| File:DNM JP.jpg {{{caption}}} | |
| Name: | Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari |
| Name (kanji/kana): | ダウンタウン熱血物語 |
| JP Translation: | Tale of Downtown Nekketsu |
| Developer(s): | Technos Japan (FC/NES) SPS (X68000) |
| Publisher(s): | Famicom/NES version Technōs Japan (JP) |
| Release Date(s) | Famicom/NES version April 25, 1989 (JP) |
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, also known as River City Ransom in North American and as Street Gangs in the PAL region, is a video game for the Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System, released in 1989.
It is the third game in Technos' Kunio-kun series released for the Famicom, preceded by Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade) and Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu (Super Dodge Ball). Like its predecessors, Monogatari underwent great changes in its storyline and graphical presentation during its localization in order to make the game more palatable in the western market.
Remakes of the game have been released for the PC Engine CD, X68000 and Game Boy Advance. The Famicom/NES version was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console beginning in 2007.
Characters
Heroes
Bosses
- Sawaguchi
- Kamijou and Yamamoto
- Nishimura
- Kinoshita
- Mochizuki
- Taira
- Kobayashi
- Gouda
- Onizuka
- Godai
- Ryuichi and Ryuji
- Yamada
Others
Ports
X68000
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari was ported to the Sharp X68000, a Japanese computer platform, and released in April 1990. This version of the game, which was developed by SPS and published by Sharp, features several enhancements to the Famicom original, such as displaying three enemy characters on-screen instead of just two, slightly more colorful graphics, an expanded game world, and new items and special techniques for the player (including some that were only used by certain enemy characters in the Famicom version, such as the headbutt and the whirlwind kick). The new locations includes several new shops (such as a dojo) and the schools of each enemy gang, each featuring two new bosses. In addition to the player's regular stats, the player also has individual stats for all the special techniques their character has acquired. The more frequently a special move is used to finish off enemies, the stronger that particular move becomes. Unlike the Famicom version, the X68000 does not feature adjustable difficulty settings. The player can save and load their progress in one of ten save files provided by the game itself.
PC Engine CD
The PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, released on December 24, 1993, was published by Naxat Soft and developed by KID, the same team that did the PC Engine versions of Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball (Super Dodge Ball), Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku. This version features enhanced graphics, an arranged redbook soundtrack and fully voiced characters, with the voices of Kunio and Riki performed by Ryō Horikawa and Nobutoshi Canna respectively. The player's progress is saved in this version on the PC Engine's backup memory. The rest of the game is almost identical to the Famicom version.
Game Boy Advance
- Main article: Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX
The Game Boy Advance version of the game, titled Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX in Japan and River City Ransom EX in America, was released in 2004. This remake was developed by Million and published by Atlus. The most notable change from the original version (for example, cooperative mode was removed, etc.).
Virtual Console
The original Famicom version of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on October 23, 2007, in PAL regions on February 21, 2008, and in North America on April 21, 2008. The western NES titles, graphics, and storylines for the latter two releases were left intact.
Sequels
Announced on March 18th, 2011 the new game, called Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari 2 (ダウンタウン熱血物語2) in Japan, was being developed by Miracle Kidz for a Japanese release on WiiWare in 2011. An online PC game was due out in 2012. 1However, those games were either put on hiatus or cancelled.