Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (Japan) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 38 years ago:

Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun © 1986 Technos.

The original side-scrolling beat-em-up from Technos. Kunio, a tough guy from Nekketsu High School, stands up for his bullied friend Hiroshi against the numerous gangs that are tormenting his life. Each stage begins with one of the gang's members beating up Hiroshi, followed Kunio chasing after the attackers.

The game uses a 2-way attacking, in which one button attacks to the character's left and the other to his right. Techniques includes a basic punch combo, a back kick, a collar grab, a downward attack, and even a jump kick. The player can also run by pushing the joystick left or right twice.

The game is comprised of 4 stages, each with their unique set of enemy characters:

Stage 1 - Set on a train platform. The enemies are a gang of students from the neighboring school of Hanazono. Some of the enemies are armed with sticks. Their boss is Riki, Kunio's rival.

Stage 2 - Set on a harbor in Yokozuka. The enemies are a gang of bikers called the Yokohama Funky. The first wave of enemies will attempt to run Kunio down with their bikes. After knocking down all the bikers, the enemies on the sidelines will enter the playing field to attack the player. Their boss is Shinji.

Stage 3 - Set in a dark alley, the enemies are a gang of girl students from the Taiyou Academy. The boss is Misuzu, a giant lady.

Stage 4 - The first half of the stage is set in a parking lot, where a group of four hitmen working for the Sanwa Club will attack Kunio with their knives. Unlike other enemies, they can kill the player off with one hit. After defeating the four hitmen, the player will enter the Sanwa building where he will encounter three more hitmen and their boss, Sabu.

TECHNICAL
Game ID: TA-0018

Main CPU: MOS Technology M6502 (@ 1.5 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 1.5 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM3526 (@ 3 Mhz), Custom (@ 8 Khz)

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2

TRIVIA
Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun was released in May 1986.

The title of this game roughly translates from Japanese as 'Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio'.

This game is known in the Western regions as "Renegade".

Kunio is named after Kunio Taki, the president of Technos Japan at the time. Kunio would return in the Technos arcade game "Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu", the Japanese version of "Super Dodge Ball", and would go on to star on numerous console games by Technos. A few of these were localized for the Western market, such as "River City Ransom", "Nintendo World Cup" and "Crash 'n the Boys - Street Challenge", where Kunio's identity would change from game to game (such as Alex or Crash Cooney).

Apollon Music released a limited-edition soundtrack album (Cassette format) for this game (Nekketsu Kouha-kun Sound Story) in May 1987.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Perform Debug Test

Hold down both 1P and 2P Start buttons. Do this after you turn on the arcade machine.

SERIES

• Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun [Model TA-0018] (1986)
• Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (1989, Nintendo Famicom)
• Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun - Bangai Rantou-hen (1991, Game Boy)
• Downtown Special - Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zen'in Shuugou! (1991, Nintendo Famicom)
• Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (1992, Super Famicom)
• Shin Nekketsu Kouha - Kunio-tachi no Banka (1994, Super Famicom)

STAFF
Director: Yoshihisa Kishimoto
Designer: Masao Shiroto, Misa Yazaki
Programmer: Noriyuki Tomiyama, Shintaro Kumagai

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Nintendo Famicom (jan.1988) "Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun [Model TJC-KN]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jan.26, 2006) "Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun [Oretachi Geasen Zoku] [Model SLPM-62706]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 4 (jul.24, 2014) "Arcade Archives - Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun [Model CUSA-00388]"
[AS] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (may.28, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Renegade"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (dec.22, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Renegade [Model CUSA-03932]"

• COMPUTERS:

[JP] PC (oct.22, 1999) "Renegade"
[JP] PC (mar.29, 2002) "Renegade [Uran Memorial]"

CONTRIBUTE
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