Back in the innocent 1990s, Jaleco released a trilogy of Super NES beat 'em ups in the Rushing Beat series. Well, in Japan, they were part of that series. In international markets, Jaleco renamed each game and censored it to pieces. Nowadays, however, a fourth game called RUSHING BEAT X: Return of the Brawl Brothers is in the works for Steam and Switch 2 from City Connection and Clear River Games. Like its predecessors, Rushing Beat X will support 2-player local co-op, and it's extremely promising.
Having played a recent Steam demo, I came away impressed with Rushing Beat X. The game starts with a lengthy intro that retells the events of Rival Turf/Rushing Beat and Brawl Brothers/Rushing Beat Ran. It then proceeds to an interactive tutorial in which one or two local players learn how to fight while Rick Norton and his trainee, Kahlua, fend of an attack at their gym. After completing the tutorial, another cinematic plays, and the two heroes meat up with Douglas Bild, the red uniform-wearing cop. The first level begins from there.
Rushing Beat X uses 3D graphics and 2D gameplay, not unlike Double Dragon Revive. Despite the shift to 3D visuals, the gameplay is actually quite smooth. There's a regular attack button, a special attack button that also blocks, a jump button, and a weapon button. Even though players have just one regular attack button, it can perform lots of different moves based on whether another direction is pressed and if the button is held or just tapped.
The grappling system is really strong, too. Push against an enemy to grab him, hit attack to strike, or press one of three directions to throw in that direction. You can even throw foes straight into the background, breaking windows and causing other visual damage! The one bad thing about the controls is that "attack" is mapped to the B/Circle button instead of X/Square like in most games. Perhaps the buttons will be remappable in the final version.
There's also a Rage system in which players deal extra damage when their meter fills, and the meter can be used to perform unique moves as well. Some weapons can be wielded on the spot like in every other beat 'em up, whereas some get stocked as inventory items for later use. Foods can be saved and used later (à la River City Girls 2), and even combined to make new foods and weapons. Very few beat 'em ups have as much depth as this one.
RUSHING BEAT X has been announced for Switch 2 and Steam so far. I'm hoping it comes to the other consoles as well, because this is shaping up to be a brawler that shouldn't be missed. No release date has been revealed, but you can learn more about the game at City Connection's website.
Oh, and if you'd like to catch up on the series, Rival Turf, Brawl brothers, and The Peacekeepers are all available on Nintendo Switch Online.