I’ll be honest, some of my absolute favorite video games are beat-em-up. Picking a favorite character, jumping into a level sending you straight into the action. River City Girls is a beat-em-up and much more. Touting a crazy cast of characters, an entertaining story, and tons of fun and exciting game mechanics to explore.

The story of River City Girls follows High School friends, Misako and Kyoko who are on an adventure to rescue their boyfriends who have mysteriously been kidnapped. I absolutely enjoyed their banter throughout the story as Misako seems to be the more grounded and serious type and Misako is always cracking humorous jokes. There are even many more side characters that add their own charm to the story as well. I loved how the game explored the different relationships of the other characters throughout the story. Each character had their own exciting personality with nothing feeling overly bland.

As I explored through River city, the music would change for each different level. The music had a nice mix of upbeat and mellow tunes some of which reminded me of the Mega Man games. Each new level came packed with new and stronger enemies which added a nice variety to the pacing of the game never making it boring or repetitive. For a beat-em-up game, the action of the combat felt fast-paced and never slowed down, and always kept me engaged.

There are also many shops with different equipment and items you can buy to boost stats or replenish health. Additionally there is a dojo where you can learn different melee combos and attacks to enhance your character further to give you an edge in the higher levels or against a tougher boss. I liked the extra combos and finisher-type moves as they sometimes made the gameplay seem like a fighting game.

Even though River City Girls campaign can run a bit short at around 7 hours there are still loads of collectibles and accessories and different characters to level up. And let's not forget where this game really shines which is in its two-player co-op mode to really get into the action. There is also a handful of secret characters to unlock and gear up truly extending the length of the gameplay.

River City Girls hits all the right notes for a beat-em-up game. It’s got an entertaining story, addictive two-player co-op, great music, and over-the-top boss fights. This game is a must-play for any beat-em-up fan out there and a lot of spirit and charm was put into it. I cannot wait to jump back in and start leveling up more characters and get the secret ending.

SCORE:10

Review copy courtesy of WayForward