is a
fighting
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed and published by
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
. It was first released for the Famicom and
Nintendo VS. System
The is an arcade system that was developed and produced by Nintendo. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). As Nintendo was planning to release the ...
for
arcades in 1984, and later released for the NES in North America and Europe in 1986. It is Nintendo's first 2D fighting game, eventually followed by the 1993 Famicom game ''
Joy Mech Fight
is a fighting game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer, released in Japan on May 21, 1993. The game was released during the generation shift between the Famicom and the newer Super Famicom, and ''Joy Mech Fight'' is coun ...
''. The game was poorly received, and has been retroactively regarded as one of the weaker Nintendo-published games for the NES.
Gameplay
In ''Urban Champion'', players participate in one-on-one
street fights
Street fighting or street combat is hand-to-hand combat in public places between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g., a street), and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or even death. Some street ...
, competing with opponents to push each other off the sidewalk and past the edge of the screen.
Fighters automatically assume a defensive stance when not attacking, and can raise or lower their arms to shift between blocking and attacking high or blocking and attacking low; the player must strike the area not protected by their opponent's arms to inflict damage and push the opponent back towards the screen's edge.
The player has access to two types of attacks: a weak punch, which does less damage and knockback but is faster and harder to defend against; and a strong punch, which does more damage and knockback but takes longer to perform, making it easier to block, dodge or interrupt.
Battles use a "best 3-of-5 rounds" format.
At the start of each round, both fighters begin with 200 stamina points.
[ Each punch costs the player one point of stamina to perform, while the weak punch inflicts four points of stamina damage and the strong punch inflicts ten points. A man will occasionally drop flower pots from the windows; if hit by a pot, a fighter will take five points of damage and be temporarily dazed.][ In addition, a patrol car may pass by at any point in the fight, which causes the fighters to return to their starting positions.] If a fighter runs out of stamina, they become vulnerable and every attack will inflict the same amount of knockback on them as a strong punch. When a fighter is pushed to the edge of the screen, the round ends as they are knocked off the sidewalk onto the street, and the battle shifts to the next block for the next round. Each round also features a 99-second timer; if time runs out before the round is complete, the police will arrest the fighter closest to the edge of the screen, making the other player the winner of the round. When a fighter has lost two rounds, an open sewer manhole
A sanitary manhole (sewer manhole, sanitary sewer manhole or sewer maintenance hole) is a manhole that is used as an access point for maintenance and inspection of an underground sanitary sewer system. Sanitary manholes are sometimes used as vent ...
appears on the street behind them; the player who successfully pushes their opponent into the manhole is declared the winner, briefly celebrating as a woman showers them with confetti
Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar or metallic material, usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''confetto'', ...
from a window.
The game has two gameplay modes: the single-player Game A, and the multiplayer Game B. In Game A, each time the player knocks their opponent into a manhole, a symbol appears in the bottom corner of the screen denoting their victory. The goal is to earn 45 consecutive victories, at which point the player earns the rank of Champion.
Release
''Urban Champion'' was inspired by the 1984 Game & Watch
is a series of handheld electronic games developed by Nintendo. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, the first game, ''Ball'' was released in 1980 and the original production run of the devices continued until 1991. The name Game & Watch reflects thei ...
game ''Boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
'' (also known as ''Punch-Out!!
is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls Little Mac, a boxer who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion.
The original '' Punch-Out!!'' arcade game w ...
''). The game was first released in Japan on November 14, 1984, for the Family Computer
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the U ...
; it was later released in North America and Europe in 1986 for the system's western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
. An arcade version was released in 1985 under the name ''Vs. Urban Champion''.
''Urban Champion'' has been re-released via emulation on several later Nintendo consoles. It was first re-released on November 11, 2002 as a set of cards for the Nintendo e-Reader
The Nintendo e-Reader, commonly abbreviated as e-Reader, is an add-on manufactured by Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both v ...
. The game was digitally re-released for the Virtual Console
The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
service, both for the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
in December 2006, and for the Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
in October 2013. An updated version for the Nintendo 3DS
The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...
that utilized autostereoscopic 3D was developed by Arika
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was formed in 1995 by former Capcom employees. It was originally known as ARMtech K.K, but was later named Arika. The name of the company is the reverse of the name of the company's founder, ...
as part of the '' 3D Classics'' series, and was released on July 13, 2011 in Japan and the rest of the world on August 18.
As part of Hamster Corporation
is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999.
On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 360 titles are distribut ...
's ''Arcade Archives
is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...
'' series, the arcade version of ''Urban Champion'' was re-released for Nintendo Switch
The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
on November 9, 2018. The NES version was also added to the Nintendo Classics
Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service on July 4, 2024.
Reception
''Urban Champion'' received largely negative reception. In the special edition ''Pak Source'' included in the January/February 1990 volume of ''Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'', which rated all the NES games released in North America from October 1985 to March 1990, ''Urban Champion'' received (out of 5) scores of 2.5, 2.5, 1.5, and 1.5 for the four categories evaluated. Along with ''Chubby Cherub
''Chubby Cherub'' (known in Japan as ) is an action video game developed by Tose and published by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is about a flying cupid-like character who attacks enemies with hearts. It is one of the first thir ...
'', it is one of the only two games to obtain a score below 2 in a category.
Retrospective reviews of the game's Virtual Console release were similarly critical. Levi Buchanan noted it as one of the weakest NES games for the Virtual Console. GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
's Jeff Gerstmann
Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''GameSpot'' and the co-founder of the gaming website '' Giant Bomb'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in the fal ...
called it tedious when it was originally released, and now it's "about as boring as it can possibly be". ''GamePro
''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' described it as a second tier Virtual Console game. 1UP.com
''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conte ...
's Jeremy Parish commented that he would rather have nothing at all on the Virtual Console in its debut week than ''Urban Champion''. He also cited it as an example of a poor game that gamers would still buy for the e-Reader. He listed it as one of the worst Virtual Console games. 1UP.com's Patrick Klepek criticized Nintendo for releasing only this and ''Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
'' in one week, calling both poor games. Writer Bob Mackey called it questionable, calling it the "''Bad Street Brawler
''Bad Street Brawler'', originally released for home computers as ''Bop'n Rumble'' in North America and as ''Street Hassle'' in Europe, is a 1987 video game by Beam Software. Versions were released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 and MS-DOS ...
'' of its day". GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
's Phil Theobald called it "awful", criticizing its cameo in ''Tetris DS
is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS on March 20, 2006, in North America, April 13, 2006, in Australia, April 21, 2006, in Europe, and April 27, 2006, in Japan. An installment of the '' ...
''. IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's Lucas M. Thomas called it too shallow for an NES game, adding that there was no reason to purchase it. He also commented that it didn't deserve the distinction of being Nintendo's first head-to-head fighting game. IGN AU's Cam Shea called it "god awful", and "worse than actually falling down a manhole". Screw Attack advised that Wii owners not waste their money on it, calling it simple and slow. However, video game developer Ron Alpert found it to be an acceptable game, calling it one of the simplest of its day, but also an easy game to pick up and play.
Notes
References
External links
''Urban Champion'' (Virtual Console) at Nintendo's website
on the Famicom
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
40th Anniversary page {{in lang, ja
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