Renegade/Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun
Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun is the first game in the ''Nekketsu'' series of 20+ games, many may know it by it's other title, Renegade, but as you can tell this isn't gonna be a review about Renegade (I'll be talking about the changes later on though) but the original Japanese game. Although it may be the game that spawned a series of sports (C&TB: Street Challenge etc.) and beat-em-ups (River City Ransom etc.) , the game itself isn't really that good and can be really frustrating at times.
As Kunio (your player), you must fight your way through a grand total of 4 stages to rescue your friend Hiroshi who was kidnapped. 4 stages? Yup, it's a pretty short game especially when the stages themselves don't last that long, you can breeze through this game in 15 minutes tops, well....after you learn how to deal with the controls. It's a beat-em-up, so if you've played games like Double Dragon or Final Fight then you know what to do. So then what's the deal with the controls you ask? Well it's like this: one button (punching) is for attacking people in front of you and the other button (kicking) is for attacking from behind. If you've played Double Dragon 2 then you know what I'm talking about, but it's a bit different here. In this game, you can't really turn in front of the direction of an enemy you want to fight unless it's the closest one to you, so it's frustrating when you are surrounded and you can't turn around your character in the direction of the person you want to fight unless he's the closest. That sounds some what weird, but if you've played the game then you'll understand what I'm getting at. At first it can get really hard and confusing if you played the standard beat-em-ups, but with a little practice you'll get used to the controls.
Unlike other beat-em-ups where you go from left to right, here you go from one section to another, each stage having at least 3 or 5 extremely short sections, the last stage being the longest and the 3rd stage being the shortest with 2 sections. The normal enemies are really easy to fight by walking up and knocking them out, but the enemies with weapons can become quite a nuisance. Just try walking up and attacking them and you'll get easily knocked to the ground, and if you get up with them right beside you and try to retaliate, they'll just knock you right to the ground again. The easiest method in defeating an enemy is to knock them to the ground, sit on them and beat the crap out of them. But this too can become difficult, there is always someone right behind you that will run into you and knock you off, this can get very annoying at times. And if the normal thugs aren't bad enough, you got the ultra cheap bosses. The first three bosses fight the same and when you get close enough, they'll grab you and punch your face in, it can be quite a struggle if you fight them normally, but you can easily take them out by using a ''rushing'' method. The final boss is the worst of them all, who has a gun that can kill you in one shot. There's no easy way in defeating him, if you try sneaking up to him he'll just kick you and shoot you right after. You need good timing and patience to defeat this cheap ass.
The graphics in the game are okay I guess for an old NES title. You got a train station, a bay, an alley and part of town, all of which look simple. The enemies in the game range from high school students to gang members, the students look freaky with their eyes wide open, but other then that every thing seems pretty simple looking. The music in the game is pretty decent, some are a bit odd, like the first stage music which makes you think you should be at the beach surfing the waves. The only ones that I can think of that sound good are the ''chase'' scene and the beginning of the last stage, other then that there's nothing memorable in the game. The sounds are really simple, the usual ''smacking'' noises when you hit someone, a weird squeaking noise when you jump kick and a gun shot.....come to think of it, I think those are the only sound effects in the game.
So what kind of changes were made to Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun when it was released as Renegade? Well, Kunio's name has been changed to Mr. K , the first stage train station has been turned into a subway station and some signs have been changed to beer signs. Most of the characters looks have changed, Kunio now looks like an Asian Elvis Presley, the first stage high school students have been turned into ''kung-fu'' guys, the 2nd stage bikers look like Elvis impersonators out for revenge and the 3rd stage school girls have been changed into muppets. The bosses have also been changed, Riki (1st stage boss) now appears to be Jimmy Hendrix, 2nd stage boss is now a punk with a mohawk and the 3rd stage boss has been changed from an ugly big woman to an even uglier big woman. Now I can understand some of those changes, but why.....why the hell are everyone's teeth sticking out now?! Almost everyone in the game have their upper teeth hanging out, this has to be the most bizarre change in the game.
Overall Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun isn't really a good game due to it's flaws and short length (not that short games can't be fun though). It's an average game at best and if you want a better ''Kunio'' beat-em-up then I suggest checking out River City Ransom (Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari) or Kunio Tachi no Banka, you'll enjoy those much better.
Overall Rating: 5/10