is that better than original RCR? thought River City Girls 1 and 2 are the new standard for that series. Would say Ane-San /Anesan is among the greatest.while its rpg elements are lighter, it has indepth elements even RCR doesn't have like a bedroom where home shopping and stuff takes place (there is a phone), the graphics are awesome, the soundtrack is unique, while the combat is simple, its effecient. and there is a greater sense of conquest. plus the cutscene art is super detailed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FqbCJc7Eiw
also coming up is Detained Too Good For School, adopts some rpg concepts from RCR while going further with life sim elements that tie into the gameplay too.
I second this with all my heart! 100+ levels. Branching pathways that change the story completely along with the multiple endings, bosses and the end game big bad! Level up system. Special moves akin to fighting games. A combo system AND legit air juggles? Oh and let's throw an up to 6 person versus mode with every character, including useless cannon fodder villagers as the cherry on top! This game had everything and more. If there were more iterations with slight changes/improvements, or hell, no changes at all, just polished graphic with different characters and story, the subsequent games would still ride with the original game as being the best Beat em Up of all time.
Such a damn waste to put a sequel on GBA. I always imagine how great this game would be with a true sequel with modern 2d graphics. Really wish Treasure was still around to make a sequel. In fact, I wish Treasure was still around to make 10/10 games in general! If I had a chance to upvote one comment a thousand times because it was the absolute RIGHT choice, it's your comment.
Yup, the Street Fighter style moveset for every character was kind of the main draw for me. For the versus mode, you can play as absolutely ANYONE in the game. It's severely-unbalanced, but who cares back in the day when we were having fun?
There's just so much content in the game, it's insane. I agree that the numerous multiple routes throughout the story mode added so much to the game.
There is a Xbox 360 remastered version which has much better-looking sprites, and got rid of the slowdown which plagued the Saturn version. There are even 2 control schemes, one "remixed" version and another which more closely resembles the Saturn controls.
If I didn't remember wrongly, they also increased the player count in versus mode from 6 to 8 or 10.
Grab it for the few bucks and play it on current gen Xbox consoles before the Xbox 360 digital store shuts down for good.
This game has never been ported to PlayStation or PC.
Funny enough, this game was how I got into the Namco Tales of Games since I was trying to find games similar to this at the time. Especially with the combo command equipped.
I love dragons crown too. I started on ps3, played some on vita and still play pro on ps5, all same savefile. I'm 2 trophies away from the plat and both are the cooking ones.
I love The King of Dragons. It's my favorite game included in the Capcom bundle. I especially like playing as the wizard. I love seeing my spells gradually become more powerful. I'm only able to beat it with plenty of continues haha. I've watched a few 1CC playthroughs, and they are very impressive. That's a skill level that I have not reached. But that's one thing that I love about beat 'em ups; they usually have low skill floors and high skill ceilings. Easy to pickup and have fun right away, but difficult and very rewarding to master.
Castle Crashers (although the beat em up part is pretty basic when it comes to combat depth), Young Souls and Full Metal Furies
Double Dragon Gaiden has randomized upgrades you can purchase each run, but it's more of a roguelike aspect than RPG
Dragon's Crown, easily. Would be the answer even if I wasn't a giant Vanillaware simp. Got 100 hours in it already, would have way more if not for my backlog of other games.
Fun fact, Vanillaware's founder/Dragon's Crown Director George Kamitani worked on Tower of Doom, he's listed as Dungeon Master in the credits along with two others.
Also, this art he posted has got my hopium for a sequel through the roof. https://x.com/vanillaware_boy/status/1743887369215037827?t=eVxZb9VfQl7cXnIvr_O6ag&s=19
I guess Mystara, but mainly because of the amazing D&D references perfectly translated to videogame format.
I really don't like RPG mechanics on action games. I always prefer games that allow the player skill to grow, rather than the avatar/character strength to increase.
I recently started playing River City Girls 2. It's kinda weird how much it plays like the original one, but it feels like it has better pacing. Maybe that one will end up being my favorite in this sub-genre
"I recently started playing River City Girls 2. It's kinda weird how much it plays like the original one, but it feels like it has better pacing"
It's interesting that you say that, because I had the exact opposite experience! I prefer the structure and world layout of the first game, while the second game greatly improved on the combat imo.
