River City Ransom Big 20 #4 Tutorial, by CapnGoof

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Potential ROM Versions:
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For a while I've been trying to determine if there are truly different versions of River City Ransom that were released in the North American market.  Some cartridges/ROMs will always have the "Generic Dudes" gang spawn outside of Cross Town High when the game begins.  In others, the "Frat Guys" gang spawn outside of Cross Town High when the game begins.

You can contribute to this research effort by following the directions detailed in the following thread:  http://www.speedrun.com/rivercityransom/thread/7ntdb

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Speedrun Timing:
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Timing begins when the screen fades in, in front of Cross Town High, and the player gains control.  Timing ends when the screen fadesto black after Simon finishes delivering his exposition after being defeated.

For consistent timing start, I suggest having a countdown timer of -6.83 seconds, and starting the timer when pressing the Start button to dismiss the ransom letter prior to the title screen.

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Why RYAN and not ALEX
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When Simon is defeated, he gives a post-defeat exposition before the screen fades to black (and timing officially ends).  This exposition is considerably longer if playing as ALEX instead of RYAN.  Therefore, choosing RYAN automatically saves several seconds over choosing ALEX.

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Controls:
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Move:					Up, Down, Left or Right on D-pad
Sprint:					Double-tap Left, or double-tap Right on D-pad.  You do not achieve top speed instantly.
Jump:					Press A and B simultaneously.  You do not achieve maximum jump height or length unless sprinting at your maximum speed.  Jump distance/height is further affected by your AGI(lity) stat.
Wall Jump:				Run into a wall when mid-air in a jump or sprinting jump
"Unicycle"				Jump onto a rolling tire
"Totem Pole"			Jump onto a crate, trash can, or tire that is being carried by an enemy
Block:					Press A or B when being attacked.  Note: You cannot block when holding a weapon or body.
"Baseball":				Strike a thrown weapon with a kick, punch, thrown weapon or held weapon (by swinging)
Punch:					A
Sprinting Punch:		Press A when already sprinting
Kick: 					B
Sprinting Kick:			Press B when already sprinting
"Cannon"				Perform a Sprinting Kick against a Trash Can or Crate that is on the ground
Flying Jump Kick:		Kick while mid-air during a sprinting jump.  Can be combo'd infinitely.  This move is unavailable if you have learned Dragon Feet.
Pick up Weapon:			Press A or B when near a weapon.  Note: You ALWAYS prioritize a weapon pickup over a punch or kick if your hands are empty.
Pick up Body:			Press A or B when in the center of a prone body.  Note:  You ALWAYS prioritize a weapon pickup over a punch or kick if your hands are empty.
Swing Weapon/Body:		Press A.  Can also be performed when already sprinting.
Throw Weapon/Body:		Press B.  Can also be performed when already sprinting.

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Attack Animation Speed:
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Ultra Fast:				Stone Hands, Dragon Feet, Grand Slam, 2nd strike of combos that have a Fast Animation Speed attack, 3rd strike of combos that lead with an Acro Circus tumble.
Fast:					Punch, Kick, swinging Rock, swinging Brass Knuckles, 2nd strike of combos that have a Medium Animation Speed attack.
Medium:					Swinging Stick, swinging Chain, swinging Lead Pipe, 2nd strike of combos that have a Slow Animation Speed attack.
Slow:					Swinging Tire, swinging Trash Can, swinging Crate

In Novice, bosses can be permanently stunlocked when performing combos with Fast and Medium animation attacks.  The Slow animation attacks give bosses a window in which to block or counter-attack in-between your strikes.

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Damage Dealt:
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TL;DR:	Always use a stick, chain (preferred) or lead pipe instead of bare fists/feet.  Leading in with a running strike does a TON more damage.  Stone Hands/Dragon Feet for victory.

