BEAT-EM-UP: The Thread

[Cobra Kai]

I searched the forums and couldn't find a topic dedicated to the genre of the Beat-Em-Up. I'm really in to them right now, so let's have a place to discuss right here. I am not an authority on the genre, and this is not intended to be a history lesson, or some complete compendium on the Beat-Em-Up. Though, it could turn into that over time with member input!

 

What is a Beat-Em-Up? It's typically a 2D side scrolling game, where you play as a hero, who walks to the right and kicks the ass of every enemy who gets in your way (which is usually a quest to save a heroine). The controls tend to be simplified to two, sometimes 3 buttons. Usually an Attack button, along with a Jump button. Various combos can be performed utilizing directional joystick presses, mixed with either button. The best example that everyone recognizes is Final Fight:

 

I chose to highlight Final Fight because the genre really became something special with this game. This really started a flurry of follow-ups, not only by Capcom, but all the other major players would join in with their own Beat-Em-Ups and fill arcades up with these. Some of you older gamers, which is most of us here, will remember getting your feet wet in the genre with Kung-Fu, Vigilante and Double Dragon:

 

Some gamers really don't like this style of game. I know the complaints, that they are mindless quarter munchers, and I think there is some merit to that. But like the Shmup genre, you can get pretty good at these with some practice, and some of the games even encourage that you learn their mechanics to get farther into them on fewer credits. Capcom's Knights Of The Round has a button for blocking, when if you decide to, can make the gameplay strategic, and not a simple button masher:

 

It really doesn't bother me to have a genre like this thought of as mindless. Sometimes, I want to trek through a game, beat people up, and enjoy the music and graphics. That's one of the finer points of these games, that you can usually have a few moments after combat to enjoy the background artwork/graphics, really take in the setting and get immersed in the world you're in, before the game timer reminds you to ---->GO! or something like that.

 

Well, that's all I got for today.

[DragonGrafx-16]

Two of my favorites are Metamorphic Force and Ninja Baseball Bat Man, both were only released in arcades.

[Razzie.P]

River City ... er... stuff!   Or Kunio-Kun if you wanna hold yer pinky out, I suppose.

[Austin]

I love beat 'em ups and have played many over the years. I had favorites growing up like the NES Double Dragon games, King of Dragons on SNES and the NES TMNT games. As an adult now who likes a good challenge, Final Fight (arcade version) remains my favorite out of all of them. For the most consistent/highest quality beat 'em up series, I have to give it to the Streets of Rage games on the Genesis/Megadrive. I mainly played Part 2 growing up and didn't appreciate 1 and 3 until recently, but having finally sunk a lot of time into them, I think it's the best group of beat 'em ups out there. They each have their own unique feel, are challenging and offer tons of replay value with their character variety. I have a soft spot for a lot of Capcom's arcade games, in particular their CPS1 efforts, but I think they can be on the cheap end like a lot of beat 'em ups--quite the unfair quarter-munchers that require a ridiculous amount of time to get good and be consistent at.

[+save2600]

Agree about Final Fight being something special! Loved the subway scene. I too played it in the arcade and bought the SNES version when released. My brother had it later for the SegaCD, where we could play together. Always wished the SNES version had been a 2-player game though. Would have enjoyed it a lot more had it been. Oh well, ended up discovering and playing other 2-player co-op games on the SNES instead... Rival Turf comes to mind. Excellent Final Fight clone with silly box art, but a fun game! ha

 

 

And besides some of these already mentioned, I always liked Pirates of Dark Water for the SNES and TMNT IV: Turtles in Time. TMNT Arcade for the NES and Burning Fight for the Neo*Geo as well. Don't play too many beat 'em ups today for whatever reason, but one of the last games I played was for the TG-16 called Riot Zone, and like it for what it is. 

