
A few months ago, we got our first look at River City Girls 2, in the form of a series of screenshots and character reveals.
Now, publisher Arc System Works and developer WayForward have released the game's debut trailer. Although it's in Japanese, it still gives fans a pretty good idea of what to expect from this upcoming multiplayer beat 'em up.
Some of the Japanese cast for the game has also been revealed. Here's the line-up so far courtesy of Gematsu: Misako (voiced by Honoka Kuroki), Kyoko (voiced by Sumire Morohoshi), Kunio (voiced by Makoto Furukawa), Riki (voiced by Chiaki Kobayashi).

Once again, this title will support local and online two-player co-op and is currently scheduled to be released at some point in 2022. Limited Run Games will also be offering a physical release. Don't forget about River City Girls Zero, either - a localisation of a 1994 Super Famicom title.

What do you think of the debut trailer for River City Girls 2? Will you be getting this game? Tell us below.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 27
Looks great! Loved the original and this will be a day one purchase for me.
Oh, that Megan McDuffee song in the end is such a tease! Can't wait!! Wouldn't call myself a fan of the Kunio franchise, but I loved the first game!
It's my most anticipated game, I can't wait to finally be able to play it online.
Looking forward to this one!
Hoping for a sale on the original when this drops. Never got around to it due to other games having better sales but now I don’t want to be left too far behind if this becomes a series. Always have loved Wayfroward games, though I need to know if they ever plan on rereleasing Mighty Flip Champs because I may get it before Nintendo decides to axe the DSi shop.
This first one was really fun so will probably pick the second up too. Disappointed that a physical release is so difficult to buy.
Looks as fun as the first one! On the radar.
I found the first game was frustrating even though I loved the music, world, characters, and style. Not likely to pick this up. 🧐
A little dissapointed that it looks like A LOT more of the same. I'm sure there'll be new stuff obviously but it just looks the same for now. Really looking forward to hearing the soundtrack as the first was so awesome. Maybe not a day one buy but I'm not gonna wait months after its release
This barely looks any different from River City Girls 1... The character sprites don't seem to have changed much, and there are a couple stages that looked like they were ripped directly from the first game. Quite disappointing tbh.
❗I have the first one physical but as @Wyndorfff said, it looks the same as the original one so like @Koffing, I won't pick this up.
I love side scrolling beat 'em ups but this one didn't do it for me, a bit like 'Streets Of Rage 4'.
I do love 'Double Dragon: Neon' and 'Scott Pilgrim' though.
I love Streets of Rage 4! But the first River City Girls has a hard time convincing me to pay €30. The gameplay does look like fun. In case of a 50% sale, I'll bite.
Looks like more of a good thing to me! I’ll pick up the physical when it arrives.
@mlj11 Recycling assets is a good way to keep down both development time as well as costs. A few areas definitely looked identical to the first game but some looked brand new. The trailer shows off the new characters and what looks like a new aerial/juggle system. I also remember the first screenshots we saw showed a bridge as well the carnival area from the 1994 game.
As for keeping the same original character models, they already looked great so what is the point in redoing them for a game that is made in the same style? Not everything needs to be 100% original and built from scratch. Like I said, keep down development time and costs, and free up time to work on other things.
@Wyndorfff @mlj11 to be honest I didn't expect something really different, there will probably be new bosses and enemies, some new locations (making the game bigger than the first one hopefully), there are 2 new playable characters (I guess)...as long as the game is fun like the first one it's not a big deal if they recycled many assets.
@Vriess I can assure you it's totally worth 30€, I also enjoyed it a bit more than SoR4.
Definitely will be getting this one. Loved the first one.
Some new key art for the main cast would’ve made the trailer feel less like a “RCG 1.5”, but the first game was a good time, so will keep an eye on what shakes out…
The original River City Girls didn't have a Japanese voice cast iirc, so it's good to see this one will! It would be pretty neat if they took this time to do recording sessions for an update to the first game to include a Japanese voiceover, but somehow I doubt they're going to do that.
The Bad. I haven't even opened the first one to play it yet.
I want to love this so much, because I love beat em ups. However, everytime I try to play these types of BEU, Scott Pilgrim was similar, the enemies are such damage sponges. They feel so slow and grindy. SOR4 is waaay more my pace. It is a shame, because this game is gorgeous and has such a high sheen of grind. I need to go and try the first one, one more time...
I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as much as the 1st game. With online play at that.
@Wavey84 Both didn't do it for me.
I'm not saying RCG1 is a bad Game; It's well-made but @NintendoJunkie is right when s/he says baddies are damage sponges.
Also, going back to certain areas even after you've cleared them re-spawns baddies.
I HATE RE-SPAWNING BADDIES!
It feels cheap and cheaty.
SPvTW and DD:N didn't do this and as regards the DD:N visuals/graphics, I don't think they're that bad.
Visuals help a game but games are about fun and I had more fun with DD:N than with RCG1.
WayForward really put a reference to Wendy: Every Witch Way in here... Funny enough, I guess we hit that game's 20th anniversary now.
Loved the first one but didn’t finish it but I will now
Love the first one...but this looks almost exactly the same. Almost looks like a trailer for a simple update to the first game.
@LeighDapa I understand your preference, however to be fair, this game needs respawning enemies. It's free exploration, so if it didn't have that the world would be too empty. As for the damage sponges, after you win strength and harder techniques as well as combo combinations enemies fall like flies.
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