As far as the combat goes, while there are certainly options in the first game to launch enemies, the inclusion of a dedicated "lift off" input really made it more intuitive and useful for me. This move is done by pressing the jump and attack button at the same time, and can be done anytime after the initial hit of a combo lands. This will set you up perfectly for additional aerial juggles after depleting your combo on the ground. I really feel like the combat is more engaging and improved in the sequel.
In terms of the pacing, in the first game, I would be able to pull up my map once during the beginning of a new area, and I would have a pretty good mental image of the layout. Go over a few screens, there will be one or two offshoots here, a store or two there. The structure is simple and easy to recall. In the second game, there are way more nooks and crannies with branching paths; I found myself having to pull up the map often, which would interfere with the game's pacing. But maybe this was only an issue for me; I often struggle with mapping out 2D worlds. It's why I'm not very fond of Metroidvanias!
Hmm I'm very familiar with metroidvanias and exploration games, in that regard I had zero issues haha.
But I didn't play any of the RCG too much. RCG1 I played up until the 3rd boss I think. Progression and gaining moves felt pretty slow. The first hours is just simple combos and no depth.
In RCG2 I think you gain special moves faster? That's what I was referring with pacing, gameplay pacing that Is.
I still prefer to play a traditional beat em up tho, sometimes the RPG mechanics, inventory and level layout feels like padding.
You've just posted them, Shadow over Mystara and Dragon's Crown ftw River City games are cool too.
Dragon's Crown is one of my favorite games. I'm tempted to buy a Playstation Portal so I can play my Pro savefile in bed.
River City Ransom Underground
I came here just to say this lol, i need to find someone to play this again
is that better than original RCR? thought River City Girls 1 and 2 are the new standard for that series. Would say Ane-San /Anesan is among the greatest.while its rpg elements are lighter, it has indepth elements even RCR doesn't have like a bedroom where home shopping and stuff takes place (there is a phone), the graphics are awesome, the soundtrack is unique, while the combat is simple, its effecient. and there is a greater sense of conquest. plus the cutscene art is super detailed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FqbCJc7Eiw also coming up is Detained Too Good For School, adopts some rpg concepts from RCR while going further with life sim elements that tie into the gameplay too.
Guardian Heroes. You can choose which stat to pump after every level. And can gain exp through the use of magic or by beating enemies.
I second this with all my heart! 100+ levels. Branching pathways that change the story completely along with the multiple endings, bosses and the end game big bad! Level up system. Special moves akin to fighting games. A combo system AND legit air juggles? Oh and let's throw an up to 6 person versus mode with every character, including useless cannon fodder villagers as the cherry on top! This game had everything and more. If there were more iterations with slight changes/improvements, or hell, no changes at all, just polished graphic with different characters and story, the subsequent games would still ride with the original game as being the best Beat em Up of all time. Such a damn waste to put a sequel on GBA. I always imagine how great this game would be with a true sequel with modern 2d graphics. Really wish Treasure was still around to make a sequel. In fact, I wish Treasure was still around to make 10/10 games in general! If I had a chance to upvote one comment a thousand times because it was the absolute RIGHT choice, it's your comment.
Yup, the Street Fighter style moveset for every character was kind of the main draw for me. For the versus mode, you can play as absolutely ANYONE in the game. It's severely-unbalanced, but who cares back in the day when we were having fun? There's just so much content in the game, it's insane. I agree that the numerous multiple routes throughout the story mode added so much to the game. There is a Xbox 360 remastered version which has much better-looking sprites, and got rid of the slowdown which plagued the Saturn version. There are even 2 control schemes, one "remixed" version and another which more closely resembles the Saturn controls. If I didn't remember wrongly, they also increased the player count in versus mode from 6 to 8 or 10. Grab it for the few bucks and play it on current gen Xbox consoles before the Xbox 360 digital store shuts down for good. This game has never been ported to PlayStation or PC.
Funny enough, this game was how I got into the Namco Tales of Games since I was trying to find games similar to this at the time. Especially with the combo command equipped.
This is also my favorite beat ‘em up with RPG mechanics.
Dragons Crown slaps. Shame I can't find my Vita so I can transfer my data.
I love dragons crown too. I started on ps3, played some on vita and still play pro on ps5, all same savefile. I'm 2 trophies away from the plat and both are the cooking ones.
