it would definitely be like River City Ransom with Samurai Shodown mechanics.
@@SundreeOFFICIAL I would LOOOVE a 3D Kunio game. It probably wouldn't play exactly like the Yakuza games, there'd probably be light platforming mechanics and jump attacks and cartoonier physics. You'd also be able to do really wacky stuff as well, like not just hitting people with bikes during combat encounters but be able to fully ride them around the overworld or roll around in a trash can. Even an indie/fangame (even if it sadly doesn't feature the official characters) would be really fun if polished enough.
Renegade was my favorite arcade game growing up in the late 70s to mid 80s and it blew my mind as a kid so when I saw that there was an NES version, my dad and I hunted this rare cartridge down going store to store until we found a single copy. It was only until decades later via TH-cam and other resources that I even realized it was part of the Kunio series and then eventually I played through a bunch of them.
As somebody who also does pixel art with the help of Paint, discovered Double Dragon first then Kunio-Kun (or rather, first the "Soccer" entry, then River City Ransom) as a kid/in my early teens, and got River City Girls 2 on my Switch on Christmas of 2023 (only nitpics I would give the game is my autism not liking a lot of the vocal tracks, mainly the main track, and the fact you have to connect and initial normal attack with an enemy or object if you wanna advance in the combo instead of being able to do your combos in the air... Bayonetta and Nier Automata spoiled me, I know), I like this video! [Becomes 554th sub]
Weapons and stuff are busted in speed runs, the game is crazy easy to break. River City Girls 1 and 2 are some games I had fun recording with my brother for TH-cam, need to edit those lets plays. Imported both 1 and 2 on Switch from Chine to get physical copies.
@ghhn4505, et al, people like you lot are reasons why humankind is doomed. Also, WayForward just so also happens to be the company that made Contra 4 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which are two video games that will give you more action than you will ever hope to get on a Friday night. Now shut your whiny toxic MGTOW heterophobic a s s e s the f u c k up, okay? Thanks.
I enjoy this video a lot, its really a shame that the Kunio-Kun games dont get the credit they deserve. I remember playing River City Ransom a lot with my brother and we would always cheese Randy and Andy using the upgraded weapon attack by camping them at the door.
Finally someone starts talking about this franchise, ever since I played the original River City Ransom on my NES, I always wanted more, then I found the whole gold mine that is the Kunio Kun games, not to mention I also learned it’s very inconsistent localization history and how those localizations also spawned some other unofficial series of games
Howdy! I enjoyed watching this as I cooked and ate dinner tonight. I've only played the nes original and river city girls 1. But I've known of this franchise since I grew up in the 2000s. I bought the nes game on the 3ds before it shut down, and i imported RCG a few years ago. I wish I could play more games with co-op but its hard getting couch gaming going nowadays. The 3ds game was on my list but if the switch version is superior, I'll grab that one instead. Thanks for the heads up on that. I'd watch more videos on this franchise if you wanna make them.
Oh no, you implied that your opinion of River City Girls is low :( IMO it's one of the better beat 'em ups of recent years, along with TMNT Shredders Revenge. Sure it has some flaws, but for me it really brought back the feeling of playing RCR on NES as a kid. And 2 has online coop, which just makes it even better.
Great video! Other games from the same universe: Downtown Special Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zenin Shuugou! (Gameboy) Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-bu - World Cup (Gameboy) Nekketsu! Beach Volley Da yo Kunio-kun (Gameboy) Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun - Bangai Rentou hen English: Nekketsu High - Hot Blooded! Kunio Kun`s Final Battle (Gameboy) Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey-bu - Subette Koronde Dairantou (NES) (It`s awesome until you play the Yurioka Girls and you dont know how to beat them. You can actually beat the first opponent with an insanely high score.) Kunio Kun`s Nekketsu Soccer League (NES - best soccer Kunio-kun game in my opinion) Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu - Soccer Hen MD (Sega Genesis/MegaDrive) or the localization Nintendo World Cup (NES, Gameboy) Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (NES) (freaking battle arena Kunio Kun) Downtown - Nekketsu Koushinkyoku - Soreyuke Daiundoukai (NES) Downtown Special - Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Da yo Zenin Shuugou! (NES) Nekketsu! Street Basket - Go for it, Dunk Heroes (NES) (English translation) Dodgeball has been mentioned here.
