River City Girls 2: First Look Preview

The highly influential Kunio-kun beat-’em-up RPG series initially made its debut in arcade cabinets and Apple II computers alike – all the way back in 1986, predating both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Streets of Rage, if you can believe it – and since then, it’s gradually built up quite the storied legacy, spanning over 20 game releases in Japan. Though far fewer have made their way to the west. But recently, developer ArcSys streamlined Kunio-kun’s beat-’em-up RPG formula with the help of 2017’s River City Ransom: Underground and its sequel, 2019’s River City Girls. The latter was especially well-received for its slick combat, fun soundtrack, and robust level design. And now, three years on, developers WayForward and ArcSys are at it again with the upcoming River City Girls 2. It already promises to be a worthy sequel for brawler enjoyers and Kunio-kun fans alike, and I got the opportunity to play its first level while soaking up the initial story sequences as three of its six playable characters, exploring a small chunk of its sprawling map, and beating its first boss. It already feels like the perfect follow-up to both the original River City Girls and the much more recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, so buckle up.

River City Girls 2 is pure slapstick, centered around a whimsical yet delightfully self-aware cast of anime-inspired characters who are all supposed to be high school-aged but generally have a taste for violence that would be deeply unbecoming of any actual teenager. Regardless, the whole town wants a piece of you, and you’ll quickly find yourself picking fights with just about everyone. It’s a little bit like Cobra Kai meets One Punch Man, if that helps.

There are now six playable characters to select from (up from the original’s core cast of four), including new additions Provie and Marian, the former of which can bust out a boombox with the Y button and breakdance with the B button. Yes, these are actual fighting moves that can do tons of damage to nearby enemies, and there are plenty of others that I could have unlocked by visiting the Dojo and buying them with in-game currency. All of these characters seem to have their own fighting styles, moves, personalities, and dialogues, though I only tried three of the six, including Kunio and Riki. Kunio himself is more of a heavy hitter, whereas Riki does less damage per attack but moves faster overall. According to the developers, one game can now be occupied by up to four players at once with the new four-player co-op mode, though I didn’t get to try that in action.