Beat'em ups.

[hazys]

Beat-'em-ups are one of my favorite genres, and my favorite to 1CC. I think they get a bad rap for being "shallow and repetitive," when the best ones are actually very engaging and dynamic. My favorites are Violent Storm, Guardians: Denjin Makai II, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, D&D: Shadow over Mystara, The King of Dragons, and Alien vs Predator.

3D beat-'em-ups kinda died as a concept in the 2000s, which is a shame because we never really got to see how the genre might evolve. My favorites are God Hand, Spike Out, Urban Reign, and "Tekken Force" mode from Tekken 4. Resident Evil 5's Mercenaries mode also kinda feels like a beat-'em-up.

I appreciate the "retro revival" of beat-'em-ups we've been experiencing, but I think most of them are kinda bad lol. I did enjoy Fight N' Rage.

 

[spectresfrommercury]

the bouncer will always be one of the best beat em ups i've played on the ps2 imo.

 

[RetroCasual]

Probably my top 10, but not in order:

Turtles In Time (Arcade and SNES)
Golden Axe (Arcade and Sega Genesis)
Hook (Arcade)
Cadillacs & Dinosaurs (Arcade)
The Punisher (Arcade)
Night Slashers (Arcade, not the awful remake)
Aliens Vs. Predator (Arcade)
Die Hard Arcade (Arcade and Sega Saturn)
Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks (PS2 and XBOX)
Final Fight LNS (Openbor, still in development)

 

[DjQuick2008]

Anyone be getting this in october?

 

[ColonelKurtz]

The only beat em up game I've gotten invested in was God Hand.

I keep telling myself to give Golden Axe or SoR2 a chance but something about the 2D beat em up formula never really clicked with me.

 

[rugal]

i am not mutch for the beat them up games but i did play alot of them as a kid
these where my favorits
double dragon 2 and 3
battle toads
the pirates of dark water
nes game kung-fu

 

[Your_Homie_Gale]

Does Castle Crashers count? I'm more of a zoomer but when I was a kid it was all the rage. It spread through word of mouth and almost everyone I knew played it. I've bought it like 3 times on PS3, steam, and later the switch.

 

[DjQuick2008]

The only beat em up game I've gotten invested in was God Hand.

I keep telling myself to give Golden Axe or SoR2 a chance but something about the 2D beat em up formula never really clicked with me.

I have it on my laptop but never got round to getting into it

 

[MajesticSiN]

I have it on my laptop but never got round to getting into it

You should give it a play. It's lots of fun.

 

[DjQuick2008]

 

[Deleted member 7989]

As a kid, I freakin loved Turtles in Time and River City Ransom. Still some of my top games.

These days, Yakuza, and the stuff that Dotemu puts out are probably my favorites.

I hate to say it but I love the Splatterhouse reboot, and I thought Golden Axe Beast Rider wasn't half bad.

Uh, that new Marvel game Dotemu is putting out looks cold.

Idk can't think of anything else rn, maybe try out Beat Down on PS2.

 

[PhrawzT]

The Streets if Rage games will always be the best and was one of the main reasons I got a Genesis when I was in college.

Dragon's Crown was shockingly good, and I played the hell out of it on my Vita.

 

[Michael Frank]

Does Castle Crashers count? I'm more of a zoomer but when I was a kid it was all the rage. It spread through word of mouth and almost everyone I knew played it. I've bought it like 3 times on PS3, steam, and later the switch.

Yeah, castle crashers counts, it feels like Dungeons and Dragons in terms of gameplay (shield, use of items and artifacts) but it is GREAT, and here's my favorites:
-Streets of Rage 2
-Final Fight 3
-Alien vs Predator
-Denjin Makai and Guardians (these are AMAZING)
-Sengoku 3
-Both Dungeons and Dragons made by Capcom
-The Punisher
-TMNT on snes (music is great)

 

[DjQuick2008]

Post automatically merged: Jun 24, 2025

very cool what they did with this

 

[Turbo Kid]

So many good ones that no one ever talks about, like these:

 

[Captain Murphy]

RCR and Final Fight og was where it all started for me. Streets of Rage 2. Undercover Cops. Brawl Brothers. River City Ransom and Double Dragon 2 will always be my favorites.