River City Girls Zero Reviews
You're being treated here, not to a replica of 16-bit graphics, but the genuine article, and that in itself carries a wonderful charm. With varied locales and great music, River City Girls Zero cleverly all takes place in pseudo real-time, the sun setting into night and eventually dawning again as you near end of your journey. It's an endearing romp across a quaintly rendered Japanese urban landscape that continually offers new places to scrap - from fairground rides and collapsing buildings to nightclubs and sun-drenched bays - all becoming especially colourful in the last hour. While it's very much a game of its era, River City Girls Zero is still rewarding for those interested in experiencing one of the saga's more creative entries.
River City Girls Zero is an outdated beat em up with clunky combat, and is hard to recommend to anyone but the biggest fans of the franchise.
A great "brawler" for Super Nintendo, unreleased outside of Japan, which to this day is still a lot of fun. Although the limitations of the 16-bit machine are noticeable, its sense of humor and variety of levels make it worthwhile, especially in local mode for 2 players.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
River City Girls Zero is a charming prequel that fans of the series should add to their collection. However, as the game is almost thirty years old players shouldn’t expect the fast pace action from the more recent games. But nevertheless River City Girls Zero is a fun but tough port that deserves your attention after taking so long to be released outside of Japan.
Awesome 16-bit graphics and nostalgia will distract you from the sluggish gameplay. Players unfamiliar with retro brawlers should probably skip out on this one. But if you're a fan of the River City series and want to take a trip back in time, this is a good place to start.
Released at a budget price, River City Girls Zero will undoubtedly find an audience. And retro fans are likely to lap it up, savouring its old-fashioned gameplay. Those who have spent the last few years playing fantastic modern beat ’em ups such as River City Girls and Streets of Rage 4, however, should probably view this as a curio and nothing more. It’s nice that it’s finally available in the west, but its gameplay is definitely showing its age.
This game offers wonderfully relaxing entertainment that will transport you a few decades into the past. Just turn off your brain and really step into it. Plus, it's great in the hand as a short-term distraction on the Steam Deck.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
And then, and this is truly the best part of RCGZ, you unlock the ability to play the Intro, Outro, and End Credit sequences from the main menu. You can also flip through scanned pages of the original game's Japanese instruction booklet if that's your bag. I haven't played too many games where the bread is the best part of the sandwich, but here we are.
River City Girls Zero is geared more toward existing Kunio-kun fans rather than those who are new to the series. Existing fans can appreciate the callbacks to older titles and like the fact that the game tries something different with the formula. Everyone else will still enjoy the game but may wonder why many series elements and genre traits are missing. It is a solid game, but be cautious going in if you aren't already a fan of the Kunio-kun series.
I'm quite happy that we finally have an official port of this 16-bit beat 'em up gem. Although River City Girls Zero isn't as fun as River City Ransom or its modern sequels, it's still an exciting brawler with a rather engaging story to boot.
River City Girls Zero didn't come trying to remake or reimagine what was already there, integrating a classic into the modern history of the River City saga, giving us a nostalgic experience, and finally giving us a story that was absent for so many years in the West. A good appetizer while waiting for the main course that is River City Girls 2.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
"Kunio-kun moves to west!"
Review in Finnish | Read full review
The origins to River City Girls can be traced back to Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-Tachi no Banka, a 1994 title on the Super Famicom – Super NES for Western gamers. Developed by WayForward, River City Girls Zero acts as both a prequel to River City Girls, and a remake. This is due to the title being updated and repackaged for its release to Western markets. Now featuring full localisation, River City Girls Zero is a great introduction to the wider Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun franchise.
WayForward take us back with River City Girls Zero, offering up a piece of history as a new block in their own franchise.
With all this, is it worth getting this River City Girls Zero? The answer is not so obvious since we are not dealing with a great classic of its time, one of those that should be on the resume of every self-respecting video game lover. However, all those older beat 'em up players will find in RCGZ a more traditional cut experience, with the flaws of the time but also with its charm. In addition, this Zero is a good excuse to enter the world of Kioko, Misako, Kunio and Riki and have more context when facing the 2019 River city girls game (or to complement it if you had already played it). And despite the fact that the game does not bring major changes in the audiovisual sections, all the additions are appreciated.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I am confident in saying that River City Girls Zero and the Carbon Engine used to power this game is an immensely promising sign of future things to come: spectacular emulation quality, plenty of options to mess with, an improved gallery, and two great english translations on offer lead to River City Girls Zero being an outstanding package for both RCG and Kunio fans alike!
River City Girls Zero presents us with the original 1994 game that shows where the characters' stories began. A fun, intuitive beat'em-up with a lot of plot, but which also shows that it doesn't follow its contemporaries when it comes to pacing and lifespan - indeed, this game feels too short and it advances too slowly. A full remake would have been a better option, but as it is River City Girls Zero is an enjoyable beat'em-up that fans of the genre will like to get their hands on.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
River City Girls Zero is a good port that, although it has small flaws that keep it far from perfect, it feels cared for and leaves you with a sense of nostalgia when you play it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It's hard to recommend River City Girls Zero to anyone who enjoyed the 2019 game, as the prequel has very little in common with the more dynamic, modern formula of its sequel. It would have been great to see Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka remade in the River City Girls engine and offered alongside the original game in a revamped version with everything that is entitled, but the truth is that we will have to wait for River City Girls 2 to relive an experience similar to the first game. As it stands, the re-release is a good choice only for enthusiasts of old games, re-releases and assiduous fans of the franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
River City Girls Zero is an awkward title. It's fun but it's also infuriating and relies on cheap tactics to see you through. At 3 hours tops for your first run, and with replayability being quite low on this title, it makes it a hard sell for anyone who isn't a die-hard citizen of the River City. If you are a fan of the franchise and go in knowing that this is just a classic title repurposed as a hype device for the upcoming River City Girls 2 then you should be fine.