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Summary

Rival Turf! (known in Japan as Rushing Beat) feels like a love‑letter to classic cyber‑punk comic books and the golden era of side‑scroll beat ’em ups. The game drops you into a neon‑slick city—Los Angeles in the Western release, “Neo Cisco” in the original—where you can pick either Jack Flak, a punch‑first hero on a rescue mission, or police‑wrestler Oozie Nelson, whose moves feel ripped straight from a pro‑wrestling ring. Both characters share a simple three‑button control scheme, but the real fun comes from the “angry” mode that temporarily makes you invincible after taking enough hits, and the two‑player versus mode where the first to win two out of three rounds claims bragging rights. The Japanese version lets you tweak lives and continues and even swaps the defeat icon for the kanji for death, while the North American cut trims the intro, credits, and ending. Critics were split: some praised the co‑op play, but most slammed the thin move set, choppy graphics and lack of challenge, leaving Rival Turf! a nostalgic curiosity rather than a timeless classic.

Storyline

Rival Turf! (often just called Rival Turf) follows two parallel rescue missions in a gritty urban setting. Jack Flak’s girlfriend Heather is snatched by the notorious gang leader Big Al and his Street Kings, prompting Jack to team up with his buddy, police officer Oswald “Oozie” Nelson. The duo heads to the city’s sports stadium to gather clues and pinpoint Big Al’s hideout, determined to free Heather and dismantle the gang’s grip on the streets.

Meanwhile, former cop Rick Norton is ambushed one night and learns that his sister Maria has been taken hostage because she possesses a crucial videotape. A new, wildly popular stimulant—only recently synthesized—has flooded the city, fueling the criminal underworld’s rise. With the help of his friend Douglas Bild, Norton also makes his way to the stadium, hoping to locate the gang’s lair and rescue Maria while uncovering the truth behind the drug epidemic.