Remember Beat-em-ups?

[Zera]

I remember when I was ten, after my gymnastics class, I would go to the convienent store and play me some Alien VS. Predator.This is the Capcom version in which you can play as either two human characters or two "predators". I remember always getting to the last boss, the queen alien i believe but i never got to beat her because it was hard and i didnt have enough quarters.

This genre was great when everyone went to the arcade. I would be playing TMNT trying to beat the first boss when somebody out of nowhere puts some quarters in and helped me. Good times.

Unfortunetly you dont see these games anymore. The closest thing so far is Odin Sphere. Man I love that game. If you need an example on how videogames are art, this would be it. But thats just me.

Anyways what were your favorite beat-em-ups back in the day?

 

[Lex Darko]

The Streets of Rage series was fun, more recently though I have to say Zombie Revenge would be my favorite. It reminded my a lot of Streets of Rage but with guns and Zombies.

 

[krysalist]

Hands down, it was Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. I still MAME that one at least once a year. It's also a compelling story that upholds the proper biblical timeline for God's creation of history, the planet and all of that. Praise be.

 

[Stinky-Dinkins [deprecated]]

You must not anger the dinosaurs.

I think I just accidentally reported a post in here.

Listen, buttons confuse the shit out of me and I can't be held accountable when I panic and hit the wrong one. I regret nothing.

Anyway, back in the good ole arcade days you couldn't go wrong with some 4 player TMNT, Simpsons, or X-Men action.

Although not remembered as a classic I also dug some Punisher in the arcades.

Another somewhat-forgotten title that I dropped more fucking quarters than I'd care to admit is Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder. It had all the classic Golden Axe goodness but it looked better and you could ride scorpions and giant lizards and shit, good times. I actually own the PCB and I've been known to hook it up to the supergun from time to time.

You can't go wrong with importing the D&D Collection for the Saturn either.

If I had to pick an all-time favorite though..... I'd go with Final Fight. All the way.

 

[gameloftguy]

Double Dragon? Is that what you were talking about?

There were a few versions of it but my favorite was the first one. We used to call it Gerry and Rob after two of my friends that liked to fight and the best part was having to beat each other up at the end to get the girl. Elbow Smash!

 

[Joe]

Oh, Double Dragon. I remember, when I was a kid, going to one of those lock-in things at a Pistol Pete's (kind like a Chuck E Cheese), and they set every arcade machine to free play. My friends and I must've burned two hours of an all-nighter trying to reach the end. When we finally did, I got confused and ended up falling into that pit at the bottom of the screen, so my friend got the girl.

So then I went and played the TNMT game.

 

[Goofonian]

I still have fond memories of playing final fight in the local arcade back when I was about 5. I would beg and plead with my mum to get as many coins as I could for the game and I'm pretty sure I never beat it.

These days I refuse to play it, cos I don't want to ruin the memories like I have with golden axe and shinobi. Such a shame those games aren't as fun today as they used to be.

 

[Pyrrian]

Does anyone remember Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara or Tower of Doom (Shadow being the second game, Doom being the first)? Shadow Over Mystara is definitely my favorite beat-em-up. It was awesome. I wish it would come out on Live Arcade or something, because on-line (or even same system) play would be really awesome.

Streets of Rage 2 was awesome, too, and it was one of my favorite Genesis games, so I'm really happy it came out on Live Arcade awhile back. That was a must-buy for me.

Also, The Bouncer for PS2 got a lot of flack, but I thought it was a decent beat-em-up for a launch title. I wish it had co-op, but my buddy and I still spent hours playing it in the PS2's early days.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Karate Champ. Man, I pumped a lot of quarters into that thing. Unlike most fighting games, there was no health bar or any other pansy crapola; you had one shot to get it right, and if you blew it, or if the other guy managed to block, odds were very likely you were screwed. You'd get a half-point for beating your opponent down with something cheap, like a front kick, and a full point if you managed to score a truly devastating blow, like a roundhouse kick right upside the head. First person to two points wins. It was a merciless game.

More recently, although hardly recent, I played a fair bit of the X-Men four-player arcade machine. It never grabbed me the way Karate Champ and other games did, but by that point arcades were nearing the tail end of a serious downhill slide, so we got into X-Men more out of necessity than choice.

 

[DarkKaz]

Does anyone remember Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara or Tower of Doom

Those games were great, far better than logic dictates they should possibly be.

My favourite beat-em-up ever is by far Violent Storm for the arcade. The game is so straightforward, loud, and corny (complete with 80's style music with nonsensical vocals!) that I get a mile-wide grin the whole time I'm playing it. The combat is also very fast-paced, with lots of enemies than can be dispatched with only a combo or two, which I personally prefer to slower games such as Final Fight or Streets of Rage.

Edit: Whoops, I accidentally reported the post above me when I tried to post this. Someone needs to move those buttons.

 

[gameloftguy]

You could get a full point on Karate Champ for a front kick but you really had to nail him. It was tough. That game was cool and sometimes the fight would last a bit with each person blocking or stepping back out of range. Good stuff.

 

[Dragonmaw]

Hands down, it was Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. I still MAME that one at least once a year. It's also a compelling story that upholds the proper biblical timeline for God's creation of history, the planet and all of that. Praise be.

Your avatar is wonderful. But I digress.

My favorite beat'em'up would have to be Golden Axe. The fantasy and magic and utter chaos onscreen really appealled to me. Definately one of my most-played Genesis titles

 

[Mr. Bubbles]

Golden Axe, Final Fighter Guy and TMNT were great in my opinion. Those were the only ones I played, so . . . yeah.

 

[Joe]

Karate Champ. Man, I pumped a lot of quarters into that thing. Unlike most fighting games, there was no health bar or any other pansy crapola; you had one shot to get it right, and if you blew it, or if the other guy managed to block, odds were very likely you were screwed. You'd get a half-point for beating your opponent down with something cheap, like a front kick, and a full point if you managed to score a truly devastating blow, like a roundhouse kick right upside the head. First person to two points wins. It was a merciless game.

I see your Karate Champ and raise you a Bushido Blade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido_Blade_(video_game)].

 

[Virgil]

Magic Sword [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Sword] - purely side-scrolling and colorful, with gigantic (at the time) bosses and NPC allies.

 

[Russ Pitts]

What about Gladiator? Side-scrolling, no health bar, just disintegrating armor.

 

[gameloftguy]

Kung-Fu Master. I used to flip that game over again and again.

 

[LordLocke]

Battle Circuit- Capcom's fond farewell to the arcade brawler. Basically takes everything they leared from AvP, the D&D brawlers, Captain Commando, and crams it into one awesome game.

 

[strayjay]

I don't think they're dead really. "The Warriors" is basically an old-school beat-em-up, but from a 3rd person, 3D view.