River City Girls 2 (Switch) Review

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There are few things more fun than playing games on a couch with another person and beat-em-up games are the tried and true champions of cooperative play. River City Girls 2 is one such title in a string of awesome offerings for fans of this classic style of game. Featuring a much longer story mode with two new characters to brawl with, and four to pick from the start, this sequel to the well-regarded revamp for the characters of the Kunio-Kun / Double Dragon franchise sets itself up to be a slam-dunk continuation but does it hit the mark? 

Once again, WayForward nails it in presentation, mechanics, music, and fanfare. From top to bottom, River City Girls 2 is a beautiful game full of personality, grit, and charm. Each of the characters is lovingly designed both in their anime-style portraits for dialogue scenes and their pixel-art gameplay versions. There are subtle facial animations on the sprites that really sell their characteristics such as Kyoko showing a pouty, determined expression when carrying heavy weapons. Flourishes like this are paired with a funny script and a fantastic soundtrack, making River City Girls 2 an exciting game that keeps players eager to see what’s around the bend. 

The big addition that fans of the first game were hoping for is online cooperative play with crossplay, enabling more ways to pick up a second player, and this game has these features for added ways to connect. Just like the first River City Girls, this is a game that really benefits from two-player knuckle dusting. Even on the normal difficulty setting, it’s easy to get stomped by the ruffians prowling the streets. This is why it was so tough for me to make progress alone in either game for so long, a problem that has since been resolved thanks to my partner taking an interest in co-op games. 

A few months back, we poured a couple of drinks and blazed through much of the first game, learning its rules and exploiting the game’s item systems to keep us from dying. We had so many rough encounters with bosses but beating them felt like a genuine triumph and upon rolling credits on the first game, we immediately eyed the second. 

This leads to the core reason why I have put off this review. I’ve had access to River City Girls 2 since shortly before its launch in December of last year. However, upon starting the game something felt off on the Switch port and I started to see others having similar issues. Framerate and combat in particular felt sluggish at launch, a strange fate considering how solid the first game felt. Since I genuinely loved what the game was going for and since there were plenty of other titles to tackle instead, I opted to wait for a performance patch. All the while, I was keeping an eye on WayForward’s communication lines, eager for a hint of when I could punch baddies as my favorite truants. 

Sometime in June of this year, a performance patch was released for all platforms. Following this news, Gina and I dove full force into River City Girls 2. Yet, even now the game still doesn’t feel quite right on Switch, especially compared to the first game, but it is playable and enjoyable so we stuck with it. We ran into a few slowdowns and a hard crash or two but with enough patience, we finished it. While the game is still pretty good on Switch, I do hope that continued efforts are made to further solidify the game’s longevity, something it truly deserves. I imagine the game runs far better on other platforms though I have yet to test this for myself. 

Again, from a visual and sound design perspective, River City Girls 2 is a fantastically portrayed game with lots of little nods to fan-favorite characters and even other WayForward titles. Each of the six playable characters feels distinct with satisfying depth to explore that results in entertaining combo routes. Unfortunately, I kinda wish the game was less of a grand adventure and more of an arcadey experience. So much of this game drags on for many hours with a lot of backtracking, which granted is typical of these RPG/Brawler hybrids but still felt painfully slow at times. I admit that much of the last section of the game I was just going through the motions to see the end. Using weapons, leveling up, trying out new accessories, and seeing the funny posts on the in-game social media apps Honkr and Snapr all scream a game with a vision but something somewhere created a title with a little bloat that overstays its welcome. That said, playing a few quests per night over the course of a few weeks alongside a co-op buddy is still wildly entertaining. 

By the end of River City Girls 2, we had developed a synchronized approach to scraps. We could start combos effortlessly and carry enemies across the stage consistently for maximum walloping. That and every time the legendary abs of Marian were mentioned we both squealed and couldn’t wait to play as her. Much like Marisa in Street Fighter 6, Marian is an incredible addition to the River City Girls roster and her story of being tired of bulking up after years of being a damsel in distress is so much fun. The other new character Provie doesn’t get the build-up that Marian gets, so she sort of shows up without much of a connection to the team. Thankfully, Provie’s hip-hop-inspired moves are fun to master but her character is far less developed than the other five playable characters. 

Where River City Girls 2 both shines and flounders are the game’s bosses – there are several and they all have interesting mechanics in their fight. Yet, some are way more approachable than others. We really struggled to consistently jump from platform to platform in Marian’s battle where she fills the room with toxic waste and hurls explosive barrels. Much of the clash with Blaire felt like absolute chaos to the point where we just used a bunch of items rather than trying to make sense of what was going on; Blaire’s fight is visually interesting though as she throws out tarot cards and blasts the stage with magic. Tsuiko, a boss with social media mastery, is definitely the most creative as players have to navigate pocket realities that hearken back to classic River City games. However, most of the bosses feel really one-sided with a lot of damage output with the solution mostly being to grind out levels or use items though I am sure there are ways to conquer them through skill. It just seems like the fair path is obscured a bit too much compared to the approachable nature of the rest of the game’s identity. 

While there are paths to make the game easier, River City Girls 2 is still a game with a difficulty problem, which does push players into a cooperative playstyle. Most generic enemies are capable of ganging up on the player and there are so many scenarios where it’s better to take a death and respawn with full health rather than revive one’s partner. Trying to stomp an ally back to life also opens up the alignment problem that most beat-em-up games face, sometimes resulting in being unable to line up actions properly. Positioning remains squirrely and deeply important to River City Girls. Strangely, dying and rejoining in the next screen de-equips items, meaning players have to reassign their gear more frequently than they should have to. Despite these issues, I still had a lot of fun playing River City Girls 2.

I just wish that I could like it more than I do.

There has been a tremendous effort in improving the game with performance fixes, balance patches, and enabling players to continue to play after New Game+ is completed. There’s something to be said about a publisher fixing a game of this scope six months after release and I hope that this continues so that the experience can be polished to a brilliant shine. 

Between the two titles, the first River City Girls is more of an instant classic, leaving the sequel as a game with more content but lacking the focus or polish of the original. Regardless, what results is still a perfectly enjoyable beat-em-up. Though it can be a tough excursion.

Understand that the RPG systems are there to help Misako and her pals get stronger, so bash in every thick skull that crosses their path. I also recommend stocking up on items before a boss encounter. Don’t be afraid to grind a bit or grab new moves at the dojo either. Lastly, this game is way more fun with a buddy so try to find a partner.

The flair of the game’s manga cutscenes, finding a Mega Ran concert at a crowded basketball court, stomping through a mall as the amazing vocals of Megan McDuffee set a perfect tone, and meeting a dog named Shou-kun (voiced by Alpharad) that says “Woof,” while shopping for snacks all create an experience that I won’t soon forget. Yet, I am once again hoping for another game, this time a River City Girls 3, that nails the landing and is awarded gold medals across the board. For now, River City Girls 2 is an enjoyable co-op romp with some rough edges that leaves me eager for more.  

Anything involving this updated cast of River City denizens has my attention and I desperately hope that there’s a 2D fighting game in our future. 

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 6/10

VISUALS - 8/10

SOUND - 9/10

CONTROLS - 7/10

REPLAY VALUE - 4/10

OVERALL - 6.8/10

Learn more about River City Girls 2 on the official website. A digital copy of the game was provided for review purposes. Screenshots were captured using the native features of the Switch.