The Rushing Beat series had a strange release in North America. The games were renamed, and the story was removed or changed in each of them. So, I was a little surprised when I saw a fourth installment released recently. This is the era of Beat’em Ups from the 80s and 90s being revived, which I think is great!
Rushing Beat X: Return of the Brawl Brothers is the first new game in the series in a long while. The other three games that I’m familiar with are Brawl Brothers, Rival Turf!, and Project Justice. They were released on the SNES by Jaleco, and I thought they were fine. I’m expecting a little more from this new game.
From what I remember of the other three entries in the series, they were okay. There are other beat’em ups on the SNES that I would rather play. Since this is a modern beat’em up, I’m expecting something better than those on the SNES. Hopefully, this game will deliver.
TLDR: A decent attempt to revive the Rushing Beat series. Fans of the first three games will probably like it more than I did.
Narrative
This game attempts to connect the other three games together. While this might sound odd to someone who is new to the series, for players in North America, this is great! The story was removed from the other games, so using this game to connect them all makes a lot of sense.
Rushing Beat X’s story is a little wild. It feels like you’re playing a Saturday morning cartoon from the 1990s, or reading an indie comic book from that time. There are some weird zombie like clones, a mad scientist, and a criminal organization. It is exactly what I would expect from a beat’em up from the 90s.
I like the story quite a bit. It isn’t all that involved, but it is great for a game like this. Games in this genre are usually around 1 to 6 hours. Modern Beat’em ups are normally longer, and they have more involved stories.
Gameplay
There are parts of this game that I like. Rushing Beat X has a few of the modern improvements that make beat’em ups more fun. I like the gameplay overall, but there are a handful of things that annoy me about this game.
The roster is pretty good. There is a mix of characters from the original games, as well as new characters. Here is a list of the roster:
- Kahlua
- Rick Norton
- Douglas Bild
- Lord J
- Wendy
Given how disjointed the North America releases were, the developers could’ve done anything with the roster. I remember a few of the characters, despite the changes to them from the originals. I have no idea if they’re the same as the Japanese versions of the game.
The controls are pretty good. You can punch, kick, throw, and use a special attack. This game uses a power bar that builds up over time. I like this more than having a set number of special attacks or losing life.
You can save up your health power ups, which is something that I’ve wanted a beat’em up to do for a while. It was always annoying when a game would throw them at you when you never needed them, or your annoying friend would steal them. This is one of the best things in this game. There is also a store where you can buy health items and weapons.
There are a few stages where you move through them on an isometric angle. This is something that is done in other beat’em ups; it just isn’t done well here. In a few stages, the camera zooms out for no reason. I just don’t get it.
Overall, the gameplay is fine. There are a few mechanics in this game that I enjoy, and some that I’m not okay with. All the elements of a good game are here, I just wasn’t really feeling it. If I had more nostalgia for the series, then I might’ve enjoyed this more.
Visuals
I’m not a fan of the graphics. There isn’t anything wrong with how they look; I just prefer modern pixel graphics for a game like this. The way it looks now is fine. The characters look good, the stages are okay, and the enemies look decent. The special moves look pretty good.
The character and enemy sprites look good enough. I’m not a fan of this art direction for games like this. If this game used modern pixel art, then I would like it more. It looks a little like cel shading, which isn’t exactly what I like.
The stages are okay, but they don’t feel like beat’em up stages. While I was playing it, I kept thinking it was like a tournament fighter. Things just didn’t look the way I was expecting them to.
Animations on the attacks and hits look good. The special attacks also look great. When you throw an enemy at the background, it looks good.
Overall, the graphics are okay. There is nothing wrong with how things in this game look; it simply isn’t what I wanted to see. While everything looks good to great, nothing in this game feels like a modern remake of an SNES or Arcade game.
7/10. This game is lacking something. All the pieces are here for a great game, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I like how the developers tied this game into the previous entries, the gameplay is pretty good, but the graphics felt off to me. If I had more of a connection to the SNES games, then this might’ve meant more to me. It did get better as I kept playing, but there was something off about this game that I can’t put my finger on.
Pros
- Good Controls
- I like the Story
- A lot of playable characters
Cons
- Graphics look more like cel shading.
- Repetitive gameplay and enemies
- Lacking the excitement I got from other beat’em ups
Conclusion
Because the He-Man beat’em up was delayed, I was looking for something to play. This came up as I was looking for a modern game in the genre. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but this was a pleasant surprise. I’m a little surprised they didn’t throw more of the North American titles into this.
I know that the Rushing Beat series has its fans. The North American games weren’t all that special when I played them. There was nothing wrong with them, but they felt disconnected and really lacking something. It didn’t help that Jaleco butchered a few of them when they were localized. I have yet to play a game from that publisher that I really enjoyed.
Rushing Beat X has some good things in it. While I don’t like the direction the developers went with the visuals, I do enjoy the gameplay. There are a lot of characters to choose from, and they did a good job of connecting the games.
Out of all the revivals of retro beat’em ups and properties as beat’em ups, this one is a little disappointing for me. If I had more of a connection to the original trilogy, I would’ve thought more highly of this one. As it stands now, there are better modern takes on classic beat’em ups that I would rather play.
If you liked this post, check out my other posts about beat’em ups. Such as Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl, or Project Justice.