The Limited Run Games E3 presentation has finished and, predictably, it was both crazy and genuinely funny. Amazingly, it announced two new titles in such an off-hand way that many of us watching were trying to figure out whether it had been a reveal; thankfully WayForward has sent out a press release to confirm we weren't imagining things.
River City Girls 2 is on the way, a follow-up to the popular beat 'em up of 2019. Picking up after the first game you can again take control of Misako and Kyoko, and in a neat touch also as Kunio, Riki and 'other characters'. It will offer 'new moves, new enemies, new recruits, new environments', and will support both local and online two-player co-op. It'll arrive in 2022.
Also confirmed was River City Girls Zero, which is coming to Switch first later this year. This is actually a localisation of 1994's Super Famicom title Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, albeit with some excellent additions and adjustments; details are below. You can also learn more about the original in our retro review.
River City Girls Zero, meanwhile, lets players experience the first time that Misako and Kyoko teamed up with Kunio and Riki to take to the streets in hard-hitting, curb-stomping action. While the graphics, music, and gameplay all remain true to the classic 16-bit Super Famicom release, this version marks the first time the 1994 game will be localized for the West. A new opening cinematic, new manga cutscenes, and new theme song by River City Girls composer Megan McDuffee have been added as well. Set out solo or team up with a friend in local co-op and discover how the River City Girls story began!
Of course, the fact these were teased in the Limited Run Games show means they'll be getting physical editions down the line, too.
Are you excited about River City Girls 2 and River City Girls Zero?
Comments 29
I played the first one recently and actually really enjoyed it. A sequel should be good!
Did the DLC ever release, or did that become RCG2?
Yes! I adored the first one! More River City Girls is always good.
Oh Ok i'm down. I love beat em ups.
love the design but i lost interest at the first boss. i want to try again tho
Other than the swearing (at least in the English patched ROMs) which I'm certain will have to be toned down, I hope River City Girls Zero can be played exactly like the Super Famicom game with the original soundtrack and cut scenes.
Still need to play the 'first' one, even if that SNES game is technically the first one, I guess.
It's kinda cool they're touching up and localizing a classic Jp-only Super Famicom game.
I've often been tempted by the first game, but it's always so... reassuringly expensive.
River City Girls 1 was absolutely superb. Great fun combat system (matches Streets of Rage 4 in my view), amazing soundtrack and plenty of replayability. One of the most pleasant announcements of E3 so far with the sequel and older localisation.
I just finished reading the the review and comments for Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka.
Well, @Maxz, @Shiryu, and @Fandabidozi, it looks like this is finally happening.
This served as both a reminder to play the first one and also a nugget of excitement. How is it that I can be excited for a sequel to a game that I never even played? Games be strange, yo.
Can't they just re-release the superfamicom original alongside? That would be great.
Awesome news, loved River City Girls but bummed that there was no online play. Glad the sequel will change that and looking forward to Zero as well.
@DrDaisy better late...
Despite my beatemup love the first didn’t stick with me past first level
The Kunio games are my favourite beat' em ups and River City Girls is my first entry, so this is great news for me.
@Mr_Humpf Hoping River City Girls gets a bigger discount when the E3 sale goes live.
I was happy to see RCG2 announced, and the retro SFC title of which I’d never heard was a really nice surprise!
LRG’s presentation had me laughing a few times, and it was quite a lineup of titles. Very tempting! I’ll get ready to keep being patient for preorder deliveries 😅
I don't know how I feel about River City Girls Zero being given a standalone physical release. If anything, it should have been included in the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro-Brawler Bundle (and Limited Run Games should give that a physical release, btw)
Part of me is annoyed that the Super Famicom game is now being labeled as a River City Girls game (it's not, it's a Kunio game and I feel like calling it RC Girls Zero is going to give the false impression that the girls are the main characters), while another part of me is extremely happy to see this underrated brawler coming out in English. Either way, I'm always happy to see more Japanese titles getting western localizations.
My physical copy of River City Girls is my rarest Switch game; very excited to give it companions.
Streets of Rage 4 kinda stole any fire that River City Girls had.
I enjoyed the first one, but with Streets of Rage 4 and my long, ever growing backlog, the sequel will have to wait for a while.
Haven't still played River City Girls (of which I also own a physical copy from Play Asia) because I was holding it up until I played Kunio-tachi no Banka (I can't help it, I like to get all the references)... which I finally got on Super Famicom a few months ago, still unplayed...
And now it will come translated... It's a good thing, of course, but a little annoying to me because now I won't find a reason to play the original in Japanese. And for the name change, of course, as @Onion says. I understand the marketing reasons behind this, but still.
Well, I guess I'll buy it, but it would be nice to have it physical too. I wouldn't hope to see it released physically in the West (LRG is as good as unreleased for many people), but after the arrival of Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Collection or whatever it's called, I've seen it all. That bothered me too, because I have Kunio-kun The World Classics Collection, the Japanese version of the same, physical, yet the previously not localized games remain in Japanese, they didn't even bother to launch a patch with the newly released translation, which makes some of the games difficult to follow story-wise.
I'll be getting these games on PS5. Still haven't played River City Girls 1 but the announcement of a PS5 version along with 2 and Zero has gotten me interested. I know people seemed to really like RCG.
@Moroboshi876
Yeah they obviously slapped the River City Girls name on it to cash in on the hype the game generated even though the girls really aren't the focal point. In fact, without spoiling anything, they're not even playable for the whole game. Still, RC Girls references the Super Famicom game a lot, including remixing the music from the game, so it still kinda makes sense, I guess. There's also the fact that gameplay-wise the game has very little in common with RC Girls or RCR in general. It has no RPG elements, it's a straight-up brawler. It makes me a little worried that people will buy this game with expectations that won't be met and write it off.
Still happy to see it coming though and I'll be getting it as well. It's good to see that the RC Girls game generated fresh interest in the series. I hope this leads to more of the Kunio-kun games being translated.
@Onion Yes, there's definitely room for another collection, this time of Super Famicom and Game Boy games. Although very scarce, Mega Drive, PC Engine and Neo Geo titles of the franchise would be too much to ask, though.
I'm still surprised that the last collection got released at all in the West.
River City Girls was seriously one of the best Beat'em ups I've played in years. SO glad to hear it's getting a sequel.
Never thought Limited Run would have one of the best E3 showings out of all the major players 😂
@NinChocolate Same for me, I was bored quickly. Streets of Rage 4 was good for me
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