Renegade
System: NES
Release Date: January 1988
Developer: Technos Japan
Publisher: Taito
Genre: Beat ‘em Up
Oh Renegade, I was looking forward to you, as I love Technos and their games. I thought I had played Renegade before in my life, but I’m thinking it was Target: Renegade, instead. In Renegade, you are Mr. K, I prefer Kunio, myself, even Alex.
This is a simple brawler that doesn’t work so very good. You attack to the right with the A Button and attack the left with the B Button. If you press both at the same time, you attack with a jump kick. This is necessary when it comes to level two and kicking people off motorcycles. If you stun your opponent, you can lock up with them and throw some knees to their groin by attacking toward them. You can do a Judo throw if you press the button opposite them. My favorite attack is when they are on the ground, you sit on their chest and punch them until they die.
Of course, there are multiple enemies to keep an eye out for and they have no qualms ganging up on you. This makes it difficult to take them out one by one. If you can bunch them up, you may be able to take out a couple at a time, but that isn’t always possible. At the end of each stage, you fight a boss. You can’t go headlong into them, but instead must hit and run. I didn’t enjoy having to use that tactic so much.
Graphics: 2.0
Graphics are rudimentary. Sprites are big, backgrounds are decent.
Sound: 1.0
The music and sound effects aren’t very pleasant.
Gameplay: 1.5
Kunio’s attacks are too difficult to hit. He should be punching and kicking everyone without any problems. He takes too much of a beating.
Difficulty: 2.5
You can get into a groove, which I was able to for a bit, until I got to the boss Kim…
Fun Factor: 1.0
I wasn’t enjoying myself too much with this one. I hope Target: Renegade fares better.
Overall Grade: 1.6
Renegade earns a C-. It’s a start to the Kunio-kun series, but I can’t wait for the future.