Definitely Final Fight. I don't think that the sequels ever had arcade versions. Really can't go wrong getting any arcade games from Capcom and Konami during the 90's. Some great Marvel fighters from Capcom are suggested.
I've got a Marvel vs Capcom game on the Dreamcast so I'm set there. Think I also have SF3 3rd strike.
The fuck is this? 
Growl. You're a dude who beats the shit out of poachers and animals help you.
Holy shit
The Best Undiscovered Beat-Em-Ups
Presented by Gamerforlife
See the rest of our Hidden Gems Series
The beat ’em up genre flourished during the late eighties and into the nineties. In addition to seeing a constant flow of quarters in the arcades, they would also develop a strong presence on consoles with popular titles like Streets of Rage 2. The genre also helped big companies like Capcom and Konami further establish themselves with a number of classic and lucrative arcade games from both companies. Eventually, the genre would be overshadowed by 2D fighters with the coming of Street Figher II. Fighting games owe a lot to the beat ’em up genre however, and many people often confuse the two genres since they share a lot of elements.
This article attempts to shine a light on as many quality, 2D beat ’em ups as possible with an emphasis on lesser known games. This is why you won’t see well known titles like Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Streets of Rage 2, Final Fight, Konami’s more popular beat ’em ups, Guardian Heroes, Comix Zone, etc. featured here (though an obscure entry from a popular series may still pop up on the list). Some may debate the obscurity of certain titles on this list.
Remember that what may not seem obscure to a beat ’em up fan may not be well known by a more casual fan who is only just discovering classic, 2D beat ’em ups and didn’t grow up on them. Ultimately, this article is just about exposing people to lots of great or interesting games within the genre. Perhaps even knowledgeable beat ’em up fans will find something interesting here that they had not known about before. The reason this article doesn’t feature any 3D beat ’em ups is because there are already so many 2D ones that they need their own article.
Since this genre flourished on consoles and arcade machines, that makes up the bulk of the article (although, we have moved some of the lesser titles to an honorable mentions list and included the console versions in the console section below it). However, in the interest of exposing people to as many interesting games as possible, there are a small number of PC and Doujin games featured in this article as well. It should be noted though, that PC games aren’t exactly the focus of this site. One last note, I don’t often distinguish between beat ’em ups and hack and slash games here. They’re mostly the same thing in my eyes. Enjoy the article and let us know in the comments section if you feel there are any other great games missing from this list. It’s very hard to cover every notable game in such a large genre.
Arcade Hidden Gems
Denjin Makai series
Winky Soft (1993 – 1995)
The Denjin Makai series features one of the largest movesets of the genre. You can play through the games without even using every move at your disposal. The games also feature great combo systems. You can find Youtube videos of combos in Denjin Makai II going up to triple digits!
Another distinguishing feature is a power bar that you can manually ch
arge up to perform special attacks. Finding a chance to charge it in combat is part of the strategy.
The first game received a Super Famicom port with a few changes known as Ghost Chaser Densei. The series really peaked with Denjin Makaii II (Guardians) however, which was never ported. It features eight playable characters with tons and tons of moves at their disposal.
There is quite a bit of humor in this game. One boss flexes for his fans and has a camera man filming his fight with you. Prior to this fight, you’ll also see a guy flip out after you burst into the room and destroy a house of cards he was building! It’s a great series for anyone looking for games with extremely large movesets and combo possibilities.
Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder
Sega AM1 (1992)
Many people are familiar with the trilogy of Golden Axe games on the Genesis and the various re-releases of the original Golden Axe. However, this little known gem is the best game in the series. The game runs on System 32 hardware and features large sprites, detailed graphics, scaling effects, and impressive animations.
Of note is that some spells show you a close-up of your foes being decimated. You can take multiple paths through the game, ride a larger number of creatures than Golden Axe, save prisoners, and use catapults and ballistae against your enemies.
You can also mount these on your creatures. Also, Gilius Thunderhead now rides atop a giant. To quote something a random youtube user once said about this game, “Is there anything more badass than a dwarf riding on the back of a giant, who is himself riding a giant fire-breathing praying mantis?”
The soundtrack is pretty good with lots of pounding drums and that epic feel that you’d expect from what is basically gaming’s version of Conan. There are still lots of great voice samples too like the classic, “Oh gaaaawd!!!” and various voice samples from enemies, NPCs, and the prisoners that you rescue. It all makes the game feel much more alive. Overall, it’s a bigger, badder version of Golden Axe that every beat ’em up fan should try.
Battle Circuit
Capcom (1997)
Capcom has a lot of great and well known arcade beat ’em ups. This is possibly their most obscure one however. It’s a rare game only released in Japan and parts of Europe and it has no console ports. Battle Circuit has the distinction of being Capcom’s last arcade beat ’em up. It’s also one of their funniest and most bizarre beat ’em ups. It has a pulp, ’50 science fiction inspired, feel that is often compared to Capcom’s Captain Commando and features some bizarre characters to play as.
