River City: Tokyo Rumble

River City: Tokyo Rumble takes everything good about River City Ransom and improves upon it.

The core beat 'em up mechanics with a touch of RPG made this game a very interesting surprise. Definitely something fans of the genre should try.

Mixing brawler and role-playing aspects is a common design choice, but River City: Tokyo Rumble veers far closer to the brawler side. It’ll be over quickly, but so was the original. A few little things keep this from being an all-time classic, but it’s a fun break from the heavy role-playing games the 3DS has had this year. This is one trip to the Far East worth hopping on.

The core Kunio-kun's mechanics are back on an old school flavored game, it's plenty of fun and content and the mixed elements from the RPGs and Beat'em ups work well. Unfortunately it's simpler than other similar contemporary games on its genre and the visuals are not consistent all times.

A fun little adventure that doesn't really take a lot of chances with a formula that was first established about thirty years ago. That might be playing things a little too safe, but it is also a testament to how good River City Ransom was that three decades later the core gameplay still holds up as an entertaining if somewhat shallow experience.

While River City: Tokyo Rumble is lacking in terms of challenge or complexity, it delivers on the basic concepts that have helped the Kunio Kun franchise last for decades.

An unapologetic love letter to the beat-em-ups of yesteryear. While simplistically accessible and filled to the brim with nostalgia, it’s brought down by very limited options and some clunky controls.

River City: Tokyo Rumble is a fun throwback to the original's combo of beat-em-up and role-playing elements, even if it's an admittedly one-note experience.

While the main game is brief, it’s plenty of fun, and bonus minigames like dodgeball add some extra charm to Tokyo Rumble. It’s a solid action game with a charming retro flavor that leverages RCR's foundation to construct both a new adventure and a different perspective on beloved game.

Thankfully that slapdash treatment isn't indicative of the game as a whole. The story mode is well put together and serves as a faithful homage to the classic. It's loving to the point of almost fawning, and it feels a little too willing to play it safe at times, but it's an enjoyable nostalgia trip regardless.

Although Tokyo Rumble plays great and I had lots of fun with it, the gameplay on display has been done better, and recently. Both Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Double Dragon Neon have online and local co-op play in addition to considerably better graphics and sound.

Shows its limits early on, with its rather repetitive combat, a level structure that needs improvement and the mixing of different graphic styles did not come out too well, but while those not interested in the genre should look the other way, any River City fan will be more than satisfied with this reincarnation of the thirty-year-old series.

River City: Tokyo Rumble came to me at a perfect time when I needed both a pick-me-up and a throwback, and it was successful for those reasons alone. While the game is quite easy, even on Normal, I still think it was a blast to play — repetition, silliness and all. River City: Tokyo Rumble feels like a safe game in every regard, but I don't feel like that should be held against it. There's nothing more satisfying than kicking some punk gangsters and chewing bubblegum.

River City: Tokyo Rumble is the epitome of a 'safe' game. While the core mechanics of the gameplay are solid and the graphics are unintrusive, there's little here that stands out as being particularly exceptional.