I've had
River City: Tokyo Rumble on my mind for a while.
Technﾅ行 Japan were a power house in 80s arcade culture. Not only did they provide early innovation in PvP (
Karate Champ) and cooperative (
Double Dragon) play; their games evoked the same milieu that the Wu Tang Clan has so brilliantly experimented with over the years.
East and Southeast Asian communities were a growing demographic force in the US during the Golden Age of arcade games. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 had eliminated discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas in the US immigration system, paving the way for new groups to integrate into American life.
In addition to having the typical economic and culinary impacts, new artistic trends began to emerge that amalgamated preexisting Asian and American forms. In the eastern Mid Atlantic, many of the developments in fashion, cinema, and other forms of pop art reflected the larger urbanity they emerged in.
Kung fu shoes and Cheongsam dresses were integrated with local styles. Logograms and other Asian iconography became more prominent parts of the public landscape. Hong Kong Cinema was increasingly influential, first as a staple of independent theaters and film festivals, and then as core programming for Saturday afternoon and late night television.
Asian and western filmmakers were brewing pulpy combinations of martial arts action, crime genres, and westerns:
1971 The Big Boss (Fists of Fury)
1972 Fists of Fury (The Chinese Connection)/Five Fingers of Death
1973 Way of the Dragon (Enter the Dragon)
1974 The Street Fighter
1976 Master of the Flying Guillotine
1977 Executioners from Shaolin
1978 Game of Death/Five Deadly Venoms/The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
1979 Mystery of Chess Boxing
1979
The Warriors /The Wanderers*
1980 Clan of the White Lotus
1981
Escape from New York*
1982 Legendary Weapons of China
1983 The 8 Diagram Pool Fighter/Shaolin and Wu Tang
1984
Karate Champ Player vs Player (Arcade)1985 Police Story
1985
The Last Dragon*/Year of the Dragon*/Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins*
1986
Big Trouble in Little China* (this is obviously set in San Francisco, but I think it could have just as easily been set in NYC - unlike
The Karate Kid's very West Coast/suburban vibe.)
1986 A Better Tomorrow
1986
Renegade (Arcade)/Tag Team Wrestling (NES)1987 City on Fire
1987
Double Dragon (Arcade)/Super Dodge Ball (Arcade)/Renegade (NES)1988 City War
1988
Double Dragon II: The Revenge (Arcade)/Double Dragon (NES)/Super Dodge Ball (NES)1989 The Killer
1989
River City Ransom (NES)/ Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES)1990 Bullet in the Head
1990
Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone (Arcade)Technﾅ行 Japan seemed to overtly draw on these sources:
The Warriors
The Wanderers
Renegade (Arcade)
Renegade (NES)
Whatever the degree of actual influence,
Renegade and the
Double Dragon series complemented these films, and Technﾅ行 Japan was able to add depth to their own worlds by drawing from the public consciousness.
But Technﾅ行 Japan's arcade cabinets themselves were already integrated into the neighborhoods.
Karate Champ Player vs Player was wildly popular, and well suited to the range of bars, bodegas, and laundromats that random cabinets could be found in.
Double Dragon added cooperative play, and rewarded longer and better coordinated sessions, making it a perfect game for the corner pizza shop.
It was Technﾅ行 Japan's continuous presence in the neighborhoods, and their knack for tapping into both preexisting cultural vibes and changing demographic trends, that made them such an integral part of the moment. The streets and subways of the eastern Mid Atlantic already promised excitement. Technﾅ行 Japan added to the sense of adventure:
Faber's, Coney Island, Brooklyn (around-the-corner from where
The Warriors concludes).
Playland, Times Square, New York
Chinatown Fair, Chinatown, New York
Video games are frequently compared with music for good reason. Both mediums share a powerful ability to evoke nostalgia, which itself is a reflection of how they provide cultural context to our daily lives.
River City: Tokyo Rumble looks to be an interesting enough experience in its own right. But its more obvious promise is to add some freshness to a walk down memory lane.
My Kunio-Kun/Double Dragon 3DS Digital Collection:
Renegade, Super Dodge Ball, River City Ransom, Crash n the Boys: Street Challenge, River City: Tokyo Rumble; Double Dragon, Double Dragon II 
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