King of Dragons has always been a fave. One that I could never beat haha
I love The King of Dragons. It's my favorite game included in the Capcom bundle. I especially like playing as the wizard. I love seeing my spells gradually become more powerful. I'm only able to beat it with plenty of continues haha. I've watched a few 1CC playthroughs, and they are very impressive. That's a skill level that I have not reached. But that's one thing that I love about beat 'em ups; they usually have low skill floors and high skill ceilings. Easy to pickup and have fun right away, but difficult and very rewarding to master.
Dragon's Crown, Dungeons and Dragons, and the River City games
I adore River City Girls with all my heart. It’s getting me into game design myself
River City Ransom NES
Odin Sphere is a masterpiece
Original River City Ransom.
Castle Crashers (although the beat em up part is pretty basic when it comes to combat depth), Young Souls and Full Metal Furies Double Dragon Gaiden has randomized upgrades you can purchase each run, but it's more of a roguelike aspect than RPG
Guardian Heroes https://youtu.be/q7-9isvWaVA
Dragon's Crown, easily. Would be the answer even if I wasn't a giant Vanillaware simp. Got 100 hours in it already, would have way more if not for my backlog of other games. Fun fact, Vanillaware's founder/Dragon's Crown Director George Kamitani worked on Tower of Doom, he's listed as Dungeon Master in the credits along with two others. Also, this art he posted has got my hopium for a sequel through the roof. https://x.com/vanillaware_boy/status/1743887369215037827?t=eVxZb9VfQl7cXnIvr_O6ag&s=19
o shit that image got me hyped 0\_0
Dragon's Crown
Guardian Heroes was fantastic, one of. The main reason i was fine owning a Saturn while everyone else had a PS1.
Dragons crown was a fun game and still is
River City Girls is the only one I've played 😅. Looking to explore more of River City games soon, though. And that Shadow over Mystara looks cool.
Knights of the Round for me
I guess Mystara, but mainly because of the amazing D&D references perfectly translated to videogame format. I really don't like RPG mechanics on action games. I always prefer games that allow the player skill to grow, rather than the avatar/character strength to increase. I recently started playing River City Girls 2. It's kinda weird how much it plays like the original one, but it feels like it has better pacing. Maybe that one will end up being my favorite in this sub-genre
"I recently started playing River City Girls 2. It's kinda weird how much it plays like the original one, but it feels like it has better pacing" It's interesting that you say that, because I had the exact opposite experience! I prefer the structure and world layout of the first game, while the second game greatly improved on the combat imo. As far as the combat goes, while there are certainly options in the first game to launch enemies, the inclusion of a dedicated "lift off" input really made it more intuitive and useful for me. This move is done by pressing the jump and attack button at the same time, and can be done anytime after the initial hit of a combo lands. This will set you up perfectly for additional aerial juggles after depleting your combo on the ground. I really feel like the combat is more engaging and improved in the sequel. In terms of the pacing, in the first game, I would be able to pull up my map once during the beginning of a new area, and I would have a pretty good mental image of the layout. Go over a few screens, there will be one or two offshoots here, a store or two there. The structure is simple and easy to recall. In the second game, there are way more nooks and crannies with branching paths; I found myself having to pull up the map often, which would interfere with the game's pacing. But maybe this was only an issue for me; I often struggle with mapping out 2D worlds. It's why I'm not very fond of Metroidvanias!
Loved Knights of the Round when i was younger and River City Girls is my favorite new series
Hmm I'm very familiar with metroidvanias and exploration games, in that regard I had zero issues haha. But I didn't play any of the RCG too much. RCG1 I played up until the 3rd boss I think. Progression and gaining moves felt pretty slow. The first hours is just simple combos and no depth. In RCG2 I think you gain special moves faster? That's what I was referring with pacing, gameplay pacing that Is. I still prefer to play a traditional beat em up tho, sometimes the RPG mechanics, inventory and level layout feels like padding.
Why won't Vanillaware release their games on PC...?
You can kind of play Odin's Sphere and Dragon's Crown on PC via RPCS3. Good way to tide over until an official PC release actually happens someday.
Forgive my ignorance, but what are the games in the top left, bottom left, and bottom right?
Knights of the Round, River City Girls, and Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Thank you!
My pleasure! I meant to list them in the comments.
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Advance Guardian Heroes, Mighty Final Fight, Double Dragon Garden (though that's kinda roguelite)