River City: Rival Showdown is coming to new platforms

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Obligatory “Barf!”

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Arc System Works has announced that the 2016 3DS title, River City: Rival Showdown. is coming to PC, Switch, and PlayStation platforms.

River City: Rival Showdown was the second Kunio-Kun/Downtown/Nekketsu/River City title to be released on the 3DS, following River City: Tokyo Rumble in 2013. Both were similar titles that take the Kunio-Kun/Downtown/Nekketsu/River City beat-’em-up formula started in 1986’s Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun/Renegade and cemented in 1989’s Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari/River City Ransom. Chubby arms, pained expressions, and lots of smacking take center stage in these games.

The new port of River City: Rival Showdown will include all the features of the 3DS version but will also include a brand new prequel story called Cold-Blooded Hardcore Yamada-kun. Beyond that, there will also be spiffier graphics and some quality-of-life improvements.

I’d call myself a huge fan of the Kunio-Kun/Downtown/Nekketsu/River City games, but I’ve had trouble getting myself into the more modern titles. I own River City: Rival Showdown on 3DS. I just couldn’t tell you why I haven’t played more than a few minutes of it.

Oh, wait, yes, I can. It was a horrible time in my life. I wish I hadn’t remembered that.

In any case, I’ll hopefully be giving this one another chance. If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle. It has all the Famicom games in the Kunio-Kun/Downtown/Nekketsu/River City series, but they’ve gone the extra mile and localized all the ones that were previously Japan-only. Seriously, an impressive effort.

River City: Rival Showdown will be releasing on PC, Switch, and PlayStation on October 12, 2023.

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Zoey Handley
Staff Writer - Zoey is a gaming gadabout. She got her start blogging with the community in 2018 and hit the front page soon after. Normally found exploring indie experiments and retro libraries, she does her best to remain chronically uncool.
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