River City Ransom/Walkthrough


 * ''Note: the Sharp X68000 version has additional optional areas, which are not covered here yet.

The game begins at Cross Town High. You'll soon be attacked by this area's resident gang, The Generic Dudes. Fight your way to the right then up to reach the Grotto Mall. Once here you can buy whatever you like, but you should get either Stone Hands or Dragon Feet as these techniques make fighting much easier (see Moves for more). If you don't have the cash go back and beat up the constantly-respawning gang members. Continue onwards.

In the next area you can go either up or right. At the moment going up leads to nothing, so continue to the right. Here is your first boss area. You must defeat all the gang members before the boss, Moose will appear. When you beat him continue upwards.
 * All bosses must be defeated on the ground. If they are thrown into pits, it is an invalid KO and will not unlock further stories.

You're now at Waterfront Mall. Get Stone Hands or Dragon Feet if you didn't already; you only really need one of the two, as you can focus on buying items that boost the attack type you've bought the book for. There's also a pharmacy here; their products aren't consumed immediately and instead act as health kits, so if you've got some spare cash you may like to get a few. Head on to the right.

On the bridge you'll meet Roxy, who will give you some useful information on what you're up against. Head directly up into the red part to go under the bridge. Here you meet Benny and Clyde. They shouldn't be all that hard to defeat (especially if you bought a book) and you can knock them into the water if you need to. They give good money so you can keep going in and out to boost your funds. Once you're done, go back out.

Head right, up, right, and into the warehouse. After wiping out a few gang members you'll find the third boss, Rocko. After beating Rocko you need to backtrack to the park (the empty area mentioned above). Blade, the fourth boss and first of the Zombies, will be waiting for you in the park. After defeating Blade return to the warehouse.

Back at the warehouse, continue right into the tunnel. If you push up under the fourth light you'll enter Merlin's Mystery Shop. This place sells extremely expensive stat-boosting items. Anyway, head right to leave the tunnel. Once outside you'll fight the second Zombie, Turk. Beat him, then head up and fight the third Zombie, Mojo. Continue up and you reach Flatirons Mall. Buy what you want here, then continue to the right when you're ready.

Go right two more screens until you see another factory. Enter and continue to the right. It is possible to go back out of the factory if you wish but you will need to use a running jump. In the second area of the factory you fight Thor, the fourth and last of the Zombies. Continue right, then head up.
 * You must defeat the other three Zombies (Blade, Turk and Mojo) to let Thor spawn. Otherwise, the room will only spawn common gangs.

Here is Oak Hill Mall, followed by Burb Village. Here you'll fight Benny and Clyde again. If you wish you can repeatedly beat them for money and use the sauna to heal, and then go back to the mall and buy things. Anyway, head on to the right.

Go up a screen and you'll see the gates of River City High. Some enemies will appear, so defeat them. Afterwards, Ivan will come out if you've beaten all the bosses (if you haven't defeated all of the bosses, Ivan won't appear and you'll have to backtrack). You can now enter the school.

Once inside the school you'll meet Otis. Beat him then climb on the hoops to reach the upper door. Head upstairs and fight Tex. Beat him then head upstairs. On this floor you can enter a secret room from the far right set of white doors to see a quick bonus, but only after defeating the Dragon Twins. Anyway, continue further right to fight the Dragon Twins Randy and Andy. When you're ready, go through the doors they came through to fight the final boss. You can't run from him, so if you want to go buy anything do that now. Anyway, go through the doors.

You're now facing the final boss, Slick. Once he's dealt with you've won the game.

Tips

 * When you start out you will be holding $20.00 (¥2000 in the Japanese version) and every time you die you lose half your money; since there are no banks in this game, it is imperative that you spend your starting money quickly.
 * Most items in the game are stored in your inventory and have to be selected and used there to have any effect.
 * The books sold in most(not all) of the bookshops let you learn new moves. They cost between $26.95 and $78.25, making them very expensive purchases, but some are well worth their cost. Near the beginning of the game, the Stone Hands or Dragon Feet books are very useful, as they turn your punch or kick into a rapid-fire move which makes fights much easier. Grand Slam does the same for weapons; it's significantly more expensive, but well worth it, as it makes you essentially unbeatable if you have a stick or another long-range weapon.
 * Enemies do not understand how to fight on anything but flat ground; therefore they simply pause and stand still when you jump to a ledge or bench or other higher area. This can be exploited to wear down tough opponents by dropping down from higher areas while attacking and then returning to the ledge while they are stunned. Since most bosses except the Dragon Twins has a ledge conveniently located nearby, most of the game can be run without any powering up with careful use of this technique.
 * Willpower is more important than Stamina; while Stamina lets you absorb hits and continue fighting, Willpower lets you get up with 20 Stamina following a knockdown at zero Stamina. (this is the "gasping for air" animation that you are surely exploiting on the bosses for a free hit - they are polite and won't exploit it on you though) So buy items that give you a lot of Willpower; Donut, Lamb Leg, and the Sauna offer the best value for money.