[Cobra Kai]

The Combatribes (1990)

 

Here's one of my favorite beat-em-ups. This was released originally in the arcades, with a 3-player control panel IIRC. The game was ported to the SNES (above screenshot), that's the version I have the most experience with. This is a rather unique game in the genre, as it's close to being a 'boss rush'. Shmup fans know what I'm talking about with that term, but basically it means minimal popcorn baddies to fight through, reaching the stage boss rather quickly. 

 

It's not that simple though to explain though. In Combatribes, the start of each stage will contain almost all the bad guys you will fight, sans the end stage boss who shows up with a few extra goons once you dispense the starting henchmen. So, unlike something like Final Fight where you continually scroll the screen and encounter new baddies, in this game, it's more like an arena battle, a royal rumble if you will. You can walk around a little bit, but you are generally confined to an area.

 

It's the combat that makes this game fun. There are 3 characters to choose from, your typical strong and slow guy in Bullova. Berserker the well rounded fighter, and Blitz the speedy, weak fighter. This game lets you brutalize the opponent with moves not found in other games in this genre. Along with normal punching and kicking combos, you can beat opponents when they are down by smashing their heads into the ground, or you can grab their legs and swing them around 'hammer throw' style (very effective move by the way), and if you position yourself between two baddies, you can smash their heads together! Each character also has a dash attack (double tap left or right) that you'll want to get good with.

 

The action is intense and unceasing, this game moves along at a brisk pace. With all the moves at your disposal, you will have plenty of strategy to employ here if you want. If you want to beat the SNES game solo, I suggest using  Bullova because he has a dash attack that throws a heavy punch, and it stuns the enemy. This move can be spammed on the bosses to cause them to drop their weapon. You kind of have to fight the bosses differently, because like many beat-em-ups, bosses are very resistant to normal attacks.

 

Graphically, the game is both really great looking, and ugly at the same time. The character select screen and the cutscenes with closups are laughably bad. The main characters walk very strange with stiff arms that barely move, but overall the graphics are pleasing. The backgrounds really add to the atmosphere, and general animation is good. The color palette is intense, it's like Technos made a decision to use as many colors as possible.  That's probably one of the reasons for the wildly different, but cliche gangs in the game, from skinheads and clowns, to punks on roller skates. This really allows for a variety of colors and sprites to utilize them.

 

As far as the audio, I like the background music, and the fighting noises are typical I guess. I'm more of a graphics whore, so audio, unless it terrible, doesn't usually grab my attention. Anyway, one of my favorite beat-em-up games, The Combatribes.

 

 

[Newsdee]

I like to think about the history of these games...

• It started with this guy (and movie - Game of Death - 1973):

       

 

• 1982 - Takashi Nishiyama works on Moon Patrol (an early scrolling game)
• 1982 - Swashbuckler released for Apple II (one of the first beat-em-all, without scrolling)
• 1984 - Nishiyama designs Kung Fu Master, first scrolling beat-em-up, originally based on Game of Death
• 1984 - Karateka comes out on home computers
• 1986 - Technos and Taito release Renegade on the arcades
• 1987 - Nishiyama directs Street Fighter 1 (before leaving for SNK and creating Fatal Fury and subsequent games)
• 1987 - Technos releases Double Dragon
• 1988 - Data East releases Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
• 1989 - Sega releases Golden Axe
• 1989 - Capcom releases Final Fight (originally an SF sequel, but they changed it after the success of Double Dragon)
• 1989 - River City Ransom on NES by Technos
• 1990 - Combat Tribes released in arcades by Technos
• 1991 - Streets of Rage for Megadrive by Sega

 

I vaguely remember there used to be distinction between Beat-em-up and Beat-em-all in some print media.

Personally, I consider it the difference between something akin to a run-and-gun game (a la Green Beret),

vs. games where you have to defeat everybody like Double Dragon or Street Fighter.

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Newsdee

[digdugnate]

I've got a soft spot for the Capcom beat-em-ups too, particularly Final Fight; I still play the game a lot now.  

