One of gaming's first-ever beat 'em ups is back with a remaster of a remake

Only '90s kids will remember this! At least that might have been the case, but thankfully everyone can now return to River City.

River City Ransom was released on the NES way back in 1989 and was one of the earliest examples of a beat 'em up on home gaming consoles. Despite being so early, though, it was also much more ambitious than you might expect, with RPG elements, a semi-open world, and loot to collect.

But it didn't end there! In 2016, Arc System Works released a full remake of River City Ransom for the Nintendo 3DS handheld. The remake was titled River City: Rival Showdown, and it was pretty well-received for building on a classic with both improved graphics and even deeper gameplay systems.

Ok, that's a lot of ancient history. But now? Now it's 2023, and Arc System Works is releasing a remaster of its remake of River City Ransom. That's right! River City: Rival Showdown is available as of today for the Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4. Think of it as something like "What if Double Dragon was an open-world RPG?" or "What if the Yakuza games were made back in the 8-bit era?"

Get all the details on what to expect from the remaster in the very hype video above. We'll be back with a quick review of River City: Rival Showdown from one of TapTap's editors later this week. In the meantime, you better watch out for bullies while you're walking these mean virtual streets.