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Beat-’em-up games ruled in the 8-bit, 16-bit, and classic-arcade days. From Double Dragon to River City Ransom to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to X-Men, these games have entertained millions of people by allowing them to beat the crap out of countless minions and the occasional level boss. The best beat-’em-ups had a magical blend of simple gameplay that anyone could enjoy coupled with clever design that kept players addicted. What were some of your favorite beat-’em-up games?
As for me, I’m going with Streets of Rage for Sega Genesis. This is a total nostalgia pick. I’ve played better games in the genre, but this one has a special place in my heart. I have fond memories of playing Streets of Rage with my brother over and over and over again. We’d spend hours a day as Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding, keeping the city safe from the diabolical Syndicate. We were dazzled by the smashing, combos, and oh-so-cheap special attack from our companion in the police car. To this day, Streets of Rage is one of my favorite multiplayer experiences.
Now it’s your turn! Did you dig any of the aforementioned games? Or are you more of a Golden Axe or Final Fight fan? Please share your favorite beat-’em-up games in the comments section.
Streets of Rage was pretty badass. Just so much you could do. So many ways to dispatch street thugs. I like the Capcom games too. Final Fight, Aliens vs Predator, Cadillacs and dinosaurs, The punisher, etc.
Hard to pick a fav. I'd have went with Streets of Rage 2 over the original.
I'll go with xmen.
Street of Rage 2 is definitely the better game. I picked the original for the memories with my brother.
Battletoads
X-Men
Double Dragon
Simpsons
Golden Axe
Comix Zone
Kung- Fu (NES)
Altered Beast
lol@Altered beast
That game is just one of those games that floods me with memories. It was so many peoples first experience with 16 bit graphics, seeing as how it was the first game that was bundled with the genesis.
I think the farthest I have ever been is the bear, but have never beaten it
Altered Beast and Led Zeppelin 1 arent real. I've bought each over a half dozen times and cannot produce a copy of either if I wanted to.
You just said Golden Axe. Your post = win, I had completely forgotten about that one. Bonus points!
I actually played it the other day. It was free on PS+
X-Men.
There was a Batman gamer fore PS1 called Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. I straight up LOVED that game. We would bust out the multi-tap and get all four people involved.
There was also a Star Wars Beat 'Em Up called Jedu Power Battles that was pretty cool.
However, Double Dragon was the king. That game was in every pizza joint and arcade in Pittsburgh and always had a crowd.
Captain america and the avengers was fun. I never beat it. Hmm me thinks thats my next on my list to beat at the arcade.
Scott pilgrim vs the world deserves an honorable mention.
Wow. So many to choose from. I think that this genre was my "default" for the Super Nintendo era of gaming.
The one that holds a special place in my heart (even though it sucks) is Final Fight. I played it for countless hours with my best friend. Good times.
I rage-quit Battletoads and to a lesser extent: Double Dragon. Nothing pissed me off more than doing well beating up mutated rats only having to hit a wall (literally and figuratively) with that f#@*&$! speeder (hover-bike) level. Why would they allow such a horrible "break" level to make the rest of the game unplayable, I will never know. You really screwed that one up, Rare. With Double Dragon, my and my friend had a hard enough time with one Abobo, so when we got far enough into the game where we had to face two at one time, it really did us in and we weren't able to get much further than that.
Personally, I loved (and played the hell out of ) Maximum Carnage, TMNT Turtles in Time, and Batman Returns. I think part of the reason I loved these games so much is because I was actually able to beat them all… and I think I'm a bit proud of myself for it.
-M
Dude YouTube a battle toads play thru. The speeder bike looks amateur compared to the cheap crap Rare did. Also the last level looked pretty amazing for an 8bit system.
This comment confuses me. Rare developed Battletoads, so are you saying that the speeder bike level was was less cheap or more cheap than the other crap (games?) Rare did back in the day?
If you never played the game, I challange an 11-year-old Smartguy to try getting past that without putting the NES controller through your TV screen. I never thought about You Tube-ing Battletoads to see the levels that came after that. I'd probably hate that because it will bring back bad memories of what I COULD have played if Rare would have not included those pointless speeder bike levels. I liked that game because the graphics and fighting mechanics were tight and responsive. In some sense, it was the epitome of the 8-bit "beat-em-up" era. I'm pissed because the game refused to allow me to do just that past the second level.
-M
Did u know that theres a point in battletoads where the 2nd player just dies or disappears.
No the levels that followed the speeder bike were even harder. Also the ending sucks. Hard to imagine but if you are up late with your son, watch it.11 year old Smartguy did a fair amount of rage quitting battle toads back in the day. 30 year old smart guy would rage quit battle toads today.Sent from a device with horrible AT&T service.
Bah… Maximum Carnage was a classic. Thumbs up for reminding me of it.
There was a Wolverine game too that was near Identical.
The game is obviously old and outdated by today’s' standards, but as a 14-year-old that didn't have the comic series (of the same name) this was just as good (if not, better) of a way to keep up with what was going on in the Spider-Man universe.
The game itself is pretty mediocre (or worse), but I was at the point in my life where I would play almost anything that had to do with my favorite fictional characters in it.
I'm sure we can all relate to something like that at one point in our life or another. Hell, some people here are probably still like that.
Anyway, I had fun with it and it was pretty challenging at times (especially the last boss fight). If you still have your SNES and can find this game cheap, then by all means, give it a shot. Just be sure to keep your expectations low.
-M
I'm still at that point in my life.
Streets of Rage was pretty fun, yeah. But do you remember the old X-Men beat-em-up arcade game? That was the best.
That's an RPad.TV Invitational favorite. A bunch of us have played it together on XBLA.
Aw, it's too bad I don't have Live. I'd definitely join in someday when I get better at not button-mashing every single fighting game I ever played. Honestly, Fighting, Real-time Strategy, MMO and (usually) Racing games are my archenemies.