River City: Rival Showdown, released in Japan to celebrate the Kunio-Kun series' 30th anniversary, takes the original story of River City Ransom and adds. Crescent Marketing Inc. Video Games Wholesaler and Distribution Distributor Buy Wholesale Video Games. River City: Rival Showdown (Limited Riki Keychain Edition) 3DS. Release Date April 30, 2018 River City: Rival Showdown on 3DS Limited Riki Keychain Edition - AVAILABLE NOW Featured Games. Baila Latino for Playstation 4. Baila Latino.

The River City series in the West has seen something of a comeback as of late, thanks to the efforts of Natsume. Even if there is often a long waiting period between a few releases.

But the latest entry is a fully fledged title, complete with a physical release. This time, the game is River City: Rival Showdown. And while the game is a great time with Kunio and his delinquent misadventures, it’s somewhat hamstrung by time management mechanics.The plot this time is that a rival has appeared and challenged Kunio for control of the town, while Kunio also has to deal with the Double Dragons and all the other gangs that crop up over the course of the three days you have to deal with the antagonist, and the disappearance of Riki’s girlfriend.

The plot is basically a more involved re-shoot of Double Dragon. There is a long series of events to engage in if you want, but every action consumes time in the day, and certain events only are available at certain times, which can impede your quest. Because of this, the game has more or less multiple endings depending on what you do and when you do them.

Thankfully any level or stat and equipment progression is retained so you can just mess around to get stronger for the next run. But at the same time, being constricted by any kind of time limit is still a buzzkill. I don’t like being put into a deadline unless it’s something like Persona, but three days is too little a period of time to do much of anything.Gameplay is still basically the same as previous entries like River City Ransom, but there’s also random battles and sidequests like Yakuza. You can punch, kick, throw, and pick up objects like crates to use as weapons. You can still improve stats or get skills by eating food or reading books, but now there are a few more RPG wrinkles added to the formula. There are accessories and armor to equip, and while most equipment seem to have different types of protection, there are the standard ‘buff your stats’ clothes and belts to put on.

There are even accessory slots to give you additional boosts. But going back to food for a minute, some food will give you temporary buffs for a set amount of time. Over the counter drugs also can do this as well. But in addition to all this, you actually level up by fighting, and you can easily see how much progress you have made until the next level. Although you will have to remember to go to the menu screen to allocate your skill points.Aside from the somewhat irritating time limit, the game is a blast. The graphical presentation is still largely unchanged, only now there is a 3D background accompanying the 2D Sprites that are still stuck in the 8-bit pixel era. The music is also simple, but catchy.

There is a lot of replayability, so you’ll be sure to get your money’s worth. Although I’m not exactly sure why this title is still $30 USD when the previous title released only months ago was half that price. So, if the price isn’t an issue for you, River City: Rival Showdown is a worthy entry to the Kunio series, or for any beat em’ up fan.

Fists will be flying soon on the 3DS with the release of River City: Rival Showdown. Natsume has announced that they will be releasing the next entry in the long-running series this November. A re-telling of the original, the new version will feature multiple story paths, several endings, an updated fighting system, a day-and-night cycle, local two player co-op support, and a bonus Double Dragon game. The game will launch digitally and physically for $29.99. As before, first-run copies will come with a limited edition keychain.River City: Rival Showdown is scheduled to launch digitally and physically this November for 3DS.–Official Site.