RIVER CITY GIRLS CRACK

Which is why, I think, that WayForward studios and Arc System Works decided to team up for River City Girls. However, keep in mind that River City Ransom is still probably the most well known in the franchise. Though, in recent years that has been changing.

Which is amazing when you consider that many of the Kunio-kun games haven’t made the trip to the West. The River City or Kunio-kun franchise is one that’s dear to many who grew up with an NES. Sadly brilliant visuals, terrific music, amusing dialogue and lively characterisation can’t save River City Girls from feeling like a missed opportunity.Time to be badass? Ha, these two were badasses from the beginning! In an attempt to evolve the genre, River City Girls does the exact opposite. The best brawlers are those that recognise and highlight the genre’s strengths, whilst at the same time hiding its weakness. I can’t help but feel that a perfectly enjoyable side-scrolling beat em’ up has been ruined by a gameplay loop stretched to tedium.

Now maybe you really like video games that demand the player to grind the same simple task again and again in order to make progress. It’s all so infuriating because there’s a decent brawler here, it’s just obscured by so much clutter. Going back and forth between locations, punching the same few enemies with a limited move set, just to level up and make a tiny bit of progress quickly becomes both boring and frustrating.Īll of a sudden, the minor irritations begin to add-up: why do the hundreds of identical enemies take so much damage? Why isn’t there an enemy health bar? Why are there big peices of scenery in the foreground that regularly obscure your view of the fisticuffs? On occasion the game locks you in a dead end and forces you to fight hordes of enemies until you are freed, but are you rewarded in this endeavour with an exciting item or some storyline development? Nope, your only reward is being allowed to leave. You’ll also need the cash to unlock some new moves and stat enhancing items to beat up the same old enemies at a slightly quicker pace. You’re going to need all the experience points you can get to level up and have a chance against the challenging bosses. You’ll find bus stops on your journey which act as quick travel locations, but you’d be a fool to use them, as doing so means you miss out on valuable experience points and cash. Sure, the same enemy type with alternate colour schemes has always been a trope of the genre, but the hub-like structure of River City Girls makes it feel like a real chore. It’s a bit of a drag, not helped by the hordes of unremarkable identikit enemies that get in the way. This stretches the brawler formula to breaking point as you traipse from point A to point B and back again in order to smash up a golden statue, smash up some fancy cars or smash up some other unassuming inanimate object. Unlike more traditional games that only ask you to battle from left to right, River City Girls has a large map for the player to navigate and complete objectives within. It’s a shame then that these solid fundamentals are undermined by some odd design choices. Everything about this game screams solid side-scrolling beat ’em up.

Then there’s the drop-in local co-op which is, of course, a delight. Controls are clear and responsive for the most part, and it’s only the woolly and unclear timing required to deflect attacks that frustrates.

RIVER CITY GIRLS CRACK

Kyoko and Misako are beautifully animated, bouncing from foot to foot with a smoothness that lets you know this is a modern game, despite its obvious retro influences.Ĭombat is chunky and satisfying sending a foe bouncing through the air to crack against the scenery is an initially gleeful experience. Aesthetically this is a children’s morning cartoon brought to life the influences can be seen everywhere, from the brilliantly over-the-top voice acting to the superb theme song that will soon make even the glummest player sing along. River City Girls’ bright, bold and colourful visuals are really off the charts.

River city girls