I came here expecting a nice video about the ultra niche franchise I've loved since childhood, and seeing that I am not the only guy that believes the american localization fucked thing up to extreme levels eases my soul
Been a huge fan of Kunio since the late 80s and I was renting all the different Americanized games only really knowing they shared the same art style. Absolutely fell in love with River City Ransom and seeing this video starting off with the GBA remake made me know I was in for a good time, still have my copy of that one and play it every few years.
I have fun memories playing the GBA port. I still remember my usual team to form before getting to River City High, being Gary, Turk & Mojo. Although I usually resorted to constantly running into walls to help with the reputation system. I struggled with the old NES version though… I wouldn’t really call it “neglected”, more on “underrated” besides the River City Girls parts which made the series more main stream outside of Japan. Neat retrospective overall.
Oh man I remember wanting RCR EX so bad when I was a kid around Christmas when it came out. I was obsessed with emulators and RCR was a favourite, but my pc was too slow for GBA emulation at the time. It was impossible to find if you didn’t grab it on launch so I never got to play it until I discovered eBay was a thing. I was so obsessed with it, maxing out the stats for as many of the boss characters as I could. I loved that it actually made Acro Circus useful and the new moves added so much juggling potential. God honestly I might dig my cart back out…
Very nice video, love EX with its crazy moves and how customizable it is. Not having co-op for it, _on the GBA_ was a crime. Do talk about Underground some time, the way they made a true succesor to RCR in the middle of the IP changing hands and _then_ being overshadowed by RCG which was essentially style over substance, needs to be studied. Like goddamn that's some bs luck lol
Great video! Always good to see coverage of this granddaddy of beat em ups on this site. The way you pronounce Hasabe's name brings me pain, but I look forward to any other Kunio adjacent videos you may make in the future (perhaps an underground video? 👀)
@SundreeOFFICIAL If you haven't checked it out yet, Natsume released Pocky and Rocky Reshrined. A pseudo remake of the original game on SNES. It's amazing and I highly recommend it.
@@SundreeOFFICIAL , um, that franchise actually got a new multi-platform entry recently, as did a Sony PlayStation 2 spiritual successor of that franchise before a dispute made them lose the license to the game, hence its kind of rushed and unfinished state, and mixed reviews (on the Sony PlayStation 2 game that was re-released, not the new Pocky and Rocky video game).
Back when I really started getting into anime especially the delinquent franchise this was one of the first games I ever pirated back in the early 2000s. It was in complete Japanese and I had no clue what was going on but I loved every bit of it. And then when I saw it on the GBA I had to buy it
A fine video, keep it up! There really aren't many people who know about the Kunio franchise and report on it. I myself have been a Techno fan since childhood. What's really special about it is that I live in Germany and Kunio & Co. games were hard to come by here. My first contact with Technos was in 'Nintendo Worldcup' on the Game Boy. Since then I've been looking for more and games from Technos. To this day, I play everything Kunio-Kun has to offer. Personally, I'm glad that the rights ended up with Arc System Works. Since then, the brand seems to be recovering well. I can't wait to see what awaits us in the future. My favorite game in the series is 'River City: Tokyo Rumble' on the 3DS. A great spin-off that kept me glued to the screen until I had all the characters at max level.
I will never forget my stepdad telling me to get on the side of the door the dragon twins spawn from and never stop mashing punch💀instant win and probably the first time i ever employed a cheese strategy in a game. My man was so ready
Glad to see a video like this from (I'm assuming) the younger generation. Real quick pronunciation note. I don't wanna WEEB police you, but Kunio's girl's name is pronounced 'Ha-sa-bay'. And Riki girl's name is pronounced 'mommy'. That last one is important because if a black guy such as myself were to hear you say that name the way you said it, you might get a ferocious side eye or a "what you just say"🤬 type statement. Just putting it out there. Anyway, keep up the good work.😁👌🏾
Have to ask, the cool profiles that pop up when introducing characters, what are they from? Are they your creation, or part of an existing Kunio game I don't recognize?
