A modern River City beat-'em-up
River City Girls is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up set in the streets of River City. Kunio and Riki have been captured, so their girlfriends Kyoko and Misako take over and punch and kick their way across town to get them back. The game runs in an outrageous 16-bit style, with pixel-art graphics, manga story panels, and anime cutscenes breaking up the action. An epic synth-pop soundtrack backs the whole thing, with tracks from Megan McDuffee, Chipzel, Cristina Vee, Dale North, and NateWantsToBattle.
Playing together
The game supports one or two players in local co-op, so you and a friend can pick Kyoko and Misako and fight side by side. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which lets a friend join over the network as if you were sitting on the same couch. Either way, you share the same screen and work through the city regions as a pair.
What to know before starting
There are six large city regions to fight through, each with shops and side quests. Along the way you gain new skills, eat power-ups, and pick up weapons, items, and abilities to power up your heroines. Combat covers combos, throws, and special attacks, and classic River City characters show up as guests. The store page carries a Sexual Content tag alongside the retro, anime, funny, and cute tags, so keep that in mind before you start.