Trivia / River City Girls

• Author's Saving Throw:
  • After fans' backlash over The Reveal that Misako and Kyoko were never Kunio and Riki's girlfriends but crazy stalkers, WayForward updated the game on January 19th, 2020, which replaces the secret game ending with a less mean-spirited ending in which Kunio and Riki invite the girls out on a date with them, though the specific wording Kunio and Riki use leaves it ambiguous if they're really Misako and Kyoko's boyfriends or if they aren’t dating but decided to go out with them anyways. This pleased some fans, and for those who actually liked the original ending, WayForward made sure to mention it was still in the game as the default. Even those who didn't mind The Reveal and were merely disappointed that the secret ending was nearly identical to the default ending were at least happy that they now get something different for their troubles.
  • Making the light attack button the same as the interact button would often result in the player leaving the area when they meant to continue their combo. A later patch fixed this by making it so you had to hold down the button when you wanted to move to another stage.
  • The sequel addresses one long-standing issue for the Double Dragon franchise: After decades of mostly being relegated to a Damsel in Distress, Marian is finally made playable in a mainline Technos-verse beat 'em up and can properly show off her martial arts instructor credentials.
  • Also, for Japanese players, the sequel adds a Japanese dub, something which was heavily criticized in Japan for the lack of one in the first game, due to the franchise's Japanese origins.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Like most indie titles picked up by Limited Run Games, the physical release of River City Girls is both limited in quantity and beefy in content. In addition to the main game, the release also includes a 2-CD soundtrack, a double-sided poster based on both the box art and Noize, a fake NES cart, VIP tickets for a (nonexistent) Noize concert, Kyoko and Misako's student IDs, a two-piece "broken heart" pendant, the Merv's Burgers menu, the kidnapper polaroid from the start of the game, and character art cards.
• Newbie Boom: Introduced many people to the Kunio-kun/River City franchises outside of Japan.
• No Dub for You: In the reverse of what western fans might expect from a long franchise with several Japan-only titles, River City Girls (prior to 2 starting with Zero) is an American-made installment that features only exclusively English voice acting.^note This isn't actually surprising if you know that none of the games by Wayforward Technologies have ever gotten a Japanese dub.
• Playing Against Type: Xanthe Huynh, who normally voices Shrinking Violet-type or Nice Girl-type characters, plays the tough, Yakuza leader Sabuko.
• Role Reprise: Sean Velasco, who is the director of Double Dragon Neon and eventually left WayForward to establish Yacht Club Games, reprises his role as Skullmageddon.
• She Also Did: The character designer, Priscilla "Rem" Hamby, is also known for illustrating the webcomic Devil's Candy.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A mockup screenshot used as concept art for the game features two enemy characters that, according to WayForward, didn't make the final cut.
  • One of the games new characters, Almaz Gold, was originally going to be one of the bosses. While his fight got scrapped, Almaz himself made it into the final cut as a Shopkeeper for Discount Sushi.
  • In the game's files there're sprites/images for two Shopkeepers that went unused; One being Recurring Character Gōda, who would run a gym, and the other being Raphael from Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal, who would run a clothing store.
  • Noroi, a schoolboy possessed by a yokai, was a boss in the game that didn’t make it past the concept art stage.
• Word of Saint Paul: The student IDs included with Limited Run Games' physical release of the Switch version confirm a few extra details about Kyoko and Misako: they're both seniors, they're both 18, they're in different— but neighboring— classes, and their names really are just "Kyoko" and "Misako".

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