River City Ransom/Street Gangs (NES, 1989)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-6.5*
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*1-player
+
2-player coop
Change difficulty on the fly
Password save anywhere
Comical (hilarious dialogue from enemies, great animation)
Shops (buy food or weapons)
RPG/AA elements (character building via food and books (bought with money you find or get from defeated enemies) - learn new moves)
Inventory (2 items)
Good amount of moves for the time (pick up and throw enemies or use them to punch others (lol), block move (punch/kick incoming attacks at the right time) - enemies can also block sometimes forcing you to switch to a different move, punch boxes to make them slide, throw weapons, jump kick, run)
Help menu in-game
Fast paced
Unlimited lives (lose half your money and start in the previous mall area when dying)
+/-
Money stats on a separate menu (press select)
Your health regenerates slowly
Need to keep the book which taught you a move (in your limited inventory) to keep the move, need to kill everyone in an area to make the boss appear
-
Can't run up/down (on the z-plane)
Cheap hits (projectiles from off screen, enemies appearing right behind you when entering an area)
Uneven difficulty (second to last boss harder than the final boss, two bosses in a row)
Bounce off walls and fall over if running into them (this even drains health)
Loose scrolling (hard to react to enemies)
No map (backtracking required at one point)
Very long passwords
Some slowdown
Somewhat clunky control when jumping or running (autoruns even after releasing d-pad)
Clunky menus
Can't talk to "civilians"
Dead ends
A bit repetitive
AI is sometimes very stupid (enemies never jump up to your level when on higher ground
You can stand and punch and bosses will walk into you repeatedly)
Javelin man skill is useless
Same strategy works on almost every enemy
Short (~45 min)
Level Design-7 Frustration-7 Fun-7* Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*1-player
+
2-player coop
Change difficulty on the fly
Password save anywhere
Comical (hilarious dialogue from enemies, great animation)
Shops (buy food or weapons)
RPG/AA elements (character building via food and books (bought with money you find or get from defeated enemies) - learn new moves)
Inventory (2 items)
Good amount of moves for the time (pick up and throw enemies or use them to punch others (lol), block move (punch/kick incoming attacks at the right time) - enemies can also block sometimes forcing you to switch to a different move, punch boxes to make them slide, throw weapons, jump kick, run)
Help menu in-game
Fast paced
Unlimited lives (lose half your money and start in the previous mall area when dying)
+/-
Money stats on a separate menu (press select)
Your health regenerates slowly
Need to keep the book which taught you a move (in your limited inventory) to keep the move, need to kill everyone in an area to make the boss appear
-
Can't run up/down (on the z-plane)
Cheap hits (projectiles from off screen, enemies appearing right behind you when entering an area)
Uneven difficulty (second to last boss harder than the final boss, two bosses in a row)
Bounce off walls and fall over if running into them (this even drains health)
Loose scrolling (hard to react to enemies)
No map (backtracking required at one point)
Very long passwords
Some slowdown
Somewhat clunky control when jumping or running (autoruns even after releasing d-pad)
Clunky menus
Can't talk to "civilians"
Dead ends
A bit repetitive
AI is sometimes very stupid (enemies never jump up to your level when on higher ground
You can stand and punch and bosses will walk into you repeatedly)
Javelin man skill is useless
Same strategy works on almost every enemy
Short (~45 min)