River City Girls

this game is fun because the people behind it clearly had fun making it. funny dialogue, expressive and vibrant art, charming voice acting, it all makes the game such a pleasant experience, even if the gameplay itself its a little frustrating. please make a 3rd game please please pleapleasepleaseplealeapslepakskldnkjfnaa;asfkpkl

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.

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.

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

Really good game, the only major flaw I've seen so far is that it has no online co-op.
Granted, this got solved in the sequel but as someone who's started to get into the game it definitely blows.
Gameplay's fun and addictive, boss fights are great...
Overall? 8.5/10.

I love this game, I played it both alone and with a friend and is incredible funny and silly at times, the pixel art is also pretty good, if anything at least try it, and remember that friendly fire is always an option.

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.