 

I always turn up the volume after the car-smash minigame because my wife and I laugh like crazy after- 'Oh, my car!'  I wish the arcade port let you pick between that and the SNES 'Oh, my God!' line, though.  hehe

[roots.genoa]

3 hours ago, Newsdee said:

I vaguely remember there used to be distinction between Beat-em-up and Beat-em-all in some print media.

You must be French, then. "Beat them all" is a creation of a not-yet-identified French journalist that probably had no idea that "to beat up" hasn't the same meaning as "to beat". But it's a stupid name since in most video games, you have to "beat them all" - the phrase appears in a trailer for the latest Trials game.

[roots.genoa]

Beat 'em up is my favorite genre and I find annoying when people say it's repetitive, because the very good beat 'em ups (Streets of Rage 2, Double Dragon Advance, Die Hard Arcade, The Ninja Saviors) are not.

I recently played the Capcom compilation and still find Capcom beat 'em ups a little overrated. In particular, King of Dragons is visually superb but has aged very badly gameplay-wise I think, with only 3 attacks per character and useless RPG elements. Knights of the Round is indeed more strategic than it seems, but I prefer Warriors of Fate which has horses too.

[Cobra Kai]

Yeah, I was going to do a post on Warriors of Fate, just haven't got around to it. Fantastic game.

[digdugnate]

Streets of Rage 2 is one that I play a lot as well, though sometimes it gets edged out by Final Fight.    The graphics, music, and control make it my favorite of the 3 original SoR games.

 

I guess one could make the argument that games like Rastan and Altered Beast are side-scrolling beat-em-ups, but where is the distinction drawn between platformer and beat-em-up?

 

(i'm just thinking out loud rhetorically-like).

 

The presence of *platforms* probably makes it more of a platformer than a beat-em-up, huh.  lol

[roots.genoa]

3 hours ago, digdugnate said:

Streets of Rage 2 is one that I play a lot as well, though sometimes it gets edged out by Final Fight.    The graphics, music, and control make it my favorite of the 3 original SoR games.

 

I guess one could make the argument that games like Rastan and Altered Beast are side-scrolling beat-em-ups, but where is the distinction drawn between platformer and beat-em-up?

 

(i'm just thinking out loud rhetorically-like).

 

The presence of *platforms* probably makes it more of a platformer than a beat-em-up, huh.  lol

I prefer the music from the first Streets of Rage, but the second has clearly the best gameplay.
 

To me Rastan is an action-platformer (well, "un jeu d'action/plateformes" in French), and this type of game is simpler in terms of attacks available - but since you like Final Fight, you may not care! It doesn't make them bad, but very different gameplay-wise to belt scroll beat 'em ups. Altered Beast is closer to a side-scrolling beat 'em up such as The Ninja Warriors and Kung-Fu Master, and I love it but for different reasons (music, lore). After all, it was created by the designer of Golden Axe, its arcade sequel, and Die Hard Arcade.

[digdugnate]

 

3 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I prefer the music from the first Streets of Rage, but the second has clearly the best gameplay.
 

To me Rastan is an action-platformer (well, "un jeu d'action/plateformes" in French), and this type of game is simpler in terms of attacks available - but since you like Final Fight, you may not care! It doesn't make them bad, but very different gameplay-wise to belt scroll beat 'em ups. Altered Beast is closer to a side-scrolling beat 'em up such as The Ninja Warriors and Kung-Fu Master, and I love it but for different reasons (music, lore). After all, it was created by the designer of Golden Axe, its arcade sequel, and Die Hard Arcade.

I'm team 'Streets of Rage 2' for the soundtrack, for me that's hands-down the best one.    I had briefly considered getting the LPs but figured I would better spend my money elsewhere, hehe.

 

I didn't play Altered Beast a ton in the arcade, but I had it on the Genesis- 'Wise from your gwave!' hehehe

[derFunkenstein]

SoR1's soundtrack is consistently excellent where SoR2's soundtrack is mostly perfect. There's a dud here or there (there's one track in stage 6 that sounds like an alarm is going off, which irritates me), but for the most part it's exactly what it should be. 

