There has been a dearth of side-scrolling brawlers in the last few years. Once arcade mainstays, the genre had a brief resurgence thanks to small, digital-only releases, only to yet again fall by the wayside as gamers demanded more content, more variety and more longevity.
Thank goodness then that River City Girls, the latest in the long-running Kunio-kun series, is here to show the world that it is still possible to make a satisfying, modern brawler in 2019 without forgetting the genre’s core values. While the game is far from perfect, River City Girls should serve as proof that it is fine to do just one thing as long as you do it really well.
River City Girls lets players choose between controlling Misako and Kyoko, two high-school girls with serious anger management issues who are out to save their kidnapped boyfriends, series mainstays Kunio and Riki. The two heroines are likable and reasonably well-written, injecting just enough emotion into the nonstop jokes and constant brawling to keep players invested in their straightforward quest. The game makes the unfortunate decision of ending on a meta-joke that undermines much of what has come before and will make little sense to players new to the series, but up until that last-minute fumble, River City Girls is a lighthearted romp.
That being said, players are not here for the story; they are here for the white-knuckle action the series is known for. In that regard, River City Girls does not disappoint. As players purchase new moves and upgrade their core stats by leveling up, they will accumulate a wide variety of increasingly devastating combat options. River City Girls never lets players feel too secure, though, as boss fights and later encounters ramp up the difficulty considerably. For the most part, the boss encounters here are tough but fair, with strict attack patterns that can be mastered with repeated attempts.
Unfortunately, those repeated attempts can be needlessly costly. River City Girls’ biggest flaw is that its in-game economy can create devastating failure spirals. If the player attempts a boss fight, uses their healing items and loses, then not only are they reset outside the fight without their used items, but they also incur a heavy penalty to their in-game wallet for dying. This can result in some frustrating moments where failing a boss fight results in having to spend time beating up low-level goons for money and restocking before trying again, which brings the game’s otherwise relentless pace to a crawl.
A disappointing conclusion and a needlessly punishing in-game economy cannot keep River City Girls down, though. Solid gameplay, gorgeous retro visuals and a killer synth-pop soundtrack all ensure that the game constantly exudes quality and personality, even in its more frustrating moments. River City Girls may come up short of being a modern classic in the genre, but it is still absolutely worthwhile for anybody with a modicum of interest in brawlers. Series fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed.
