If you’re a fan of brawlers or retro games, chances are you’ve probably played River City Ransom at some point. If not, then the good news is that a new title of the River City series is coming to the 3DS. Titled River City: Tokyo Rumble, the game is port of the Japanese River City game called Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun SP: Rantou Kyousoukyoku which came out in Japan in August 2013. Natsume announced on their Facebook page that the title will be coming to US and Europe later this year and that it will be playable at E3 2016.
The story revolves around series’ protagonists, Riki and Kunio, fighting a new gang of thugs that come to their school. Players will have to beat up enemies for money to buy health, power-ups, and new moves. Dodgeballs, brass knuckles, chains, and even motorcycles can be used as melee weapons against thugs.
River City: Tokyo Rumble keeps the familiar RPG-Brawler style that the NES game had with new improvements to the gameplay and visuals. The visuals have been updated, with the characters still pixelated but the background in 3D. Tokyo Rumble will have the series staple Co-op mode, being able to play using Local Play or Download Play. The 3DS game will also have a 4-player competitive mode and a dodgeball minigame similar to Natsume’s Super Dodgeball on NES.
With the help of Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, Blazblue), River City: Tokyo Rumble will release in the US and Europe to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary. President of Natsume Hiro Maekawa said “We know there’s a loyal fanbase of the River City series in North America who have been asking for more of these addictive games to play!” Maekawa went on to add “Whether your a longtime River City fan or new to the series, there’s plenty of side-scrolling action to love.”
If you can’t get enough of River City Ransom, be on the lookout for the Kickstarter funded sequel River City Ransom: Underground. The game is still in testing, but the final version should be coming out soon for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you haven’t played a River City game yet, then you are denying yourself to one of the best old school beat-em-ups ever.