Hey! Remember River City Ransom? The classic 2.5D beat-em-up for the Nintendo Entertainment System game has garnered itself cult status over the years, and now, there’s an officially-approved Kickstarter underway for its sequel—River City Ransom: Underground.
River City Ransom Underground will take place some 25 years after the original title, with returning main characters Alex and Ryan against back-to-his-old-tricks Slick. Like the original, RCRU will allow players to have a semi-sandbox experience by being able to select levels to explore and fight through, rather than a fixed route through the game.
Canadian Developers Conatus Creative’s sequel is in development for the PC and will still be in 2.5D—which means 2D with the ability to move into the background and foreground—and the developers have promised to beef up every aspect of the game. So, more characters, more stores to shop at, updated AI and skills to fight with and against. The game will also feature both local and online multiplayer for up to four players.
 
As mentioned, this is an officially-licensed and officially-approved sequel. Conatus picked the license up in April from Million Co., a company of ex-Technos staff who acquired the rights to the series when Technos disappeared into the ether. This means that, yes, Underground will be fully canon. It’s so canon, they have creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto on board as a creative consultant to stay true to what makes a River City game a River City game.
There’s also other big name talent on the team, such as Dustin Crenna (Sound designer for Halo 4, Bioshock 2, The Darkness 2 etc) and Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpiece (Who you might remember is also doing Hyperlight Drifter, that other Kickstarter game we highlighted) working on the team, and Conatus Creative have promised extra cash for the game will go towards hiring more staff to ensure the game gets done properly and on time.
Kickstarter exclusive weapon skins sound like a pretty sweet deal and nice compromise to those who dismay at locked-away content exclusives. As of print, the game is about halfway to funded and can be found here.
 
