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Renegade was a video game released in American and European arcades in 1986 by Taito. It was a westernized conversion (including changes to all of the sprites and backgrounds) of the Japanese arcade game Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-Kun, released earlier the same year by Technos. It was an immediate technological predecessor to Double Dragon, and Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-Kun was a thematic prequel to River City Ransom.
Gameplay
In Renegade, the player controls a nameless thug who fights a variety of street gangs on his way to save his nameless girlfriend. Unlike other similar games like Double Dragon and Final Fight, the playfield is limited to one two-screen-wide area (a subway platform, a park, an alley, a parking lot) and does not scroll continuously. Out of the four levels in the game, the first and third each begin with the player fighting a group made up of two different types of enemies; one with a stronger attack but less hit points, and one with a weaker attack and the ability to hold the player, but more hit points. When only three of these enemies remain (in any combination of the two) their boss will come in from the sidelines and join the fight. When the boss is defeated, all remaining enemies retreat off the bottom of the screen, and the stage ends. The second stage follows this same formula, but begins with motorcycles trying to run the player down, and brings in the normal enemies once the motorcycles have been defeated. The fourth level replaces the two normal types of enemies with a single type of knife-wielding enemy who can kill the player in one hit.
The game has an unusual amount of voice sampling for the time it came out; the "credit" sound is a voice saying "Good luck, kid", and each boss has a different taunt (including "Beat it, punk!", "Get lost, scum!" and "Had enough yet?").
Controls
In addition to an eight-direction joystick, there are three buttons; left attack, right attack, and jump. Pressing the attack in the direction you're facing will punch, attacking in the opposite direction will perform a back-kick. Jump is only useful followed immediately by one of the attack buttons, which will perform a jumping kick in the direction of the attack. Pressing the joystick twice quickly either left or right will cause the player to run, at which point attacking in the direction of the run will perform a running punch, jumping will automatically perform a flying kick, and attacking in the opposite direction will bring the player to a sudden halt and perform a back-kick. Pressing down over a downed enemy will make the player sit on top of the enemy, at which point attacking toward the enemy will cause the player to pummel him "A Christmas Story-style".
Version differences
Renegade and Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio-Kun play exactly the same and have the same music; the only differences are in the graphics, voice samples, and plot. As opposed to Renegade's "save your girlfriend" plot, Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun is about getting revenge on various gangs (rival schools, bousouzoku and yakuza) who keep beating up your best friend. Each level of Nekketsu Kouha begins with a short cutscene of your friend getting beaten senseless by the next level's thugs until you chase them off, which is completely absent from Renegade. The enemies' sprites have also all been changed to look more westernized; the first level's schoolboys and bald schoolboys in school uniforms have been changed to 50's-style greasers and black men in hawaiian shirts respectively, the second level's bousouzoku have been changed to long-haired, musclebound American bikers, etc.
Naturally, all the voice samples in Nekketsu Kouha are in Japanese, although they say basically the same things as in Renegade.
Ports
Renegade was ported to the NES, the Commodore 64, the Sega Master System, and the Sharp X68000. The NES version is a strong departure from the original arcade game; the first and third levels each consist of a series of single-screen fights against one enemy at a time, culminating in a one-on-one fight with the boss. The second level is a side-scrolling motorcycle race, in which the player tries to kick opponents off their motorcycles. The fourth level is a maze of identical rooms, each containing one or more enemies.
Sequels
Taito produced two sequels to Renegade: "Target: Renegade", and "Renegade 3".
Technos produced numerous sequels to Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun, including the games that were published in the U.S.A. as River City Ransom, Super Dodge Ball, and Nintendo World Cup.
The sequels to Renegade and the sequels to Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun are completely unrelated.
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