The Peace Keepers is the final game in the Rushing Beat Trilogy. For some reason, Jaleco decided to butcher the trilogy when bringing it to North America by removing the plot from Rival Turf and Brawl Brothers. In North America, these games are mostly unconnected.
Some recurring characters are either playable or hidden cameos. It is so odd that Jaleco decided to butcher this game in localization. All three games in the series have great gameplay, but the stories were torn apart. For this game, the story was completely redone.
I know this is a beat’em up, and the story isn’t all that important for them, but when it is a series, you would expect some connections between the games. There is a recurring character, but his name is changed in each game. It is a bit of a nightmare.
TLDR: A Very Good Beat’em Up with little to no connection to the other games.
Narrative
The story is there, which is more than what I can say about Brawl Brothers and Rival Turf. The North American story is odd. It occurs in a dystopian future where an evil corporation rules the world.
The four playable characters have had their lives affected by the evil corporations’ genetic testing and want to bring the corporation down. The bosses you fight are either test subjects, being blackmailed, or simply terrible people. The two other characters have had their story removed from the game.
The game has multiple endings and paths, which is cool because it gives you a reason to come back. Much like the other two games, I find it odd that the story was changed. It makes this a series in name only in North America.
You won’t know what is going on if you didn’t watch the game’s introduction video. The story is explained in the game, but you need to have watched the intro video before starting the game to understand what is happening. Without it, things feel random and chaotic.
Gameplay
Peace Keepers is a straightforward beat’em up. You move left to right, have to defeat a group of enemies before you move on, and have a life bar. Special attacks also consume a small amount of your life bar.
You have unlimited continues. This was awesome! I love it when games do this because it means I can beat the game without getting too frustrated.
However, each character has only one life. Once your character gets knocked out/dies, you need to continue. The game lets you pick a new character, which is awesome.
There are six playable characters in the game.
- Al
- Flynn
- Echo
- Prokop
- Rick Norton – Who is in the other two games but goes by different names.
- Orbot
This is a hard beat’em up. Enemies will grab you with ease and toss you around. The bosses are also a little more challenging than in other games. They have patterns, but it can take some time to get down.
I like the gameplay in The Peace Keepers more than the other games. While you’re doing the same things, beating up enemies, picking up weapons, and finding power-ups, The Peace Keepers does a better job with all of this.
Visuals
The game looks great! The characters are well-detailed, and the stages are great-looking. There are a few cutscenes in the game, which are done with in-game graphics.
The characters’ animations are great. However, the special attacks are a bit lacking. While basic attacks and jump attacks are good, the special attacks aren’t anything special. Most of them look like basic attacks.
The stages are chopped up into smaller sections. You can also go in a few directions, which are easy to see. The stage hazards are relatively easy to see once you know that the flashing lights in the first stage are supposed to be landmines.
I like the graphics in this game. It looks like what you should expect from a game released in 1994. The graphics are good, and they don’t harm the gameplay.
8/10. This is a fun game. The gameplay is very enjoyable, and the graphics are great.
Pros
- Good Gameplay
- Great Graphics
- Decent Story
Cons
- Repetitive
- One life per Continue
- Bad Localization
Conclusion
This is the best game in the Rushing Beat series, at least the version of the series that we got in North America. The three games feel disconnected here, and it makes me wonder why. Each game plays the same, but you could say that about every beat’em up from this time.
The Peace Keepers was more fun to play than the other games in the series. Even though it isn’t as good, I would compare it to the Streets of Rage games. It is the game I would recommend from the North American games in the Rushing Beat Series.
After playing these games, I would like to know the plot of the original games. It is so strange that Jaleco removed it from the North American release. I’m guessing they had a good reason for it, or at the very least, a business decision like not wanting to pay for a translator.