Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story (2019)

Arc System Works

Main
-
hours
Main + Extra
-
hours
Platinum
-
hours

Reiho High School's Big Four is a group of students feared by all other schools among the students there was one who reigned, garnering the title of 'Mr.' from even his classmates… His name was Kobayashi. He fought Kunio under Yamada's orders and lost.... However, Kobayashi knew he hadn't fought giving all he had. What on earth is he planning? Depending on your choices you may find the answer.

Platforms

Switch PC PS4 XONE

Genres

Adventure Arcade Hack and slash/Beat 'em up Shooter

Themes

Action

Languages: English and 4 more

Interface Audio Subtitles
Chinese (Simplified)
Japanese
Korean
English
Chinese (Traditional)

Media

Critic Reviews

Seafoam Gaming

By Connor Nichols
50

Stay Cool definitely deserves props for looking distinct in a series that overdoes the same art style to no end, but otherwise, I can’t say this River City Ransom story is a must-own by any means, outside of local co-op shenanigans or for the sake of completing the series on your Switch. It’s a shame, since some aspects of this game I really do dig, from how the game looks, the spirit attacks, the multiple playable characters, but when the core loop is just so repetitive and confusing, this time travel story is just a weird paradox that is best left unsolved, and I feel that they could very well use this promising game engine for a game that’s far, far better executed.

19 Dec, 2021 Read full review

oprainfall

By Scott Ramage
60

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san! A River City Ransom Story is a fun, if not frustrating at times, spin-off of the Kunio-kun games. However, as a game designed to be played through several times, often completing vague objectives to get certain endings or rankings, it quickly lost its charm for me. If you’re confident the gameplay loop won’t get old, the $13.99 asking price will probably seem like a good deal. Otherwise, I’d look elsewhere to get your fix of high schoolers beating up other high schoolers and/or time travelers.

20 Jan, 2020 Read full review

NintendoWorldReport

By Joel A. DeWitte
50

Candidly, the story itself is nonsensical in a way that is tough to follow and really kind of non-consequential.

07 Jan, 2020 Read full review

Chalgyr's Game Room

By Pierre-Yves Lanthier
72

While Stay Cool Kobayashi San! isn't the most in-depth brawler out there, it does provide a good dose of fun for fans of the series and fans of the style alike. Been needing a good beat 'em up? This could definitely scratch that itch!

29 Nov, 2019 Read full review

Cubed3

By Gabriel Jones
50

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story is a mundane beat 'em up that's held aloft by a couple clever ideas. The combat is fun at first, but the doldrums set in long before completing the first of potentially many play-throughs. Some fights, particularly the finale, definitely could've used a few tweaks. Still, figuring out the fastest route to the end is really cool. It gives the adventure a tinge of replay-value. However, unless you "have" to play every game in the River City Ransom canon, then this won't catch your interest.

27 Nov, 2019 Read full review

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