You have a walking plant, a kid named Pola Abdul (sounds a lot like a certain, former American Idol judge) riding an ostrich, and a character that looks a lot like Felicia from Darkstalkers, just to name three of them. The enemies are even crazier and you can tell that Capcom was having fun putting this game together. You’ve got topless, biker women, a boss that looks like Elvis, a villain with a head that looks like a certain planet (his name is Dr. Saturn), and a giant space baboon!
The gameplay has some interesting elements like the ability to purchase extra moves, health upgrades, and move upgrades after each stage. This gives a certain strategic element to the game. The game also features tag team attacks if two players perform a special move at the same time. You also can activate special abilities by pressing both of your action buttons in mid-air. These will power you up in various ways like making you faster or increasing your damage output. Lastly, you will need 3200000 points to be given the option of facing the game’s true final boss. Defeating him will make him appear on your high score screen.
Battle Circuit is certainly one of the most interesting entries in Capcom’s long line of quality beat ’em ups and a nice way to end their run of arcade, beat ’em up classics.
Oriental Legends 2
International Games System (2007)
IGS has been keeping old school, 2D Arcade beat ’em ups alive in the past few years. Yes, apparently someone is still making arcade beat ’em ups these days as this game came out in 2007. This game features RPG elements similar to something like Dungeons & Dragons Shadow over Mystara.
An interesting tidbit about this game is that there are cards that save your levels when you put them into the machine. There’s a total of 10 characters and two difficulty settings that actually change up the levels a bit. They are also multiple paths through the game.
There are some interesting items you can use in the game, different weapons, cool magic spells and special moves. It has a nice combo system too as I’ve seen a player pull off one with 621 hits. You’ll get a kick out of Oriental Legends 2 this if you enjoyed Capcom’s D&D beat ’em ups.
Aliens vs. Predator
Capcom (1994)
Here’s another great licensed game from Capcom. This one actually plays a bit differently from their other games. You have projectiles always available to you, but have to worry about reloading your gun or having your weapon overheat. Of course, you can always fall back on good old fashioned melee combat when this happens.
The controls for your characters are a bit different from Capcom’s other beat ’em up games (there’s even a charge move like Guile’s Sonic Booms from Street Fighter II). It gives the game a unique feel. This game also throws a LOT of enemies at you and gets really hectic at times. In fact, this is easily one of the most fast-paced, intense and adrenaline pumping games in Capcom’s entire catalogue of arcade beat’em ups.
There is great variety to how the different characters play. Speaking of which, this game introduces Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa. She would later cameo in other Capcom games and there is a playable character in Capcom’s Cannon Spike who resembles her. You’ll find lots of ways to combo and juggle enemies in this game if you’re a skilled player.
It’s impressive to see how amazing everything looks in this game with its incredible graphics and tons of action and enemies on the screen with a smooth frame rate. The soundtrack is pretty epic too, like the whole game in general.
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (1996)
This is actually a follow up to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. Both are excellent beat ’em ups featuring lots of RPG elements. In fact, Shadow over Mystara is really a culmination of all of Capcom’s previous attempts at incorporating RPG elements into the beat ’em up genre with games like The King of Dragons and Knights of the Round. This game features tons of spells with varying effects like damage, healing and status buffs. There’s even an all powerful one known as Final Strike that requires you find a special staff, hit a certain number of experience points, and have a party of at least three players.
Like a true RPG, you’ll find that some enemies are weak to certain spells. There’s even a shop to buy items and different weapons for you to equip, each with different properties. You have a personal inventory you can access while playing to use your items or cast spells.
The combat is great, with lots of combo possibilities, blocks, counters, and OTG attacks. Much like Aliens vs. Predator, the combos that can be pulled off in this game by skilled players are very, very impressive. There are youtube videos of this game just focusing on combo exhibitions. The game also has branching paths throughout the game to encourage you to play it more than once. Some people argue over whether this or the next entry in this list is the pinnacle of Capcom’s arcade beat ’em ups. Frankly though, it’s difficult to pick the best game when Capcom’s arcade beat ’em ups in general were all of such high quality.
Knights of Valour series
IGS (1999 – 2011)
The Knights of Valour series is something for you fans of Dynasty Warriors or Capcom’s Warriors of Fate. It’s another series set in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms time period and features more quality beat ’em up action from IGS.
This actually seems to be their main series as it has more iterations than the Oriental Legends games. There are lots of secrets, items, specials, and hidden stuff to be found in this series.