nah, i ripped them from "River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~", which in hindsight i really wish that i used the bio pages from "River City: Rival Showdown" instead, because it had more up-to-date information on the characters as well as sprites of the characters in various poses, rather than the same idle pose. lol
oooh nostalgia time~ i really like RCR EX. it's the very first time i can play as Goda. the game even gives you personal skill for them which is super neat. BTW, nice review, esp that character introduction. i play this game with zero knowledge of japanese. the first time i get to the ending is also by pure chance. but the grind is immaculate. really love this game
The biggest issue with this franchise is deciding which games are important from a historical perspective. You've obviously got a clear list of things from the Japanese side of things, but Renegade got multiple original sequels of its own in Europe and River City is arguably a distinct series as well despite both being spin offs from a localised version of one of the Kunio Kun franchise.
Even if we have been getting honestly a pretty good amount of love recently for a somewhat niche series, Its ultimately as simple as the current IP holder Arc System Works has only recently seen massive growth due to their other projects in few years (going from 95 in 2007 to 105 in 2015 to 133 in 2020 & to 240 employees in 2024) & due how the company is structured their non-fighting game projects are not getting most of those new hires lol. Product Development Division 1: Handles ASW’s IP fighting game titles Product Development Division 2: Handles mainly digital-only titles Product Development Division 3: Handles fighting game titles developed by our partners Product Development Division 4: Handles non-fighting game ASW titles Division 4 handels current Kunio-Kun projects... and Double Dragon together with every other smaller IP they have (yes the people behind Family Tennis SP also need to do Kunio-Kun) unless they license the IP out to other devs like they have done with Double Dragon mostly & River City Girls, so they dont really get to put these games out that often with focus being shifted between multiple products
I think there are… what? Three or four official _Downtown Nekketsu_-style games? The original, the one that's a Japanese stage play, a bad Super Famicom one, and the "controversial" _Underground._ Yeah, _Downtown Nekketsu_ was definitely- oh, this video is about the *entire* overarching franchise? Never mind, then. _I really wish Downtown Nekketsu 2 had come out, though._
Having now watched the video, I'd like to say that I'm a little disappointed. You mentioned the unused Telekinesis sprites for Slick / Yamada in the Nintendo 8-bit version, but you didn't mention that they actually _used_ the sprites _and_ gave Slick his own special move in the _EX_ remake? C'mon. Also, that 3DS _Downtown Nekketsu_ reimagining wasn't very good, in my opinion… Cinematic, sure, but the gameplay was so… not _Downtown Nekketsu._ I feel like beat-'em-ups, nowadays, are all about making this ridiculously over-the-top and combo-based, now, with special moves galore. But not in a fun way, like _Super Battletoads_ (the arcade one). No, it's more like… _Streets of Rage,_ but way more ridiculous. The original games weren't like that. Why are the future installments? Lastly, I will never forgive Arc System Works for what they did with my beloved _Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka._ (,: (Did you know that _Kunio-tachi no Banka_ reused a lot of story beats and ideas that were scrapped for time from _Return of Double Dragon?_ Well, mostly the end parts of the game, but still!)
you say "hyperfixated on this franchise" but lowkey I think thats just autism (the good kind) Appreciate the video! I've been playing the 3DS titles lately and they're awesome. About 20 years ago I would play RCR and the Neo Geo Dodgeball game like a maniac with my friends and never knew they were part of the Kunio-kun series until like 6 years ago. Though I guess the first Kunio game I played was the soccer game that was on NES that was actually really goddamn fun lmao
Relatively successful in Japan? Dude, you assume too much. Get your facts right. Technos tried to release some games in the us, but they didn't sell very well. So they stuck with Japan only because they didn't need the us market. It's simple as that.
thanks you all so much! as implied near the end of the video, i recently started getting back to posting on BlueSky, since i know that some people really don't like Twitter anymore (i never did). so be sure to follow me there for stuff like updates on future uploads.
💾 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 💾
You mean over an hour of whining that is sexist, elitist, or ASD in nature? Dude, if anything, it's been one of the BEST retro/indie franchises in recent years, PLUS one of its BETTER entries FINALLY got an OFFICIAL release, not just on modern consoles, but also on the SNES on ACTUAL CARTRIDGES!
