The original River City Ransom game appeared on the NES back in 1989 and is regarded as one of the finest beat ’em ups to grace any videogame console. While initially receiving a rather lukewarm reception, the game picked up a cult following thanks to its novel fusion of beat ’em up and role-playing elements within its non-linear level design. Several sequels were announced through the years but, for one reason or another, they were abandoned. Now, finally, gamers can hit the streets of River City once more with the arrival of the official sequel, River City Ransom: Underground.

It was back in April 2013 that the developer, Conatus Creative, launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to fund the development of a River City Ransom sequel. The campaign was a success with 5,179 backing the project, breaking the target goal of CA$180,000 with a final tally of CA$217,643. The game was then announced on Steam Greenlight, and following a three-year development period, Conatus have finally been able to complete the game and release it through Steam.

The game takes place many years after the original with Alex and Ryan returning to the River City streets once again. This time, they are joined by a new crop of fighters in an effort to take on the hordes of River City and clear their name in a kidnapping plot. The game features a plethora of features: online co-op, up to four players, ten unlockable hero characters, weapon shops, multiplayer combat modes, ability to earn money, skills upgrading, and much more. One interesting feature is the ability to play as hero or villain. And with 140 levels to explore, this is one epic journey.

River City Ranson: Underground can be found over at Steam for the Windows, Mac OS X, and SteamOS + Linux platforms. The game’s minimum spec requirements are very reasonable (Intel Core, Windows XP, for example), so this gives more players the chance to play this great game.

Neil Reive

An avid retrogamer who has worked on various projects, magazines, and fanzines. He started his videogaming journey with the Amstrad CPC464 computer before moving onto a Commodore 64, then the Sega Mega Drive, followed by a multitude of PCs.