It's somewhat upsetting that an increasing number of people have never heard of River City Ransom. The game was a side-scrolling beat-'em-up on the NES that spawned a multitude of sequels, though only a small handful of them reached North America. The game was obviously centered on pummeling enemy thugs in street fights, but you also explored Tokyo and saved your hard-won money to upgrade your character.

River City Tokyo Rumble is a new entry into the series that's coming stateside on the 3DS. It is essentially the game Renegade, only told in the style of RCR. As with the other games, you will fight your way across Tokyo, and this time, some of the bosses that you defeat will begin to fight alongside you. You can give them orders to direct their actions during a fight.

Additionally, you can take on jobs, such as trying to defeat 50 enemies in a certain area of the game or using a special move a number of times. Successfully completing these jobs can net you exclusive items only available in that way, or other such goodies to help you along. As before, you can also enter shops to upgrade your character as well.

The campaign will be single-player only and rewards multiple playthroughs in order to unlock all of the characters in the game. Multiplayer does exist in the form of games, such as Brawl or Dodgeball. The multiplayer will also support download play, so only one physical cartridge is needed for all four players to play.

Regardless, it is nice to see another entry in the series making its way over to North America. The games are almost always a joy to play, and from what I saw of the new one, I don't expect River City: Tokyo Rumble to be any different. The game will be coming out on the 3DS in a couple of months.