Play Arch Rivals Online

Arch Rivals came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989, published by Midway. It was a basketball game that stood out during the NES era because it completely ignored the rules of the sport. While other games tried to simulate basketball, Arch Rivals focused on pure, chaotic fun.

You control one of two players on a two-on-two basketball team. The main objective is to outscore your opponent, but the real goal is to beat them up. You can punch the other player to stun them and steal the ball. The court is often littered with trash like soda cans and candy wrappers; stepping on them makes your player slip and fall, leaving the ball free for the taking. Since the referee is essentially blind, no fouls are ever called, so you can punch and shove as much as you want. The game moves quickly and the difficulty comes from the constant physical interference, not from complex plays. It feels like a playground brawl that just happens to involve a basketball.