River City Ransom, known as Street Gangs in PAL regions, is an open world beat 'em up video game originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is an English localization of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari for the Famicom. The game was developed by Technōs Japan and released in Japan on April 25, 1989.
The Kunio-kun (くにおくん) series is a video game series started by Technōs Japan. The series is now handled by Arc System Works who purchased all of the intellectual property rights from Technōs' successor, Million Corp. The first game in the series is fully titled Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (熱血硬派くにおくん), which roughly translates to "Hot Blood Tough Guy Kunio", with Nekketsu being the name of the series' title character Kunio's high school. The kun suffix after his name is an informal Japanese honorific usually applied to young males. The series originated in arcades, before appearing on the Famicom console. Kunio later became Technōs Japan's main mascot, appearing on the company's logo in several games and television commercials.
Technōs Japan Corp. was a Japanese video game developer, best known for the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun franchises as well as Karate Champ, The Combatribes and Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. As of June 2015, Arc System Works owns the intellectual properties of Technōs Japan.
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, released as Renegade in the West, is a beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for the arcades in 1986. In the original Japanese version Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, the game revolves around a high-school delinquent named Kunio-kun who must stand up against a series of rival gangs frequently targeting his classmate Hiroshi. In the Western version Renegade, the player controls a street brawler who must face four different gangs in order to rescue his girlfriend being held captive by a mob boss.
Super Dodge Ball is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technos Japan Corp. originally released as an arcade game in 1987. In Japan, it was the second game starring Technos Japan's video game character Kunio-kun, following Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, although the connection between the two games was removed in the western release. Various home versions and sequels of the game have been released for various platforms.
Double Dragon is a 1987 beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for arcades across Asia, North America and Europe. It is the first title in the Double Dragon franchise. The game's development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and it is a spiritual and technological successor to Technos' earlier beat 'em up, Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986), released outside of Japan by Taito as Renegade; Kishimoto originally envisioned it as a direct sequel and part of the Kunio-kun series, before making it a new game with a different cast and setting.
Nintendo World Cup is a soccer video game for the Family Computer/NES and Game Boy, developed by Technōs Japan and released in 1990. It is a localization of Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club: Soccer, the fourth Kunio-kun game released for the Family Computer. Ports for the PC Engine and Mega Drive were also released in Japan. A Game Boy version was released in Japan, North America, and Europe.
Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge, released in Japan as Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal is a 1992 sports game for the NES by Technos Japan Corp. A Game Boy version of the game was also released in Japan only. The game featured Olympic style contests without rules or regulations, between five teams. The games included 400 metres hurdles, Hammer throw, Swimming, Roof Top Jumping, and Fighting Scene. It was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console on September 14, 2009 and later for the Nintendo 3DS on November 28, 2013 and for the Wii U on December 11, 2014. The game was included in the "Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle" released for the Nintendo Switch on February 20, 2020. It was re-released for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in April the same year.
Super Dodgeball Brawlers, originally released in Japan as Chō Nekketsu Kōkō Kunio-kun Dodgeball Bu is a dodgeball-based sports game released for the Nintendo DS.
Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka is a beat 'em up video game developed by Almanic Corporation and published by Technos Japan for the Super Famicom in 1994 exclusively in Japan. It was the fourth game in the Kunio-kun series released for the Super Famicom.
Double Dragon II is a side-scrolling beat-em-up released for the Game Boy in 1991 developed by Technōs Japan. Although it is the second Double Dragon game released for the Game Boy, it is unrelated to the arcade and NES game Double Dragon II: The Revenge. The game is a localization of the 1990 Japanese Game Boy game Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen, which was part of Technōs Japan's Kunio-kun series. The graphics, music, and storyline were changed for the English version of the game.
Crows is a Japanese high school delinquent manga series by Hiroshi Takahashi. It has the same setting and also shares some characters with Takahashi's later manga QP and Worst.
Banchō (番長) historically refers a governmental position during the Ritsuryō period in Japan. In the modern era, banchō is the leader of a group of male Japanese juvenile delinquents. Sukeban is the related term for young girls of the subculture. The term banchō became less common through the 1970s and into the 1980s in Japan.
River City Soccer Hooligans is a sports game for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Avit-Niigata, and published by Arc System Works in Japan on May 27, 2010, and in North America, published by Aksys Games on June 10. This was the last Kunio-kun game for the Nintendo DS, as starting with Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-Kun Special handheld entries in the series were released for the Nintendo 3DS instead.
Super Dodge Ball is a sports video game developed and published by Technōs Japan that was for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. It is loosely based on the 1987 arcade game of the same name, which was also developed by Technōs. Like its arcade counterpart, it was released in Japan as part of the Kunio-kun series.
Super Dodge Ball is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technōs Japan that was released for the Neo Geo platform in 1996. It is a sequel to the original Super Dodge Ball and features characters from Technōs Japan's Kunio-kun series. It was also the final game developed by Technōs before the company went out of business, as well as the last Kunio-kun games released in arcades. Technōs location tested a Japanese version in arcades, but since the company went bankrupt, this version was not released and the game was only given a limited US release from SNK, although putting a US cart of this game into a Japanese system will show the Japanese version. In 2001, Mega Enterprise ported this game to the PC exclusively for a Korean release.
Yoshihisa Kishimoto is a Japanese video game developer known primarily for his involvement with Technos Japan Corp. He is best known for his work on beat 'em up games, as the original creator of the Kunio-kun and Double Dragon game franchises, having worked on the original arcade and NES installments in both series. While not the first side-scrolling martial arts action games, they established the general template and conventions used by the beat 'em up genre since the late 1980s. He has thus sometimes been referred to as the grandfather of the beat 'em up genre. He is currently the President and Representative Director of a game company called Plophet.
Sonic Generations is a 2011 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Nintendo 3DS. Produced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game follows Sonic and his sidekick Tails as they form an alliance with their past selves. It features two gameplay styles: "Classic", which plays from a side-scrolling perspective like that of the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, and "Modern", 3D levels similar to those in Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010).
Pokémon Rumble U is a 2013 action video game in the Pokémon series available on the Wii U eShop developed by Ambrella and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. It is the successor to the 2011 3DS game Pokémon Rumble Blast. It features all Pokémon from the first five generations. Up to 100 Pokémon and 4 players are able to play at the same time. It is the first Wii U game to utilize the Wii U GamePad's near-field communication (NFC) function. It was released in Japan on April 24, 2013, in Europe on August 15, 2013, and in North America on August 29, 2013.
River City Girls is a 2019 beat 'em up video game developed by WayForward and published by Arc System Works. A spin-off in the Kunio-kun franchise, the game stars Misako and Kyoko who fight their way through enemies and obstacles to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends, series protagonists Kunio and Riki. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in September 2019, and for Amazon Luna in October 2020. A PlayStation 5 version was released on January 18, 2022.
