Riot Zone
Encyclopedia
Riot Zone, known in Japan
as , is a , beat 'em up
video game developed by WestOne Bit Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft
for the TurboGrafx-CD console. It was re-released on the Virtual Console
for North America on January 14, 2008, in the PAL region
s on January 18, 2008, and in Japan on April 1, 2008.
, Riot City
, but Sega retained rights to the main characters, bosses, and names. Because of this they teamed up with Hudson Soft
to produce a recycled version of the game for the TurboGrafx-CD, under a new license.
To get around the licensing issue, Hudson Soft simply had the graphics of the main characters and the title changed. The result was Riot Zone, which instead of featuring Paul and Bobby, featured characters known as Hawk and Tony, who bore a striking resemblance to Paul and Bobby, albeit with outfits. The game was, however, Riot City in gameplay, but with few differences. In this arrangement, once again, Hudson Soft retained the rights to the characters and name, allowing them to continue to produce future games using the Riot Zone name and characters, or plan re-releases.
where two men known as Hawk Takezaki and Tony Aldus met up with their chief Jim Hyde, and told him that they finally forced a villain known as Bossman to stay in a place called the DragonZone. The chief advised Hawk not to enter the DragonZone and head back home, but Hawk refused to do so. Before he immediately began traveling toward DragonZone and try to demolish it, in order to save a girl name Candy, Tony told Hawk that he will join him.
's 1989 arcade hit, Final Fight
, which is an archetypal side scrolling beat-em-up game. Players choose between two characters: Hawk, the blond-haired vigilante who has average statistics, and Tony, who is strong, but slow and has a break-dancing
move. Player controls the chosen character from left to right through each level (most of which are split into three or more scenes), fighting with the enemy characters who appear, until they reach a confrontation with a stronger boss character at the end of the level. Once that boss is beaten, the player automatically moves on to the next stage. Enemies appear from both sides of the screen, and the player must defeat all of them to progress. If the player tries to simply travel through the levels without fighting, the screen will stop scrolling until all current enemies have been defeated, before allowing the player to continue progress. Enemies may move outside the confines of the screen, but players may not. Unlike Final Fight, there are no weapons to pick up along the way, but the player will only pick up items for points and health. Unlike Riot City, Riot Zone lacks multiplayer and instead of chiptune
music, the TurboGrafx-CD allows it to play high-quality redbook music.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a , beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
video game developed by WestOne Bit Entertainment and published by Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
for the TurboGrafx-CD console. It was re-released on the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
for North America on January 14, 2008, in the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
s on January 18, 2008, and in Japan on April 1, 2008.
History
Escape/WestOne had a licensing arrangement whereby they owned the rights to the Japan-exclusive beat 'em up arcade gameArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
, Riot City
Riot City
is a 2D beat 'em up arcade game developed by WestOne Bit Entertainment and published by Sega.-Plot:The plot begins when narcotics agents Paul and Bobby are committed to putting an end to the drug syndicate known as "MID". MID's secret hideout is located on Riot Island, an island full of...
, but Sega retained rights to the main characters, bosses, and names. Because of this they teamed up with Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
to produce a recycled version of the game for the TurboGrafx-CD, under a new license.
To get around the licensing issue, Hudson Soft simply had the graphics of the main characters and the title changed. The result was Riot Zone, which instead of featuring Paul and Bobby, featured characters known as Hawk and Tony, who bore a striking resemblance to Paul and Bobby, albeit with outfits. The game was, however, Riot City in gameplay, but with few differences. In this arrangement, once again, Hudson Soft retained the rights to the characters and name, allowing them to continue to produce future games using the Riot Zone name and characters, or plan re-releases.
Plot
In the beginning, the setting takes place in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where two men known as Hawk Takezaki and Tony Aldus met up with their chief Jim Hyde, and told him that they finally forced a villain known as Bossman to stay in a place called the DragonZone. The chief advised Hawk not to enter the DragonZone and head back home, but Hawk refused to do so. Before he immediately began traveling toward DragonZone and try to demolish it, in order to save a girl name Candy, Tony told Hawk that he will join him.
Gameplay
Like Riot City, Riot Zone resembles CapcomCapcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's 1989 arcade hit, Final Fight
Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...
, which is an archetypal side scrolling beat-em-up game. Players choose between two characters: Hawk, the blond-haired vigilante who has average statistics, and Tony, who is strong, but slow and has a break-dancing
B-boying
B-boying, often called "breakdancing", is a popular style of street dance that was created and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans and Latino youths in New York City. The dance consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes...
move. Player controls the chosen character from left to right through each level (most of which are split into three or more scenes), fighting with the enemy characters who appear, until they reach a confrontation with a stronger boss character at the end of the level. Once that boss is beaten, the player automatically moves on to the next stage. Enemies appear from both sides of the screen, and the player must defeat all of them to progress. If the player tries to simply travel through the levels without fighting, the screen will stop scrolling until all current enemies have been defeated, before allowing the player to continue progress. Enemies may move outside the confines of the screen, but players may not. Unlike Final Fight, there are no weapons to pick up along the way, but the player will only pick up items for points and health. Unlike Riot City, Riot Zone lacks multiplayer and instead of chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
music, the TurboGrafx-CD allows it to play high-quality redbook music.