BEAT-EM-UP: The Thread

[roots.genoa]

2 hours ago, Jim Pez said:

Has there ever been a good 3d beat-em up?

Only one for me: Die Hard Arcade. It features even more moves than Streets of Rage 2 and Double Dragon Advance.

It's 2D gameplay, though, since characters always face left or right. The problem with "full 3D" beat 'em ups imho is that they rely more on combos, so even if they may feature more animations, they often offer less attack moves and get a lot more repetitive. And a lot of them are single player only.

[Cynicaster]

Not that I've looked very hard for good 3D beat-em-ups, but so far from what I've seen, my impression is that the "beat-em-up" concept doesn't scale upward very well.  Designing the games around a "fixed camera angle" and the concept of forcing the players to engage enemies on the same "horizontal line" simplifies the interactions just enough to make the gameplay mechanics smooth and approachable.    

 

In a 3D environment there are too many degrees of freedom and things get too hectic.  I think you can do small groups of fighters on the screen reasonably well - kind of like modern wrestling games - but as soon as you fill the screen with fighters coming at the player from all angles, things get clunky and start to fall apart, I think.  The only real recourse is to have the game "assist" the player by partially automating the attacks, at which point you might as well revert to the 2.5D design.    

 

 

[Steven Pendleton]

I just played Ane-san on the PC Engine. This is a really weird beat-em-up. There are no difficulty settings and I beat it in less than 30 minutes on my first try without ever coming close to dying. No special moves and no challenge = just put your turbo switch up since this is the PC Engine and hold the II button every time you get within reach of an enemy (and there is only 1 enemy type in the game aside from the pitifully easy bosses) and you'll have no problems with this game. Except being bored. The only good thing about this game is that it has the single strangest soundtrack that I have ever heard.

 

There is absolutely no need to jump, either, so you could actually play this with the Atari 2600 joystick if you wanted and get exactly the same experience. You just wouldn't be able to jump, which is okay because I never needed to. I did just to see the jump kick animation, but that's it.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Steven Pendleton
spelling

[roots.genoa]

6 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I just played Ane-san on the PC Engine. This is a really weird beat-em-up. There are no difficulty settings and I beat it in less than 30 minutes on my first try without ever coming close to dying. No special moves and no challenge = just put your turbo switch up since this is the PC Engine and hold the II button every time you get within reach of an enemy (and there is only 1 enemy type in the game aside from the pitifully easy bosses) and you'll have no problems with this game. Except being bored. The only good thing about this game is that it has the single strangest soundtrack that I have ever heard.

 

There is absolutely no need to jump, either, so you could actually play this with the Atari 2600 joystick if you wanted and get exactly the same experience. You just wouldn't be able to jump, which is okay because I never needed to. I did just to see the jump kick animation, but that's it.

I'm not sure I see what game you're talking about but the lack of good beat 'em ups on PC Engine is the reason I prefer the Mega Drive... ?

[Steven Pendleton]

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I'm not sure I see what game you're talking about but the lack of good beat 'em ups on PC Engine is the reason I prefer the Mega Drive... ?

http://www.pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Ane-san.htm

 

This one^

 

Yeah, there are very few beat-em-ups on the PC Engine and this is one of them.

[DragonGrafx-16]

I love that the PC Engine is like more than 50% shooters and is why it's my favorite system (shoot 'em ups in particular).

[roots.genoa]

5 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

http://www.pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Ane-san.htm

 

This one^

 

Yeah, there are very few beat-em-ups on the PC Engine and this is one of them.

The graphics are really good! It got the 'usual' 3 out of 5 in the French PC Engine Bible book, and they say it's very easy and repetitive as well. Also single player only. ? I may be tempted if I find it eventually...

The best beat 'em up on PC Engine might be River City Ransom, which is a bit sad since it's almost identical to the NES game. I wouldn't call Kaze Kiri a beat 'em up but it's ok, even though I was quite disappointed...

[Steven Pendleton]

26 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

The graphics are really good! It got the 'usual' 3 out of 5 in the French PC Engine Bible book, and they say it's very easy and repetitive as well. Also single player only. ? I may be tempted if I find it eventually...

The best beat 'em up on PC Engine might be River City Ransom, which is a bit sad since it's almost identical to the NES game. I wouldn't call Kaze Kiri a beat 'em up but it's ok, even though I was quite disappointed...

The graphics are nice, it plays well, and it has a really interesting soundtrack, but you can beat the game in 30 minutes without dying on your first time. Not worth it, especially since it's a little bit more expensive than typical below average games in town here, and they want like $150 for it on ebay. It's a CD game, so if you don't have the SSDS3, there is always... that other option.

[skaredmask]

On 4/14/2020 at 3:32 AM, Jim Pez said:

Has there ever been a good 3d beat-em up?

 

Some of my favorite 3d beat-em up's. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cobra Kai]

Hardcore Gaming 101 recently published a new Beat-Em-Up book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DN1DTBK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

[Lord Mushroom]

On 4/14/2020 at 10:32 AM, Jim Pez said:

Has there ever been a good 3d beat-em up?

Dynamite Cop. It is hilarious.

[roots.genoa]

47 minutes ago, Lord Mushroom said:

Dynamite Cop. It is hilarious.

The original one or the sequel (named like that outside of Japan) on Dreamcast? I found the sequel really disappointing compared to the Saturn game. On every level.

[Lord Mushroom]

7 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

The original one or the sequel (named like that outside of Japan) on Dreamcast? I found the sequel really disappointing compared to the Saturn game. On every level.

I meant the sequel. I actually haven´t played Dynamite Cop. I have just seen You Tube clips and heard good things.

[roots.genoa]

I think the Dreamcast game is OK but the original had tons of moves that the sequel basically divided into 3 characters, or allocated to the berserk mode. Music is not as good too, and graphics are not that great for the Dreamcast. ? The original game is one of my favorite games, and the only good traditional beat 'em up (as in belt scroll kind of brawler, even though it doesn't scroll a lot ?) in 3D I'm aware of. It also had QTEs before Shenmue. ?

[Hwlngmad]

Riot Zone on the PCE is a nice little beat'em up.  Not a great game, but I found it really enjoyable.  Also, the Neo Geo has some really good ones on it, too.  Mutation Nation is one to definitely check out for sure.

[electricmastro]

On 4/14/2020 at 4:32 AM, Jim Pez said:

Has there ever been a good 3d beat-em up?

Warriors Orochi

Dynasty Warriors

God Hand

Hurdle Warriors

No More Heroes

Sengoku Basara

Fire Emblem Warriors

MadWorld

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Heavenly Sword

Edited October 29, 2021 by electricmastro