Urban Champion is Nintendo's first 2D fighting game, released for the Famicom in Japan on 14 November 1984. It was inspired by Nintendo's 1984 Game & Watch game Boxing; Gunpei Yokoi produced it, Makoto Kanoh designed it and Hirokazu Tanaka composed the music.
Two street fighters try to push each other off the sidewalk. Flower pots dropped from windows daze the fighters, and a passing police car sends both back to their starting positions. After a fighter loses two rounds, an open manhole appears behind him, and pushing him into it wins the match.
The arcade version, Vs. Urban Champion, came out in Japan on 10 December 1984, and the NES version reached North America in June 1986. Arika later developed a 3D Classics version for the Nintendo 3DS, released in Japan on 13 July 2011. Nintendo's next fighting game was Joy Mech Fight for the Famicom in 1993.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Urban ChampionEurope 1986 | NES | June 1986 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Urban ChampionNintendo e-Reader cards | Game Boy Advance | Nov 11, 2002 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | アーバンチャンピオンĀban ChanpionFamicom | NES | Nov 14, 1984 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | VS.アーバンチャンピオンVS. Āban ChanpionNorth America January 1985 | Arcade | Dec 10, 1984 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Urban ChampionVirtual Console | Wii | December 2006 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | アーバンチャンピオンĀban Chanpion3D Classics by Arika; worldwide 18 August 2011 | Nintendo 3DS | Jul 13, 2011 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Urban ChampionVirtual Console | Wii U | October 2013 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Arcade Archives Urban ChampionArcade version | Switch | Nov 9, 2018 | Hamster | 1 |
| WW | Urban ChampionNintendo Switch Online (Nintendo Classics) | Switch | Jul 4, 2024 | Nintendo | 1 |
Also known as: アーバンチャンピオン JP1Āban Chanpion JP1Vs. Urban Champion WW13D Classics: Urban Champion WW1
Box art by region
NA Urban Champion
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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GameplayArcade (VS. Urban Champion)
In the arcade version two players can fight for a single coin (operators can set it to two), and the operator can change how many knockdowns a player is allowed.2
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AudioArcade (VS. Urban Champion)
The arcade version uses different background music from the Famicom version.2
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GraphicsNintendo 3DS
The 2011 Nintendo 3DS release is a 3D Classics version developed by Arika.1
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
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Arcade Archives Purchase
Reception
Reception has been poor: Nintendo Power's 1990 Pak Source gave it ratings as low as 1.5 out of 5, GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann called it tedious, and IGN found it too shallow to deserve the title of Nintendo's first head-to-head fighting game.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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