As a gamer, there are unfortunately still some genres that I have not played yet. The beat ‘em up genre was one of those, until this year. You see, RPGs have taken up a lot of my time and until recently, I was content with sticking with what I knew. I grew up on RPGs and have loved them ever since . I have branched out a tremendous amount this year, and I plan to keep that ball rolling.
Enter: River City Girls. Now like most games, I knew I’d enjoy this one. Just because I had not tried a beat ‘em up yet, did not mean that I did not want to. I just had not set the time aside for it. I am very pleased that I finally made time for this genre and this game. In a word, River City Girls was invigorating. Check out developer Wayforward if you are interested in who created this fantastic title.
I was fortunate enough to happen upon a collector’s edition of this game that Limited Run Games published.
I absolutely love this company and their dedication to creating physical games for digital-only titles. As a collector myself, having the physical copy just means so much more and I am happy that companies like Limited Run Games exist.
River City Girls is a spin-off title of the Kunio-Kun franchise. Shame on me for starting here and not at the beginning of the franchise, but luckily it was a good entry point. Being a spin off, it did not rely too heavily on previous titles.The game sets you up as either Kyoko or Misako on a mission to find their kidnapped boyfriends. These boyfriends, Kunio and Riki, are franchise mainstays, as are some of the people you interact with. However if you are looking to start here like I did, know that I was never lost in the story having not played earlier titles. In fact, I’d say this game stands alone quite well.
You can play as either character but in terms of difficulty, I’d have to say Kyoko is a bit easier. She is the fast combo-based one, whereas Misako is the heavy hitter. If you are new to the genre like I was or if you are playing alone, it may be a bit easier as Kyoko. I began with her, but I did eventually switch to Misako and ended up enjoying her a little more. Her combos felt like a dream when they connected and it made me feel so accomplished to finally pull them off correctly.
Throughout the game you will come across a few side missions, shops, and breakable statues. The shops either offer food or accessories. Food will heal you and when you first eat each food selection, it will raise a stat or two. Stats also increase with your level and the max level for each character is 30. It was wonderful to see some character progression and RPG elements in this game. I always felt like I was working towards something whether it was collecting money for an accessory or just trying to level up.
As mentioned above a little, combat is so satisfying. Gameplay is fluid and steady, allowing you to wail on your enemies without worrying about framerate drops or anything like that. Afterall, they are called beat ‘em ups for a reason. Thankfully you can beat ‘em up for as long as you want to with no issues. Boss battles were unique spirited, and required a lot of learning. I was not able to take any of them down the first time, but that was perfectly fine. I enjoy a challenge and I have the patience to learn the boss patterns.
I had a blast playing alone, but some of my favorite memories of this game were with my friend. Once we were both playing, it was so exciting to see what was going to happen. Sometimes he would throw enemies my way and they would connect to the combos I was already pulling off. It had us experimenting with so many combinations and concoctions that on multiple occasions we’d get distracted from the story and just goof off in the streets.
Speaking of the story, it was comical, goofy, and fun. Misako is cold and straight-forward but Kyoko is easily the comic relief. I honestly laughed at every cutscene and conversation they had together. Their chemistry together drove the story and compelled me enough to want to keep with it. They complimented each other perfectly and are prime examples of how opposites can attract. I was always curious about what hilarious thing Kyoko was going to say because she was so easily distracted. Misako had to remind her multiple times that they were looking for their boyfriends because Kyoko kept wanting to go shopping or out to eat. It was maybe too much for some people’s taste, but I was enjoying every second of it.
As a first in the beat ‘em up genre, I have to say that it has definitely gotten me more interested in the genre and the Kunio-Kun franchise. Luckily, the switch has a ton of beat ‘em up’s to choose from so I imagine I will be visiting another one before too long. If you haven’t checked out this game yet, you should.
