Video Game / River City Girls Zero

^{Zero cover art}

What's this, a brand new game?
Well sorta, yes and no
It's our very first adventure together
But one of our deadliest though
Someone's out for Riki and Kunio
Now they're behind bars
Until they break out, hella pissed
Handing out bruises and scars!

— The game's basic premise, as explained by the re-release's opening theme

River City Girls Zero ^noteShin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, "New Hot-blooded Tough Guy: Elegy for Kunio and Co." is a game released on the Super Famicom on April 29, 1994, by Technōs Japan Corporation for Japan only as a part of the Kunio-kun series. This game is said to take place between Nekketsu Kōha Kunio Kun (Renegade in the US) and Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari (River City Ransom/Street Gangs in the US and Europe repsectively), which would explain why Riki had a different girlfriend at the time among other things.

The game's story involves the main heroes, Kunio and Riki, being framed for a hit-and-run incident caused by identical strangers. To make matters worse, Nekketsu High School has been taken over along with Hanazono High (which is totaled) and the aforementioned strangers are still causing trouble out there during our heroes' stay in jail. So after earning the respect and help of another thug (who wants them to join his gang at first) and his two lackeys they have just throttled, Kunio and Riki plan an escape from the prison and fight off the police. The adventure has just begun from there. Who were those doppelgangers and why did they frame the boys? Is there a bigger man behind the scenes?

In June 2021, a re-release and official localization was announced by Wayforward Technologies, developers of River City Girls, who is involved with this updated release, adding anime cutscenes and new music from River City Girls composer Megan McDuffee. It released on the Nintendo Switch on February 14, 2022, with releases on other platforms (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam) slated for later that Spring but ultimately not releasing until September 21st.