Standing Punch:			3 Damage at 15 Punch, 4 Damage at 17 Punch
Sprinting Punch:		11 Damage at 15 Punch, 12 Damage at 17 Punch, 13 Damage at 19 Punch ...
Standing Stone Hands:	15 Damage at 15 Punch, 18 Damage at 17 Punch, 21 Damage at 19 Punch ...  Note: Full damage only when you connect when all three strikes of a Stone Hands flurry.
Sprinting Stone Hands:	36 Damage at 15 Punch, 42 Damage at 17 Punch, 48 Damage at 19 Punch ...  Note: Full damage only when you connect when all three strikes of a Stone Hands flurry.
Standing Kick:			3 Damage at 15 Kick, 4 Damage at 17 Kick
Sprinting Kick:			11 Damage at 15 Kick, 12 Damage at 17 Kick, 13 Damage at 19 Kick ...
Standing Dragon Feet:	15 Damage at 15 Kick, 18 Damage at 17 Kick, 21 Damage at 19 Kick ...  Note: Full damage only when you connect when all three strikes of a Dragon Feet flurry.
Sprinting Dragon Feet:	36 Damage at 15 Kick, 42 Damage at 17 Kick, 48 Damage at 19 Kick ...  Note: Full damage only when you connect when all three strikes of a Dragon Feet flurry.
Andy's Spin Kick:		53 Damage on Novice difficulty
Randy's Spin Kick:		61 Damage on Novice difficulty (yes, this is basically your ENTIRE health bar with the default 63 Stamina/Max Power at the start of the game)
Standing Tire:			5 Damage at 15 Weapon
Standing Stick:			7 Damage at 15 Weapon
Standing Trash:			7 Damage at 17 Weapon
Standing Crate:			9 Damage at 15 Weapon
Standing Chain:			9 Damage at 15 Weapon
Standing Pipe:			9 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Tire:			12 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Stick:		14 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Trash:		14 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Crate:		16 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Chain:		16 Damage at 15 Weapon
Sprinting Pipe:			16 Damage at 15 Weapon
Standing Thrown Body:	7 damage to the body being thrown at 15 Throwing.  Note: Damage is only dealt if the body thrown hits the ground first.  No damage is dealt if it hits a wall before it hits the ground.
Standing Thrown Tire:	9 Damage at 15 Throwing
Standing Thrown Stick:	11 Damage at 15 Throwing
Standing Thrown Trash:	12 Damage at 15 Throwing
Standing Thrown Crate:	12 Damage at 15 Throwing
Standing Thrown Chain:	11 Damage at 15 Throwing
Standing Thrown Pipe:	12 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Body:	7 damage to the body being thrown at 15 Throwing.  Note: Damage is only dealt if the body thrown hits the ground first.  No damage is dealt if it hits a wall before it hits the ground.
Sprinting Thrown Tire:	16 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Stick:	18 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Trash:	20 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Crate: 20 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Chain:	19 Damage at 15 Throwing
Sprinting Thrown Pipe:	20 Damage at 15 Throwing
"Cannon"ed Trash/Crate:	12 damage at 15 Kick to the character being struck.

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Knockdown Notes:
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If a character is knocked down (put in the prone position) and hits the ground with 0 STA and 34 or less Willpower, a character is defeated.

Player characters are not officially defeated until the text "ALEX has lost all his power" or "RYAN has lost all his power" has started printing at the bottom of the screen.  Characters lose HALF of their current money (rounded to the nearest nickel) when defeated.

Characters can be knocked down under the following conditions:

 * Running punch with 35 or more Punch
 * Running kick with 35 or more Kick
 * Running weapon strike with 35 or more Weapon
 * Sprinting Thrown weapon strike with 35 of more Throwing
 * Two or three connected strikes from a Stone Hands, Dragon Feet, or Grand Slam
 * Acro Circus tumble with 35 or higher Strength
 * Any hit delivered while the character being struck is in mid-air
 * Sprinting into a wall or other solid object
 * Uppercut if dealt as the 3rd strike of a combo
 * High-kick if dealt as the 3rd strike of a combo
 * Weapon-strike if dealth as the 3rd strike of a combo, where the character being struck was initialy standing
 * Weapon-strike if dealth as the 2rd strike of a combo, where the character being struck was initially in the standing back up or recovery animations
 * Ivan's headbutt
 * Tex's whirling weapon attack
 * Randy or Andy's spin kick

Note that it is very possible to have 0 STA throughout an entire run of River City Ransom by simply avoiding a knockout maneuver or sprinting into a wall.  The most common mistake people will make at this point is to sprint into a wall.

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Death Prevention:
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It is possible to prevent death when being knocked down at 0 STA in two ways:

 1. Have 35 or more Willpower.  This is covered in the following section, "Willpower Recoveries"
 2. Use any item in your BELONGINGS that restores at LEAST 1 Stamina before you hit the ground (ideal) or before the text "ALEX has lost all his power" or "RYAN has lost all his power" has started printing at the bottom of the screen.

Willpower recoveries are preferable.  If you only restore Stamina, it is entirely possible for an enemy to throw a weapon at your prone body, throw your prone body, or perform another attack on your thrown body (Tex's whirling weapon attack, Randy or Andy's spin kick) which can reduce you back to 0 Stamina.

