WayForward is publishing and developing River City Girls, the latest game in the River City franchise, with consultation by Arc System Works.

River City Girls stars Kyoko and Misako, two rough-and-tumble high-schoolers who must fight their way through the six regions of River City to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends, series mainstays Kunio and Riki. Along the way, they’ll utilize an arsenal of combos, counters, throws, and special attacks; take on waves of enemies; accept various side quests; level up with experience points; interact with NPCs (including guest stars from past River City games); and shop for a variety of items, food, and gear to boost stats and unlock new abilities. The girls can even wield weapons and recruit defeated foes as playable allies.

The one- or local two-player brawling is complemented by spectacular 16-bit-style graphics and an epic synth-pop soundtrack (featuring NateWantsToBattle, Chipzel, Christina Vee, and Megan McDuffee), with a story told via anime cutscenes and manga-esque intermissions. Man, throw the recently announced collaboration with Studio Trigger (Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia) on the next Shantae’s intro into the pile, and WayForward’s been rolling in awesome collaborations.

River City Girls will launch digitally for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle on September 5th for $29.99 USD. A physical edition will also be released via Limited Run Games. It looks like a very high-quality product, so let’s hope that the lost secret formula for good beat em’ ups has been recovered and put to use here.