@@paxhumana2015 Are you okay?
Twitter is fine some ppl are too whiny abt it bluesky is filled with obnoxious pedos in disguise n ppl who support em
33:10 A lot of Japanese exclusive Famicom games had some spicy material in them, usually in old adventure games. They were mostly in the form of easter eggs, like if you kept knocking on a bathroom door a cutscene would play of a woman in the shower or something like that. I remember there was this segment on one of the early seasons of GameCenter CX where Arino would find these easter eggs and take a photo of the find, that's how I found out about it. In general, it shows how less uptight Nintendo of Japan was compared to Nintendo of America, and it's interesting to see in terms of the games that got censored or weren't even released over here in the West. Overall, great retrospective, I hope it and your channel blows up.
"most neglected franchise"
parasite eve: is this guy for real?
megaman: let him cook.
breath of fire: if you say so...
Yeah, like the newest game in this series is like 2 months old if at all. And they release something regulary. On the top of my head there was
River City girls 2
Rival Showdown
Three kingdoms and the sequel
River city girls zero
In the span of like 2years
It WAS neglected. It basically died back then in 1996. Along with Double Dragon. Until Arc System Works bought it back in 2015.
@@StriderVM it was getting new games all the time. A sequel in 97, games on the super famicon a remake in 2004, DS games up to 2008, 3 games on the 3DS from 2013-2016 and now we're only getting into the games i listed above.
Ark systems didnt brought it back in any shape or form
somebody talking about kunio kun nearly 2025, sign me up for the ride
You don't even know how much i've needed a video like this on this series, super underrated
I do really wish I grown up play NES Kunio-kun games. I feel Kunio-kun struggles to find its appeal outside Japan due to circumstances that prevent it to strive such as Technos gone bankrupt in late 1990s, confusing brand identity as a result of tossing its games to different publishers and it had up against many brawler game franchises from rather well-known game companies that marketed better and respectively had established appeal from the get go.
I appreciete video essay like this to help spread out awareness and significant importance to Kunio-kun series to the gaming world.
Thank you for making this!! Now I need to go back to the Switch collection
Neglected? There's been multiple games released, consistently, nearly every year since 1986.... we should all be so lucky to have franchises we like be so "neglected"
Neglected im the west, multiple games were not released in outside of japan.
I know what you mean, but without even watching the video yet, every one of those releases never matched the quality of RCR. Even the ones from the last decade.
megaman fans would kill to have their franchise be treated like this
@somplaysMinEcraft You know ironically enough I've thought about making a video about one of the Megaman games.
@@SundreeOFFICIAL if you say legends, I’m gonna *****
I honestly wanted this video to keep going. I'm looking foward to watch some of your next and other reviews. This channel has a lot of potential!
ngl bro we need u to make a video talking about all the games in this franchise not being this elaborate on each one of them but something within hour and half might be great
Nero Pizza is made with a Squid Ink white wine sauce. Probably as the sauce. It's usually made with pasta.
i've been playing through those for the past couple weeks. great timing
Love this series. I wish they'd release the Double Dragon & Kunio collection for PC. (*sigh*) BTW, have you ever played a PSP game called Kenka Bancho Badass Rumble? It's like if Kunio-kun and Like A Dragon had a slightly janky portable baby.
As a Kunio-Kun fan with no friends who care for the franchise this video hit my recommended and I rejoiced to know I'm not alone.
@@astrangehero you’re cool i cant get one group together
Still havent finished RCG2 cause of that
@jamesjohnston8454 Same, I think my friend didn't dig playing RCG2 with me. Oh well.
I’ve been looking for a gba game to play, definitely gonna look for this
Take a look at the Kenka Banchou series, it's like Kunio-kun but on the ps2. Every day hurts knowing there probably won't be a Kenka Banchou fan translation.
@@taliban_skate_vids Well we did get the PSP game in the States. I don't know if it's any good but we got it.
@@brianpbillingsley3687 It's pretty good for being the only one released in the US.
@@taliban_skate_vids does anyone know about any finished translations?
Like what’s the most recent game that’s been localized official or not if any and good
@@jamesjohnston8454 There's the unfinished Kenka Bancho 2 translation, stuck in alpha so it isn't really playable, and Kenka Bancho 3 on the psp got a full US release under the name Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble. Really disappointing considering the series has like 6 games from the PS2 to the 3DS.
