Are the Lee brothers in this game?
If you clicked on this because you were like “WTH is Rushing Beat X?”, I don’t blame you at all. You see, when the series started in 1992 on the SNES it was known as Rushing Beat in Japan but here in the west it was called Rival Turf. With its sequels also being renamed for the west, they were Brawl Brothers in 93 and The Peace Keepers in 94. I’m not going to lie to you either, I vaguely recall playing Rival Turf but not enough to say if it was good nor not. But that brings us to the new game, RUSHING BEAT X: The Return of Brawl Brothers, and was this comeback worth it almost 32 years since the last game?
Rushing Beat X: Return Of Brawl Brothers isn’t a remake of one of the past entries but is in fact a new one set between Brawl Brothers and The Peace Keepers (Rushing Beat Ran and Rushing Beat Shura in Japan) and has quite a few returning characters like Rick Norton, Douglas Bild and more. The team are trying to stop an evil scientist who wants to rule the world with an army of robots and zombies. Just a completely wacky ass game, but it really works. But if we are honest, we all know that no one comes to beat ‘em ups for some deep narrative, we come to smash faces.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
The great news is the moment-to-moment gameplay of RUSHING BEAT X delivers in spades. There are multiple characters to choose from with some bosses who will join the roster later on. Each of them is a different class from nimble ninjas to bulky wrestlers. I leaned more into the wrestler Douglas Bild, a hulking police officer he is all about suplexes and body slams. I was also able to combo many of his moves and slams together, which anytime these games offer combos it’s a welcome sight. Taking it to the next level though players in RUSHING BEAT X can actually cancel moves into others and there’s an auto combo option for those of us who can’t keep all the buttons straight. This really surprised me; the depth of the combat really felt like a fighting game.
That being said though, the controls lack much to be desired in their default state. I am playing on Series X and the B button is attack; Y is a block if you stand still but it can also be a strong attack if pressed during a string of attacks. B is also a throw button which based on the direction pressed will give players a different throw animation. I am not a fan of these controls, but thankfully this game allows players to change all the buttons to their liking, which was a huge help for me at least.
The other thing that was a big negative for me is the movement in the game. It feels very stiff and takes a lot of time to get used to. It also makes fighting weird at times, players are able to move in a 360-degree fashion but when combat starts it is only on the horizontal plane. So, players can be moving down but if the enemy isn’t on the same level as them then they will just be punching at air. Its extra annoying and even though I did get accustomed to it; I don’t feel like I should’ve had to.
As a fan of the beat ‘em up genre I am glad I was introduced to RUSHING BEAT X: Return of Brawl Brothers. It’s a very quirky type of game, one that prioritizes over the top fun rather than deliver a cohesive story. And with quite a few playable characters to choose from, I guarantee there is someone here for every playstyle. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, sure it has some flaws but it delivers in fun.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
