Play Arch Rivals – The Arcade Game Online

Arch Rivals came out for the Sega Genesis in 1992, a Midway port of their earlier arcade game. It was a time when sports games were starting to get more serious, but this one happily went the other way, embracing pure, ridiculous fun over any simulation.

You control one of several cartoonish basketball players, and the main objective is to outscore your opponent, but that's almost secondary to the brawling. The signature mechanics are the fighting; you can throw punches and elbows to steal the ball or just knock your rival flat. The ball itself can be stolen at any time, and the court is littered with hazards like banana peels and puddles that send you slipping. The pacing is frantic, the difficulty comes from the sheer chaos, and playing it feels like being in a schoolyard argument that just happens to have a hoop.