I love platformers. I love retro gaming. City Hunter checks both of those boxes. It features side-scrolling, run-and-gun action with anime-based characters, boss fights, and more. This isn’t just a retro-inspired title; it’s actually from the heyday of the ‘90s itself. Unfortunately, not all games age well.

City Hunters is an early ‘90s arcade-action game that was only ever released for the PC Engine in Japan. That’s already pretty obscure. It’s based on an anime, which itself was based on a manga series. It follows the adventures of Ryo Saeba, a womanizing detective who solves mysteries. In the game, our hero plays through three chapters that involve hunting down and stopping a sinister megacorporation.

The gameplay is simple. You walk left and right across platforming sections, climbing up and down ladders. You sport a gun, used to take down the numerous guards constantly coming at you. The levels are short, with the entire game playable in about an hour or two.

City Hunter - Nitnendo Switch 2

City Hunter is a product of the ‘90s, but not in a good way. Retro gaming has its place, with NES and SNES games still popular and available on the Switch Online service. City Hunter, despite its nostalgic factor, was an average game at the time; this makes it even less so now.

To be fair, there are some nice elements added to make this a worthy celebration of a cult classic. An image gallery and music player provide extra content to dabble with. There are also a few ways to play: the original game, an enhanced version with “smarter” CPU characters, and a hard mode. You can also switch between video modes to recreate a classic CRT look. The best thing about this edition is a rewind feature, which helps correct mistakes as you play. This enhanced remaster is the best way to play the game.

Unfortunately, none of that counters the fact that the game itself is basic and bland. There are “humorous” moments involving scantily-clad women, which might appeal to fans of the source material. But running and gunning has never felt so dull. Enemies spawn in odd places; one enemy spawns in front of a door as you exit, meaning I was instantly hit while coming out. And it happened every time I tried. 

City Hunter - Nitnendo Switch 2

It’s also repetitive, with floor after floor of similar enemies and encounters. Every door and section looks the same, so it’s easy to get lost. A map would be handy. On the plus side, you can choose to start from any of the three chapters. A short intro provides context for the mission, but it’s hard to care. Especially when you reach the end and the boss just .. vanishes. I was whisked back to the main menu, left puzzled as to what had happened.

Overall, City Hunter was a mediocre game in 1990, and it’s still mediocre in 2026. A few extra features may provide a kick for hardcore fans, but this is an underwhelming experience that’s not only short in runtime, but overpriced for the amount of content. Let me be clear: this one is strictly for the fans.