Best Beat 'em up of all time

astar617

B. Jenet's Firstmate
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Armored MOTHERFUCKINGWarriors. C'mon- who is winning in a Fight between bare knuckled humans and MECHA?! Now we can /thread.

Just Youtubed it... yeah that game looks fuckin bananas. Like Cyborg Justice on Balco steroids. :D I don't know how I wasnt aware of that one, as big an "Exo-Squad"-style mecha fighting fan as I was back then.
 

RAZO

SNK Guru
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Since this is in the NEo GeO general discussion i'm going to go with 8 man.

I should have put this in unrelated topics, my bad. I'll see your 8 man, and I'll raise you Sengoku 2.
 

wataru330

Mr. Wrestling IV
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Since this is in the NEo GeO general discussion i'm going to go with 8 man.

Touche. I second the vote for Tobor. If this gets moved to Unrelated, I'll revert to Armored Warriors. Robots = WIN.
 

wataru330

Mr. Wrestling IV
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Just Youtubed it... yeah that game looks fuckin bananas. Like Cyborg Justice on Balco steroids. :D I don't know how I wasnt aware of that one, as big an "Exo-Squad"-style mecha fighting fan as I was back then.

Say word. Not sure if you like fighting games or not, but if so- have you played Cyberbots? Armored Warriors is the prequel. Your sigs rule the school, btw.
 

JoshuaMiller

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Punisher
AvP close second
KoV Nine Dragons is third in my book.

Sad that most Neo Beat em ups are such garbage, because its handling of multiple sprites could have made for some great games. Sengoku 3 is excellent though.
 

SNKorSWM

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TMNT. It's one of the first arcade games that I have 1cc'd. No small thanks to a good memory of the pizza spots as well as the other 3 players doing the grunt work during boss fights. XD
 

astar617

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I would guess that Comix Zone doesn't come-up much in discussions about beat-'em-ups because it plays more like a platformer than a beat-'em-up. It plays in only two dimensions, is limited to one player, involves picking-up items for use later-on. Punching and kicking or not, in many ways, it feels more like Donkey Kong Country than Final Fight.

True... however IMO, if you attack an enemy multiple times, knock him down, then he gets back up until you "beat em up" some more, it fits the requirement :D
 

ForeverSublime

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Easy.

Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki dayo Zenin Shuugou!

(Famicom)

Way ahead of its time.

Not knowing Japanese actually helps this game. You can play it for years and still discover new moves.

Edit: As for recommendations, I'd say Shadow Force and Captain America and the Avengers. They're arcade beatemups that can be 1 credited, and they both have things to like about them. Blocking in a beatemup is great. Dungeons and Dragons, of course, as well.
 
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snk`

Kula's Candy
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There are a lot of nice beat em ups, and Streets Of Rage 2 is top3 in my list. At least the best out of all SOR.
 

complexz

Rosa's Tag-Tea,
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I'd say godhand and spikeout are good examples of where the genre could be if it didn't die. I won't say they are best of all time for sure but they are deep, rewarding newish games with the spirit of a classic beat em up.
 

iluvmonsterz

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oh man, i love sengoku 3...but have played the shit outta guardian heroes and panzer bandit...i dont knnow if i can choose...i am soooo indecisive.
 

WoodyXP

Setsuna's Owl Keeper,
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If I had to pick one it would be Final Fight for the Mega CD.

Others I enjoy:

Combat Tribes
Knights of the Round
Renegade/Kunio Kun

And just about everything you guys have already mentioned.
 

MetalSludge

Armored Scrum Object
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I rather enjoyed beat em ups, so I feel it's a shame that the SNK developers for the Neo never quite seemed to get a handle on this concept.

I have a sentimental fondness for Golden Axe.

Ah, SOR 2 and Final Fight. Something about fighting punkish and chain weilding street gangs in an effort to rescue blonde babes in old school beat em ups feels so cinematic 1980's/early 90's. But then, that's partly why I like them!

I have to give the prize to AVP though. Just can't think of anything better.
 

ikariwarriorf22

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Capcom's...The Punisher, is my fave beat em up! Whether you play as, Frank Castle or Colonel Nick Fury, it is an...Awesome game to play.
 

chany60126

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Back in the day, I was a huge fan of the Batman movie series. My favorite one of them all was Batman Returns, and STILL remains my favorite movie in the series even more than the Dark Knight. I can't stand Christian Bale as the new Batman, Michael Keaton FTW.



I digressed. Anyway, in the Christmas of '93, I was floored when I received a copy of SNES game of the movie by the same name. The game just reeks of awesomeness. The Danny Elfman soundtrack is recreated to perfection. Even to this day when I pop that cartridge in, I still find it hard to believe that it's not a CD!! The game plays very much like Final Fight. The game is very faithful to the movie as it brings back all of the villains from the film such as the big headed bikers, sumo clowns, sword swallowers, etc.



Batman has lots of weapons at his disposal such as battarangs, grappling hooks, and bombs. The battling engine is superb as well. Most of the time you'll be punching, but you have other cool moves at your disposal. If you get sandwiched by two baddies, you can grab both and headbutt them together. You can also go up to an enemy, grab him by his chin, and slam his vagabond carcass to the wall, often shattering benches or glass if they are present!! You can utilize a powerful cape swing that can hit many around you, but it drains a bit of your energy. The animation are very fluid, as Batman looks very good when he swings his cape. I find that difficulty of the game is just right. It'll take a couple of playthroughs, but you'll beat it eventually. The batmobile stage in the game is awesome as it makes good use of the Mode 7 graphics.
 

BeaglePuss

Mickey's Coach
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May 15, 2007
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Shadow Over Mystara!

Alternate routes, RPG elements, good mix of characters, responsive game play, superb graphics, unique boss fights, 4 players action, perfect difficulty, and shit tons of replay value.

It does everything that other Beat 'em Ups do, just better.
 

Jaelus

Big Bang Pro Wrestler
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Shadow Over Mystara!

Alternate routes, RPG elements, good mix of characters, responsive game play, superb graphics, unique boss fights, 4 players action, perfect difficulty, and shit tons of replay value.

It does everything that other Beat 'em Ups do, just better.

I was about to post this same thing. I don't think anything can touch the greatness of D&D:SoM in the beat 'em up genre. It's the only single game I have a dedicated cab for, and with good reason. The game also has really fantastic audio.
 

Coligion

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There are too many beat em ups that are favorites of mine to narrow it down to 1. You guys pretty much listed all my favorites, though...

Double Dragon 2 (NES), Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis), Turtles in Time (SNES), The Punisher (Arcade), X-Men (Arcade), The Simpsons (Arcade), Batman Returns (glad to see others acknowledge this great game!).

It is sad Neo Geo never quite had a beat em up of similar caliber to those above.
 

wataru330

Mr. Wrestling IV
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Final Fight. Or Denjin Makai II

See, that is why we TATE Brothers. Your taste is on the up and up. :) LOVE me some GUARDIANS & FINAL FIGHT. If this were a top 3 list, i would have had these two behind Armored Warriors.
 
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