This was a really fun run through memory lane. Good stuff. c:
I will always remember the cruddy Soccer game on the NES--
I have a story in mind about this high school girl trying to live like a samurai, but gets roped into a whole delinquent gang/yakuza turf war. If there was a video game of that, it would definitely be like River City Ransom with Samurai Shodown mechanics.
My dream game would probably be a AAA Kunio-kun game, but from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
@ Ooh! I think I like your idea better!
@@SundreeOFFICIAL Same but with Kenka Bancho
@@dylansmith9317 have either of you gotten to play “the friends of Ringo Ishikawa”? 😮💨😮💨😮💨
@@SundreeOFFICIAL I would LOOOVE a 3D Kunio game.
It probably wouldn't play exactly like the Yakuza games, there'd probably be light platforming mechanics and jump attacks and cartoonier physics. You'd also be able to do really wacky stuff as well, like not just hitting people with bikes during combat encounters but be able to fully ride them around the overworld or roll around in a trash can.
Even an indie/fangame (even if it sadly doesn't feature the official characters) would be really fun if polished enough.
super dodgeball rules bro
Renegade was my favorite arcade game growing up in the late 70s to mid 80s and it blew my mind as a kid so when I saw that there was an NES version, my dad and I hunted this rare cartridge down going store to store until we found a single copy. It was only until decades later via TH-cam and other resources that I even realized it was part of the Kunio series and then eventually I played through a bunch of them.
As somebody who also does pixel art with the help of Paint, discovered Double Dragon first then Kunio-Kun (or rather, first the "Soccer" entry, then River City Ransom) as a kid/in my early teens, and got River City Girls 2 on my Switch on Christmas of 2023 (only nitpics I would give the game is my autism not liking a lot of the vocal tracks, mainly the main track, and the fact you have to connect and initial normal attack with an enemy or object if you wanna advance in the combo instead of being able to do your combos in the air... Bayonetta and Nier Automata spoiled me, I know), I like this video!
[Becomes 554th sub]
Weapons and stuff are busted in speed runs, the game is crazy easy to break. River City Girls 1 and 2 are some games I had fun recording with my brother for TH-cam, need to edit those lets plays. Imported both 1 and 2 on Switch from Chine to get physical copies.
Remember how WayForward got to make a new game in this series and turned it into another "heckin' cute girl game!!" or whatever
@ghhn4505, et al, people like you lot are reasons why humankind is doomed. Also, WayForward just so also happens to be the company that made Contra 4 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which are two video games that will give you more action than you will ever hope to get on a Friday night. Now shut your whiny toxic MGTOW heterophobic a
s
s
e
s the f
u
c
k up, okay? Thanks.
We need Kunio and Riki in Smash
Yes! Definitely!
You all ARE aware that the game is complete, right?
@@paxhumana2015 He said Smash, not Smash Ultimate.
Way better than Kazuya, the most boring Tekken character. or Steve.
FACTS!!!
I enjoy this video a lot, its really a shame that the Kunio-Kun games dont get the credit they deserve. I remember playing River City Ransom a lot with my brother and we would always cheese Randy and Andy using the upgraded weapon attack by camping them at the door.
surprised how small your channel is, excellent video on a fantastic series!! i like that you made it in 4:3 as well
Finally someone starts talking about this franchise, ever since I played the original River City Ransom on my NES, I always wanted more, then I found the whole gold mine that is the Kunio Kun games, not to mention I also learned it’s very inconsistent localization history and how those localizations also spawned some other unofficial series of games
Howdy! I enjoyed watching this as I cooked and ate dinner tonight. I've only played the nes original and river city girls 1. But I've known of this franchise since I grew up in the 2000s. I bought the nes game on the 3ds before it shut down, and i imported RCG a few years ago. I wish I could play more games with co-op but its hard getting couch gaming going nowadays. The 3ds game was on my list but if the switch version is superior, I'll grab that one instead. Thanks for the heads up on that.
I'd watch more videos on this franchise if you wanna make them.
