Game:

River City Girls (2019)

Duration: 0:00

3 views

0

Originally recorded: August 29, 2021
---
With Commander Keen firmly in the rearview mirror, one might expect me to go to a console game next. I guess they'd technically be right... but I'm still playing this game on PC, even if it was on pretty much everything else. River City Girls has been sitting in my own personal backlog for awhile now, so I was a little surprised that it got nominated in the first place. And when it comes to the end of the year bonus streams, I nominate two games. I usually go for one of my own... but then one that was nominated by someone else. I'm not gonna lie, I was torn between two choices this year, but fortunately, someone ended up beating me to my other choice. That's honestly why I usually keep most of my picks close to the chest: it gives me the opportunity to avoid "wasting" nominations on games other people end up choosing on their own.

Ain't I a stinker?

To be completely honest, I really don't have that much experience with the River City Ransom series -- or Kunio-kun, if you prefer. I think the only games I ended up beating were the NeoGeo version of Super Dodge Ball (which may go down as one of my all-time top 5 sports titles) and technically River City Ransom EX on the GBA, which I streamed last year. I did try playing the original NES game, as well as Underground... but I never really made it far in either. On the other hand, I was really into Double Dragon Neon, which was technically WayForward's last foray into beat-'em-ups related to the greater "Technos Japan" universe.

Having said that, I guess you could say that when it comes to the River City series, I'm essentially "a fan from afar". The idea of incorporating an RPG-style leveling system and exploration that wouldn't be out-of-place in an adventure game into a beat-'em-up appeals to me on an almost primal level. But if my experience with RCREX proved anything, it's that I guess it just wasn't guaranteed to click with me. But River City Girls? Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Like, we're to the extent where I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up giving this game a 9/10 when everything's said and done, which would make it my favorite game I streamed all year. Maybe it's too early to make a presumption like that... but RCG made one fantastic first impression and I almost hate myself for resorting to stream it in the first place. That kind of motivation would've been better spent on a game in my backlog that I've become numb to... like the first Darksiders... or Hollow Knight.