River City Girls Zero

You're being treated here, not to a replica of 16-bit graphics, but the genuine article, and that in itself carries a wonderful charm. With varied locales and great music, River City Girls Zero cleverly all takes place in pseudo real-time, the sun setting into night and eventually dawning again as you near end of your journey. It's an endearing romp across a quaintly rendered Japanese urban landscape that continually offers new places to scrap - from fairground rides and collapsing buildings to nightclubs and sun-drenched bays - all becoming especially colourful in the last hour. While it's very much a game of its era, River City Girls Zero is still rewarding for those interested in experiencing one of the saga's more creative entries.

This game offers wonderfully relaxing entertainment that will transport you a few decades into the past. Just turn off your brain and really step into it. Plus, it's great in the hand as a short-term distraction on the Steam Deck.

River City Girls Zero didn't come trying to remake or reimagine what was already there, integrating a classic into the modern history of the River City saga, giving us a nostalgic experience, and finally giving us a story that was absent for so many years in the West. A good appetizer while waiting for the main course that is River City Girls 2.

River City Girls Zero is an outdated beat em up with clunky combat, and is hard to recommend to anyone but the biggest fans of the franchise.

Released at a budget price, River City Girls Zero will undoubtedly find an audience. And retro fans are likely to lap it up, savouring its old-fashioned gameplay. Those who have spent the last few years playing fantastic modern beat ’em ups such as River City Girls and Streets of Rage 4, however, should probably view this as a curio and nothing more. It’s nice that it’s finally available in the west, but its gameplay is definitely showing its age.

The origins to River City Girls can be traced back to Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-Tachi no Banka, a 1994 title on the Super Famicom – Super NES for Western gamers. Developed by WayForward, River City Girls Zero acts as both a prequel to River City Girls, and a remake. This is due to the title being updated and repackaged for its release to Western markets. Now featuring full localisation, River City Girls Zero is a great introduction to the wider Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun franchise.

With all this, is it worth getting this River City Girls Zero? The answer is not so obvious since we are not dealing with a great classic of its time, one of those that should be on the resume of every self-respecting video game lover. However, all those older beat 'em up players will find in RCGZ a more traditional cut experience, with the flaws of the time but also with its charm. In addition, this Zero is a good excuse to enter the world of Kioko, Misako, Kunio and Riki and have more context when facing the 2019 River city girls game (or to complement it if you had already played it). And despite the fact that the game does not bring major changes in the audiovisual sections, all the additions are appreciated.

Awesome 16-bit graphics and nostalgia will distract you from the sluggish gameplay. Players unfamiliar with retro brawlers should probably skip out on this one. But if you're a fan of the River City series and want to take a trip back in time, this is a good place to start.

"Kunio-kun moves to west!"

River City Girls Zero presents us with the original 1994 game that shows where the characters' stories began. A fun, intuitive beat'em-up with a lot of plot, but which also shows that it doesn't follow its contemporaries when it comes to pacing and lifespan - indeed, this game feels too short and it advances too slowly. A full remake would have been a better option, but as it is River City Girls Zero is an enjoyable beat'em-up that fans of the genre will like to get their hands on.