Thank you so much for your “Juan” pronunciation
Hey, at least the series is still getting entries. Startropics, on the other hand, hasn't seen a new game in over 30 years. 😢
i fw startropics.
Oh no, you implied that your opinion of River City Girls is low :( IMO it's one of the better beat 'em ups of recent years, along with TMNT Shredders Revenge. Sure it has some flaws, but for me it really brought back the feeling of playing RCR on NES as a kid. And 2 has online coop, which just makes it even better.
RCG sucks, sorry.
great video! legit love the kunio kun games!
Great video! Other games from the same universe:
Downtown Special Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zenin Shuugou! (Gameboy)
Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-bu - World Cup (Gameboy)
Nekketsu! Beach Volley Da yo Kunio-kun (Gameboy)
Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun - Bangai Rentou hen English: Nekketsu High - Hot Blooded! Kunio Kun`s Final Battle (Gameboy)
Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey-bu - Subette Koronde Dairantou (NES)
(It`s awesome until you play the Yurioka Girls and you dont know how to beat them. You can actually beat the first opponent with an insanely high score.)
Kunio Kun`s Nekketsu Soccer League (NES - best soccer Kunio-kun game in my opinion)
Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu - Soccer Hen MD (Sega Genesis/MegaDrive) or the localization Nintendo World Cup (NES, Gameboy)
Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (NES) (freaking battle arena Kunio Kun)
Downtown - Nekketsu Koushinkyoku - Soreyuke Daiundoukai (NES)
Downtown Special - Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Da yo Zenin Shuugou! (NES)
Nekketsu! Street Basket - Go for it, Dunk Heroes (NES) (English translation)
Dodgeball has been mentioned here.
I came here expecting a nice video about the ultra niche franchise I've loved since childhood, and seeing that I am not the only guy that believes the american localization fucked thing up to extreme levels eases my soul
ultra-based plastic man pfp.
Been a huge fan of Kunio since the late 80s and I was renting all the different Americanized games only really knowing they shared the same art style. Absolutely fell in love with River City Ransom and seeing this video starting off with the GBA remake made me know I was in for a good time, still have my copy of that one and play it every few years.
I have fun memories playing the GBA port. I still remember my usual team to form before getting to River City High, being Gary, Turk & Mojo. Although I usually resorted to constantly running into walls to help with the reputation system. I struggled with the old NES version though…
I wouldn’t really call it “neglected”, more on “underrated” besides the River City Girls parts which made the series more main stream outside of Japan.
Neat retrospective overall.
Oh man I remember wanting RCR EX so bad when I was a kid around Christmas when it came out. I was obsessed with emulators and RCR was a favourite, but my pc was too slow for GBA emulation at the time. It was impossible to find if you didn’t grab it on launch so I never got to play it until I discovered eBay was a thing. I was so obsessed with it, maxing out the stats for as many of the boss characters as I could. I loved that it actually made Acro Circus useful and the new moves added so much juggling potential. God honestly I might dig my cart back out…
Very nice video, love EX with its crazy moves and how customizable it is. Not having co-op for it, _on the GBA_ was a crime.
Do talk about Underground some time, the way they made a true succesor to RCR in the middle of the IP changing hands and _then_ being overshadowed by RCG which was essentially style over substance, needs to be studied. Like goddamn that's some bs luck lol
bro this series has like 30 entries and still receives new ones. it's not neglected
Honestly id like to see a full retrospective on the kunio kun games.
Most fun NES experience I’ve had.
Great video! Always good to see coverage of this granddaddy of beat em ups on this site.
The way you pronounce Hasabe's name brings me pain, but I look forward to any other Kunio adjacent videos you may make in the future (perhaps an underground video? 👀)
oh trust me, i think i learned my lesson on the pronunciation of japanese names. 😭
This is how I felt when I discovered the Pocky and Rocky franchise a couple of years ago. Such an awesome series that few talk about.
yo! pocky and rocky? that's not a game i've thought about in a long time.
@SundreeOFFICIAL If you haven't checked it out yet, Natsume released Pocky and Rocky Reshrined. A pseudo remake of the original game on SNES. It's amazing and I highly recommend it.
