Super Nintendo Look - Rushing Beat Shura

Something I learned from my experience with Rushing Beat Ran is that a lot can be forgiven if the feeling of dropping broken bodies onto pavement is perfect. As long as Wendy is putting fools to rest with her exquisite piledriver, any complaints I have about difficulty balance and overtuned bosses flutter off into space and evaporate. Funny how art can be so simple yet so complex; equal parts messy and elegant. Unfortunately, neither time nor this blog allows for meaningless meanderings about games that I've already covered. Today's look is at Rushing Beat Shura. Those familiar with botched localizations know it as The Peacekeepers, but I'm sticking with the original (fan-translated) game. While the western release doesn't do anything outrageous like turn every other stage into a maze, the cuts made to both the enemy roster and soundtrack are pretty shameful. Besides, you can never have too much Krummbach. 

One of the coincidences of the 16-bit era is that there are at least three brawlers that feature branching paths: Streets of Rage 3, Golden Axe 3, and this game. They just happened to be third entries in their respective series', too. Bit weird how that worked out. Anyway, I'm pretty sure what Jaleco did with their game is the most ambitious. Not only are there multiple routes, but some are accessed by destroying an object or defeating a boss in a certain amount of time. Also, if you can find certain NPCs, your chances of reaching the best ending will increase. Throw in a couple of secret characters, as well as unique bosses that aren't fought anywhere else, and the result is one big intertwining adventure. 

Since Wendy decided to sit this game out, I'm left scrambling for someone to fill the void she left behind. Unfortunately, none of the six playable characters provide as immaculate a blend of speed and power. Kythring has a decent piledriver but lacks reach. His versatility can be summed up as "has a fairly easy time grabbing opponents" and that's it. At least he's not as bad as Jimmy. Built like Frankenstein's Monster, he's so slow that he lost a footrace to a cinder block. Instead of throwing enemies over his shoulder like a normal person, Norton does some wind-up Popeye punch. I don't like him. M-Frame is a cool robot with a nice array of moves. Ultimately though, I'd say this game belongs to Dick and Elfin. The man with mysterious powers has a basic yet effective arsenal, including a damn nice special attack. Elfin has the speed, reach, good crowd-control, and fun stuff like dash-attack and air-attacks that hit multiple times. She's probably the closest Rushing Beat Shura has to a reasonable Wendy substitute, but I don't know. A beatemup hero is more than just their moves. It's all about how they interact with the world. Their ability to skirt the rules and operate on another level.

Compared to its predecessor, this is technical and refined. Healing items are more common, which reduces dependency on the large stack of continues. Enemies have been balanced so they don't hit as hard. Bosses lost the innate evasion that makes them hard to hit. However, if they have the capability, then they won't allow players to abuse grapples. I don't take any Bob for granted, because he will grab and slam me into oblivion. Those who respect the game will discover that a single life can last a lot longer. Play safe, stick to what works, and... meh. It gets overbearing after a while, like there's only two ways a fight can go down, and one of them is wrong. 

Dealing with Bob is simple. You don't go near him, ever. Knock the burly man down, then hit him with knee drops until he can't get up. Otherwise, there's a risk of triggering that phantom grab-range of his. Jump-kicks are a possibility, but he's got a kick of his own that'll easily knock someone out of the sky. Hitting the bastard with a string of attacks sounds like the right call, until he decides to interrupt the combo with a grab. It doesn't take long for the realization to settle in that dash-attacks are the only consistent option. Granted, they have to be performed fairly early, else the player rushes straight into Bob's open arms. Dash-attacks tend to be the safest choice for most encounters. The exceptions are best handled with a decent special attack. Specials drain health, but that just makes for an easily winnable battle of attrition. If there are other ways to win fights that don't rely on the least entertaining moves, then I've yet to stumble onto them.

Also, the games' attempt at being fair are undermined by a second half that's filled with double bosses. I'm sure I brought up the single boss issue in a previous beatemup review, but Jaleco's solution isn't great. Whiffing a jab probably shouldn't lead to getting insta-backstabbed by one of two master ninjas. Their weakness is getting grabbed, but it would've been nice to use other moves, make the fight more dynamic. I put up with Ran's poor bosses because I knew there'd be more minion-bullying afterwards. Once a boss in Shura is taken down, it's back to the process of constant dash-attacks, unsatisfying grabs, and knee drops.

If your beatemup has to be one-dimensional, then make sure it's fun. That way, you get to call it fun-dimensional and annoy everyone on social media. For real though, Rushing Beat Shura has a lot of stuff and some great music, but its moment-to-moment action isn't deep enough to justify letting go of what made Rushing Beat Ran such a blast. Let me indulge in the unbridled awesomeness that is piledriving someone onto a landmine or off of a skyscraper. I'd rather lose a life doing something crazy hilarious than getting grabbed by Bob #32 for the 54th time.

Although, taking a Doomsday Device from the Non-Steiner Bros. is pretty cool.