Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kuniokun

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A class trip to Osaka turns into the grittiest, edgiest Nekketsu game ever.

Story - Controls - Review - Images - Downloads

Storyline The intro begins on a lighthearted note, with Riki and Kunio walking around a business district somewhere. Riki's gluttony gets the better of him and Kunio gets pissed off. I really don't think this has anything to do with the story, though. Anyway, the Nekketsu boys take a trip to Osaka and soon find out it's full of people who want to kill them. "I don't understand Osaka..." Kunio says.

Controls
Y: Attack. At first this just makes Kunio punch twice (yeah, he takes two swings every time you press the button) but later he learns techniques like jumpkicks and the ability to hold someone down and beat them.
B: Jump.
A: Perform an action, like sleep on Kunio's hotel bed or talk to people who aren't trying to kill you.
The technique for grabbing people seems to involve walking up to them when they're not hitting you. At first you can only knee them and hold them from behind, squeezing the life out of them, but later you learn a shoulder throw.
Start brings up the menu, where you use and equip items. If you want to know what to do here, get the translation... (see links page)

In-Depth Review
I've played this game pretty extensively in partially translated form, with a person who can read japanese, and by myself. I had a good time doing all three, but I did best on the partially translated version, probably because I knew when I equipped the "checkered lining," my defense went up quite a bit.
The closest I can compare this to any other Nekketsu game is River City Ransom because of its RPG elements. There's no money collecting or food-buying, in fact, I don't think you can buy anything, ever. You simply gain experience from beating people up and your stats raise when you gain a level. You can equip different shoes, lining (coat lining?) and weapons, which consist of things like boxing gloves and brass knuckles. The items you collect include taxi cards for a quick return to your hotel, and you learn techniques that temporarily raise your stats but drain your willpower.
You can beat up anyone, whether or not they're angry at you. At first you'll probably just be accosted by punks in blue school uniforms and the occasional schoolgirl, but old men with beer guts, ladies, and salarymen eventually start fights with you. Even with the translation, I'm not sure why. When you get into a fight, there's no way of escaping, and the screen won't scroll again until everyone's dead. When you die, you're returned to your hotel bed, probably with some kind of penalty (but I never noticed). Sometimes people on the streets will join your side during a fight, but you still get experience for killing them.
The fighting works well and has a good "brawl" feeling, and you'll be doing a lot of it. At certain points in the game you can get a companion to fight with you, but they usually hurt you more than help. The music is incredibly great, and it never got old for me. The sounds are well done, but subtle. You get a nice sound when breaking a wooden stick over someone's head, or when hearing your thrown lead pipe bounce off the left side of the screen in stereo.
I think the story is very good... it has some branching options; you can join the evil side later in the game, as well as be uncooperative with the police. If you're a person who needs to know what's going on in a game to enjoy it, I recommend you wait until the translation is 100% complete. If you know Japanese or just want a good aimless romp, by all means, go for it. It's a lot of fun.

Images
Goddamnit, Riki...
Osaka, Osaka...
The first of many times you'll see the crap knocked out of Hiroshi.
What's all this, then? Right, clear out, you lot.

Downloads
FAQ - by Godai-kun.
Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kuniokun Super NES ROM - requires a SNES emulator, I suggest Zsnes.
(check Links section to find the emulators you'll need to play these)