River City Girls
There's trouble once again on the mean streets of River City, but this time the boys are in over their heads! In this all-new entry in the legendary beat-'em-up series, hot-blooded heroes Kuni and Riki have been captured, leaving it to their hard-hitting girlfriends, Kyoko and Misako, to serve up some payback. As you punch and kick your way across town – either solo or with a friend in local co-op – you'll gain new skills, chow down on power-ups, wield an assortment of weapons, and unleash an arsenal of combos, throws, and special attacks that will leave the bad guys crying for mama – all in outrageous 16-bit style! The awesome action is punctuated by manga story panels, anime cutscenes, and an epic synth-pop soundtrack. It’s an old-school rumble for a new generation! Key Features: • Wild beat-'em-up action for one or two players! • Glorious pixel-art graphics plus anime and manga cutscenes! • Fantastic soundtrack featuring Chipzel, Christina Vee, and NateWantsToBattle! • Six large city regions to fight through, complete with shops and side quests! • Loads of weapons, items, and abilities to power-up your heroines! • Guest appearances by classic River City characters!
Game Discussion
Steam User 5
It's a very fun beat-em-up however, the controls definitely feel a lot more clunky than the RCG2's. I'm also a big fan of the stat level up mechanic and obtaining moves as you progress through the game. (Which might be unique to the Kunio-kun series but idk really) Only downside other than the controls is that you can't play online with your friends through steam invites, only through game share and split-screen. (Which the sequel definitely improves on a lot of these things.) Overall a 7/10
Edit: I 100% the game. The game was really fun for the span I played it, and the music grew on me; it's good. Updated Score: 9/10
Steam User 4
After previously playing this on consoles, I ended up getting and playing through again entirely on the Steam Deck, so keep in mind.
River City Girls is a very fun little beat-em-up with co-op, which I sadly didn't get to try.
It's not a very long game, easily finished within a few hours, but when grinding out money for items, as well as xp for levels, could take quite a bit.
The 2 main characters, as well as the 2 unlockable ones, do fight somewhat different, albeit without too much variation with basic combat (Full combos with a heavy finish early on; late game longer combos involving launching enemies, as well as extending combos using specials.)
Most enemies are pretty simple, though they like to block a lot, and annoyingly can block from all sides. On hard difficulty they can move quickly, attack suddenly and spawn in bigger amounts, which can get frustrating.
Prior to this posting, cutscenes didn't work, only giving a "tv static"type screen, but there has since be a recent update that fixed that issue, allowing you to see the story, if it tickles your fancy.
I love the audio in the game, and all its goofiness, and especially love the soundtrack.
One issue that the game has on Steam Deck is your shoulder buttons, for recruiting/assists and blocking, don't always register inputs, which isn't a huge break, but gets inconvenient at times.
The game is a very fun time killer, and with a friend, could be hilariously chaotic with friendly fire off.
If on sale, is well worth it, though am surprised it hasn't had a small price drop as long as its been out.
Steam User 4
Really solid beat-em-up. Good mechanics and combo potential. The art style was great and the voice acting was full of fun surprises. A nice homage to older games of this style.
Steam User 3
I bought the sequel when it launched but never played the original. Got it for free on a different platform and played it with my sister, ported my save to steam after buying it here on sale.
This one is shorter than the sequel and with shorter combos, but it still has fun characters and interactions.
I honestly love these types of co-op beat them ups and hope someday soon they release a third game.
Steam User 3
It's good! I'd wait for at-least a 50% of sale or something though - especially with the sequel already out.
If you've enjoyed the Streets of Rage games, TMNT beat-em-ups like 'Shredder's Revenge,' or whatever other similar game (i.e., Castle Crashers, Fight'N'Rage, Mother Russia Bleed, Simpsons Arcarde Game, etc.) you'll likely find a lot to enjoy about this game.
However, one thing you'll likely come to dislike about this game is that it takes a LONG time to completely K.O. the regular enemies (TOO LONG) and it doesn't get any faster the longer you play / unlock abilities. I was just skipping most regular fights and sprinting through areas towards the back half of playing. Also, despite appreciating the fact that cut-scenes are skippable, I still didn't like having do the 'hold to skip' for all 3-4 individual cut-scenes that would queue up before boss battles...granted - I suppose I could have mitigated this gripe by just not dying so often... <_<
Steam User 2
River City Girls is an alright beat em up, with an excellent soundtrack that puts it over the top into "great" beat em up tier. Punching at kicking is okay, soundtrack is great, and narrative is fun.
Steam User 2
Literally Yakuza but gorgeous 2D sprites and anime girls. I should play River City Ransom already...