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Willpower Recoveries:
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If a character is knocked down with 35 or more Willpower, they are not defeated.  Instead, Willpower is permanently depleted and some stamina is restored.  This is automatic.  If a character has enough stamina, they can perform multiple Willpower recoveries, up to a maximum of three.  If a character has 63 Willpower (the maximum), Willpower recoveries work as follows.

 * 1st Recovery: 15 STA.  Willpower reduced from 63 to 48.
 * 2nd Recovery: 12 STA.  Willpower reduced from 48 to 36.
 * 3rd Recovery: 9 STA.  Willpower recuced from 36 to 25.

If a character is capable of performing a willpower recovery, there is a period of time where they remain on the ground undefeated before they get up and enter the recovery animation.  A few notes.
 * A character has INFINITE Stamina while they are on the ground with 0 STA before the Willpower recovery begins.  You can deal as many Fatal Steps, throw them, do mid-air juggles with their body, and throw as many weapons as their body as you like.  They will not be defeated.
 * An enemy in the willpower recovery animation gives you a pretty big window for a free retaliatory attack.  Use it.
 * In Novice, enemies will NOT strike you during your Willpower recovery.

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Knockdown Checkpoints
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If a character is defeated, they are warped BACKWARDS (to the left, since the game map is basically left-to-right) to the nearest checkpoint.  The checkpoints are as follows:

 * Cross Town High entrance: 	Anywhere before Grotto Mall.  In practice, outside Cross Town High or the Sticksville suburb before Grotto Mall.
 * Grotto Mall:			   		Anywhere from Grotto Mall to before Waterfront Mall (Sticksville construction site)
 * Waterfront Mall: 			Anywhere from Waterfront Mall to before Flatirons Mall (Downtown junkyard)
 * Flatirons Mall:				Anywhere from Flatirons Mall to before Oak Hill Mall (exit of Vacant Third Wheel Factory)
 * Oak Hill Mall:				Anywhere from Oak Hill Mall to the roof of River City High

If you are at 0 Stamina and 34 or lower Willpower, you may wish to run into a wall or lightpost while in a mall.  It takes several seconds for the death to finish, and you lose half your money, but you won't be warped backwards to a previous location.


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Weapon Prioritization
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Gangs and bosses have varying weapon priorities.  That is, how much they prioritize getting a weapon over attacking a player character if a weapon is considered available.  By "available" I mean on the ground, and in the case of tires, not rolling or falling over.  The general guidelines for the big exceptions are as follows:

Gangs:
 * The Home Boys - Very High
 * The Internationals - Always

Bosses:
 * Blade - Always
 * Mojo - Very High
 * Thor - Very High
 * Ivan - Always
 * Otis - Very High
 * Tex - Always
 * Randy and Andy - High
 * Simon - Very High

Enemies and bosses with an "Always" weapon priority will ALWAYS go for an available weapon instead of attacking you, and will even run through/past you to get to it.  This means you can strike freely with no risk of retaliation.  Use this to your advantage.

In some cases (Randy and Andy in particular) you may want to throw a weapon to the side of the screen where the boss spawns (but towards the bottom, so they can't easily grab it).  This will ensure that they will not run off-screen to get it (if you mess up).  If a boss runs off screen to get a weapon, do NOT attempt to chase them off-screen.  The safe strat is to let them return so you're not potentially running into a deadly attack.

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Money Drops
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You start the game with $20.00.

All gang members and bosses drop a coin when defeated.  This coins despawns after a few seconds.  These have a specific value for each gang (regardless of the member), and for each boss.  These values are as follows.

Gangs:
 * Generic Dudes				$0.50
 * Frat Guys:					$0.55
 * The Jocks:					$0.60
 * The Home Boys:				$0.75
 * The Mob						$0.90
 * The Squids					$1.00
 * The Internationals			$1.10
 * The Cowboys					$1.20
 * The Plague					$1.25

Bosses:
 * Moose (optional)				$2.25
 * Benny and Clyde (optional) 	$3.50 each
 * Rocko						$3.00
 * Blade						$3.50
 * Turk							$3.50
 * Mojo							$3.50
 * Thor							$3.75
* Benny and Clyde II (optional) $3.50 each
 * Ivan							$?.??
 * Otis							$?.??
 * Tex							$9.50
 * Randy and Andy				$18.00 each
 * Simon						N/A

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Key Items
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Approximate cost (in time) to buy one item from a store is 10 seconds.  Approximate cost (in time) to use an item in your BELONGINGS is 10 seconds.

