Arcade-style sports titles bring out the worst in me. During the tail end of my 21st birthday, I threw a rather embarrassing hissy fit because I was too drunk to win atMario Kart 64; I’ve said terrible things to some of my best friends over games ofNFL BlitzorNBA Jam; I almost had a coronary playingWindjammersagainst Jonathan Ross last week.
It might not be a good idea for me to evenpostaboutRiver City Soccer Hooligans, much less think about buying it, but here we are.
Kunio-kun no Nekketsu! Soccer League Plus World Hyper Cup(phew!) is a re-make of the 1993 Famicom version, and isn’t really aRiver Citygame at all. Itis, however, aKunio-kungame, an umbrella term that encompasses twenty-odd games with the same distinctive character style.
Confused? Don’t worry about it —River City Ransomwas the most successfulKuniogame in the U.S., so the name stuck.
You might be feeling a little disappointed that Alex and Ryan have been relegated to sports games on the DS, but take solace in the fact that Million Corp. has been dropping these little guys into sports games for years now. (AlthoughSoccer Hooliganswould’ve be a good way to get back toRiver City‘s 2D beat-’em-up roots.)
What does disappoint me, however, is that Kunio-kun’s transition into 3D hasn’t been particularly smooth or graceful. If I didn’t know already, there’s no way I’d be able to tell thatSoccer Hooligansdeserves theRiver Citytag. I am kind of stoked, though, that there is what seems to be aplayable puppy character! I can already feel that part of my brain that likedMega Man Soccerwarming up.
This is normally where I complain that this game won’t ever see the light of North American day, but Aksys Gamesare pulling publishing duty over here.
