Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first stretch has an enjoyably odd rhythm. You are sent through a confusing city in pursuit of puppies, knocking aside street enemies with punches or baseball throws, but simple brawling is never enough. The real task is figuring out where you are, what to carry, and which purchases will help rather than quietly make the next fight harder.

That energy counter is the heart of the game’s tension. Beating enemies raises it, which makes combat feel useful beyond clearing the road, yet energy is also what you spend in shops. Every item purchase is therefore a small gamble: buy what looks useful and become weaker in the immediate sense, or keep your reserves and risk reaching a boss without the tool needed to free its captive puppy. It is a sharper idea than the usual beat-’em-up progression, though it can feel punishing when you spend first and learn later.

Switching between the two Uesugi brothers in the one-player game gives the adventure a welcome bit of flexibility, especially because each brother has only a handful of inventory slots. The need to locate shops that let you discard obsolete items turns backtracking into part of the puzzle. That can be frustrating in a maze-like city, particularly when you are carrying the wrong things, but it also gives the search a purpose beyond wandering until another enemy appears.

This is not a brawler built around constant escalation or effortless catharsis. It asks you to pay attention to resources and make room in your inventory before the game forces the issue. If that sounds like needless busywork, the game’s peculiar structure may wear thin. If you enjoy old action games that hide a practical adventure-game brain beneath their punches, it has a distinctive hook.

Graphics

The game uses a 2D side-view, scrolling city for exploration, with the brothers moving through streets occupied by roaming enemies and shops. Its maze-like layout is more important than visual flourish: you are repeatedly looking for landmarks in the city’s routes, the next shop, and the path to another puppy.

Story

The setup is brisk and fittingly cartoonish. Tatsuya and Kazuya Uesugi chase their dog, Punch, and wind up pulled into an alternate dimension alongside their neighbor Minami Asakura. Their immediate goal is simple: recover the ten puppies held by boss monsters and get back to their normal home world.

What works here is the way the rescue goal gives the city search a clear shape. Each puppy is not just a collectible; it is tied to a boss encounter, and the need for specific items makes those rescues part of the game’s broader hunt through shops and inventory decisions.

Don’t come in expecting the story to take center stage over the action and navigation. It mainly supplies a cheerful reason for the chase, while the real drama comes from whether you have found the correct item, preserved enough energy to use it, and can make it to the next captive puppy without another bad purchase.

Overall Experience

City Adventure Touch: Mystery of Triangle is memorable because it refuses to be only the straightforward licensed brawler it first appears to be. The combination of street fighting, puppy rescue, limited carrying space, and health-as-cash economy makes nearly every stop at a shop matter. That blend gives it more personality than a routine march from one fight to the next.

Its rougher side is inseparable from that same design. A maze-like city and item-gated bosses can produce a lot of uncertainty, and spending energy to buy a necessary item can feel like paying for the privilege of being in greater danger. You need some patience for trial, error, and retracing your route.

For the right retro fan, though, the payoff is real. Give it a chance if you want an NES action game where punching enemies is only half the job and careful resource management keeps the rescue mission tense. Skip it if you want a clean, combat-first brawler with little friction between you and the next fight.

Retro Replay Score

6.5/10