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This game provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Misako and Kyoko, Kunio and Riki's girlfriends respectively. As well as Risa and Sabu's female bodyguards in his hideout.
• After-Combat Recovery: Health is recovered after certain portions of the game. There is no other way to recover it (unless you count the rollercoaster at one point).
• Ambiguous Situation: In regards to the outro, it's unclear whether the discrepancies between the girls' memories and the events of the game are purely due to fourth wall silliness or if there's something more mysterious at work.
• Amusement Park: Taken over by Shinji and his thugs, no less!
• Art Shift: Downplayed. While it uses slightly realistic proportions compared to the Downtown Nekketsu series - their faces, on the other hand, bear a distinct cutesy look of Downtown Nekketsu (complete with no noses). This is subtle on their sprites, but much more noticeable during cutscenes.
• Badass Biker:
  • Shinji, the leader of the bosozoku gang called "The Blue Emperors".
  • There are also segments in which our heroes can ride the motorcycle as well and kick enemy bikers off their bikes. In fact, there was going to be a spinoff of this game about racing, but the project was cancelled and retooled as Super Mad Champ.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: At Sabu's Manor.
• Book Ends: The opening starts with the fake Kunio causing the hit-and-run. The ending has the real Kunio along with Riki passing by at the same area.
• Bowdlerize: Subverted in the official localization, as it includes both a softer script in line with River City Girls and one more accurate in tone to the original text where Kunio and Riki, in all their delinquent thuggery, don't spare even their girlfriends from crude insults.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: After riding the rollercoaster at the amusement park, Misako exclaims that despite not serving any real gameplay purpose, the ride was still fun.
• Broken Bridge: When traveling to Sabu's mansion, the duo encounters Ken who sets fire to the bridge and drops them down into the ravine.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In the closing manga cutscene of the re-release, its indicated that Misako and Kyoko don't even remember their first adventure. They even question if the story depicted in the game was true.
• Call-Back: In the opening manga cutscene of the re-release, Kyoko mentions that she bought the original game from Skullmageddon's pawn shop whom the girls visited in River City Girls.
• Clear My Name: A major portion of the plot. Kunio and Riki are framed for a hit-and-run accident and escape from prison to seek out the real perpetrators and prove their innocence.
• Clothes Make the Superman: Discussed by Kunio and Riki when they get their school uniforms back. They get the full extent of their fighting skills while wearing them, whereas the stuffy prison uniforms limited their abilities.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Averted. Misako and Kyouko get shot by Sabu and almost die, and if you get shot during the boss fight it will take off most (but not quite all) of your life bar.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the Downtown Nekketsu part of the series, since it's part of the Nekketsu Kōha part of the series. For starters: Nekketsu High School and Hanazono High (which is pretty wrecked) are taken over by thugs, several people have been shot, and the Yakuza is involved. There is also a distinct lack of slapstick violence. Selecting the "English (RCG)" text language option in the WayForward rerelease downplays this as it has some humorous dialogue to help balance out the game's otherwise serious tone.
• Deadly Walls: During the motorcycle segments, touching the walls to either side results in a crash and an instant-fail.
• Delayed Reaction:
  Misako: Good thing you're too poor to have a fancy new HDTV.
  Kyoko: I know, right? HEY!
• Determinator: Officer Takayama is hellbent on seeing our heroes behind bars. And who could blame him for doing his job? He eventually helps out Riki and Kunio once Takayama's son clears everything up for him.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Kunio and Riki punch out the jailbirds in the first fight of the game, they decide to hear them out and help them escape.
• Easy Levels, Hard Bosses: While some goons are simple enough to take down, bosses are heavy hitters that take out much of the health bar.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: Playing on Easy up to the first confrontation with Sabu has him dismissing the heroes, calling them pathetic for choosing the easy route. He orders them to come back once he knows they can take him on and gives them a password that sends them back to a previous level, with the difficulty set on Normal.
• Episode Zero: The Beginning: The reason the game in its re-released form is known as River City Girls Zero - to signify that this is a game that was released way before River City Girls but officially localized afterwards.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Sabu shoots Misako and Kyoko, not only are Kunio and Riki shocked, but Ken is too with an identical expression to his "brother" as well as briefly freaking out at it. He still complies with his father, but it's clear he wasn't willing to go that far.
• Expository Theme Tune: "Get Ready for the River City Girls", the re-release's opening/menu theme.
• The Foreign Subtitle: Inverted on the covers for the localization, which use the original "Kunio-tachi no Banka" as a subtitle for the foreign title.
• Fragile Speedster: Misako and Kyoko may not hit hard as the boys and they don't grapple, but they have their speed which can help in some places.
• Framing Device: This is how the game begins in the WayForward localization. Specifically, there are manga cutscenes of Misako and Kyoko in their River City Girls incarnations coming across the original Super Famicom release and playing it. They notice how they look different and discuss how an old game can be repackaged in order to be marketable in the present day.
• Friendly Enemy: Misuzu, oddly enough. She takes both her fights with Kunio in good humor, which freaks the group out immensely. Well, that's sukeban for you.
• Game-Breaking Bug: Beating Ryuta with Misako at the Hanazono High rooftop will cause the game to softlock in the following cutscene. Unfortunately this is a bug that persisted since the original release and hasn't been fixed in the 2022 re-release.
• Great Escape: The opening level at prison has Kunio and Riki up to speed on what's been going on after their arrest, and with help from the other inmates, manage to escape from the prison and prove their innocence.
• Groin Attack: Misako does this to a thug to get answers out of him after the gang defeated him. It's rather subtle, but Kunio and Riki visibly gasp.
• Guide Dang It!: The startup screen for the re-release includes a basic 'how to play' screen detailing simple moves and controls but it doesn't explain how to perform special moves for each character and how to use the grab function.