Required:
 * Stone Hands.  $26.95.  Bought from the last store (bookstore) of the Grotto Mall after defeating Rocko and backtracking to defeat Blade.  Stone Hands is preferred over Dragon Feet due to reduced menuing, but mostly since it leaves the infinite Flying Jump Kick combo available as a tool.  This can be purchased by defeating Rocko, his guarding gang (ideally, Home Boys) and any two gang members.  If a gang other than Home Boys is in the W.S.L. Co. Warehouse, you may need to defeat an additional 1 to 2 gang members.

Optional:
 * Muffin.  $0.90.  Metro Bakery (2nd store) of Grotto Mall, take-out (used from BELONGINGS in the field).  Restores 6 Stamina and increases Agility by 1.  Used simply to prevent a death blow at a cost of 1 (Mob or tougher) or 2 (any other) gang members.  Slightly increases movement speed.
 * Lamb Leg.  $11.95.  Butcher Shop (STEAK sign) in 2nd scene of Flatirons Mall, take-out (used from BELONGINGS in the field).  Increases Willpower by 48 and Punch by 2.  Used to provide 3 Willpower recoveries and to increase the damage of Stone Hands.  Can be afforded with the money from Blade, Turk, Mojo and their guarding gangs with no additional grinding.  Ideally should only be used to prevent a deathblow when fighting the Twins.
 * Any Cookie.  $1.00.  Kate's Cookies (left of entrance) of Oak Hill Mall, take-out (used from BELONGINGS in the field).  Restpres 6 Stamina and increases a Stat by 1 (which stat depends on cookie chosen).  Used simply to prevent a death blow at a typical cost of defeating one (late game) gang member, or by taking Thor's coin.  This is also almost always an option when respawning in Oak Hill Mall after being defeated in River City High.

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Boss Order
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A few notes:
 1. Note that a boss is NOT considered defeated unless their coin spawns.  If you throw a boss into a pit (Thor), they are NOT considered defeated and must be fought again.  If you exit a scene during a boss's post-defeat exposition but before their coin spawns, they are NOT considered defeated and must be fought again.
 2. When a boss is defeated, the game PERMANENTLY sets a flag.  This means if a boss was preventing another boss from spawning, a door from unlocking, etc. that spawn/door is permanently unlocked.  They never need to be defeated again.  They can be skipped (even if they are spawned and active on the scene) for the rest of the game in the event you revisit an area.
 3. Most scenes will always have 9 gang members.  A scene in which a boss will appear will only spawn 4 gang members.  When those 4 gang members are defeated and their coins are collected (fastest) or despawned, the boss will spawn.
 4. It is possible for there to be no "gang announce" when entering the W.S.L. Co. Warehouse (Rocko's turf) or the eastern end of the Armstrong Thru-Way Tunnel (Turk's turf).  It is impossible for the boss to spawn.  Exit and re-enter the scene until you get a "gang announce".  There is a roughly 1 in 8 chance for this to occur on these scenes.


Bosses are to be defeated in the following order for the fastest possible route.  With the exception of Blade, Thor and Simon, you must first defeat the four guarding gang members before the boss will spawn:
 1. Rocko on the left side of the W.S.L. Co. Warehouse.  Defeating Rocko allows Blade to spawn in Sherman Park.
 2. Blade in Sherman Park which is entered in the Sticksville scene just after Grotto Mall (backtrack required).  Blade is one of the three "Zombies" that must be defeated for Thor to spawn.
 3. Turk at the east end of the Armstrong Thru-Way tunnel past the W.S.L. Co. Warehouse.  Turk is one of the three "Zombies" that must be defeated for Thor to spawn.
 4. Mojo at the east end of the Downtown junkyard (pipeyard) in the scene after Turk, and just before the Flatirons Mall.  Mojo is one of the three "Zombies" that must be defeated for Thor to spawn.
 5. Thor in the 2nd room inside the Vacant Third Wheel Factory.  Thor must be defeated for Ivan to spawn outside of River City High.
 6. Ivan at the gates of River City High.  Ivan must be defeated for River City High's gates to unlock.
 7. Otis at the east end of the gym in River City High.  Otis must be defeated for Randy and Andy to spawn on the 3rd floor of River City High.
 8. Randy and Andy at the east end of the third floor of River City High.  Randy and Andy must be defeated for Cyndi to be rescued (optional) and to gain access to the roof of River City High.
 9. Simon on the left side of the roof of River City High.  This is beyond the doors guarded by Randy and Andy.


