Renegade (NES)

Renegade
Also known as: Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun (JP), Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun (2020) Developer: Technos Japan Publishers: Technos Japan (JP), Taito (US), Arc System Works (EU/AU) Platform: NES Released internationally: February 20, 2020 (Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle) Released in JP: April 17, 1987 Released in US: January 1988 Released in EU: February 20, 2014 (3DS Virtual Console) Released in AU: February 20, 2014 (3DS Virtual Console) This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has a Data Crystal page

Renegade is a somewhat reimagined port of the influential arcade game of the same name. It was the first game in the Kunio-kun series, the first home console game developed by Technos Japan, and also one of the first beat-'em-ups ever made.

Level Select

You can choose which stage to start on by entering specific codes at the title screen.

Mission 2	Hold Left on Controller 2 and press Down, Up, Right, Up, Left, Up, Start on Controller 1
Mission 3	Hold Down on Controller 2 and press Up, Down, Left, Down, Right, Down, Start on Controller 1
Mission 4	Hold Up on Controller 2 and press Down, Down, Up, Up, Right, Left, Start on Controller 1

Regional Differences

The game was significantly reskinned when brought to the US, similar to the original arcade release. The original Japanese game was localized a second time for the Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle and is now officially titled "Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun".

Title Screen

The title screen was spruced up for the US release. It shows a deteriorated wall with the game's title written in spray paint.

Japan	US	Worldwide

Introduction

The Japanese version does have a bit of an intro sequence. Kunio's friend Hiroshi casually walks across the screen and is abducted by a car that drives past him. Kunio chases after the car on a motorcycle, shouting "WAIT!"

The US version doesn't really have any story to speak of. The manual basically just says "you're surrounded by punks, beat them up."

Characters

Player

Japan	US	Info
		Kunio / Mr. K The player character was originally wearing a white Japanese school uniform. This was changed to a brown opened vest and brown pants, clearly inspired by the movie The Warriors. His skin tone was also changed from yellow to pink, a change that was also applied to all the other characters.

Enemies

Japan	US	Info
		The enemies of the first stage were changed from high school delinquents to... greasers?
		Aside from a change in skin tone, these bosozoku gang members went untouched. Note that they didn't bother to fix the stray pixel to the right of his head.
		The schoolgirls were completely redrawn and their uniforms were changed to red dresses.

Bosses

Japan	US	Info
		Riki / Jack Riki, Kunio's future rival in the series, wears an open blue school uniform with tape around his abdomen. Jack has long hair and wears an open vest with a headband.
		Shinji / Joel Shinji was changed from a sleazy-looking guy in blue to a scary-looking punker with a mohawk and ponytail... and some sort of weird thing covering his mouth.
		Misuzu / Kim Misuzu was originally a sukeban, the leader of a schoolgirl gang. Her school uniform was changed to what looks like a red cheongsam. She was also redrawn a bit.
		Sabu Sabu, the yakuza boss, had his outfit changed from brown to green.

Items

The health power-up was appropriately changed from a rice ball to an all-American hamburger. Amusingly, the game's manual shows a picture of the rice ball while still calling it a hamburger.

Japan	US

Mission 1

Japan	US

This level was changed from the outdoors Shinjuku Station to a shabby-looking underground subway. Surprisingly, signs advertising beer were added to the US release. How'd that get past Nintendo's censors?

In the Famicom version the backgrounds for the first two stages differ depending on the difficulty setting, going from daytime (blue skyline) on Level 1 (the easiest setting), sunset (orange skyline) on Level 2 and nighttime (black skyline) on Level 3 (the hardest setting). This effect is absent on Mission 1 of the NES version, due to the change from an outdoor setting to an indoor one, but is still present on Mission 2 (the only stage to go relatively unchanged between versions).

Japan	US

Because of the aforementioned change, the windows inside the train are always black in the U.S. version regardless of difficulty setting.

Japan	US

In the boss area, the same changes from the first section apply. The "Shinjuku" sign in the background was completely removed from the US scene.

Mission 3

Japan	US

The beer sign next to the bar entrance was translated. Again, how did this get past censors...?

Ending

The door in the background opens. Hiroshi is standing there crying. He walks over to Kunio and they shake hands. Cut to credits. This sequence was completely removed from the US release; the game jumps to the staff roll immediately after the final boss is defeated.

Additionally, the theme that plays during the credits has a different intro in the US version.