River City Girls Zero Review (Switch eShop)

The first entry in the convoluted Kunio-kun saga, localised in 1986 as Renegade, is considered the progenitor of the scrolling beat-em-up. While later efforts would evolve its arena-based model into the classic belt-scrolling format we know today, it was Technos that established the genre’s significant hallmarks: damsels in distress, bare-knuckle brawling, guys on motorbikes, ‘chicks’ with whips, and gun-toting final bosses.

Better-known in the West as the ‘River City’ series, in 2019 developer Wayforward (Shantae, Contra 4) plucked two female characters from Kunio-kun lore — the high-school girlfriends of the series’ principal delinquent duo — and made them the lead characters in an all-new title: River City Girls. An attractive, well-crafted scrolling-beat-em-up, it did well enough to prompt a sequel due out later this year. In the meantime, Wayforward and Arc System Works (the latter now holding the Kunio-kun rights) have whipped up an origin story of sorts: River City Girls Zero.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a new game. River City Girls Zero, is, in fact, the first official localisation of Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, a 1994 Super Famicom title. Among all the Kunio games, this one was significant for shifting into more serious narrative territory — its heroes framed and imprisoned for a hit-and-run murder — and introducing girls Misako and Kyoko. It was also developed by small-time outfit, Almanic, rather than Technos themselves.

Wayforward’s presentation is exceptionally good in everything except the two lacklustre wallpaper options for framing the screen, unnecessarily emblazoned with the Limited Run logo. It opens with an all-new anime cutscene, beautifully animated and stylishly drawn; a cute singing soundtrack plays over the top, recounting the game’s backstory and the protagonist’s plight to clear their name. Firing up a new game plays a Manga panel introduction showing the girls discovering a game cartridge of their ‘first adventure’, amusingly breaking the fourth-wall as they attempt to wire up a Super Famicom to relive 1994. They haven’t aged a day, of course.

Into the game proper and you’re greeted with nice, sharp Super Famicom emulation. There are a variety of screen-size options and integer scaled displays, but, with the 16:9 distortion ruining the graphics, the default 4:3 option remains best.

It’s lovely-looking, too. Kunio and pals have large, properly formed sprites (as opposed to the Super Deformed shape they regularly took) and everything is bathed in the beautiful colour palette Nintendo’s 16-bit console is now famous for.

River City Girls Zero is a plot-heavy title, with a lot of text exchanges. It was fan-translated for emulation several years ago, but Wayforward has sped up the text speed, which helps a lot. That said, the game can be finished in less than two hours if you can avoid dying, and perhaps just over four hours for first-time players. Local co-op is available too, allowing two friends to simultaneously batter their way across Japan.

Kunio’s original designer, Yoshisha Kishimoto, channelled his school-fighting and teen romance days into the character’s delinquent exploits. Here, Kunio and Riki begin the game in a jailbreak, soon reunited with sassy girlfriends Misako and Kyoko. Although you can only play as one character at a time, all four teens can be cycled between by tapping the shoulder button, gracing you with four life-bars. But, if only one of your party dies, it’s off to the continue screen, where you’re occasionally faced with starting an entire section over.

The game’s rhythm flits between a few minutes of chat — usually tough-guy talk about whipping some rival gang member’s ass — and then strutting off to do just that, smacking up henchmen on the way. It’s linear stuff, and simply requires you to use your resources (and all four characters) to bash your way to the next section. It’s relaxing to play through, lapping up the scenery as you go, and NPC’s like Takayama and his policeman dad bring levity to the proceedings. It’s far from fine literature: this is about dumb kids on a rampage of revenge, but it’s got charisma.

What’s most important, of course, is how it plays. For some, this 1994 title might be showing a little too much age. There’s nothing else in the game except street combat and several 3D motorbike interludes. The biking is a fun diversion, requiring you to slow on sharp bends to avoid careening into the barrier, and the combat bears all the hallmarks of Technos’s previous titles. But, Double Dragon Advance it plainly isn’t.

Initially, Kunio and Riki have limited move-sets until they pick up Misako, Kyoko and their high-school garb, at which point the repertoire is…