River City Ransom,[a] known as Street Gangs in PAL regions, is an open world beat 'em up video game originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

River City Ransom is the third game in Technos' Kunio-kun series released for the NES, preceded by Renegade and Super Dodge Ball.

Like its predecessors, the game underwent great changes in its storyline and visuals during localization to make it more palatable for Western markets.

[10] The fighting style is similar to Double Dragon, in that the player can move freely around the screen while pressing buttons to punch, kick, or jump.

The characters' effectiveness in battle is determined by their stats in combination with unlockable fighting techniques such as Grand Slam, Stone Hands, and Dragon Feet.

The game has a password system for saving and loading of the player’s character stats, skills, possessions, money, and defeated bosses.

In addition to anglicizing all of the names and dialogue, the characters' sprites were redrawn to replace the Japanese school uniforms with t-shirts and jeans.

In the original, the gangs are all students from different high schools, and many of its characters would reappear in subsequent Kunio-kun games (particularly those directed by Sekimoto and Yoshida).

[citation needed] River City Ransom was the first console game localized by Technōs Japan's U.S. subsidiary, American Technos, Inc.

This version of the game, which was developed by SPS and published by Sharp,[4] 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).

[citation needed] A GBA version of the game, titled River City Ransom EX[b] was released in Japan on March 5, 2004 and in North America on May 26.

[citation needed] The first digital port of River City Ransom was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on October 23, 2007,[13] in PAL regions on February 21, 2008,[14] and in North America on April 21.

[citation needed] Outside Japan, River City Ransom was not highly successful when initially released, but due to its unique gameplay and sense of humor, it is today considered a cult classic.

[29] UK television programme GamesMaster generally panned Street Gangs, with one reviewer saying he "would rather sit in a vat of horse manure than play this game, give it to your worst enemies", with an overall score of 32%.

IGN said that the fighting mechanics are exceptionally achieved, and that the RPG-esque elements give the game a depth and replayability, ultimately scoring it 9 out of 10.

[25] The Japanese version, Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, was considered highly successful and would be followed by several spin-offs (including seven subsequent Famicom installments) until Technos Japan's closure in 1996.

[citation needed] In 1994, a prequel was released for the Super NES titled Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka.

[42] In September, Conatus Creative launched a campaign on the crowdfunding site, Kickstarter, seeking CA$180,000 in funding for the game.

After years of development and negotiations with Arc System Works (which, as Technōs Japan's parent company, currently own the rights for the Kunio-kun franchise), the game was released on Steam for Windows, OS X and Linux on February 27, 2017.

[43] River City: Tokyo Rumble was released for the Nintendo 3DS on August 8, 2013 in Japan, December 29, 2015 in Korea, and September 27, 2016 in the United States.