 

The thing is, SoR1 is a mediocre game saved by its excellent soundtrack. SoR2 is an amazing game augmented by the musical experience. BK3 (I greatly prefer playing a translated Japanese ROM to the American port) is a further refinement of SoR2 completely let down by its experimental and totally weird soundtrack. I have high hopes for SoR4.

 

Final Fight CD on the Sega CD is a wonderful port of the arcade game. The NES port of Double Dragon is very enjoyable but I don't like that you don't get all of the arcade moves at the start (though you get some cool extra stuff later on). Mighty Final Fight is another fun NES beat 'em up. 

 

Aside from the first NES game, the TMNT series is absolutely great, too. I almost prefer the NES port of the arcade game to the original, and the third NES game picks up where the previous left off.

 

In short, beyond one-on-one fighting games, beat 'em ups are some of my favorite titles of the later 8-bit and 16-bit eras. 

Edited March 7, 2020 by derFunkenstein

[Steven Pendleton]

7 minutes ago, derFunkenstein said:

The thing is, SoR1 is a mediocre game saved by its excellent soundtrack.

Just like Star Wars movies! (I still love some of them, but even Lucas admits this!)

 

I do not have a lot of experience with this genre, but it's definitely way more fun with 2 players than alone. One of my friends came to my house and we played Double Dragon II on my Famicom Mini and we had a whole lot of fun. He has barricaded himself in his apartment due to the damn virus and refuses to go anywhere except to work, but once the panic is over, hopefully we'll get to play some awesome games in this genre again.

 

[+Cafeman]

I explored this genre years ago. I think the SOR series on SEGA Genesis is the absolute best, followed by Capcom Final Fight games. But there are scores of lesser games which are still fun. 

[Steven Pendleton]

I just remembered that I actually played Kunio-tachi no Banka last summer. I did not find it to be enjoyable at all, unfortunately. Maybe check it out if you like Kunio, but I don't think I could honestly recommend it otherwise. It may be better with 2 players, though.

[Bloodreign]

Had a little fun with the 3 console Sailor Moon games for SFC and MD, the latter I can only play in emulation due to it's stupidly high price. The first two though are awesome to play on real hardware, but alas I play them alone, no one I know would play them with me. They aren't the best beat em ups out there, but they are still amusing.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Bloodreign said:

Had a little fun with the 3 console Sailor Moon games for SFC and MD, the latter I can only play in emulation due to it's stupidly high price. The first two though are awesome to play on real hardware, but alas I play them alone, no one I know would play them with me. They aren't the best beat em ups out there, but they are still amusing.

MD Sailor Moon is only like 15000 yen! I keep thinking about picking it up but it's not high priority. How is it overall?

 

Okay, I just checked ebay and that's a little bit too high for it. You should be paying these prices:

 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listing/B000148IS6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=MDセーラームーン&qid=1583583125&__mk_ja_JP=カタカナ&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Edited March 7, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[schuwalker]

On 3/5/2020 at 4:59 PM, Kobra Kai said:

The Combatribes (1990)

 

Here's one of my favorite beat-em-ups. This was released originally in the arcades, with a 3-player control panel IIRC. The game was ported to the SNES (above screenshot), that's the version I have the most experience with. This is a rather unique game in the genre, as it's close to being a 'boss rush'. Shmup fans know what I'm talking about with that term, but basically it means minimal popcorn baddies to fight through, reaching the stage boss rather quickly. 

 

It's not that simple though to explain though. In Combatribes, the start of each stage will contain almost all the bad guys you will fight, sans the end stage boss who shows up with a few extra goons once you dispense the starting henchmen. So, unlike something like Final Fight where you continually scroll the screen and encounter new baddies, in this game, it's more like an arena battle, a royal rumble if you will. You can walk around a little bit, but you are generally confined to an area.

