River City Girls (Nintendo Switch) Review

One look at footage or trailers for River City Girls can instantly draw someone into the colorful world and characters that Way Forward has so carefully and lovingly created. For fans of the Kunio-Kun franchise of mostly Japanese-only games, River City Girls is an absolute treat that respects the legacy while adding in modern design in a way that perfectly complements the classic beat-em-up style of play. There are some hang-ups when playing solo in regards to difficulty but the presentation, soundtrack, and engaging brawls make for an excellent title.

River City Girls is a traditional beat-em-up game that takes pages out of arcade classics while also injecting RPG elements and building off of what was established in Kunio-Kun games like River City Ransom. This title was developed by Way Forward in tandem with Arc System Works, who also published it. The adventure stars two tough girls, Kyoko and Misako, who set out on a punching spree to save their kidnapped boyfriends Kunio and Riki.

The initial reveal trailer is what put River City Girls on my radar. I love stylish anime games and this one definitely had that vibe in a few different areas. Cutscenes are a mix of manga panels and wonderfully animated shorts which are typically used to introduce boss characters. Aside from these, the story is also conveyed through character images and voice acting, including moments where the two heroes bark lines from the game’s UI. Visual layout is great for it being a title that is small in scope. It will take most players less than ten hours to get through the campaign but going solo, taking on hard mode, and looking for secrets can greatly extend that playtime.

Another visual component in the game proper that I find super appealing is the pixel art. I’ve always loved sprites and how pixels can be manipulated to achieve various things. I used to edit the character sprites of GBA Fire Emblem games as a teen. River City Girls has clean, expressive character work that really increased my overall enjoyment of the gameplay. These characters all feel cohesive in relation to the goofy world they inhabit. There are also several guest appearances and characters to find!

For the environments, the artists actually created unique scenes for each area rather than place assets like most pixel art titles. This is combined with a clever layout to make the arenas feel less like stages and more like a fully realized area. The mall pops with energy, the school is full of little blemishes, the junkyard feels crowded and gross, and the visual style carries this throughout the game from start to finish.

I’ve previously discussed the sheer style that River City Girls displays but needless to say it’s one of the most visually compelling beat-em-ups ever. Couple this with a stellar soundtrack that makes for the perfect complement to tasks and River City Girls easily stands out even outside of the genre.

Where things get divisive, at least for me, is the combat and scenarios. Being that River City Girls is a beat-em-up, there are still several instances where attacks just don’t land because the player’s vertical position doesn’t quite match up with an enemy. There seems to be some auto-tracking at work but these misses still happen enough to point out. There is a lot more variety in the types of attacks the player can perform though, which are generally mapped to a light, heavy, and special attack. Various button combos and directions alter the type of attack and attacks are unlocked through leveling up and then purchasing them at the Dojo. Each character feels different too, so there’s a lot of combat variety.

These attacks have varying degrees of usefulness and there are several that I wish I hadn’t unlocked. Kyoko has this hilarious dab move that hits short and hard, sending anything that comes in contact flying away with a satisfying boom. As fun as it sounds, there are a few problems. This move, in particular, is performed by pressing forward and the heavy attack, which happens quite a bit when trying to attack baddies. This means it comes out a lot, mostly unintentional. This wouldn’t be a huge deal but the attack leaves Kyoko super vulnerable so I found myself accidentally dabbing, only to get sucker-punched. There are quite a few moves that also felt not as good as some basic attacks but this one was the most egregious.

Aside from these odd attacks, combat is mostly crunchy and fun. There are dash attacks, special moves with some juggle potential, and a parry system that when pulled off feels great. Controls are simple enough to quickly grasp and deep enough for those wanting a little more. Combat shouldn’t be taken lightly though, there are some systems and habits to form and it’s made evident really early into the campaign.

River City Girls does not pull punches when it comes to challenge. This is made way more apparent when playing solo but even when I could rope in my roommate to play alongside me I found River City Girls to be a tough egg to crack. Enemies often caught me off guard or would just throw an easy punch on their wake-up animation. This means that my optimal strategy was to knock down foes and stay clear of them rather than staying close. There is a cool stomp move (which is comically used to revive an ally) that can do a lot of damage to downed foes but it feels too risky.

Nothing made the challenge more apparent than the boss encounters. So far I’ve bested four out of the six bosses and I had to recruit help for the first and the fourth one. These brutes take a beating and the first time Misuzu put me in the dirt I learned that River City Girls wasn’t going to be a casual weekend romp. Now, I was told by friends that using more items can make bosses a lot easier but that takes grinding and because death takes away some funds it can be a steep hill to climb solo.

For me, I spent lots of time grinding up to level 25 and could just barely beat Abobo. In fact, I had to grind my other character too because my roommate only would help me when I got stuck. Finally, after many hours and lots and lots of medical kits, we put Abobo down. For weeks this guy gave me grief but we finally did it and it was a powerful feeling of triumph.

I’ve put more than 15 hours in River City Girls and I haven’t even touched a second playthrough or the higher difficulty.

For me, this challenge starts to bleed into unfairness but I’ve been told by the game’s director, Adam Tierney, (who we chatted with for the podcast) to treat it more like an RPG. Get the items, buy things to increase stats, consider equipment. These tips will help players overcome obstacles. I did ask if they believed that the game’s difficulty was where they wanted it and generally he said that they were satisfied and have watched countless hours of people streaming the game since launch.

Really the selling point for River City Girls is the presentation, energy, and humor. These girls are genuinely funny and their adventure is a tough-as-nails tirade through a city with a lot of depth. For those that enjoy completing every piece of a game, there are some cool bonuses and checklists to cover.

River City Girls may have been full of walls for me but I can still wholeheartedly recommend it to just about any player, especially those fond of the beat-em-up genre. Just be warned that going without help is a lot tougher than expected.

More information about River City Girls is available on the official website. Two digital Switch copies were provided for the purpose of review and discussion.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 6/10

VISUALS - 10/10

SOUND - 10/10

CONTROLS - 6/10

REPLAY VALUE - 8/10

OVERALL - 8/10

Enjoy the game’s phenomenal soundtrack on Spotify, which McDuffee revealed had over 500,000 plays on the service.