River City Girls 2 Gives Marian From 'Double Dragon' A Big Buff In New Trailer

This game is gonna be a blast!.

Oh my God, you could grind meat on those.

Wait, Double Dragon's a Kunio/Renegade offshoot? Just how huge is the meta-series?

Awesome! Fun use of the lP. I liked hearing that DD music and can’t wait to take down some Abobo’s with Marian!

Prefer her old look, she looks manly now.

@Clyde_Radcliffe 2022 there is no narrowly defined manly anymore. Everything is manly.

@Clyde_Radcliffe I like the rougher look, idk maybe it’s just me, but she doesn’t really look manly to me, I think they got her just right.

Finally a strong girl that isn't crowded with garbage design elements. :v

@Tounushi Actually, I think they were separate franchises and universes. Looking up the two franchises online gives no evidence to suggest they were part of the same universe until recently. They were made by the same company, though.

In a way, it's similar to two other popular fighting game franchises, Tekken and Soucalibur: both were made by Namco, and one or two characters made a crossover from Tekken to Soulcalibur, but for all intents and purposes, they are separate franchises and universes.

Then again, I could be wrong on this, and they were part of the Kunio-kun/River City series all along. But as it stands now, I can find no evidence to suggest that they were. What say you, @AlanaHagues?

@Clyde_Radcliffe theres nothing wrong with a woman being manly, and it feels like you might be connecting "manly" with "strong"

Give us Adance Wars you cowards!

Marian buffed up her abs so incapacitating punches to the stomach from kidnappers no longer work, I love it. She's probably the character I'm most excited to play as.

@Clyde_Radcliffe I disagree; women are perfectly capable of being beautiful and buff and I think Marian strikes that perfectly.

1. This is one of the best character developments in gaming history, bar none.

2. I'm not big on oohing and ahhing over women who aren't flesh and bone, but holy smokes hi, Marian 😳

Yeah I agree, she looks great.

Had to happen sooner or later. I'm not familiar with how she appeared in the first RCG but I'm old school enough to be very familiar with the poor dress-clad woman who always got punched in the gut and carried off (and sometimes killed...but she got better). Hanging around the Double Dragons and taking blows to the belly enough times...the glow-up (do the kids still say that?) makes so much sense.

Now you punch her gut and your hand just breaks.

@AstroTheGamosian
@Tounushi
@AlanaHagues

Long story short - Double Dragon's development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and it was supposed to be a direct sequel to the first Kunio game - Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986), released as 'Renegade' to western audiences, but it was turned into a spiritual successor, as Kishimoto was asked by the company's higher-ups to design a more appealing art style to international audiences.

This 2012's Polygon article / interview is a fun and informative read on the matter and more:

https://www.polygon.com/2012/10/12/3495124/the-man-who-created-double-dragon

Well now I know who I'm choosing to play as. I'm not ashamed to say it, jacked women with six-pack abs are a turn-on for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Vk1R80Eqw

River City Underground.... I would so love for that game to be revived and come to the switch and other consoles.

I can understand the devs wanting Marian to learn martial arts to defend herself and she's a great inclusion in the game, but did they have to turn her in to a man with a woman's face? Like seriously tone down the muscles.

@Dualmask
She's easy to miss in the first RCG for two (three?) reasons - first, she's only found running a shop in one of the game’s secret areas; and second, here she looks different enough (already glowed up and all) from her previous DD designs and no one refers to her by name. Eventually, it was confirmed by the game developers to be indeed Marian.

@AlanaHagues
No worries! It was my pleasure.

I prefer her old design.

She looks like Eda from Owl House had a Baby with Blanka.

That is a hilarious back story to explain her stomach. To be honest, I liked her design, until I just learned that is Marian from DD. Not sure I like it so much being the same character.

She looks just like Noi from Dorohedoro.

@juliobrand
Thanks for that info on Marian, and the Technos info in general.

Alana mentioned Marian had a cameo in RCG1 and I was trying to remember if I saw her while playing.

I only did one playthrough and got Misako and Kyoko all leveled up but never did go back for another round with Kunio and Riki. I really did love the game (and that music!) and can't wait to spend some Girl Power time with the sequel.

Maybe it's just me but girls with ripped abbs are just gross. 🙁 I like women to look like women. Call me crazy.

Didn't she straight up get murdered in the intro of the 2nd arcade game?

I love Marian’s current look (was wondering who she was in the first game). Please let me be able to main her the entire game.

@Truegamer79 you know that women have muscles too right? We aren’t made of skin and silly straws. Different body types on a female still means that if she is an adult she “looks like a woman”.

@Ryu_Niiyama

I meant no offense. I guess what i mean is to me extremely muscular women don't look very feminine. As a guy who prefers the opposite gender to myself it's just not my thing. You know in the same way some women wouldn't be into a girly man.

@Truegamer79 and it’s fine to have a preference but saying a female design is “gross” just because you aren’t attracted to that design is pretty rude. I would hope that you aren’t the kind of guy that demeans a woman just because she isn’t someone you wanna sleep with. Just as I am sure you wouldn’t want the same or hear attacks on men because they don’t look a certain way.

I love the evolution of her character and the backstory for it lol. Finally some Marian love. I don't like the white hair, but I'll get used to it.

@Ryu_Niiyama

I know it's just my opinion and others may not share it. I certainly wouldn't demean a real woman for looking a way that i personally wasn't attracted to.