One level in Knights of Valor 2 Plus features an escort mission, an odd thing to see in an arcade beat ’em up. Knights of Valour 3 runs on the PGM2 hardware and features a shop screen, 10 characters, different paths, widescreen, a boss rush mode, level selection and gameplay that moves at a fast pace. It’s your go-to game for dishing out some pain as a legendary, Chinese, historical badass.
Battletoads/Super Battletoads
Rare (1994)
This game is being featured because many people are not even aware that a Battletoads arcade game existed. You’ve all heard of the NES classic, some of you may also know of the SNES sequel known as Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and the Double Dragon crossover game. This tops them all however.
Owing to its console roots, there is a greater variety of gameplay ideas here than most beat ’em up arcade games. One level features slippery, ice on the ground like a platform game and another one has you shooting enemies like a Contra game.
The bosses feel more like console game bosses than the usual big guy with lackeys featured in most arcade beat ’em ups. In spite of all this, there is a greater emphasis on beat’em up gameplay here than in the console games. You’ll find the usual, over the top attacks the series is known for, including one that is, quite literally, a ball breaker. All of this contributes to making this a more varied and interesting arcade beat ’em up than you’ll typically find.
It goes without saying that this game looks MUCH better than any of the console Battletoads games. There are enemy characters who are much bigger than other Battletoads games. You can kick enemies towards the screen in a similar way to how you throw enemies in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. The cartoonish quality of the series comes out here better than ever! The soundtrack is excellent. The first stage music will get a player amped up to keep playing and is one of the best tracks you’ll hear in a beat ’em up.
Vendetta/Crime Fighters 2
Konami (1991)
Crime Fighters 2 is a game that places a heavy emphasis on weapons. There are tons of them everywhere and the game clearly wants you to use them. Also notable is the game’s goofy, over the top style.
There’s a lot of funny, slapstick comedy and hilarious moments like when you knock someone over a bridge and watch them hang there waiting for you to knock them off or when you destroy a platform and send the enemies on it to the ground.
Adding to the game’s humor is the look of the main characters. Some players have noted that two of them look like Mr. T and Hulk Hogan! Some of the game’s humor was considered a bit too much apparently. The versions of the game released outside of Japan removed a character who actually dry humps and licks the players!
The combat features some cool things like the ability to grab and hold an enemy while another player pummels him! It’ll take some players a while to get used to the lack of a jump function in this game however.
Shadow Force
Technos (1992)
You may know Technos for Double Dragon and River City Ransom, but this little gem was also developed by them. What’s interesting about this game is that it controls a bit like a fighter.
This game has a total of six buttons, as many as a typical fighting game. This allows for a lot of moves and the game even has low attacks (performing by holding down and an attack button), also like a fighting game. You also block by holding back on the joystick. You also have about two special attacks per character. The most interesting part of the game is that you can possess enemy characters and use their moves. That’s a pretty unique feature for a beat ’em up.
For some odd reason, there are also one on one fights after each stage where you control an enemy character. If you’re playing with a friend, you’ll have to fight each other. The American version of this game is not recommended as some features of the game were changed. The Japanese version gives you the full experience.
Asterix
Konami (1992)
Asterix is a comic book character that is well known to people in France. He was a perfect fit for Konami since they had so much success using licensed characters for their arcade beat ’em ups in the ’90s. This is one of Konami’s lesser known beat ’em ups, but it’s every bit as good as their more popular ones, if not better.
Though it only allows for two players, unlike most of their other beat ’em ups, it does feature some gameplay elements you won’t find in those games. You can actually pick up enemies after you knock them down and perform different throws on them. You also have an attack that can be charged up to unleash a powerful uppercut that will knock your enemies upward Mortal Kombat style.
Unlike other Konami beat ’em ups, you can attack your friend, which can be fun to do if you’re so inclined. The game features some rather interesting stages that go a bit beyond standard beat ’em up gameplay. One has you riding in mine carts while avoiding obstacles. Another has you leaping across gaps and dodging boulders like a good platform game. Yet another one has you in a boat fighting off sharks and pirates. There are interesting challenges between levels (like chariot races) where you must compete against a friend as well.
The game looks as good as you’d expect given the high quality of all Konami arcade beat ’em ups of the time. All of the characters are instantly recognizable to fans of the comic and the game is bright and cartoony like Konami’s other titles. The game also features many great references to the source material with levels based on different books and recognizable characters as bosses. It’s all very authentic and shows the kind of care Konami often took with licensed games during this time period.