@@SundreeOFFICIAL , um, that franchise actually got a new multi-platform entry recently, as did a Sony PlayStation 2 spiritual successor of that franchise before a dispute made them lose the license to the game, hence its kind of rushed and unfinished state, and mixed reviews (on the Sony PlayStation 2 game that was re-released, not the new Pocky and Rocky video game).
fantastic video
I don’t even even need to watch it. You’re making content for Kunio-kun you have all of my support support
Ftr i DID watch it lol, ill keep leaving it on while i go out to try help it trend XD
ey whatever
i'll subscribe. good video.
Back when I really started getting into anime especially the delinquent franchise this was one of the first games I ever pirated back in the early 2000s. It was in complete Japanese and I had no clue what was going on but I loved every bit of it. And then when I saw it on the GBA I had to buy it
A fine video, keep it up! There really aren't many people who know about the Kunio franchise and report on it. I myself have been a Techno fan since childhood. What's really special about it is that I live in Germany and Kunio & Co. games were hard to come by here. My first contact with Technos was in 'Nintendo Worldcup' on the Game Boy. Since then I've been looking for more and games from Technos. To this day, I play everything Kunio-Kun has to offer. Personally, I'm glad that the rights ended up with Arc System Works. Since then, the brand seems to be recovering well. I can't wait to see what awaits us in the future. My favorite game in the series is 'River City: Tokyo Rumble' on the 3DS. A great spin-off that kept me glued to the screen until I had all the characters at max level.
Dude every time I play super dodgeball, I have to beat it it so fun
Get Grand Slam and pick up a chain, you absolute neanderthal.
I will never forget my stepdad telling me to get on the side of the door the dragon twins spawn from and never stop mashing punch💀instant win and probably the first time i ever employed a cheese strategy in a game. My man was so ready
"DO NOT LET THEM OUT"
Glad to see a video like this from (I'm assuming) the younger generation.
Real quick pronunciation note. I don't wanna WEEB police you, but Kunio's girl's name is pronounced 'Ha-sa-bay'. And Riki girl's name is pronounced 'mommy'. That last one is important because if a black guy such as myself were to hear you say that name the way you said it, you might get a ferocious side eye or a "what you just say"🤬 type statement. Just putting it out there.
Anyway, keep up the good work.😁👌🏾
bro i had no idea that was technically a slur 💀
@SundreeOFFICIAL Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.
#gijoe
@@SundreeOFFICIAL , I speak however I d
a
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n well wish and woe be to anyone that acts like an a
s
s
h
o
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e about it as well.
@@paxhumana2015 If this was true, you wouldn't be spelling vertically. 🙃
It's weird that you ignore stat boosting items in the RPG beat 'em up, even saying you don't see the value in the secret shop items?
Yeah I’m not good at “RPG stuff”. I’ll fully admit that’s always been my skill issue. 😭
What's the game play at 7:14?
River City: Rival Showdown.
I'm not sure if it was original or port but my first one I played was on C64
video title is ridiculously untrue, but i guess you gotta do that for the algorithm or whatever
Have to ask, the cool profiles that pop up when introducing characters, what are they from? Are they your creation, or part of an existing Kunio game I don't recognize?
nah, i ripped them from "River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~", which in hindsight i really wish that i used the bio pages from "River City: Rival Showdown" instead, because it had more up-to-date information on the characters as well as sprites of the characters in various poses, rather than the same idle pose. lol
oooh nostalgia time~ i really like RCR EX. it's the very first time i can play as Goda. the game even gives you personal skill for them which is super neat.
BTW, nice review, esp that character introduction. i play this game with zero knowledge of japanese. the first time i get to the ending is also by pure chance. but the grind is immaculate. really love this game
What OST did you use for 6:55? It sounds like its straight out of Case Closed/Detective Conan.
Taeyoni Hoero main theme
Anyone know the song at the 7:00 minute mark
Taiyou ni Hoero - Adventure Theme
The biggest issue with this franchise is deciding which games are important from a historical perspective.
You've obviously got a clear list of things from the Japanese side of things, but Renegade got multiple original sequels of its own in Europe and River City is arguably a distinct series as well despite both being spin offs from a localised version of one of the Kunio Kun franchise.
is your Pfp of that of Bat from Fist of the North Star?
