Rival Turf
Developer:
- Jaleco
- Jaleco USA
- Ryoichi Kuramochi
- Takeshi Ohara
- Hitoshi Sekiya
- Manabu Shirato
- Noboyuki Kuramochi
- Keiichi Maekawa
- Tadahiko Watanabe
- Masahito Takahashi
- Yasuhiko Tasashiba
- Atsuyoshi Isemura
- Rushing Beat
Platform:
- Super Nes
- 1993
- Beat'em up
- Single-player
- Co-Op
- VS
🎮🎮🎮
They're rough, they're tough, and they're tired of the street punks that have taken over their turf. And that spells trouble for trash-talkin' Big Al and his mob of inner city riff-raff. Because these brothers are out to take back the streets, no matter what it takes-- and they won't stop punching, kicking, and slamming until they clear the trash from every alley in America.
🎮🎮🎮
Rival Turf is a side scrolling beat em' up game that is based on the gang life on Los Angeles. This 1/2 player game allows you two punch, kick and throw enemies around the screen as you progress over 6 levels.
The levels are broken down into 3 screens and a boss fight. The levels are designed to be a gauntlet of fighting so that you are worn down and defeated before the final boss 'Big Al'.
If the player successfully defeats 'Big Al' on the final level, they are rewarded with a small ending and the game concludes.
Default layout:
Horizontal D-Pad: Move character
Vertical D-Pad: Move character
L: Run
R: Run
Horizontal D-Pad: Move character
Vertical D-Pad: Move character
L: Run
R: Run
X: N/A
Y: Attack
B: Jump
A: Special Attack (uses 5 charges)
Select: N/A
Y: Attack
B: Jump
A: Special Attack (uses 5 charges)
Select: N/A
Start: Pause/Confirm menu options
Rival Turf - Gameplay Sample
Story and Gameplay - 2
Rival Turf, is the Super Nintendo's European first installment for the Rushing Beat series. In this 1993 game, Big Al's gang has taken control of your turf and it is up to the player to fight their way all the way to his hideout and defeat him. This arcade style beat em up game has no introduction and very little story elements until the end.
The game starts on the streets of Los Angeles, your home turf. The streets have been overrun and this is quite apparent as unleashed fury on the low level goons that faced up to me. The battleground extends from L.A to South of the Border and is shown on a map between levels, after each boss fight. I wouldn't consider it much story but it does allow the player to follow along and concludes with a story sequence when finished.
Each level is made up of 3 connected screens that break up the fighting and allow for a quick breath of air before rushing back in to fighting. Waves and waves of enemies occupy the levels. They come in the form of low level goons, guys in bike helmets, ninja guys with baseball caps and of course, the huge muscly menace called Arnold. Some of them even wielding weapons that can be used when you disarm them. The story is 6 stages long and takes just over 1 hour to complete as a single player.
Rival Turf uses almost all the controller for battling but is very simplified and friendly for all skill levels. The game being a beat em up is all about mashing the buttons and hitting those baddies while moving to survive. One mention is that you can actually run and attack, which is quite useful.
This cartridge does have a few little features coded in there which include a full 1/2 player co-op story mode, versus mode and two playable characters. Jack Flack is a faster more technical fighter, while Oozie Nelson is a stong armed wrestling type guy. The both have unique attacks and offer two different play styles.
Multiplayer mode wise, co-op is definitely the best but only after adjusting options, so you don't accidently whack each other. One downside is that both players have a shared continue stash, so a weaker player can use more than their share if troubled along the way.
Design and Difficulty - 2
Rival Turf has a fairly strong design across the board and represents itself well today. Even with a simplistic fighting style, the game elevates itself with great sounding electronic beats and sound effects.
The composers Yasuhiko Tasashiba and Atsuyoshi Isemura have done an amazing job and offered up several unique soundtracks that are the perfect beat for smashing in peoples faces on screen. The music even changes between screens on the same level which is fantastic and keeps the game from boring the player to death.
I managed to finish the game after my 5th attempt on single player and only used Jack Flack. The games difficulty plateaus throughout and makes this game achievable to finish once each enemies attacks have been studied for weaknesses. There are also several varieties of the same guy in a different color however they act slightly different.
The boss fights are fun, however some off them are actually easier to beat than the stage they are on. They have what seems than less than a handful of moves and are just beefed up enemies that can call for more back up. After the first engagement with each boss, I was able to learn there patterns which led to success one a later run.
Fun and Summary - +1 👍
Rival Turf is a very fun arcade style beat em up that allows you to role play as a gangster, a street fighter, a warrior or plainly put a badass. I had quite a bit of fun bopping my way through America and Mexico and I think that the 1 hour duration is perfect.
On the downside, I would of liked to see more story elements because the Japanese version of this game had more before it changed region. Even if they just reiterated what was on the box about the gangs and BIg Al because as a player, I had no real idea of what was going on until I printed the box art.
Gameplay wise 'Rival Turf' is very similar to other beat em ups and doesn't offer much that makes it unique. It's a gauntlet of button mashing, grappling, throwing and quick hit and run tactics. It's a pretty good for an early Super Nintendo game and was one of the first games for the North American Region. This is still a great single or multiplayer experience today and it lives up to it's reputation.
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