In spite of how generic it was I still kind of liked Rival Turf. It was as blatant a Final Fight clone as possible but it still had charm. I don’t like it enough to recommend it to anyone, mind you; there are too many better brawlers out there to bother with an average one. Despite that Rival Turf was popular enough to become a series, with its sequel coming to the west as Brawl Brothers. Brawl Brothers, while a clear improvement over its predecessor, still suffers from flaws that keep it from greatness.
In Japan the series is known as Rushing Beat. For America Jaleco changed the name of each game, among other things. If it weren’t for the protagonists Hack and Slash most probably wouldn’t have made the connection. Compared to its successor the Peacekeepers Brawl Brothers has suffered the least number of changes. But in this case I would have appreciated some adjustments to make the end game less frustrating.
At the start you choose two characters out of five. The second is not an AI controlled partner but gives the choice to swap if you die. The other three protagonists are summarily captured and end up as end level bosses. It is pretty cool that it changes the levels slightly depending on your choice. What’s not is the variety of techniques they use as bosses that you can’t. That is bullshit.
Brawl Brothers has a large roster of five playable characters. The cast is fairly diverse and each plays very differently. Hack is still the best rounded while Slash (these god damn names!) is physically strongest. Kazan is the most agile, moving extremely fast and equipped with a double jump. Wendy fills the fast but weak role. Lord J is probably the most interesting. He is nearly as strong as Slash but mostly focuses on different judo throws. The basic move set is the same per character but everyone has one or two techniques exclusively their own. Hack has a pseudo Grand Upper, Kazan can triple jump, and Lord J has more throws than everyone. Angry Mode returns and is even more overpowered than before and also varies per character. Brawl Brothers succeeds in differentiating its characters better than most brawlers and is better for it.
In terms of its length Brawl Brothers is only four stages long. But that number is deceiving. Each stage is very long and comprised of multiple separate areas. This is both the game’s strength and greatest weakness. The initial highway battle descends into the sewers before reaching its climax. Stage two begins in a South American jungle before leading to a massive lift that leads to an air terminal. There were two important change made for the US version. The sewers were made a maze rather than the straightforward brawl to the exit. Likewise the abandoned gym has multiple floors navigated using an elevator system. I’m sure someone thought these were cool additions that would break up the flow but they are more annoying than exciting.
Pacing is one of the most important aspects most beat em ups get wrong. It is here that Brawl Brothers stumbles the most. Although the game is only four levels it is still pretty long. Each stage is about twice the length of similar titles. Brawl Brothers does not have the largest roster of enemies to fight. That means you end up fighting the same three enemies far too often in each level before it ends. A new enemy is introduced in each stage but it simply isn’t enough. You can make the case that each stage covers multiple areas for variety. But that is just a change in scenery, not the number of enemies you’ll face. Had the game broken it down into seven or eight stages, with a new enemy or two in each it wouldn’t be such a slog.
Brawl Brothers isn’t a particularly difficult game but it does have elements that make it frustrating. You have to manually get up from each knockdown, a change I don’t understand. It is far too easy to become trapped as enemies repeatedly beat you rising, ending in cheap deaths. There are some enemies (Leo, Butch, and their variants) that seemingly can grab you at will. Boss battles are dragged out by their excessive life bars and their priority over your attacks. Yet at the same time angry mode does help even the odds and most enemies are so stupid they will willingly leap to their death on their own. Someone must have realized the game can drag at times as there are frequent areas that allow you to instantly kill enemies. Ultimately with five credits (and player twos) no one will have trouble finishing this in one sitting.
In Closing
Brawl Brothers is a better game than Rival Turf but still flawed. If its flaws were fixed Brawl Brothers would have been a good game.There is a solid game here but you’ll have to overlook some big flaws to appreciate it.