Yes, it is! My top favorite manga/anime series.
@@SundreeOFFICIAL nice! when I saw the Negative movements I had a feeling it was him, it's a Great series indeed :D
Yikes. Jeff Gerstmann looks much better 20 years later than he did in the video clip you showed. He was a man always meant to be middle-aged.
Even if we have been getting honestly a pretty good amount of love recently for a somewhat niche series, Its ultimately as simple as the current IP holder Arc System Works has only recently seen massive growth due to their other projects in few years (going from 95 in 2007 to 105 in 2015 to 133 in 2020 & to 240 employees in 2024) & due how the company is structured their non-fighting game projects are not getting most of those new hires lol.
Product Development Division 1: Handles ASW’s IP fighting game titles
Product Development Division 2: Handles mainly digital-only titles
Product Development Division 3: Handles fighting game titles developed by our partners
Product Development Division 4: Handles non-fighting game ASW titles
Division 4 handels current Kunio-Kun projects... and Double Dragon together with every other smaller IP they have (yes the people behind Family Tennis SP also need to do Kunio-Kun) unless they license the IP out to other devs like they have done with Double Dragon mostly & River City Girls, so they dont really get to put these games out that often with focus being shifted between multiple products
No love at all for River City Ransom: Underground? The sequel that came out 10 years ago?
So, did adding an extra color in RCR's sprites affect the performance of the game?
I think there are… what? Three or four official _Downtown Nekketsu_-style games? The original, the one that's a Japanese stage play, a bad Super Famicom one, and the "controversial" _Underground._ Yeah, _Downtown Nekketsu_ was definitely- oh, this video is about the *entire* overarching franchise? Never mind, then.
_I really wish Downtown Nekketsu 2 had come out, though._
There's no info on Million even on the japanese Wiki.
Having now watched the video, I'd like to say that I'm a little disappointed. You mentioned the unused Telekinesis sprites for Slick / Yamada in the Nintendo 8-bit version, but you didn't mention that they actually _used_ the sprites _and_ gave Slick his own special move in the _EX_ remake? C'mon.
Also, that 3DS _Downtown Nekketsu_ reimagining wasn't very good, in my opinion… Cinematic, sure, but the gameplay was so… not _Downtown Nekketsu._ I feel like beat-'em-ups, nowadays, are all about making this ridiculously over-the-top and combo-based, now, with special moves galore. But not in a fun way, like _Super Battletoads_ (the arcade one). No, it's more like… _Streets of Rage,_ but way more ridiculous. The original games weren't like that. Why are the future installments?
Lastly, I will never forgive Arc System Works for what they did with my beloved _Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka._ (,:
(Did you know that _Kunio-tachi no Banka_ reused a lot of story beats and ideas that were scrapped for time from _Return of Double Dragon?_ Well, mostly the end parts of the game, but still!)
I mean i think the series is cute but theyre too simple to have the same appeal as more complex beat em ups like streets of rage or alien vs predator
very incorrect and ignorant.
22:24 this is so lame
🤞😷🏁
Cool analysis, too bad it's filled with annoying gen z brainrot memes.
i do it for the love of the game🗣🔊 🙏🔥🔥🔥
Hey it worked for RCG didn't it?
Your thumbnail game is hurting your channel..
I hate all the modern River City games. They all suck, but other people seem to like them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Low standards
Grow up.
@@AnAverageGoblin Blow me
@@PlasticCogLiquid aw, you think that sounds cool. try harder.
@@AnAverageGoblin Sure thing
Kyoko and Misako should just date each other instead tbh
you say "hyperfixated on this franchise" but lowkey I think thats just autism (the good kind)
Appreciate the video! I've been playing the 3DS titles lately and they're awesome. About 20 years ago I would play RCR and the Neo Geo Dodgeball game like a maniac with my friends and never knew they were part of the Kunio-kun series until like 6 years ago. Though I guess the first Kunio game I played was the soccer game that was on NES that was actually really goddamn fun lmao
Relatively successful in Japan? Dude, you assume too much. Get your facts right. Technos tried to release some games in the us, but they didn't sell very well. So they stuck with Japan only because they didn't need the us market. It's simple as that.
So you're saying that they were relatively successful in Japan?