Given the nature of the license and the light-hearted nature of Konami arcade games in general, there is a lot of humor to be found in this game. It’s hard not to laugh when seeing a character grab an enemy and slam him back and forth into the ground with one arm or just grab him and slap him repeatedly in the face! Actually, there are so many humorous touches owing to the comic book in this game that it may be the funniest of all of Konami’s arcade brawlers. Asterix fans will love this game
Bucky O’Hare
Konami (1992)
This is one of Konami’s lesser known licensed games, much like Asterix. Bucky O’Hare featured in some comic books and an animated TV series. This is one of Konami’s more interesting beat ’em ups because you always shoot your enemies. This might make it sound more like a run and gun game. However, it still plays largely like Konami’s other beat ’em ups.
Though weapon power ups and screen clearing bombs do certainly feel like elements borrowed from the run and gun genre. Other odd bits include the ability to slow your descent after a jump and special attacks that don’t use up your health at all. There is also a shooter level and one where you can fly
As is typical with Konami beat ’em ups, the game is bright and colorful and the characters look just like their TV show counterparts. There are cutscenes between levels that feature a lot of voice work from the actual actors from the show. If you were a fan, that should bring a smile to your face. Overall, this is yet another great arcade game from Konami. The mix of beat ’em up and run and gun gameplay makes its stand out a bit more than their other titles.
Armored Warriors/Powered Gear
Capcom (1994)
This is one of the more unusual entries in Capcom’s beat ’em up catalogue. You play as a mech, similar to the ones in Captain Commando. They can move around the screen pretty fast, making this one of Capcom’s faster paced games.
Imagine a game where you’re essentially ALWAYS dashing. The coolest thing about this game is how you replaces parts of your mech with various parts you can get from defeated enemies. These parts can drastically affect how your mech fights and gives the game a really nice strategic element.
There are some interesting part combinations you can have too. It feels sort of like a Mega Man X game, if Mega Man X was a fast paced, beat ’em up. Also, three players can merge their mechs together to form a more powerful mech.
This game actually inspired a one on one fighter for the arcade called Cyberbots (also ported to the Sega Saturn and Playstation).
The Combatribes
Technos (1990)
The makers of influential games like Double Dragon, Renegade and River City Ransom also created this cool, little game.
The game has some fun moves like bashing two people’s heads together or swinging someone around and around before throwing him. This will knock down other enemies, kind of like the slam move in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. You can also kick downed enemies in the gut or bash their head into the ground. There are items you can use against enemies. The coolest one is the pinball machine! You can even toss a motorcycle at someone!
This is one of the few beat ’em ups to not have a jump. That will feel strange to some people. Another odd quirk of the game is that boss battles continue even after you beat the boss if there are still enemies around.
This game was ported to the Super Nintendo, but a couple of things were change and removed unfortunately.
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Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
Sega/Triumph International (1990)
A lot of people are familiar with Moonwalker on the Sega Genesis. There was an arcade game released as well. You’ll be saving kids throughout the game just like in the Genesis version. What’s interesting is the isometric viewpoint, which is seldom seen in the genre and gives the game a different feel.
Like the Genesis version, Michael can defeat enemies by getting them to perform in a dance number with him. That has to be the coolest thing about BOTH games. He can also turn into a robot and fire lasers and missiles at enemies if he finds Bubbles the chimp.
By default, Michael attacks with some kind of energy he emits from his hands rather than using melee attacks. You can hold the button down to charge it up to five levels, increasing its power and range. There are some cool comic book style panels before each stage fleshing out the story. It’s a simple, but fun game. The dance numbers, isometric view, and robot power-up help to give it some unique flavor and you can enjoy listening to some of Michael’s biggest hits as you play through each stage.
Sonic Blast Man
Taito (1990)
This is a very odd game. It features a super hero who basically goes around super punching the crap out of everything. The intro shows him saving a woman tied to some train tracks by hitting a moving train with a 100 megaton punch! This is a common theme throughout the game. Super punch a punk, purse thief! Super punch a truck before it hits a baby carriage! Super punch a building to take out the armed bad guys on top of it! Super punch a giant, crab robot! Super punch a giant asteroid!
At no point does the game make you question the collateral damage you’re doing as you destroy occupied trains and buildings with your super punch. Who cares, right? It’s a video game!
The special thing about this game is how you actually play it. The game features a special glove that you have to put on. You use this to hit a sensor to knock out whatever crazy thing the game throws at you. This game has the most unique controls of any other title on this list. There is also a Super Nintendo game that is a little less interesting, as it plays like a normal side-scrolling beat ’em up.
Both the arcade game and the SNES game got sequels. One interesting bit of trivia surrounding Sonic Blast Man is how the original arcade game was recalled after supposedly causing injuries to players. I guess only real super heroes can punch out trains and buildings.
Captain Commando
Capcom (1991)
Hardcore Capcoms fans know that Captain Commando’s history goes all the way back to the NES, when he was a Capcom mascot. Modern gamers will recognize him from the Marvel vs. Capcom games where he can be seen beating the crap out of Mega Man for stealing his job as Capcom mascot!
