River City: Rival Showdown
Image: Arc System Works

Update [Thu 6th Jul, 2023 04:30 BST]:

Arc System Works has now officially confirmed River City: Rival Showdown will be launching worldwide for Switch eShop on 12th October. It will be priced at $24.99 USD (or your regional equivalent) and includes language support options for English, Japanese, Korean, traditional and simplified Chinese. Here's a first look:

Original article [Wed 5th Jul, 2023 12:30 BST]:

Arc System Works is rereleasing its 3DS open-world RPG brawler River City: Rival Showdown on Nintendo Switch on 12th October 2023 in Japan. A western release hasn't been confirmed yet.

Confirmed via this week's issue of Weekly Famitsu (via Ryokutya2089 and Gematsu), the game was originally released as part of the Kunio-Kun series' 30th-anniversary celebrations. Developed as a remake and reimagining of the third game in the series, River City Ransom, and adds multiple different story paths, endings, and an open-world setting.

The 3DS version was released in the west in 2017, and we really enjoyed our time with it back in the day, rewarding it an 8/10, stating:

"...between the meaty campaign and the fun side mode, River City: Rival Showdown will likely hold your attention for some time."

The 3DS version had two-player local co-op and included a bonus Double Dragon fighting game, which will also be in the Switch version, titled Fighting of Double Dragon 2023.

We'll let you know if Arc System Works confirms a western release date for the game. In the meantime, let us know if you've played the 3DS version in the comments.

[source ryokutya2089.com, via gematsu.com]