{"id":19987,"date":"2020-03-27T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T00:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=19987"},"modified":"2020-03-15T13:37:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-15T13:37:56","slug":"double-dragon-kunio-kun-retro-brawler-bundle-ps4-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/27\/double-dragon-kunio-kun-retro-brawler-bundle-ps4-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun: Retro Brawler Bundle (PS4, Switch)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hey kids!\u00a0 Are you ready for a video game history lesson?\u00a0 Sure you are!\u00a0 Anyway, back in the mid-80s, game maker Technos created one of the first brawlers featuring a character named Kunio.\u00a0 He\u2019s a hot-blooded high school student who sometimes gets into fights, but always stands up for his friends and against bullies.\u00a0 His first arcade game was a hit in Japan, and they brought it to the US under the name Renegade.\u00a0 A few graphical and name changes were made.\u00a0 The character now sported a sleeveless leather jacket instead of a Japanese school uniform, and instead of locations like an outdoor train stop, you fought in places like an underground subway station.\u00a0 It was a modest hit in the US and got a version on the NES, but it was nowhere near as big as the original game in Japan.\u00a0 The bosses at Technos wanted to recreate that success in the US, so they tasked the team to make another brawler that would really appeal to overseas audiences.\u00a0 So they created Double Dragon.\u00a0 Needless to say, that was a huge hit with countless arcade sequels and ports, a cartoon, and even a live action movie (it was famously bad, but fun in a B-movie sort of way).\u00a0 And now you can play almost every NES and Famicom version of the Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun series in a collection on the PS4 and Switch (reviewed on PS4 here).\u00a0 It even includes Renegade\u2019s \u2018sequel\u2019 River City Ransom, as well as sports spin off titles like Super Dodge Ball!\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Super Dodge Ball was my favorite sports video game until Wii Sports came along!<\/p>\n

The menu for selecting these games looks exactly like the one found on the NES and SNES Mini Classics.\u00a0 You can even have four quick save slots per game!\u00a0 You can play couch multiplayer or even online, with nicknames and avatars you can unlock.\u00a0 There\u2019s a nice little brief history of each game, too.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a list of the US NES games on this collection.<\/p>\n

Double Dragon 1, 2, and 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Renegade<\/strong><\/p>\n

Super Dodge Ball<\/strong><\/p>\n

River City Ransom<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crash N the Boyz Street Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m just happy Super Dodge Ball is on here.\u00a0 If I had any complaints, it\u2019s that all the games on here are just the NES versions.\u00a0 I would\u2019ve loved to have the arcade games as well.\u00a0 Or maybe other ports like the NEO GEO version of Super Dodge Ball.\u00a0 Also, not EVERY Double Dragon and Kunio NES game is here.\u00a0 Like Nintendo World Cup or Battletoads & Double Dragon.\u00a0 I can understand why those aren\u2019t on here, but it would\u2019ve been neat to have them to get the complete package.<\/p>\n

Next up are the Japanese Famicom games on this collection.\u00a0 The cool thing is that Arc System Works took the time to translate these, so you can play them and know what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give a brief description under each game since not everyone may know what these are.<\/p>\n

Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the first Kunio game, otherwise known as Renegade in the US.<\/p>\n

Nekketsu High School Dodge Ball Club<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Super Dodge Ball.\u00a0 Except here you start as the Japanese team instead of the US team.<\/p>\n

Downtown Nekketsu Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

And this is their River City Ransom.\u00a0 Nekketsu is the name of Kunio\u2019s high school, by the way.<\/p>\n

Nekketsu High School Dodge Ball Club: Soccer Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a soccer game and we got it in the US under the name Nintendo World Cup.\u00a0 That version\u2019s not on this collection, but at least we get to play the Japanese game.\u00a0 I always wanted to play this game since I was such a big fan of Super Dodge Ball, but it was never at the game rental places near my house, and I wasn\u2019t going to buy it since I wasn\u2019t that big of a soccer fan anyway.\u00a0 Now that I got to play it, I have to say I like Super Dodge Ball way more.<\/p>\n

Downtown Nekketsu March Super-Awesome Field Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is like a track and field game except with an urban setting and you can pick up weapons and beat up the other players!\u00a0 I guess this would be considered one of the first Parkour games, maybe?\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard, too.\u00a0 The sequel to this game would be brought to the US under the name Crash N The Boyz Street Challenge.<\/p>\n

Downtown Special Kunio-Kun Historical Period Drama<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like River City Ransom except set in feudal Japan.\u00a0 So instead of urban settings, you explore the countrysides and villages sell things like soba and tempura instead of burgers.\u00a0 I like the variety in the settings and it seems to have more of an emphasis on exploration over fighting.<\/p>\n

Go Go Nekketsu Hockey Club Slip and Slide Madness<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a hockey game and I hear it was actually almost brought to the US back in the day.\u00a0 And I wish it would have, because it\u2019s very fun and pick up and playable!<\/p>\n

Surprise Nekketsu New Records!\u00a0 The Distant Gold Medal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, this is the sequel to that \u2018Super-Awesome Field Day\u2019 game, and we got it as that Crash N The Boyz title with some graphical and name changes.\u00a0 Both games are really hard, though!<\/p>\n

Nekketsu Fighting Legend<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a four player fighting game featuring Kunio characters.<\/p>\n

Kunio-Kun\u2019s Nekketsu Soccer League<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the sequel to the first soccer game, and features things like weather effects and field changes that can affect your movement.<\/p>\n

Nekketsu Street Basketball All-Out Dunk Heroes<\/strong><\/p>\n

And last is this street basketball game.\u00a0 Like the soccer game, this one is hard and I had a tough time figuring things out.<\/p>\n

And those are all the games!\u00a0 If I had one other problem, it\u2019s that since these are all NES and Famicom games, some are a bit basic while others are really obtuse.\u00a0 Even greats like River City Ransom felt that way to me a bit.\u00a0 But if you are a fan of Double Dragon and\/or Kunio games, you really should get this collection!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun: Retro Brawler Bundle is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.\u00a0 You can punch and kick others and use weapons, but the characters are so pixelly and cartoony that it negates a lot of the violence.\u00a0 I played a lot of these games as a kid and I turned out OK anyway.\u00a0 Reading skill is helpful for the text, and younger players may find these games too difficult.\u00a0 Most of the games have a two-player mode, though, so it\u2019s great to play with friends and family and even online!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey kids!\u00a0 Are you ready for a video game history lesson?\u00a0 Sure you are!\u00a0 Anyway, back in the mid-80s, game maker Technos created one of the first brawlers featuring a character named Kunio.\u00a0 He\u2019s a hot-blooded high school student who sometimes gets into fights, but always stands up for his friends and against bullies.\u00a0 His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","category-movie-reviews","category-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19987"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19989,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19987\/revisions\/19989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}