2022 has been quite a year for co-op beat-'em-ups. Over the last 12 months, players have fought a lot of bad guys in a lot of different locations, including goblins underground, kaiju in Toronto, and Rock Soldiers in Dimension X. Now, thanks to WayForward's tongue-in-cheek sequel, River City Girls 2, they can once again fight yakuza in the streets of River City. This follow-up to River City Girls takes what was good (and not-so-good) about the original and expands upon it, adding new zones, moves, characters, and multiplayer options. Is it enough, though, to rank among the best beat-'em-ups of the year?

River City Girls 2 takes place a few months after the end of the first game. The family members of the big bad from River City Girls have attempted a takeover of River City, installing legions of yakuza and several bosses to maintain control. When unlikely high-school heroines Misako and Kyoko head to the mall to get the latest video game, they run straight into the ongoing occupation. After that, they do what they do best: explore the city streets, knock heads, deliver plenty of sarcastic teenage dialogue, and casually attempt to take down a sprawling criminal syndicate.

The central narrative in River City Girls 2, like the plot-line from the original, is nothing to write home about. Yet story is clearly not the priority for the developers at WayForward. River City Girls 2 is much more interested in world-building and in creating an absorbing place populated with big personalities and guest characters from old Technōs games. On that front, the game succeeds. River City feels like a melting pot of beloved heroes, villains, and side characters from previous titles in the Technōs canon and elsewhere. You'll buy donuts and strudel from Shadow Billy of Double Dragon II, complete a fetch quest for Skullmageddon of Double Dragon Neon, and recruit Sol Badguy of Guilty Gear fame in the New Game Plus. There's even a brand new neighborhood in the city where you can explore Technōs HQ. It's wonderfully nostalgic. 

This new zone is especially beneficial because River City Girls 2 reuses several locations from the previous game. In fact, you'll see many of the same spots, people, and enemies during your adventure. The game introduces new bosses, quests, multiplayer options, and playable characters — more than enough to justify its existence — but it's hard to shake the feeling of déjà vu.

In some areas, however, you'll crave that that sensation of déjà vu, particularly when it comes to the moment-to-moment action of River City Girls 2. The beat-'em-up combat was the best part of the first game, and remains the highlight here. As one of six different playable characters, you'll brawl with baddies along a 2D plane, deploying punches, kicks, dash attacks, special moves, launchers, throws, and more. This sequel introduces new moves, and places a greater emphasis on aerial combat, leading to some spectacular combos. Adding some extra nuance to the fighting framework are melee/projectile weapons and recruits you can deploy in battle. Best of all, each character has its own move-set and fighting style. Newcomers Marian and Provie are especially interesting. The former fights with heavy-hitting boxing and wrestling moves while the latter dances around the battlefield with nimble Capoeira-style attacks.

No matter the character, all battles take place across the expansive open world of River City Girls 2, which, like the sandbox of its predecessor, is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, having all of River City laid out before you is liberating. You can check out the shops in Crosstown, the arcade in Uptown, and the beaches of Ocean Heights, just to name a few. Each area has its own secrets, side-quests, and safe-house, and most of the time you can go where you please and discover things at your leisure. On the other hand, it can all get quite tedious, especially when you need to back-track on any of several uninspired fetch quests. There's a fast travel subway system, which is great, but in some instances it's deactivated during a mission. The back-tracking is aggravated somewhat by the many locked combat rooms, where you need to clear several waves of enemies to proceed. After a while, the game starts to feel a bit like a chore.

Luckily, WayForward did a commendable job removing or softening some of the inconveniences of the first River City Girls, to prevent the sequel from overstaying its welcome. When you die you no longer immediately lose 50 percent of your wealth; you can opt to respawn at the nearest safe-house to retain your hard-earned loot. In addition, consumable items for sale in the city's boutiques and restaurants are clearly marked and defined. No more blind shopping here. 

The developers also greatly expanded the multiplayer offerings, but these too come at a cost. Back in 2019, River City Girls launched with support for local two-player cooperative play, with no online options. The sequel, conversely, provides options for four players in local co-op and two players online. It's a big jump that greatly expands the way players can enjoy the game, either on the couch with friends or online with strangers. Unfortunately, on Switch, the frame rate drops as more players join the fray. Play solo or with two players locally and you'll enjoy a rock-solid 30 frames per second. Add a third player and the action slows down; introduce a fourth and the reduced frames become even more noticeable. Online play also suffers from some technical issues. When I played online with random partners, I experienced some lag and slowdown, even when hardwired.

Outside of these frame rate issues, River City Girls 2 performs well. In my 10+ hours with the game, I experienced one unexpected crash on the docks in Ocean Heights and one freeze-up in front of River City High School, but no other bugs or glitches.

In terms of content, River City Girls 2 is no slouch. It should take roughly 8-10 hours to beat the game, and close to 15 to do and see everything River City has to offer. Even when you see it all and watch the credits roll, the fun needn't stop. You can either return to your original save or start a New Game Plus, where stats, items, and techniques are retained but story progress is reset and enemies are tougher. Alternatively, you could start a fresh save at one of three difficulty settings.

No matter how you choose to experience River City Girls 2, you'll be treated to some amazing visuals and music. The sequel builds upon the original in these areas, delivering some eye-popping pixel art, snazzy black-and-white manga-style panels, and a bouncy soundtrack courtesy of Megan McDuffee. While some of the tunes don't seem amazing upfront, don't be surprised to find yourself humming them in the shower. As Misako says mid-game, "Okay, I'll admit it. This music's kinda growing on me." Make sure to check out "I'm Better Than You", "Get Off My Lawn", and "Your Like".

Ultimately, River City Girls 2 is a fairly good beat-'em-up title. It's certainly an improvement over River City Girls, although it carries with it some of the original's flaws, including tedious backtracking and repetitive enemy encounters. It also suffers from some technical hiccups, at least on Switch. At the same time, though, it expands upon the 2019 game with additional playable characters, deeper combat, expanded multiplayer options, and some quality-of-life fixes. It will be interesting to see what Misako, Kyoko, and the gang get up to next.