There are two stories in River City Girls Zero. The first involves Misako and Kyoko who discover an old console and cartridge featuring them in their first adventure. That would be Shin Nekketsu Koha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, a Super Nintendo game. It was released in Japan in 1994 and never came over here until now.
Misako and Kyoko are just the framing device for this remaster. The main game is about Kunio and Riki getting framed for a crime they didn't commit. Now, with the help of their girlfriends, the two have to clear their names. River City Girls Zero is a simple brawler, but there are still some tips every player should learn before starting.
6 Play On Easy
Players can either play the game on Normal or Easy, and there is no changing the difficulty setting in the middle of a campaign. As an old-school brawler, River City Girls Zero is rather tough. Part of the reason why is that the animations are stiff, so it can be hard to control characters and in turn hard to land a punch or a kick.
Enemies can often overwhelm players as well. They seem to always have the advantage. Playing on Normal isn’t impossible but Easy will even out the playing field just enough to make most encounters feel like fair fights. Playing in co-op will also make things easier. So, maybe wait to pick this up until a friend or loved one is ready for some local action.
5 Basic Combat Tips
Even though this can be a hard brawler to control, there are a few tips that can help turn the tide of any battle. Punching or kicking enemies will leave players open for counterattacks. A good way to avoid these counters is by running at enemies at full speed with a flying kick.
Hit an enemy and then go after them for a stomp attack. Players can do this on the Switch controller by pressing the down button and then the A button. Once enemies get back up, run away again and repeat the process. These tips may feel a bit cheap and look weird to boot, but they will be useful in the long run.
4 Switch Off Between Players
River City Girls Zero, unfortunately, doesn’t have RPG elements like its predecessor, River City Ransom. However, this is not an ordinary brawler. After a few levels, players will amass four characters consisting of Kunio and Riki and their girlfriends Misako and Kyoko. Those two are why this game is called River City Girls Zero as it is their origin story into the Kunio-kun series.
Each character has their own health bar. This is great but it comes at a cost. If one character falls in battle then it is game over. Players need to keep an eye on health at all times. If the bar starts to dip around a fourth of their max then it is time to switch out brawlers. Playing a game in co-op will make this death effect less punishing.
3 Try And Fight One Enemy At A Time
It can sometimes be impossible to lure enemies away from each other. Most rooms in a level are not that big, which leaves players with not a lot of space to work with. At max, most bouts will only throw two to three enemies at players.
If players are lucky, sometimes these enemies will blend into each other. This makes hitting them easier since they occupy the same space. It all boils down to luck. If players can lure enemies away, do it. Pick them off one by one. Most importantly don’t get sandwiched in between two enemies. This is a good tip for most brawlers and action games on the whole.
2 How Saving Works
There weren’t a lot of features added to River City Girls Zero. It is mostly a straight port with extras framed around its 16-bit inner circle. There are two intros, one inspired by anime and the other by manga. There is also an art gallery. Most importantly to players, there is sort of a save state feature.
Normally the game saves progress through the use of passwords. Every level will display a code at the bottom when it is paused. Plug that code into the continue screen and players can move on. However, saving and quitting back to the main remaster menu will create a save state. It’s not as handy as making multiple save states but it is something. Don’t forget to write these codes down just in case the save state messes up.
1 Avoid Traps
Some levels in River City Girls Zero will have traps. For example, the second school is missing its foundational beams. This means that every floor in the level will cave in. At the start of each hallway, avoid all enemies and run to the very back. This will cause the floor to cave in thus damaging all enemies while players are safe atop a ledge.
During the boss fight, the school will continue to crumble. Players can avoid damage by staying down if they get knocked out or by timing their jumps right. There are more levels with traps in them but this is the first. Take these tips to heart and be smart about navigating future traps as well.
River City Girls Zero was released on February 14, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