This game is fun for a couple of reasons. First of all, it has this sort of old, classic Sci Fi feel to its world and characters. It’s a bit similar to Capcom’s Battle Circuit in that way. Also, the playable characters are awesome. You have a ninja, a baby riding a robot (I’m not making that up), and a badass, mummy, alien guy.
You can also play as Captain Commando of course. What’s really cool about the gameplay is that you can ride mechs. Plus, the game had support for four players. The game was ported to the Super Nintendo. The port is a good game in its own right, but loses some of what made the arcade games stand out. For example, you can’t ride cool mechs in it.
Arabian Fight
Sega-AM2 (1992)
Not to be confused with Arabian Magic by Taito, Arabian Fight is one of Sega’s lesser known arcade games and one of the few beat ’em ups featuring an Arabian theme. In terms of gameplay, Arabian Fight may be one of the weaker entries on this list. It’s certainly playable, but a bit awkward at first.
The game has weird hit detection and can be rather confusing to play with more than one player onscreen. On gameplay alone, it would be easy to write off this game. However, it’s the visuals more than anything that you will take away from this game.
Arabian Fight pulls off some interesting visual tricks that are rather unconventional for a beat ’em up. Characters appear in the foreground of the screen before jumping onto the actual field of play. Your character will also jump into the foreground of the screen for a fully animated close up when performing magic attacks. It looks extremely cool. The only other beat ’em up game I know of to do that visual trick is a Sailor Moon arcade game (which just happens to be published by Sega). This predates that game by three years. You can also throw enemies towards the screen.
The game loves to really put things right in your face as boss deaths are done with closeups and your character will be knocked forward into the screen when he or she runs out of lives. This is all done with animated graphics giving these moments a cartoon-like feel reminiscent of something like Dragon’s Lair. You’ll also see characters get larger or smaller as they move towards or away from the screen. There are lot of things going on in this game’s visual department. You have sprite scaling, parallax effects, and animation all working together to give the game a somewhat 3D look. This was an ambitious effort from Sega.
Suffice it to say, this game has an unusual look to it that has to be seen to be really understood. Try to find a video on youtube and see how unconventional this game was for its time. The game certainly has one of the most unique visual presentations you’ll see in the genre. The gameplay is a bit awkward, but a skilled player can still blow through this on one life after adjusting to it. It’s a ride worth taking for the sights alone and to take in the seldom used Arabian theme.
Metamorphic Force
Konami (1993)
Now here’s one of the few Konami beat ’em ups to feature an original IP. The idea is similar to Altered Beast. You play as a couple of characters who can morph into a powerful animal form for a limited time. An odd feature of this game is that your health is always depleting and you’ll see the funny message, “Dead Soon!” when it gets too low. Otherwise, the game plays similar to other Konami beat ’em ups.
Combos flow well in this game, and you can also attack downed enemies. It’s actually quite fun to see two players stomp the living crap out of a boss! The game looks and sounds great. The beast transformations look cool as your character yells, “Beast!”and the powered up beast attacks look great as well. There’s not much else to say as the game exudes the level of quality that was typical of so many Konami beat ’em ups back then.
Night Slashers
Data East (1993)
If you’re looking for a beat ’em up with a horror theme, this is for you. Dracula, werewolves, Frankenstein, zombies, it’s all here. It’s fun seeing the blood and gore in this game. It also features some hilarious moves like bashing a zombie into the ground before stomping on his head! Or using a boss like a skateboard to ride across the ground!
The game’s humorous nature carries over to other parts of the game, like chasing a moving carriage on foot! This game is great fun, though it seems there may have been some censoring and changes to the game outside of Japan.
If you like this game, there’s an even more impressive OpenBOR version of the game called Night Slashers X.
Gaiopolis
Konami (1993)
This is another original IP from Konami. It may be surprising to some to see that it wasn’t always about the licensed games with Konami in the ’90s. This game actually differs from their other beat ’em ups with its overhead perspective and focus on RPG elements, something Capcom toyed around with in a few of their games.
Due to the games unusual visual perspective, it actually used the kind of vertical screen typically reserved for 2D shooters. The game is very long and actually features a password system. Owing to its RPG influence, you will have powerful spells in the vein of Golden Axe at your disposal.
You’ll also find helpers throughout the game, kind of like the helpers in Magic Sword. You can also block in this game and move while doing so. The playable characters are interesting. One is a dragon and another is a fairy.
