(Don’t forget to equip it in their phones! They don’t start the game with them equipped.) Kyoko’s is a Virtual Pet. Both she and Misako each start with one accessory. There’s another reason Kyoko can be a good character for solo River City Girls players. Rather, it just seemed like Kyoko was a good character to use to rush in and take advantage of the gaps between Misuzu’s attacks. This isn’t to say Misako isn’t as effective against Misuzu along. This means dashing in with Kyoko for a Volleyball Save, then quickly button mashing her standard square attack for a Heel Kick or Swap Kick combo, means you can probably get in two solid combo strings before having to run away again. Misuzu, in all three of her phrases, is a boss that can be temporarily stunned with an effective combo before she gets back up again and rallies with an AOE attack.

This means she will have learned the Volleyball Save, a move you pull off by pressing the heavier triangle attack button while running. By the time you reach her, you should have Kyoko up to at least level four. Someone might notice this when coming up to the first boss, Misuzu. One thing I did notice is that, because of this combo ability, Kyoko could sometimes be easier to use when playing River City Girls alone. If you have enough money when you visit the dojo, you can go ahead and get yourself iconic moves like the spinning Acro Circus for $225 (inflation clearly hit this River City Ransom $26.95 move hard) or Dragon Feet for $150. With Kyoko, you also get some River City staple moves. It seemed like it was effortless to unleash a flurry of hits by tapping the square button frequently, getting together enough hits to knock someone down so they could be ground stomped into submission.

(Though, you do have to reach level two to unlock the very helpful Ground Stomp when near a downed foe.) Misako can feel like the heavier hitter of the two, while Kyoko is about quick combos. When the game kicks off, characters have some basic standard and heavy attacks. It is easy to launch into combos with either River City Girls heroine. While both characters can be pretty great, Kyoko might be a good choice for someone playing alone to start with. Which is helpful, as even though this is a beat’em up, it is one where you have to be thoughtful, watch bosses attacks, and actually block attacks and avoid button mashing. They have different moves they can learn and can balance one another out well. Rather than this being a cosmetic difference kind of thing, each one can feel slightly different. In River City Girls, players get to choose which heroine they want to use when fighting through the game.

River city girls trainer