If it makes you feel any better as a kid i was attracted to Miss piggy so what do i know? LOL 😉

Haha this is some interesting evolution of a character! I get why some people are a bit skeptical of how many of these muscle bound female characters are appearing now but remember guys... trends do work like that. Just how many damsel in distress we got during the early NES days? Its just a matter of perspective after all! I think its nice that they mix it up and we get some new ways to play our retro games

is she single

been wanting to play the 1st 1 don't know what to do with a sequel coming out

While I do prefer beat-em-ups that are more serious, I like the goofiness Wayforward has put behind this series. I really enjoy her backstory as it's very clever. She's even using her smartphone while the robot is carrying her. Funny stuff.

Regarding her appearance, I like it. I did notice that she looks bigger and more traditionally masculine in the title card for that trailer, but the other artwork in the trailer and in the character sheet in the article, she looks a bit slimmer. I think the idea and the design itself are pretty good.

@myMaudlinCareer Considering previous Double Dragon games, that's surprisingly a more complicated question than you'd think.

The artists definitely drew this one with one hand.

@Truegamer79
The life and times of Marian in the Double Dragon games can get a bit convoluted (but maybe not as much as the first game conundrum as it's spoiled on the pages of the NES instruction manual that your brother and guy that has been fighting beside you, Jimmy, is the Shadow Boss!)

Anyway, in DD 2 - The Revenge, Marian is killed right at the beginning of the game. In the arcade version Marian remained dead in the end. However, the NES home port changed this as she is resurrected by an angel once you beat the game.

In the western localization of the NES version of Double Dragon III, Marian was turned into the final boss, who had been possessed by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian queen called Noiram (that is, "Marion", a misspelling of her name (think Bimmy 😅), spelled backwards). Although in both the original arcade game and its Japanese versions, the final boss is the queen Cleopatra herself. Marian is nowhere to be found here. She was also possessed in Double Dragon Neon.

Finally, she'd also appeared as a playable fighter in the vs fighting game Double Dragon for the Neo Geo, allegedly based on Alyssa Milano's appearance in the live-action movie. (This game was also ported for the PS1 but only in Japan).

@Teksetter
You got it!

Oof! Sorry for the wall of text, folks! I'm kind of a wordy Lee Brothers aficionado!

@juliobrand

Wow we got a Double Dragon expert in the house! Good to know. Thanks!

@juliobrand So it's like how Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U was meant to be a spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii. Similar gameplay, different universes.

I just wish they'd port Xenoblade Chronicles X to the Switch already. If they can do it with other Wii U games, why not that one?

@AlanaHagues No problem! Always willing to help a fellow writer out! As it is, I would love to contribute more to this site as an American correspondent, especially since I've been a longtime lurker here.

And it's more in line with my dream job of eventually working for Nintendo; I've known of several people who worked for IGN who moved on to working for Nintendo, so why not people who work for Nintendo Life?

@AstroTheGamosian your guess is as good as mine. But I remember reading a while ago that the problem was basically 'money'. 😅

https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/10/18/monolith-soft-says-a-xenoblade-chronicles-x-switch-port-would-be-too-expensive

@Truegamer79 😆😆 Thanks! But I wouldn't call myself an expert - more like an avid fan of the sons of Stan. (Because they're the Lee brothers, get it? Blame Marvel for this one). 😅

She looks pretty great. I gotta say those abs make me jealous, but I'm 40 years old and like to eat sweets, so I don't see mine coming back any time soon. Also, does this mean that Bimmy and Jimmy will be somewhere in the game?

Best news I've heard all day!

I feel bad for missing the window to buy this from Limited Run Games, but just like the first game, I could buy this one at a store later. I'm pretty sure Best Buy sells most, if not all LRG releases.

I think she looks awesome. Very muscular but not masculine. I guess I'd have to see her without the jacket to know for sure. But based on that full-body concept art I think she looks very feminine and great!

@Jbuggydroid completely agree but knowing that Bannon (the lead creator of River City Underground) works for Wayforward now and worked on River City Girls 2, we can suspect it’s a good possibility!

I like Marion’s look but I’m disappointed her hair color doesn’t match the original NES and arcade games!

They call her hair blonde in the trailer, but it's clearly white.

Does anyone know the full list of playable characters for this game? Is it the six that are in the key art on the box cover?? Cuz it would be cool to play as the two guys as well.

@Truedoogie Super ultra platinum blonde?? =P

@juliobrand
You are a true Double Dragon scholar! Thanks for all this insight today.

To think I never knew that Jimmy and Billy were sons of Stan Lee!!
@_@;;

Really, though, I'm glad Marian is finally getting her due after years of abuse and kidnappings. Imagine the pent-up aggression she must have! It'll be a real treat cleaning up the streets with her.

I think RCG was such a fun, quality Western take on the Kunio-kun brawlers, and the sequel is looking just as worthy so far.

@Chocobo_Shepherd
The summer trailer linked above gives us a glimpse of 6 playable characters: Misako, Kyoko, their BFs Kunio and Riki, and newcomers Marian and Provie.

How cool would it be if Marian's besties Jimmy and Billy were unlockables? One can dream!

This game is available at limitedrun! ÷)

@Teksetter lol. well, that list is already awesome. But Bimmy and Jimmy would be great too ^_^

@juliobrand That's every company's go-to line: "It's too expensive." Believe me, if there's a will, there's a way. And if they can spend millions or even billions of dollars developing a new game from the ground-up, they could easily spend a fraction of that on a port of an already-released game.

Looks like garbage to me

For just a minute I thought that was Noi!