The game looks excellent with some nice visual effects, including a 3-dimensional one as you drop to lower platforms. Bosses are big and change form during battle. It should be noted that the character designer is the same one who worked on Konami’s Twinbee games. The soundtrack sounds a bit different from other Konami beat ’em ups and more like a role playing game. This is a solid effort from Konami and one of most unique beat ’em ups in their catalogue.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Capcom (1993)
This game is based on a comic book that also became an animated series. The game keeps its comic book influence obvious with words like, “Smack!” popping up as you wail on your enemies. Another cool visual touch is when one character loses a life she’ll come back onscreen with a word bubble that says, “They’re gonna pay for this.”
As the name implies, the game features a lot of dinosaurs. They’ll attack both you and your enemies, which adds entertainment value to the game. There’s tons of weapons in the game, particularly lots of guns to use. The best has to be the awesome bazooka. The large amount of guns and comic book influence make the game similar to Capcom’s Punisher.
The game also has a very cool level where you are given the option of calling in a buddy to bring around the Cadillac. Then you can use it to drive over all of the other enemies in the stage including the motorcycle riding boss! That’s how you take out the trash in style! The game plays very smoothly and has excellent controls. It all feels perfectly fine-tuned and polished. Dash attacks are very useful, giving the combat a fast pace.
The soundtrack is the usual, excellent fare you’d expect from a Capcom game. This isn’t one of Capcom’s most original entries in the genre. It feels like an upgraded Final Fight, but the whole game is extremely well put together like the majority of their arcade beat ’em ups were. Konami and Capcom really used to own this genre in the arcades.
Violent Storm
Konami (1993)
This is the sequel to Crime Fighters 2. This game features some of the largest sprites to be seen in the genre. This game retains some of the humor of its predecessors.
You can actually throw footballs at people! There’s even a weird moment where you can pick up pigs that also turn into footballs! There’s also a level where you throw people into the water and fish pop out that you can eat for health. If that isn’t enough, there are also the funny enemies who blow themselves up with their own explosives, a level where enemies get squashed by a giant object, and the rather odd look and fashion sense of many of the game’s characters.
The combat has some cool moves like a wall jump and a Chun Li style lightning kick. The game actually has more of a Final Fight feel, unlike a lot of Konami’s other beat ’em ups. It’s interesting to see a little Capcom influence in a Konami beat ’em up as their respective games usually had a different feel. It’s a cool game and another solid original IP from a company that’s more known for its licensed beat ’em ups.
The Punisher
Capcom (1993)
Well, it’s a Punisher game. So it goes without saying that there are plenty of guns and lots of violence. In some parts of the game, he really stops messing around and just pulls out a gun for the whole section. Who needs melee attacks when you’re the Punisher?
Most of the time, however, it plays like a standard, Capcom beat ’em up, which is to say that it’s quite good. Also, how can you not want to play a game where you can play as Nick Fury! He’s the second playable character.
There is a Genesis port of this game that gets covered later in the article. It’s a fun game, but falls very short of the classic, arcade original.
Ninja Baseball Bat Man
Irem (1993)
Ninjas, baseball and Batman. Do I really need to say anything else to make you want to play this? These three things really did influence the creation of this game. The baseball influence is really the most noticeable as you can see in your baseball bat wielding main characters, all of which are named after famous baseball players like Jose Conseco and Darryl Strawberry (the last boss is “The King Babe”).
You’ll also face enemy bats, gloves, and catcher’s mitts. That’s in addition to other bizarre enemies like an angry looking anthropomorphic airplane, dogs with guns, and dangerous lawnmowers. All of this contributes to the game’s beautiful, if bizarre, visuals.
It’s a very colorful and cartoony game with great animations. This is a game that must be seen in motion. As great as screen shots look, they don’t do the game justice. The soundtrack is pretty funky
The gameplay is impressive. There are a lot of specials, moves and combos. You even gain access to some new moves when you’re near death. One of the coolest things about the game is the heart pick up, which summons your own personal squad of Ninja Baseball Bat Man cheerleaders! They’ll either give you some health or wipe out the opposition! This is truly one of the craziest and original beat ’em ups every made!
Sailor Moon Arcade/Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
Gazelle (1995)
The idea of playing a beat ’em up where the main characters are dainty, little school girls isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but the Sailor Moon series does seem to have a lot of fans.
There have been a number of video games based on the license. This is one of the better ones. For the most part, it plays like a standard Final Fight clone. It’s one notable feature is a visual trick borrowed from Sega’s Arabian Fight.
The girls have special attacks that will show a close up, animated sequence of them performing the attack that takes up the entire screen. There seems to be up to five of these per character too.
Gaia Crusaders
Noise Factory (1999)
The same people that created the excellent Sengoku 3 are also responsible for this little gem. It features an excellent combo system, much like Sengoku 3 does. There is also an interesting spell system where you can pick up power ups that will give you a powerful attack or a screen clearing move if the power up matches your character’s magical element. You can also shield yourself from long range attacks and use two types of bombs against your enemies.