Hits to defeat bosses:
 1A. Rocko, easy strat (chain/pipe/crate): Running weapon hit, weapon hit, weapon hit.  Running weapon hit, weapon hit.  Running weapon hit, weapon hit.  Throw weapon at prone body.
 1B. Rocko, hard strat (chain/pipe/crate): Running weapon hit, weapon hit, weapon hit.  Running weapon hit, weapon hit.  Running weapon hit, running weapon hit (very tight timing).
 2A. Blade, easy strat: 5 Running Stone Hands.
 2B. Blade, hard strat: 4 Running Stone Hands, 4th hit being post recovery (very tight timing)
 3. Turk: 4 to 5 Running Stone Hands.
 4A. Mojo, easy strat: 5 Running Stone Hands.
 4B. Mojo, hard strat: 5 Running Stone Hands, and knock self out (running into wall) to hit the ground as the same time as Mojo.  Skips his post-defeat exposition (4 to 4.5 sec. time save)
 5. Thor: 5 Running Stone Hands.
 6. Ivan: 7 to 8 Running Stone Hands.
 7. Otis: 7 to 8 Running Stone Hands.
 8A. Randy & Andy. 9 Running Stone Hands.  On hit 9, hit Randy first, then Andy afterwards (separately).  Skips post-defeat exposition (9 second time save)
 8B. Randy & Andy, Lamb Leg Eaten.  7 Running Stone Hands.  On hit 7, hit Randy first, then Andy afterwards (separately).   Skips post-defeat exposition (9 second time save)
 9. Simon. 11 to 13 Running Stone Hands.


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Safety Walls
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Enemies can not jump upwards to path to you.  If they are above you, they can path downwards, but cannot path back up.  Moreover, this interrupts their pathfinding, allowing you to jump down and take first strike.  Alternatively, you can use this to safely run through a scene without risk of being attacked.  Note however there is a cost (in time) to jump (because landing animation takes time and stops left/right movement).

 * Cross Town High -- Golden school wall (requires maximum speed to jump onto), gate pillars, and gate.
 * Sticksville Suburb -- Grey concrete walls
 * Sticksville, outside Sherman Park -- Teal fences
 * Sticksville, construction zone -- Grey concrete walls
 * Capitol Ave. Bridge -- Grey bridge fence
 * Downtown, Forested Avenue -- None
 * W.S.L. Co Warehouse, main entrance -- Brick wall, top of building
 * W.S.L. Co. Warehouse interior -- boxes, top of partition
 * W.S.L. Co. warehouse back entrance -- none
 * Armstrong Thru-Way, west entrance -- none
 * Armstrong Thru-Way Tunnel -- none.  Can enter Merlin's Mystery Shop if required.
 * Armstrong Thru-Way, east entrance -- none
 * Downtown, Pipeyard -- grey brick wall, upper pipes
 * Downtown, building construction -- Corrugated fence (requires maximum speed to jump onto), construction sawhorse barriers.
 * Vacant Third Wheel Factory, entrance -- Grey brick walls (requires maximum speed to jump onto)
 * Vacant Third Wheel Factory, main room -- Upper level, only if enemies are on lower level.  Technically none.
 * Vacant Third Wheel Factory, back room -- Blue upper ledge.
 * Vacant Third Wheel Factory, back entrance -- none.
 * Burb Village, suburbs -- grey concrete walls
 * River City High -- Tan school wall (requires maximum speed to jump onto), gate
 * River City High, gym -- balance beams, pull out bleachers, basketball hoops, upper balcony (assuming no gang members are up there)
 * River City High, 2F -- none
 * River City High, 3F -- none
 * River City High, roof -- grey concrete wall.  Top of chain link fence (requires maximum speed to jump onto), top of entrance (requires jumping from top of fence)

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Target Completion Times
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 * Current World Record (existing "Stone Hands" strategy by Feasel and Darkwing_Duck_SDA) is 7 minutes and 30 seconds.  Current world record is 7 minutes, 39.33 seconds by CapnGoof.
 * Target time for "all-in" Stone Hands strategy for a race is 8 minutes and 30 seconds (or less)
 * Target time for Stone Hands stratgy with a safety Lamb Leg for a race, and occasional wall running and other safety strats is under 9 minutes and 30 seconds.