River City Ransom: Underground Removed from Online Stores
River City Ransom: Underground is on sale on Steam for three dollars. The catch is that the game will be delisted from Steam soon, due to the licensing agreement expiring. Those who own the game, and those who purchase the game prior to the game being fully delisted, will be able to download the game and play it.
PCGamer’s Justin Wagner wrote, “Strangely enough, all of the screenshots and trailers have been scrubbed off its page on the storefront. Still, it’s billed as being available for $3 until January 5, though it may be delisted before that time (no clear timeline was shared in the announcement).”
According to Wagner, the game is a sequel to the well-known River City series, also known as Kunio-kun in Japan. River City Ransom: Underground was developed by Conatus Creative and was released worldwide in February 2017.
River City Ransom: Underground on Steam
The game’s description on Steam says, “Alex and Ryan must take to the streets to help a new crop of fighters. You’ll earn money, unlock moves, and upgrade your skills in a sprawling city. This modern take on an old classic features over 500 unique street fighting moves, dozens of weapons, and fun online multiplayer modes.”
PCGamer’s Justin Wagner wrote, “As for how it plays, it looks to be a pretty standard beat ’em up taking after the NES original, though the visuals are crisper and the combos lengthier. It’s not clear how the delisting will affect the game’s online multiplayer modes, but it still may be worth a pickup if the beat ’em up bug bit you after playing this year’s heavy hitters, Absolum and Marvel Cosmic Invasion. It is a new golden age for the style, after all.”
While not as well-known as the River City Girls series of spin-offs, River City Ransom: Underground has Mostly Positive reviews on Steam. River City Girls was released worldwide in 2019, followed by a sequel in 2022. The River City Girls series has been developed by WayForward and published by Arc System Works.
Reactions to River City Ransom: Underground’s Removal
A few people in PCGamer’s comments section commented on the game being delisted from Steam. One person wrote, “I don’t understand why anyone would go with a license that forces you to delist your game if you can’t renew it. Or maybe this was always planned and there was no intention of ever keeping the game listed forever.”
Another person commented, “I got the old version (with all the original music, that the devs were forced to remove, because artist beef, believe me the old music is loads better), and the newest GOG version.”
According to Siliconera’s Jenni Lada, the game is currently $20 on GOG and Humble. She had additional details regarding the game being delisted from Steam and likely Humble. She wrote, “Arc System Works is the rights-holder for the River City/Downtown Nekketsu IP. When Conatus Creative started working on this project and began crowdfunding for it on Kickstarter, it entered into an agreement with the parent company. As long as someone owns the game, they’ll still have access to River City Ransom: Underground after it is delisted. Others won’t have access. (The last time it was down on Steam, it was due to a false DMCA takedown.)”
One Siliconera user commented about supporing the game’s Kickstarter campaign. They wrote, “Damn, so this day has finally come… I gave like $250 to the kickstarter back in November of 2013, got a shirt and soundtrack and everything. The game finally released in Feburary 2017. And now here it is in front of me for 100 times cheaper than what I paid after over 12 years (albeit digital only), and about to be delisted. Good game, too bad game works have to be subjected to this kind of issue… hopefully there is a way made available to future generations to have access to it.”