 

It's the combat that makes this game fun. There are 3 characters to choose from, your typical strong and slow guy in Bullova. Berserker the well rounded fighter, and Blitz the speedy, weak fighter. This game lets you brutalize the opponent with moves not found in other games in this genre. Along with normal punching and kicking combos, you can beat opponents when they are down by smashing their heads into the ground, or you can grab their legs and swing them around 'hammer throw' style (very effective move by the way), and if you position yourself between two baddies, you can smash their heads together! Each character also has a dash attack (double tap left or right) that you'll want to get good with.

 

The action is intense and unceasing, this game moves along at a brisk pace. With all the moves at your disposal, you will have plenty of strategy to employ here if you want. If you want to beat the SNES game solo, I suggest using  Bullova because he has a dash attack that throws a heavy punch, and it stuns the enemy. This move can be spammed on the bosses to cause them to drop their weapon. You kind of have to fight the bosses differently, because like many beat-em-ups, bosses are very resistant to normal attacks.

 

Graphically, the game is both really great looking, and ugly at the same time. The character select screen and the cutscenes with closups are laughably bad. The main characters walk very strange with stiff arms that barely move, but overall the graphics are pleasing. The backgrounds really add to the atmosphere, and general animation is good. The color palette is intense, it's like Technos made a decision to use as many colors as possible.  That's probably one of the reasons for the wildly different, but cliche gangs in the game, from skinheads and clowns, to punks on roller skates. This really allows for a variety of colors and sprites to utilize them.

 

As far as the audio, I like the background music, and the fighting noises are typical I guess. I'm more of a graphics whore, so audio, unless it terrible, doesn't usually grab my attention. Anyway, one of my favorite beat-em-up games, The Combatribes.

 

 

This should've been Double Dragon III instead of that abomination that was presented to us in the arcades. 

[Newsdee]

On 3/6/2020 at 11:28 PM, roots.genoa said:

You must be French, then. "Beat them all" is a creation of a not-yet-identified French journalist that probably had no idea that "to beat up" hasn't the same meaning as "to beat". 

Oui. Guilty as charged ? I don't recall where I first saw the name, but it may have been Tilt magazine. I suppose my young mind rationalized the difference in terms.

 

They later translated it literally, since fighting games are now called "games of cane" in France. Cane ("baston") being French slang for fighting, referring to caning, i.e. beating somebody up.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Newsdee

[roots.genoa]

12 hours ago, Newsdee said:

Oui. Guilty as charged ? I don't recall where I first saw the name, but it may have been Tilt magazine. I suppose my young mind rationalized the difference in terms.

 

They later translated it literally, since fighting games are now called "games of cane" in France. Cane ("baston") being French slang for fighting, referring to caning, i.e. beating somebody up.

"Jeu de baston" is rather used for one-to-one fighting games, though. But you're excused since "beat them all" is widely used by French journalists that are all very bad in English... -_-

It's even "official" at Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_them_all

The page used to tell "this is the French equivalent to the English "beat 'em up" page". ^^ Now it's more detailed: "Le beat them all ou BTA (faux-anglicisme dérivé du terme anglais beat 'em up signifiant « frappez-les »)"

[MrMaddog]

On 3/6/2020 at 6:44 AM, Newsdee said:

 

• 1984 - Nishiyama designs Kung Fu Master, first scrolling beat-em-up, originally based on Game of Death

 

 

The five level padoga stages were from Game of Death.  It was also based on the Jackie Chan movie Wheels On Meals which was also called "Spartan X" in Japan...which is also the Japanese name for Kung Fu Master.

 

[Austin]

I wouldn't call Streets of Rage 1 mediocre. It's easy to get that impression at first due to its lower framerate, slightly more archaic visuals (compared to Parts 2 and 3), and more simplistic gameplay, but there's a lot of strategy to the game if you plan on getting a single credit clear. I used to think it was a sloppy game, but after putting some serious time into it a few months ago, I think it's an excellent game on its own. Also agreed with others that the soundtrack is great--I was surprised how well that held up.