The Arcade Beat Em Up. Pick a character. Beat up enemies in an area, flashing "GO ON! ->", next area... clear the enemies. Boss at the end. Pretty simple. But nearly endless gameplay. Beat the game? Do it again with the next character!
Top 15 Beat Em Ups
Here we go...
Honorable Mention 2: Yakuza(franchise): I have not played this series much. But... I have played it enough to feel like the game plays much like a 3D Double Dragon game.
15. River City Ransom: One of the originals. Sets up a genre that is mindless fun.
14. Golden Axe: Sega brought us this now classic. Very Dungeons & Dragons. But I remember playing it in the Arcade, hoping that I can get that smart bomb lile potion to clear the screen.
13. Gauntlet(franchise): This almost made it on the RPG list, considering the 3D games in the series having more RPG elements... but... it doesn't do Gauntlet justice to call it an RPG. You pick your character... you defeat endless waves of enemies until you do. That... that is ALL the gameplay is.
12. Castle Crashers: I can hear the music now. A Beat Em Up with graphics that mimic retro gaming... simple but effective controls... and MASSIVE replayability. Finished kicking all the ass with this character? Well you unlocked a new one to do it with and new magic... that is Castle Crashers
11. Mystical Ninja starring Goemon: Ninja beats up baddie with a... pipe. Not like a lead pipe, but a smoking pipe. What more do you need to know?
10. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers(SNES): So... this game is built as a platform that is a Beat Em Up. You enter an area... defeat a plethora of Putties, and then you can move to the next area and putty all of those Putties. That is a Beat Em Up.
9. Spider-Man Separation Anxiety/Maximum Carnage: Both of these games are lumped together because they are ALMOST the same game(from different publishers). Co-op with Spidey and Venom with the ability to call on heroes like Captain America, The Punisher, and Hawkeye to get you out of tough spots.
8. Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks: Mortal Kombat tried to venture out of the fighting game genre... first try was Mythologies Sub-Zero. A terrible platformer(one of the worst games of all time)... then they tried Special Forces, starring Jax and Sonya Blade in a Metal Gear style outing(also one of the worst). Then... they tried Shaolin Monks. Players 1 & 2 play though a Beat Em Up version if the Mortal Kombat 2 story as Liu Kang and Kung Lao... and it was so much fun! They need to remake it(HD!!!!) or make more. And it had two bonuses... one, beat the game and you can play again with Scorpion and Sub-Zero... the other, a mode using the game's engine to make a 3D fighter with the MK2 characters(and it was better than Deadly Alliance).
7. Final Fight(franchise): Capcom's Beat Em Up franchise. There isn't anymore you can say about it. It did give us some Street Fighting characters(Guy is a personal favorite)
6. Death & Return Of Superman(SNES): Yes... this is an Arcade Style Beat Em Up. Single player. You get to play as the various versions of Superman from the comics story, based around levels where you control a Superman for a whole stage. The different styles would've been great for a 4 player Arcade experience. But it was still great. The fights against Doomsday were phenomenal. This is... the best Superman game ever made.
5. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Up to 4 player, endless bad guy beat down experience. A game based on a book series that was derivative of video games. Meta? Yeah... Meta.
4. Double Dragon(franchise): Twin brothers trying to save one their girlfriends from the clutches of the Shadow Master. Input combinations to pull off better fighting techniques... work together to kick ass.
3. The Simpsons Arcade/X-Men Arcade: I grouped these two together, but they were popular for different reasons. The Simpsons is the longest running cartoon in history. Their Arcade game was "pick a Simpson" and the X-Men Arcade game was "pick an X-Man". The X-Men machine was special, some places had 6-Player cabinets. It was pretty cool. They got grouped together because they play nearly the same(without the mutant powers).
2. LEGO(series): All of the LEGO licensed games are Beat Em Up. 1 or 2 players picking characters(or... story forced characters) exploring, beating up other LEGO Minifigs. Some of the LEGO games are aren't that great, but quite a few of them are so much fun. Personal favorites have been the Star Wars titles, the Batman titles, and the Marvel Superhero titles.
And the Number One Beat Em Up is...
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(franchise): Pick a Turtle. Kick some Foot Clan ass. Co-op fight the bosses. Simple. Yet so much fun, especially if you can get all 4 Turtles going. My favorite of the franchise is Turtles In Time for the SNES. So many hours playing this title. And it was so much fun.
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What you think about the list? Did I miss one? Comment and share!
Until next time...
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