River City Ransom: Underground

River City Ransom: Underground is a sequel to the original River City Ransom for the NES, set 20 years later after the first game, which is a direct prequel. It was created by Conatus Creative Inc, which obtained the rights to create an official sequel in 2013.

Unlike the GBA remake of the original game, which brought back many of the visual aspects of the original Kunio-Kun source, this game continues on as a sequel to the Americanized translation of the original NES game, though it does reference it's roots in the "Honors" player sub-menu.

The story is that a corporate big-wig named Merv had his daughter (your best friend) kidnapped, you've been framed for it (as has you friend Chris, leader The Flock, the gang you're a member of), and since Merv put out a big reward for her return and the kidnapper getting what's coming to them, that means you not only have to evade the cops, who think you did it, but every other gang in the city, who wants the reward for taking you out.

Thankfully, Alex and Ryan are still around, now co-owners of an auto-shop, and they realize this trouble you've been caught up in has the stench of a very familiar enemy of theirs to it, so they team up with you to clear your name, rescue Chris, and hopefully put to rest an old enemy of their own.

Tropes used in River City Ransom: Underground include:

• Artificial Brilliance: The enemies are able to adapt to spam attacks with dodges, blocks, and counterattacks, even better than in the first game.
  • Artificial Stupidity: The pathfinding for the enemies is a bit on the dumb side, as they tend to walk into traps, or other dangerous scenery elements a lot.
• Badass: Alex and Ryan proves they are again.
  • Badass Beard: Alex now sports a very Paul Bunyan-esque beard, while Ryan sports Badass Permastubble.
  • Badass Crew: Not only can you gain allies to assemble one, the multiplayer mode is based on this trope.
• Bash Brothers; Alex and Ryan are still this 20 years after the first game.
• Continuity Nod: Roxy now works as the receptionist of Alex and Ryan's auto shop. Her formerly being Slick's girlfriend is also noted. It's also hinted she and Ryan are more than friends.
  • The combat system takes a lot of cues from the GBA remake of the original as opposed to the original NES version.
  • Merv's Burger still has the smile option like the original game as "Free", though there seems to be some sadness behind the smile.
  • A lot of areas greatly resemble the original areas they were derived from that were taken from the original game.
  • The leader of the Nerds is the son of the leader of the Home Boys from the original game.
• Clear My Name: One of your main reasons for trying to stay alive.
• Crawl One will show up at the bottom of the screen referencing what you did that just raised the ire of the cops.
• Crutch Character: Alex and Ryan serve as this in an assist role up until the first boss is defeated, then they get a demotion to Level 1 when they become playable.
• Embedded Precursor: The tutorial level is a condensed version of the final battles of the original, with Slick as the boss once again, although it is possible to lose the tutorial, forcing you to start it all over again. This also doubles as the backstory.
• Exiled From Continuity: Weird crossover example in this case. They were able to keep the Dragon Twins from the original game, but without the Double Dragon theme, implying they couldn't secure rights to the music. However, they could use Abobo, a boss from that series, who looks and talks just like he did in Double Dragon.
• Fanservice: The hot springs scenes are back, only this time even Provie, a black woman, gets to join in on giving the player a brief glimpse of her bare backside.
• Funny Afro: Ryan's hair in modern day sports a hilarious looking pompadour.
• Genre Savvy: Practically everyone at one point or another, though special mention goes to Alex and Ryan, who, by the time you meet them, have already figured out something is wrong with the announcement they got about The Flock because their have been a lot of kidnappings that don't make sense, and based on that, they not only conclude you must be innocent, and that they have to help you out to get to the bottom of things.
• Hint System: Roxy serves as this for the good guys. Se never seen leaving her desk, but it's implied she has a lot of contacts she calls on the phone around the city that keep her in the know about what is going on.
• In The Hood: Provie, who wears a hoodie.
• Jerkass: You can be this, if you beat up on innocent people, who lack invincibility this time unlike in the original games.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: You can be one if you adopt a cat. In fact, you can adopt five of them.
• Money Spider: Unlike the original game, where every enemy dropped the same looking coin (while the amount could vary), this time they drop various coins and bills on defeat.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Bizarrely, even though cops do show up, none of them have guns, though it would not be unrealistic for them to have them given the setting.
• No OSHA Compliance: While the original game had some unsafe areas, like the factory with a conveyor belt over Bottomless Pits, this game has many more unsafe areas.
  • Sticksville has gaping holes in the road that have no fencing whatsoever.
  • The construction yard has a gigantic wrecking ball that randomly swings through an open street.
  • The factory is now even more dangerous with even more pits.
  • The sewers are a nightmare of catwalks with no guardrails.
  • The golf course has a windmill that can hurt people who walk into the blades, which are low enough to hit people on the ground.
• Nostalgia Level: The tutorial, which plays exactly like the original RCR game did. The only thing missing is the Double Dragon' theme for the Dragon Twins, but the developers likely couldn't secure the rights to it, since they only got permission to officially remake the game itself, while the theme could be used in the original because Technos produced both game series.
• Powered Armor: Calvin is leader of the Nerds and he knows he's a wimp, so he uses one of these to fight you.
• Recurring Boss: Abobo, the Hulk Speak spewing giant who shows up by punching through whatever walls are in the background. He shows up on occasion to menace the heroes and drops more money that most other enemies as a reward every time you beat him.
• Retraux: The prologue is essentially running on the first game's engine code and uses the exact same assets.
• Rewarding Vandalism: Yes and no. You can hit some things like parking meters and soda machines for free goodies, but it will get the cops mad and they will chase you around until you lose them.
• Salaryman: Rocko seems to have become the American equivalent since his appearance in the first game.
• Theme Naming: The gangs all have themey names like the original.
  • The Warlocks all have names either cribbed from fictional demons or occult literature, and their dialogue is amusingly Genre Savvy.
  • The Nerds all look like stereotypical nerds and throw either exploding beakers, beakers with acid, or those that freeze you if they hit.
  • The Luchas are a gang of luchadors.
  • The (Ste)Roids, a bunch of jocks who clearly abuse muscle enhancers.
  • The cops (who counts as a gang for gameplay purposes), all bear names you'd typically expect cops to have like "Ramirez" and "Murphy". They also attack with tasers.
  • The Bombers, who are fond of dive boming attacks, and seem to have an Elvis Impersonator thing going.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Inverted. Alex has orange hair like his Japanese version did in the Kunio-kun games after the prologue because the game lacks the NES color limitations. The prologue is supposed to emulate the original NES experience, so it remains black then.