Review by vgc2000

"Shameless Final Fight clone!"

Rival Turf may not be the worst game or even the worst beat ‘em up on the console but it's one of the most pitiful Double Dragon and Final Fight “me too's” released for any console and even early on in the console's life it wasn't useful. I decided to give this a try since I was a in a Beat em up mood; I knew the game was bad but it was way worse than I ever imagined. Even the box art is laughable to say the least having nothing to do with the game.

There isn't much story to speak off; the leader of one gang united both rival gangs and you are out to stop them. You can pick two characters; a fast one named Hawk with average strength and one strong and slow named Tony. It's about as cheap of a carbon copy of Final Fight as you can get. You are tasked with playing through six boring and repetitive stages and clobber endless enemies and uninspired bosses all of which are extremely cheap and loaded with dumb A.I. Each of the two selectable characters have a limited arsenal of moves from basic punches, kicks and throws to a weak run attack with L or R. If you turn angry mode on you character will flash after he takes so much damage and then becomes invincible and can do more damage to enemies. It might sound neat but it's as cut dry as it gets. Like I said before, the A.I. is cheap and enemies will do the lamest things and die in strange ways but they can also attack you right in the middle of your attack and you are helpless to counter and most enemies can take off more than half of your energy with one single combo. The game is frustrating and cheap so throwing enemies is your best bet as it does a considerably high amount of damage. Everything about the game is dull and uninspired the graphics are muddy and grainy; the enemies are too repetitive and generic. There's even one named Arnold and he looks just like you know who. Generic or what?

Sound effects sound like they were ripped straight from Final Fight but with poor quality ripping utilities so once you've played Final Fight this game seems even more generic and boring. The background music is actually pleasant and workable but it isn't all that memorable and doesn't help the game over its mediocrity hurdle.

The worst parts of the game come from poor collision detection and response times, punch an enemy several times and when he finally falls down it may take several seconds for it to register and for him to die and for his life bar to be effected. It's as bad as it sounds.

The biggest way I was insulted by playing this game was with the multiplayer versus mode. You can be either character and beat the heck out of each other in a game similar to the vs. mode in the original NES Double Dragon except with only two characters and less moves. Rip off or what? It's strange as Jaleco was usually one to put out better games; I guess not this time. This is easily one of the worst games I've played in a while. Rival Turf's box art is the strangest and the lamest I've seen, it shows a few young teens on the front and that's about it; they aren't even mad or fighting. It even tops Phalanx as one of the worst Super NES box art designs available.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10 | Originally Posted: 05/12/10

Game Release: Rival Turf! (US, 04/30/92)

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