Aksys Games appears to be looking to the past for inspiration with the release of two upcoming titles for the Nintendo DS: River City Soccer Hooligans and River City Super Sports Challenge.

Dedicated gamers will remember cleaning up the streets of River City in either the GBA or NES versions of River City Ransom, but this time around you won’t have to worry about saving your girlfriend or beating up waves of gang members for money. The new games adopt a lighter tone and focus more on competitive afterschool sports (similar to Crash ‘n the Boys: Street Challenge) but still try to pay homage to the franchise’s martial arts roots.

In River City Soccer Hooligans, as you’ve probably guessed, you’ll compete in soccer matches against various teams from around the world and fight your way to become a World Soccer Champion. As Aksys describes, “you can strategize by changing your formations, checking weather forecasts, talking to your teammates, and giving them special items to boost their performance!” So as long as you give your teammates performance enhancing drugs and check the Weather Channel before a game, you should be well on your way to a championship!

River City Sports Challenge borrows more from its predecessors by allowing you to customize your team’s abilities and adds more of a fighting element to the gameplay. Frank “Bo” deWindt II, the Associate Producer for Aksys Games states, “River City Super Sports Challenge combines the thrill of athletic competition with the fun of beat-em-up action! Fans of the Kunio series and newcomers alike won’t be able to put this down, even while working out!”

Not only will you be able to upgrade your team’s stamina and weapon skills, but you’ll also have the option to change their overall appearance with a variety of hairstyles and face models at your control. For players who look for replay value, the ability to mix up the look of the main characters might entice you to play through the main story more than once.

Since I haven’t had a chance to play through both games yet, I can’t really vouch for Frank’s claims, but if you’re a fan of the series or have a habit of playing on your DS while working out, you may just have a reason to enter the world of River City again…minus the brass knuckles.