The game has an interesting, post apocalyptic setting where your characters are sent to rebuild the world. This lends itself to some interesting levels like a destroyed New York city. The character designs are interesting and the soundtrack is decent. It’s a solid game overall. Noise Factory didn’t create many beat ’em ups, yet showed a surprising knack for the genre.
Growl
Taito (1990)
This game features an interesting theme. You’re fighting against poachers. That’s right. It’s a beat ’em up for all you animal lovers out there. Growl is a game worth playing for its crazy, bizarre moments. Right at the beginning of the game you’re given four rocket launchers to use, which makes it pretty clear this isn’t going to be a typical beat ’em up.
Other bizarre moments include a boss appearing before you in a tank only to be attacked by a giant elephant. Also, when you die and continue a large, spiked ceiling just drops from the sky and kills all your enemies! All of this you discover is happening because the bad guys are being controlled by a giant caterpillar!
What makes the gameplay fun is seeing various animals helping you out like you’re the freaking Beastmaster! Eagles will actually drop rocket launchers into your hands to blow bad guys to bits with! Another cool feature is that you can use different attacks on enemies who are on the ground on all fours. Who says heroes have to fight fair?
There are some nice visual touches. Defeated enemies tend to linger onscreen for some time. Given the rather large number of foes the game can throw at you, it’s fun to see all those bodies strewn about. Also, your character will duck and cover when throwing a bomb, which is funny to see. Lastly, there are comic book inspired words like “SHBROOM!” that come onscreen when things explode. Growl is a fun and quirky game. Unfortunately, it had a rather lacking Sega Genesis port.
Spider-Man: The Video Game
Sega (1991)
This game gets points just for making Black Cat playable. You can also use Sub-Mariner, Hawkeye, and the web-slinger himself. This game features one of the oddest depictions of Spider-Man in video games.
The way he moves around the screen doesn’t seem very Spidey-like. It’s still a fun beat ’em up for comic book fans. One of its more notable features is the zoomed out levels. In these levels you’ll rely on just web attacks and you will have to crawl on walls and ceilings.
Honorable Mentions w/ Console Ports (Listed Below)
- Sengoku 3/Sengoku Legends 2001
- Undercover Cops
- Captain America and the Avengers
- Knights of the Round
- The King of Dragons
- Pu-Li-Ru-La
- Warriors of Fate (Tenchi o Kurai 2: Sekiheki no Tatakai)
- Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III
- Alien Storm
- Dungeon Magic/Light Bringer
So many games I would like to play form that list.
Aside from that check out:
Cadash - 2-D action platformer with some RPG elements.
Willow - based on the film and it was amazing. Basically a 2d action platformer game, where you play as Willow or Madmartigan. Tough-as-nails, but a lot of fun.
Super Dodgeball - always a classic.
Finding it weird how state of the art 2D games run well but crappier lower tier arcade games dont run without massive slowdown and sound issues.
Completed Alien Storm, for some reason my nostalgia drew me to this, I also bought it on Wii and it is shit! The actual scrapping is terrible, no connection or feeling to fighting. The most interesting parts are the mode 7 style lightgun shooter bits but they are used so much it becomes a slog after the first 2.
Completed Moonwalker, the arcade version.
Yeah..... not great and yet... Great!
The gameplay is nothing special but the sound samples and character designs are great. You have a smorgesboard of 80s bad guys, gansters, robots, Bond villains, Zombies and people in distress. Michael occasionally turns into a robot to shoot lasers. You can throw your hat to inflict massive damage. Michael spins out of trouble when someone gets close. He fires blue fire out of his hands. And at the end in the (1 line) credits list it says all game design and creation was by Michael Jackson (sorry actual devs!)
Oh and Michael turns into a jet plane in the end and flies out of the exploding enemy base.
Completed Aliens, the Konami arcade game.
It doesn't live up to the memories but it's still allright. Ripley has blonde hair, why? Newt is there and is taken away from a flying alien. There are machine gun wiedling zombies, wtf?? The aliens are bright pink or purple. The gameplay is like a grounded contra, non-stop action, decentish controls. The big let down is the music and sound effects, its nothing like the movie.
Played some more games.
The difference between great controlling games and bad ones is huge. Most Capcom stuff seems rock solid.
- Altered Beast - is shiiiiiiiiiiiit. Controls so badly when human, then after ages pummeling bad guys you level up to become a beast and then are overpowered. Its really bad. Can't believe I had nostalgia over this.
- Asterix is a scrolling beat em up and a good one. So much character in the animation and visuals. Seems good!
- Tried this 80s game called Bagman? It's crap.
- Black Tiger - ever heard of this one? Its loosely a Ghouls and Ghosts rip but with more emphasis on platforming. It also has really responsive controls which is awesome. But its one hit death time and no matter how many coins you feed it, once your lives are used up you end up restarting the whole game. Like OG Contra.