• Head Swap: Kunio and Riki, Misako and Kyoko, and most of the enemies and NPCs.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Misuzu, who rammed into the door at Sabu's Manor, which caused windows in the room to break.
  Kunio: Hell hath no fury like THAT woman scorned...
• Hurricane Kick:
  • Kunio and Misako use Double Dragon-esque Cyclone Kicks as their kick special.
  • Kyoko does a hurricane backhand instead of a kick as one of her specials.
• Idle Animation: Quite a few amongst the mooks. Kunio and the gang will squat (something of a popular gesture amongst Japanese delinquents, referred to as "Yankii-Zuwari") if you just stand there.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the introduction of the re-release, Kyoko ponders if anyone would be interested in a game that's 25 years old. Misako replies they could be if the game was revised to be more modern, with new scenes and an added song.
• Lethally Stupid: The thugs at Hanazono school removed the building's support pillars after being told to wreck stuff, causing the building to fall apart while they're still inside it.
• Lightning Bruiser: Misuzu, and boy does she hurt.
• Market-Based Title: WayForward's localization presents it as an Origins Episode for River City Girls due to the game's influence on the plot and playable debut of Misako and Kyoko, despite this title having no real focus on the two beyond just tagging along Kunio and Riki, the actual protagonists.
• Mirror Boss: Ken, Kunio's "brother", who has both of Riki and Kunio's fighting style and special moves.
• Moveset Clone: Kunio to Riki, and Misako to Kyoko. The female fighters share similar special attacks to their boyfriends, but are somewhat downgraded in their fighting capabilities. They can't pin or grapple their opponents, for example.
• Nerf: In the first arcade game, getting stabbed with a knife used by yakuza goons is an instant death sentence. Here, while the attack is unblockable, it will merely knock the fighters down and will only deal an average amount of damage.
• Nintendo Hard: Don't expect this game to be a cakewalk. Compared to River City Ransom or the original Renegade, this game is more in line with the Double Dragon series in terms of gameplay. There are no healing items or weapons, enemies can gang up on you if you're not careful and if any of the playable characters die, it's an instant Game Over. Knowing how to use the special moves is key if you want to make it far.
• Party in My Pocket: Kunio's party can consists of up to four characters (including himself), but only two of them appears on-screen at the same time during the actual action depending on whether a second person is playing or not.
• Puzzle Boss: In the final battle, you're supposed to guess that guarding will let you duck low enough for Sabu's shells to sail past your head. You never had to use Guard to duck before that point, though, so it could be a Guide Dang It! depending on how much you experiment.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Riki and Kyoko's kick specials, with Kyoko's being a Chun-Li~esque rapid fire kick.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Played with Officer Takayama. He initially bears a little animosity towards Kunio and Riki for their bad influence over his son Mamoru, on top of them escaping from prison and making his job difficult. As soon as Mamoru straightens things out with him, he drops his vendetta and cooperates with the heroes to help prove their innocence.
• Rolling Attack: One of Misako's special attacks.
• The Ruins I Caused: Kunio and Riki watch Sabu's mansion burn down from afar after the last fight.
• Scars Are Forever: Apparently averted. In the English ending, Kyoko wonders if she and Misako really did get shot and checks herself for bullet scars in a panic, seemingly finding none.
• Scary Black Man: The mid-boss Joe, a huge Black man hired by the Sanwa Gang to kill Kunio and company in Roppongi. He later reappears in Sabu's mansion.
• See You in Hell: Kunio tells Sabu after defeating him that he can apologize to Ken in hell.
• Shoryuken: Riki's punch special.
• Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer: A borderline case, really (its not so much a minigame as it is an optional cutscene and in-universe distraction). During the amusement park level, Misako nudges Kunio and notes that there's no line for the rollercoaster. Taking a ride here restores the party's health.
• SNK Boss: Misuzu. Be prepared to switch players a lot.
• Savage Spiked Weapons: The end song for River City Girls Zero mentions:
  Spiked bat to your tire
• Saved by Canon: Played with the 2022 re-release. Considering this game is treated in universe as a game re-telling their past adventure, is treated as a prequel to River City Girls, and Misako and Kyoko themselves are playing it, the scene where they get shot by Sabu loses some of its dramatic sting. In the original release, they still end up fine anyway.
• Sequel Hook: After beating the re-release, a manga cutscene plays, teasing connections between Zero and River City Girls 2. Misako and Kyoko ponder if the events depicted in the game really did happen- after all, Sabuko wasn't even mentioned despite being Sabu's daughter. They also note that, between the events of Zero and the two defeating Sabuko in River City Girls, Sabu (and potentially Ken, if he's still alive) very likely wants to get back at the girls for their meddling. They ultimately decide that it was just a video game and they don't have to worry about it. They leave the bedroom to go hangout with Kunio and Riki, while the final panel focuses ominously on the discarded cartridge and the text below reads "To Be Continued..."
• Stock Scream:
  • Listen closely, too. Misuzu's is male.
  • There's also the scream whenever someone falls down a long way.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: On any motorcycle level, trying to make a turn while still speeding will result in any of the characters crashing into the wall for not slowing down.
• Unending End Card: In the SNES version. Averted in the English release.
• Use Your Head: Kunio's punch special is a variant in which he launches himself spinning head first at his enemies.
• We Cannot Go On Without You: If someone (or two people) in the party loses all of his or her health in 1P Mode (or 2P Mode), this results in a game over, regardless of the others' amount of health. Luckily, the player(s) can continue from where they started off.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Ken was Kunio's impostor, but who was Riki's? Franchise creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto gave him the name "Akio" and stated that he was Ken's brother... on the series website, 18 years after the game came out.
• You Have Failed Me: Sabu shoots his adopted son Ken (Kunio's doppelganger/"brother") for failing to defeat Kunio and Riki in a fight against them.
• You No Take Candle: Joe, the hitman midboss encountered in Roppongi, speaks in broken English in the original script of the game, even in Japanese. The localized translation in River City Girls Zero rewrites his dialog into coherent English to avert this altogether.

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