River City Survivors pits your favourite brawling students against the hordes of the dead

• River City Survivors brings your favourite characters to the zombie apocalypse
• Take on the hordes of the undead as one of 20 iconic River City characters
• Unlock new abilities in this Vampire Survivors-inspired entry, coming to Apple Arcade this October

It's time to pit beat 'em up heroes against the hordes of the undead, as River City Survivors has just been announced for Apple Arcade. Arriving October 1st, right at the start of the Halloween month, it pits your favourite River City characters against zombies in a fast-paced Survivors-like.

If the idea of pitting classic beat 'em up characters against zombies sounds familiar, you're not alone. But Yakuza Dead Souls, this ain't, as River City Survivors takes plenty of cues from the Vampire Survivors formula, letting you unlock new and more impressive weapons, combining them to clear the screen of your enemies as you slowly grow in power after each run.

Beat 'em (back) down

For longtime fans of the River City series, there's plenty of fun easter eggs and fanservice here too, with over 20 unlockable characters to choose from. You'll also see the characters making use of special moves from throughout the series when in battle.

Not only that, but River City Survivors includes one of the more widely adopted innovations to the Survivors genre, with up to two NPC-controlled allies joining you in your adventures. That means the potential to take on even bigger hordes of enemies, and crazier, flashier attacks.

Personally, I think this looks to be an interesting spinoff for the series. I do wonder whether we're getting into a bit of genre fatigue though, considering how many different Survivor-likes we've seen make their way to mobile. I don't think we're quite there yet, however, and for fans of River City, this'll be one to watch.

In the meantime, if you're looking for other options for what to play on mobile, why not check out our latest feature covering the five new mobile games to try this week, for some of the most interesting launches from the last seven days?