- Contra - plays great, looks good. But like Black Tiger, once you use up your lives you have to restart the whole game regardless of your credits.
- Chase HQ - its like Outrun and plays pretty well.
- Commando - the game Mercs is a sequel to, I used to play this with my bro. Now... it's fucking rock hard! So many bullets flying everywhere and one hit kills you.
- Desert Breaker - is a Sega Mercs like game, can't run it well yet.
- Double Dragon is fun, if primitive.
- ESP Ra.de. A.D 2018 Tokyo is a vertical schump and looks awesome, controls well too. The Metal Slug of schmups?
- G.I Joe is a mode 7 style into the screen shooter and works remarkably well.
- Green Beret is this ancient scrolling platformer/shoot em up, you start with nothing but a knife. Not great but controls well.
- Gun Force 2, is a Metal Slug type game, same dev I think.
- Hammerin' Harry is pretty fun. It's a platformer/beat em-up with a giant hammer and super deformed characters
- Hook - fuck me, it's a good Final Fight style game.
- Horizon - is a POS ancient shoot em up.
- Jail Break is an 8bit? Mercs kinda game where you have to deal with a riot breakout. plays pretty well.
- Kiki KaiKai - is the progenitor of Pocky and Rocky, nowhere as good as the SNES one.
- King of Dragons is a Capcom? Brawler, very solid but not as advanced as their other work.
- Mortal Kombat - LOL why did we ever think this was good? Horribad comical digitised game characters, stuff controls, so weak compared to SF.
- Cabal - used to love it, you stand and destroy scenary, there is environmental destruction.
- Prehistoric Isle in 1930 is a sideways shoot em up in a plane with dinosaurs.
- Rastan - is Conan the Barbarian the game essentially. Controls well, seems okay.
- Sunset Riders is awesome - Contra in a western.
- Super Pang - awful Bubble Bobble type game.
- Surprise attack is a 2D plane shooter/beat em up with astronauts, seems okay.
Gave up on Black Tiger, I'd say its more of a Castlevania type game but hard as fucking nails. I can't do much with it. Also gave Commando another stab, that aint happening, harder than fucking nails.
I was enjoying Contra till it crashed. 
Moved onto Caveman Ninja which is a good game, nice visuals lots of cartoonish touches. But I got stuck at the second boss who took forever to die and when you continue you have to start the boss from scratch and then you repeat it, same thing. Pissed me off so I quite. I will play more though, good game.
Then I booted up Metal Slug and................ HOT FUCKING DAMN THIS IS AWESOME. Been a long time since I played a MS game, this totally blows away anything else I played and destroys even something like Contra 3 SNES. The sound effects are awesome, the controls allow you freedom in aiming and firing. The graphics are so good, the whole environment is descructable and everything is blowing up or falling to pieces around you. This is like next level 2D gaming. So good.
I remember playing Black Tiger back in the day at the arcades, been a long time.
Yeah Metal Slug is really awesome, the graphics and animation is so cool looking. The Neo-Geo was a beast at 2D back in the day. Wish I still had mine. 
Black Tiger was a tough ass game, and still is now. I still think it's pretty fun, but there's no question that game is about as hard as it gets.
Altered Beast is definitely not going to be awarded with an "old-time classic" medal anytime soon. I didn't think it was terrible when I replayed a few years ago, but I remember it being this huge deal when it came out when I was a kid. Time definitely was not kind to it.
Have you guys ever heard of this website?
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/company.htm
It's frigging awesome. So that link is the company index page and it shows all the retro games a company has made using screenshots all on one page. It's great for jogging ones memory on that game you used to love but couldn't remember.
Also, each screen links to a page with an article about said game and at the end there are usually links to other related articles like an article on Konami's best run and gun games or Capcoms Greatest beat em ups etc.
The articles page, has games listed alphabetically and links through to articles on each game.
Try it out. Love the site.
Check my post above, I added pics from all the arcade games. 
Thanks GG, you made me play some Metal Slug 3 yesterday. Good Stuff.
Another game that I really enjoyed back in the day was Devastators by Konami.
I have some of those arcade games on the 360. A couple are backwards compatible with the Xbox One which is nice, hopefully more will follow.
I am missing a whole load and I need my memory jogged.
(Please post a pic or video of it.)
Article on Capcoms arcade brawlers
Things I'm missing from memory:
I don't need the TMNT, or Simpsons Beat em up, or the Golden Axe games, don't need the 1940 games. Don't need any of the SF2 variants.
My favourite genres were scrolling beat em ups and platformers or Contra style. I'm looking for 2D games and most of the racing or flight games Afterburner style were shite, so none of those please.