Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge is a game released for the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System. In Japan, the game was ported to the Game Boy.
Story[ | ]
Theodore "Todd" Thornley IV has had enough. After being humiliated once again by Jeff "Crash" Cooney and his band of misfits from Southside High School at the All-City Track Meet, he has decided to challenge Crash and his friends to a contest. Inviting two of the other high schools to participate in the challenge, plus an additional team sponsored by his wealthy father, Todd has seemingly stacked the deck against his cross-town rival.
Gameplay[ | ]
The game has four different teams to choose from, as well as a fifth computer-controlled team. Each team have five members each with their own strengths and weaknesses, making some better suited to certain events than others. Before each event, players have the opportunity to go shopping in the mall to buy power-ups for their characters. These items are paid for through the various medals that each team achieve as they progress through the challenge, but since the winner of the challenge is the team that collects the most medals overall, players must be fairly judicious in how much they spend.
There are two types of events in the game: individual events (Hammer Throw and Roof Top Jumping) and head-to-head events (400 Meter Hurdles, Swimming and Fighting). In individual events, each team takes turn individually and ranking is determined by who gets the most points. The head-to-head events take place under a single elimination tournament format, in which one player against another in a series of heats. The player who successfully defeats both of his opponents will get to compete against a member of Team Thornley for first place.
The game can be played by up to four players. Since there's never more than two teams competing at the same time, the third and fourth player can play simply by alternating between the two controllers. Thus, a four player adapter is not required, unlike other Kunio-kun games.
Teams[ | ]
- Southside High/Nekketsu High School (熱血高校, Nekketsu Kōkō?)
- Washington High School/Hanazono High School (花園高校, Hanazano Kōkō?)
- Lincoln High School/Reihō Academy (冷峰学園, Reihō Gakuen?)
- Artie (Arthur Van Smythe) / Ryūichi (服部 竜一, Hattori Ryūichi?)
- Skip (Winston Hildegard Jr.) / Ryūji (服部 竜二, Hattori Ryūji?)
- Wheels (Charles Edward Darlington) / Mochizuki (望月 駿, Mochizuki Shun?)
- Monty (Worthington Montgomery)/ Kobayashi (小林 政男, Kobayashi Masao?)
- Knots (Alexander Knottingham III) / Hayasaka (早坂 良麻, Hayasaka Ryōma?)
- Jefferson High School/Interschool Union (各校連合, Kakugō Rengō?)
- Team Thornley / Oklahoma High School (オクラホマハイスクール, Okurahoma Hai Sukūru?)
Events[ | ]
- The 400 Meter Hurdles event is a one-on-one race that features different sized hurdles that need to be avoided in different ways, or be turned into weapons. The event ends either when one player loses all their stamina, or they both cross the finish line.
- The Hammer Throw Golf event is mixed with golf rules, in that the player has to get the steel ball into the hole in the least amount of throws. This event is held with each contestant alternating.
- The Swimming event, also known as Water Slaughter, is a game of endurance, as the player and his opponent attempt to drain the stamina and oxygen of the other by drowning each other.
- Roof Top Jumping, or Skyline Scramble, features each participant alternating in an attempt to see who can finish with the best time. The spaces in between the roof tops vary, and require different techniques to cross.
- The Fighting Scene or Judo event is a one-on-one fight, in which each player uses a variety of judo moves to attempt to subdue the opponent.
Localization[ | ]
Street Challenge is a localization of Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku!, originally part of the Kunio-kun series and a sequel to the 1990 Famicom game Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai. It the eighth game in the series released for the Famicom and fifth to be localized for the North American market. Like previous localizations of the series (see Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom), the game's graphics and plot were altered to make the game marketable outside Japan.
- The actual scenery for the sports events were changed. While the original Japanese version represented the events as part a legit Olympic tournament, the backgrounds were changed in Street Challenge to go along with the urban setting.
- The four main teams in the Japanese version, Nekketsu, Hanazono, Reiho, and Rengo, were composed of established Kunio-kun characters (such as the Double Dragon twins, Ryuichi and Ryuji) and were all returning characters from Koshinkyoku. Of the four main teams, only Rengō (the Union) did not represent a specific school, being composed of students from several schools. The CPU-controlled Team Thornley was originally the Oklahoma High School team, the sole American school in Shin Kiroku.
- The character roster was changed, to make the Southside High team (Nekketsu High School) more ethnically diverse. Tōdō and Yamada (Todd and Skip respectively in Street Challenge) were not playable characters in the Japanese version, Tōdō was simply the sponsor of the tournament. In Street Challenge, Todd was made into the captain of the Hanazono High School team (which became the Washington High team in Street Challenge), replacing established hero Riki. Riki's sprite is used in Street Challenge as a member of Team Thornley named "Crusher", who replaces a black character named Raphael. Artie and Skip replace the Double Dragon twins, Ryuichi and Ryuji, as the captains of Reiho (Lincoln High in Street Challenge). The Rengo team (known as Jefferson High in Street Challenge) was the only team that had its roster unchanged during the transition from Shin Kiroku to Street Challenge.
Street Challenge was planned to be the first in a series of Kunio-kun games to be localized under the Crash 'n the Boys moniker. The ending to Street Challenge features a teaser for the next game in the Crash 'n the Boys series, Ice Challenge, a localization of the earlier Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu. A promotional poster packaged with the SNES game The Combatribes featured the cover artwork of the game. However, Ice Challenge was never officially released. Other Crash 'n the Boys games that were announced by American Technos included Soccer Challenge (Nekketsu Soccer League), Diamond Challenge (Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari) for the SNES and the Game Boy version of Street Challenge, all of which were unreleased.
On September 14, 2009, Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in North America.
Game Boy version[ | ]
The Game Boy version has few differences compared to the Famicom/NES versions. Namely, the Swimming event is replaced with an umbrella battle, where the characters jump from a building and fight in mid-air using an umbrella. The CPU-controlled Oklahoma High School is now playable via a cheat code.
Gallery[ | ]
Famicom Boxart
NES Boxart
External links[ | ]
- Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge at MobyGames