Urban Champion

Not to be confused with Urban Champion game for theGame Master console.

Urban Champion
North American NES cover art
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Producer(s)	Gunpei Yokoi
Designer(s)	Makoto Kanoh
Composer(s)	Hirokazu Tanaka
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System,Arcade,Nintendo 3DS
Release	NES JP:November 14, 1984 NA:August 1986 EU:1986 Arcade JP:December 10, 1984 NA:January 1985 Nintendo 3DS 3D Classics JP:July 13, 2011 WW:August 18, 2011 Nintendo Switch Arcade Archives WW:November 9, 2018
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player,multiplayer
Arcade system	Nintendo VS. System

Urban Champion(アーバンチャンピオン)is afightingvideo gamedeveloped and published byNintendoin 1984. It was first released for the Famicom andNintendo VS. Systemfor arcades in 1984, and later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe in 1986. It was inspired by the 1984Game & WatchgameBo xing(also known asPunch-Out!!). It is Nintendo's first 2Dfighting game,eventually followed by the1993Famicom gameJoy Mech Fight.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

The objective is to knock the other player into asewer manhole.There is a 99-second time limit, and the player has a set limit of stamina (200 hit points). The player has two types of attacks: a light punch and a heavy punch. The light punch is weaker but faster and harder to block, while the heavy punch is stronger, but takes longer to pull off, is more easily telegraphed, and is thus easier to block.

Each punch costs the player 1 HP. Flower pots are occasionally dropped from windows, which will cost a fighter 5 HP and daze the fighter if they hit. When a player is knocked off the pavement, they advance to the next street. After every third fight, the opponent is knocked into a manhole, then the player has a brief celebration where a lady throwsconfettifrom a window. The goal of the game is to reach the rank of Champion. Every three fights won, the player gets a specific symbol on the lower right corner; after five symbols are earned, they go to the next set of symbols. After 45 symbols (135 fights), they get the rank of Champion. In addition, a police car may pass by the fighting at any point in the fight which causes the players to return to their starting positions. If the timer runs out, the police will arrest the player closest to being knocked off of the pavement, meaning it is a default win for the other player for that round.

Release

Urban Championwas first released in Japan on November 14, 1984, for theFamily Computer.It was an adaptation of theGame & Watchvideo game calledBo xing.It was released in the arcades asVs. Urban Championin 1985.It was later released in North America in August 1986 for theNintendo Entertainment System,and in Europe some time in 1986.Urban Championwas re-released for theNintendo e-Reader,and then later on theVirtual Consolefor theWiiand theWii U.Urban Championwas later slightly altered inautostereoscopic 3DbyArikaand released by Nintendo on theNintendo 3DSas a downloadable game in the3D Classicsseries on July 13, 2011, in Japan and the rest of the world on August 18. This release was featured among other games from theNintendo Entertainment SystemandSuper Nintendo Entertainment Systemto be released for the 3DS on a tech demo calledClassic GamesatE3 2010.

As part of theHAMSTER Corporation'sArcade Archivesseries,Urban Championwas released onNintendo Switchon November 9, 2018.

Reception

Most reviews gave it negative ratings. In the special editionPak Sourceincluded on the January/February 1990 volume ofNintendo Power,which rated all the NES games released in North America from October 1985 to March 1990,Urban Championreceived (out of 5) scores of 2.5, 2.5, 1.5, and 1.5 for the four categories evaluated.Along withChubby Cherub,it is one of the only two games to obtain a score below 2 in a category.Contemporary reviews upon the game's arrival on the Virtual Console were not better. Levi Buchanan noted it as one of the weakest NES games for the Virtual Console.GameSpot'sJeff Gerstmanncalled it tedious when it was originally released, and now it's "about as boring as it can possibly be".GameProdescribed it as a second tier Virtual Console game.1UP's Jeremy Parish commented that he would rather have nothing at all on the Virtual Console in its debut week thanUrban 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 's Patrick Klepek criticized Nintendo for releasing only this andBaseballin one week, calling both poor games.Writer Bob Mackey called it questionable, calling it the "Bad Street Brawlerof its day ".GameSpy's Phil Theobald called it "awful", criticizing its cameo inTetris DS.IGN'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.

External links

• Urban Champion(Virtual Console) at Nintendo's website