Brawl Brothers Longplay (SNES) [QHD] 

Game Info
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Developer: Jaleco
Publisher: Jaleco
Year of Release: 1992
Game Review & Impressions
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Also known subtitled Rival Turf! 2, this is a sequel to Rival Turf. As a result of boring gameplay, a limited move-set and endless waves of opponents, I really wasn't a fan of the predecessor, and while Brawl Brothers IS an improvement, it's still nowhere near being close to Streets of Rage 2 or Final Fight in terms of quality.
As to the plot, I really couldn't care less. The game infuriated me to such a degree I couldn't be bothered to look it up. It doesn't even need a plot: a bunch of good guys travel right and beat up a bunch of bad guys for reasons.
You select primary fighter and a backup from a roster of five characters consisting of your typical genre achetypes: Master Slowshuffle; Mountain Dew Ninja; middle-of-the-road Joe; Token Female and Beefcake McPoundface.
Normally, figuring out where to go isn't a concern in these types of games, but for some reason, Jaleco introduced two levels that involve branching paths, and unless you choose the paths in the correct order, you'll go around in a continual loop. I must have spent a good 40 minutes in the sewer section alone, battling wave after wave of goons until I realised it was possible to walk through the "doors" in the back of the stage! The player is given no instruction to do this, nor are there any suggestions you need to figure the correct route out, which is just bad game design.
Another pet hate of mine, which this particular game uses to a significant extent, is putting enemies into a state where they either can't be injured, or there's no way to prevent their next attack. The collision detection in Brawl Brothers is suspect at the best of times, but throughout my entire playthrough my characters punches and kicks pass through the enemy sprite with no impact. Similarly, the grapple mechanic frequently prioritises the enemy character above your own, meaning they'll get to toss you around with impunity. I loathe this mechanic with a passion because it's a cheap way to boost the difficulty; the player should always have some countermeasure with which to avoid this scenario, but Jaleco clearly thought otherwise. This makes Brawl Brothers an incessantly dull and often joyless affair, leaving the player frustrated at every turn.
As you might have gathered, I didn't like this game; in fact, I think I liked it less than the original, despite the additional features. The kernel of a decent game is buried under a series of bad design choices and general laziness, and everything about it just ground my gears. Others might enjoy it, but I'm not one of them.
Chapters
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TBC