River City Ransom is a venerable name in the beat ’em up space, going all the way back to Nintendo Entertainment System, and there have been plenty of River City games (or Kunio-kun, by its original title) in the meantime. Underground may not have been the most popular game in the series, but if you did want to give it a shot, you should probably get on that pronto: it’s about to be delisted from Steam.
The news came in a Steam Community Hub update that reads: “Due to the expiration of a licensing agreement, this game will be removed from sale on Steam. The delisting process is currently underway. If you already own the game, nothing changes—it will remain available in your Steam library, and you can continue to download and play as usual.”
Though not as popular as colorful spinoff River City Girls, the game sits at a “mostly positive” user review rating on Steam. I haven’t played Underground myself just yet, but I have played the original NES game; it’s one of the better action games on the system that I’ve tried.
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).
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.
You can buy River City Ransom: Underground on Steam for $3 until it’s gone.
