River City Girls Zero is a repackaged version of Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka. That game launched for the Super Nintendo in Japan in 1994, so, it has been a long wait for fans of the series. There have been fan translations for the game over the years, but after two-plus decades, an official release is finally here. River City Girls Zero is not exactly a simple port, but it also isn’t a remaster. It is something in-between, for better and for worse.
Fans of River City Girls may be disappointed to learn that not a lot was updated for River City Girls Zero. It plays almost exactly as it did in 1994. As cool as it is to get a new SNES game in the West in 2022, is this release worth it? The game has its moments overall so let’s go through the positives and negatives.
8 Best: Multiple Characters
River City Girls Zero features a unique character system. After a few levels, players will take command of four heroes: Kunio, Riki, Misako, and Kyoko. They can switch between them on the fly and each one has their own health bar.
There is also co-op so that players can divide up the playable characters for some good old brawling action. As always, games are more fun with a friend or loved one around in local co-op. It also makes the game easier.
7 Worst: A Basic Brawler
As a successor to River City Ransom, which redefined brawlers for its generation, River City Girls Zero brought things back to basics. This is a straight-up brawler with the only thing of note being the switchable characters.
None of the heroes have flashy specials to speak of. Both male and female characters have a majority of the same animations too. This game is desperately missing the RPG elements of River City Ransom.
6 Best: 16-Bit Art Still Looks Great
For a game that hasn’t been around since 1994, River City Girls Zero still looks great, especially since the 16-Bit graphics from the SNES haven’t been improved at all. Players can tweak the screen ratio if they like from the moderate full screen to the awful stretched mode.
River City Girls Zero isn’t the most drop-dead gorgeous SNES game from its era, but the chunky sprites do have a lot of personality to them. On the negative side, there are plenty of reused designs for levels. Then there are the gimmick levels that are worth praising, including the amusement park and the motorcycle chases.
5 Worst: The Animations Are Stiff
The aforementioned reused animations for the male and female heroes are troubling. It makes the character not feel that unique, almost like there are only two playable heroes with the others acting like secondary health bars.
The overall attack animations, repeated or not, are also slow. It is one of the clunkiest brawlers around. It can be hard to land a punch or a kick because the hitboxes are off as well. River City Girls Zero is a slow-paced and stiff brawler that could have done with some loosening up in the remastering process.
4 Best: The Intro
There are two standout additions to the game which will greet players right away. First, there is an intro anime movie before the title screen. The accompanying music quite literally spells out the setup for the game, and it’s a rocking tune. Unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn’t have as killer of a soundtrack.
After this anime-inspired sequence, there is a manga-style motion comic wherein Misako and Kyoko find Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka and decide to play it. This should be a very fun meta moment for fans.
3 Worst: Can’t Skip Dialogue
It’s quite astounding how much text is in River City Girls Zero. Most brawler games from the '80s and '90s had very basic setups, with plots usually involving rescuing women or political leaders. This game's story involves Kunio and Riki being blamed for an accident they weren’t a part of.
They have to escape prison and solve this mystery to clear their names. There are funny moments to the story, but sequences can drag on. This is not what most people expect from brawlers and there is no way to fully skip a story sequence.
2 Best: The Extras Gallery
Besides the two intros and the outro at the end of the game, there is also an extra gallery. Here players can rewatch these cutscenes to their heart’s content. They can also look at the box art, original cartridge, and the manual for the game.
This is all from the original Japanese release, so it will be nearly impossible to decipher for most West fans. That said, there are plenty of screenshots and artwork to ogle at. It’s not a lot but extras are always appreciated, especially in a remaster.
1 Worst: How Death Failure Works
River City Girls Zero has one of the weirdest punishments for players that aren’t paying attention to their health bars. Players will get a game over if one character falls in battle. It doesn’t make any sense. It is important to stay on top of health and to avidly switch off between the four characters.
The checkpoint system is at least generous so that players won’t have to redo whole stages. There are RPGs that do this as well like a majority of the games in the Persona series.
River City Girls Zero was released on February 14, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
