The difference between Arch Rivals and other basketball titles is the ability to freely punch an opposing player without penalty and steal the ball away.

Also unique to the game are various on-court hazards such as soda cans and candy wrappers thrown onto the floor.

The teams in the arcade version are Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Natural High and Brawl State.

Also, the arcade operator can customize the team names and colors through the game's "Hometown Heroes" feature.

[6] The four home ports of the game have lower-quality graphics than the arcade version, due to being released on 8 and 16-bit systems.

The Sega Genesis version received poorer reception due to a glitch where almost 95% of shots taken from anywhere on the court would result in a basket.