Two high school girls looking for their boyfriends because they were kidnapped?!
Tearing up the town, throwing hands in the name of love? Strong female leads?
Tearing up the town, throwing hands in the name of love? Strong female leads?
The beau introduced me to River City Girls a few months back and here's my take on this clever and quirky 2-D beat 'em side scroller!
Wayforward has been in touch with a lot of games that you may have not realized, I was fortunate enough to work at two video game stores and was able to see some of the games that Wayforward has worked on but do not be mistaken Wayforward is VERY well known and more so for Mighty Switch Force and the Shantae series than the others. 
River City Girls is actually part of a series called Kunio-Kun that originated on the Famicon as Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun which is roughly translated to "Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio, some of the Kunio games were localized in the United States in 2009, 2010, and much later in 2016.
But River City Girls was developed by Wayforward and published by Arc Systems Works as a spin-off title of the Kunio series and enter Misako and Kiyoko whose boyfriends are Kunio and his bishonen, delinquent friend Riki from the said series are the main reason for the girls tearing their way through the city for them.
The music for River City Girls combines 8-bit tracks along with smooth vocals that make the ambiance of the game blends very well with the gameplay. The 8-bit tracks were composed by Chipzel, to keep that retro-esque feel to the game. There a few tracks that include vocals by Megan McDuffee that gave me vibes of the mid-90s Sailor Moon, mostly the American ver of Sailor Moon and the few and in-between vocal tracks that were in the show.
River City Girls is a 2D beat em side scroller with the option to play with a second player, and thus cause more destruction by linking devastating combos. The controls are straightforward, you have basic combo pairings until you purchase more skills/abilities from the dojo, and depending on how bad you beat the enemy down you're given the option to have mercy on them, letting them join you OR finish them off with no mercy.
In addition to purchasing abilities/skills through the dojo, you are also able to purchase items that will boost your attack, defense, increase healing items, and more. One interesting feature I thought was frustrating but different was the fact that you didn't know what the item did until you purchased it.
So either you purchase the item to find out what it was OR you let your friend do it and do the opposite.
The story is straightforward, boyfriends kidnapped, rescue them even if that means skipping out on detention with a friend who doesn't even go to the same school in the name of LOVE.
Having beaten the game, here's my take on River City Girls aka Review Time!
The story may be simple and straight forward but the fact that Misako and Kiyoko are tearing through the town throwing hands with students, children, celebs, cheerleaders, groupies, wrestlers, Yakuza, and more to find their boyfriends who were kidnapped.
It's ridiculous, I believe that some may be turned off by it due to the simplicity of it but it's a 2D side scroller beat 'em up game.
Immediately I was interested due to their hit series, Shantae. Though I've never played it I've watched the beau play, beat and (soon, possibly) speedrun it.
Wayforward is an American Independent Video game developer and publisher, they have developed and published games on almost all of the current-gen systems (PS5 and Xbox X/S series not included)
River City Girls is actually part of a series called Kunio-Kun that originated on the Famicon as Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun which is roughly translated to "Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio, some of the Kunio games were localized in the United States in 2009, 2010, and much later in 2016.
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| Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen |
But River City Girls was developed by Wayforward and published by Arc Systems Works as a spin-off title of the Kunio series and enter Misako and Kiyoko whose boyfriends are Kunio and his bishonen, delinquent friend Riki from the said series are the main reason for the girls tearing their way through the city for them.
 |
| Left: Kunio ; Right Riki ( my bishonen delinquent) |
The music for River City Girls combines 8-bit tracks along with smooth vocals that make the ambiance of the game blends very well with the gameplay. The 8-bit tracks were composed by Chipzel, to keep that retro-esque feel to the game. There a few tracks that include vocals by Megan McDuffee that gave me vibes of the mid-90s Sailor Moon, mostly the American ver of Sailor Moon and the few and in-between vocal tracks that were in the show.
River City Girls is a 2D beat em side scroller with the option to play with a second player, and thus cause more destruction by linking devastating combos. The controls are straightforward, you have basic combo pairings until you purchase more skills/abilities from the dojo, and depending on how bad you beat the enemy down you're given the option to have mercy on them, letting them join you OR finish them off with no mercy.
In addition to purchasing abilities/skills through the dojo, you are also able to purchase items that will boost your attack, defense, increase healing items, and more. One interesting feature I thought was frustrating but different was the fact that you didn't know what the item did until you purchased it.
So either you purchase the item to find out what it was OR you let your friend do it and do the opposite.
The story is straightforward, boyfriends kidnapped, rescue them even if that means skipping out on detention with a friend who doesn't even go to the same school in the name of LOVE.
Having beaten the game, here's my take on River City Girls aka Review Time!
Rating Guide:
☆: Could be better
☆☆: Ok
☆☆☆: Decent
☆☆☆☆: Great!
Story: ☆☆☆
It's ridiculous, I believe that some may be turned off by it due to the simplicity of it but it's a 2D side scroller beat 'em up game.
Just know that there's a twist at the end.
Gameplay: ☆☆☆
I mentioned above that it is your typical beat-em-up side scroller with flair. Though it has its 8-bit style the combos are nowhere near a retro game. Moves like rainbow dabs, to moves that remind you world's strongest woman, Chun-Li to that of a german suplex, table flips, frankensteiners to a dropkick that would make the Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada proud.
I love all of it. Also, when playing with a second player, if you or they go down you can resurrect them by literally stomping them to hell and back.
I didn't have too many qualms about the gameplay, there were some instances where friendly fire could and did cause some issues or just lining up your character to stomp your friend back to life.
Art/Graphics: ☆☆☆
I've said several times that RCG has the 8-bit retro-esque style to it which is ( and can be) a breath of fresh air with all of the highly realistic graphics of current-gen gaming.
In addition to the 8-bit graphics, character diversity and design is amazing. Of course, you have your standard enemies, recoloring, and what not but the models vary slim, large, tall, small, male, female, etc. This also applies to the boss diversity and designs, they are so well done!
Another breath of fresh air!
I highly recommend checking out River City Girls, it's a fun and quirky 2D side scroller that can be played solo or with a friend, with high replayability and additional secrets that are unlocked at the end with additional characters and more.
Gameplay: ☆☆☆
I mentioned above that it is your typical beat-em-up side scroller with flair. Though it has its 8-bit style the combos are nowhere near a retro game. Moves like rainbow dabs, to moves that remind you world's strongest woman, Chun-Li to that of a german suplex, table flips, frankensteiners to a dropkick that would make the Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada proud.
I love all of it. Also, when playing with a second player, if you or they go down you can resurrect them by literally stomping them to hell and back.
I didn't have too many qualms about the gameplay, there were some instances where friendly fire could and did cause some issues or just lining up your character to stomp your friend back to life.
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| From: twitch.tv/NonCanonCrew |
Art/Graphics: ☆☆☆
I've said several times that RCG has the 8-bit retro-esque style to it which is ( and can be) a breath of fresh air with all of the highly realistic graphics of current-gen gaming.
In addition to the 8-bit graphics, character diversity and design is amazing. Of course, you have your standard enemies, recoloring, and what not but the models vary slim, large, tall, small, male, female, etc. This also applies to the boss diversity and designs, they are so well done!
Another breath of fresh air!
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| My favorite boss :3 |
I highly recommend checking out River City Girls, it's a fun and quirky 2D side scroller that can be played solo or with a friend, with high replayability and additional secrets that are unlocked at the end with additional characters and more.
River City Girls is available on Playstation 4, Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, make sure you check out their website
I would love to hear your thoughts about River City Girls if you played or haven't gotten to it yet! You can connect with me via social media!
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