Renegade (US)

Technos Japan’s Renegade, released in 1986 under license from Taito America, delivers a side-scrolling beat ‘em up experience for two players. Taking on the role of an unnamed protagonist, you must fight your way through numerous gangs to rescue your girlfriend. The game's visuals were specifically altered during localization to give the characters and settings a distinctly Western feel. Gameplay involves navigating urban environments, facing off against increasingly challenging waves of enemies who attack with punches, kicks, and thrown objects. Players progress through distinct areas, each controlled by a different gang, requiring tactical movement and precise button presses to survive. The game's simple controls belie its surprisingly difficult challenge as players must rely on timing and strategy to overcome the opposition. Renegade established a foundation for later Technos Japan titles and spawned several sequels and ports across various platforms throughout the late 1980s and beyond, including releases on consoles like the Nintendo NES and Commodore systems. While the arcade version never formally names its characters, subsequent adaptations, such as the NES port, provided names for some of the individuals encountered during gameplay.