Looking back at the years I spent playing the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES, I can't help but remember one game in particular. That game is River City Ransom.

I can remember when I first got it. I had no idea what I was in for when I picked it up and begged my parents to buy it for me. Going in I had never heard of the game but liked the box art and the screen shots on the back. On the trip home I read the manual at least 3 times. Once home I popped it into my NES and was awstruck with the game.

You were able to pick from 2 guys Alex or Ryan. Also you could play 2 player co-op. My friends and I would play this for hours. We would just go around killing gang members to see who could collect the most money. This game had it all for the time.

The game starts out with you getting a letter from Slick who is like the main boss of the game and he says he has kidnapped Alex's girlfriend and has her captive at the school.

You then need to take on gangs and eventually get Alex's girlfriend back. Each gang was unique in names and looks and had their own boss. This game was great because you could back track at any time to areas you had already been too.

As you beat up gang members they would say funny things like "BARF' when they died and leave money in the form of a bouncing coin.

You could use the money in town shops. Youcould buy food to replenish heath, buy books to give you new techniques (which I didn't know for the longest time), and also buy shoes which increased your stats.

The game also had a password feature to save your status but you would always start from the beginning. The password was as long as all get out. I usually messed it up when I wrote it down.

If you have the chance I suggest you check this game out.

They did a release of it on the GBA a few years back. I liked it but it just wasn't the same as the original NES version. The graphics where cleaned up and more crisp but it just wasn't the same to me.