River City Melee Mach!! Critic Reviews

If parachuting onto an island with 99 other people (or, alternatively, staring at a black hole for hours) is your exclusive definition of Battle Royal(e), we can be fairly certain that you weren't around at a time when Kunio’s 8-bit, 4-player multitap-enabled Famicom rumbles coined the expression. If you're a fan of Kunio and want the most up-to-date entry of the series' fight-and-exploration games, WayForward’s utterly brilliant River City Girls should be your first port of call. If, however, you grew up with the Famicom Kunio games and are lucky enough to still have your friends around from those simpler days, River City Melee Mach!! is a reasonably priced nostalgia trip that's worth going on.

At times, River City Melee Mach!! struggles under the weight of its own ambition. Attempting to balance a competitive brawler that features over 180 playable characters is a herculean task. It seems that the developer realized this, and focused its attention on making sure this is simply a joy to play. There will be times where nothing goes the way a player likes. Wins and losses aren't decided by chance, but random occurrences are bound to crop up. Nevertheless, Kunio-Kun fans will find a lot to like here. Even when matches devolve into complete disarray, they're still quite enjoyable. For best results, try and find a few friends to fight with.