River City: Tokyo Rumble

Genre: Arcade Brawler / Action-RPG

Players: 1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local Wireless), Download Play Supported

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Review:

River City: Tokyo Rumble is an Arcade Brawler with some Action-RPG elements released on Nintendo 3DS in 2016. This game is the first Nintendo 3DS game in the long-running Kunio-Kun series (I think this is number 44 overall) to be released in the West. And yet, this game still seems very much like the series’ early breakout hit, River City Ransom.

The presentation here is an odd mesh of old and new, with character models that seem ripped straight from the 8-bit entries in the series, fighting in front of 2D backgrounds that are somewhat more detailed but still nothing close to impressive. This is all backed by a forgettable soundtrack occasionally punctuated by the shouts of the characters fighting. Also, for the record, there is an early reference to River City Ransom’s “BARF!” non sequitur quote, but most characters do not repeat this line.

When it comes to the gameplay… look, this is just River City Ransom all over again. It’s the same sort of Arcade Brawler with RPG elements, the same limited move set, the same sort of confusing map. I know there are some who still hold the classic game close to their heart, but I tend to think that the genre has moved on quite a bit since the 8-Bit days.

It’s not just the lack of progress in this series that bothers me about this game. There’s also some pretty spotty hit detection, damage sponge enemies, weapon pickups that don’t seem to help significantly in battle, the constant spawning and respawning of enemies in areas you’ve already cleared out… it gets really tiresome really quickly.

I should note that this game does have a few competitive multiplayer modes with download play – an arena mode and a dodgeball mode (hearkening back to another 8-bit classic in the series). These are some nice additions to the game, but don’t do much to counter my primary issues with the game.

Ultimately, I have to conclude that River City: Tokyo Rumble is a game that fans of the Kunio-Kun series will enjoy, but most others would be better off skipping. This is a game that’s stuck in the past, and that’s both a good thing and a bad thing, but if you’re not a fan of this series, you’re likely to mostly see the bad.

tl;dr – River City: Tokyo Rumble is an Arcade Brawler with some Action-RPG elements that plays a lot like the classic game River City Ransom. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this game plays a lot like the classic game River City Ransom. The result is a game that feels dated and unoriginal even before you factor in the unhelpful map, frustrating constantly-respawning damage sponge enemies and poor hit detection. Its mix of Arcade Brawler and RPG elements are still compelling, but there are other games that do this combination of elements better.

Grade: C-

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