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Guardian Heroes |
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2 Player (Main Story Mode) |
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Stand out versions - Saturn |
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This game should have been the direction for beat-em-ups to follow, and if it had been more successful then it probably would've been, what better way to add depth to a genre lacking in it than to mix it with the RPG genre? the mix worked perfectly in unison too. |
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Mazin Saga |
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1 Player |
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Stand out versions - Mega Drive |
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Very cool fast paced beat-em-up with impressive screen filling bosses and responsive controls (love the running air attack). Another cool thing in this game is that it switches to a fighting game style when you reach the bosses. |
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Punisher |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - Mega Drive |
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Capcom had really perfected their beat-em-up engine by the time this game came out, the quality in the graphics and gameplay is very high and the added gun play gives it a level of uniqueness. |
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Renegade |
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1 Player |
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Stand out version - Amstrad, Spectrum |
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The grandaddy of all beat-em-ups, this was pretty much the origin, with multi plane moving, screen scrolling, back kicks and throws. The only home versions I could find that stayed close to the arcade source material were the Amstrad and Spectrum versions. |
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River City Ransom |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - NES |
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A NES classic in every sense of the word, a more lighthearted game than many of the beat-em-ups that followed which never took itself too seriously, the RPG style elements were also ahead of their time for the genre. |
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Spiderman - Maximum Carnage |
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1 Player |
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Stand out versions - SNES, Mega Drive |
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The Software Creations' Spiderman games may have been lacking in the graphics department, but they made up for it with their attention to detail, the entire plot to the "Maximum Carnage" story arc is included in an edited form throughout the game, another good feature is the inclusion of all Spiderman's moves, from web swinging to wall climbing, there's even a stage where you have to use your spider sense to dodge objects. |
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Splatterhouse 3 |
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1 Player |
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Stand out versions - Mega Drive |
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The first time I played this game I was really surprised by the level of blood and gore, you can see that the developers really wanted to add some real horror to their game and they succeeded admirably. The praise doesn't stop there either as Splatterhouse 3 is also impressive gameplay wise, unlike most beat-em-ups S3 doesn't follow a linear path, it allows you to choose your own way, it also has a relatively involving story which changes depending on how well you play the game. |
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Streets Of Rage II |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - Mega Drive |
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In my opinion Streets of Rage II is the absolute pinnacle of a pure no extras style beat-em-up, the level of presentation was taken to the max with some amazing musical compositions and backgroun designs, not only this but the fighting engine seems to have been honed to perfection. |
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Target Renegade |
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2 Player |
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Stand out version - Spectrum |
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As time goes by I become more impressed with this game, I mean, it came out in 88' on the ZX Spectrum but was completely fully formed as a beat-em-up. You can punch, grab people, fly kick, back kick, pick up and use an assortment of weapons and even kneel down on fallen opponents to finish them off. It's kind of gritty for it's time too, with hookers kneeing you in the groin, pimps shooting at you and skinheads hitting you with pool cues. Word of warning, avoid ports of this game like the plague, the original Spectrum and Amstrad versions were the only ones worth playing. |
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Turtles - The Arcade Game |
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2 Player |
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Stand out version - NES |
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The first game in the highly successful Turtles series of beat-em-ups by Konami. I think that the strength of the series was always in it's solid fighting engine and set-piece levels, the first game is no exception, starting you immediately in a burning building on the first stage. |
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Turtles in Time |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - SNES |
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Rivalled only by Streets of Rage II in the no nonsence beat-em-up stakes. Konami really went to town with this, adding all aspects of the turtles universe, it plays like a game made for fans of the series by fans of the series. In fact I would say that this even has Streets of Rage II beaten in respect to set pieces and fighting engine. |
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Honourable Mentions
The Honourable mentions section will be noticibly longer for this particular feature due to the inherent lack of variation in the genre, all of the following are great Beat-em-up games that any genre fan would be proud of, they just lack that certain something to distinguish themselves from the glut of similar playing Beat-em-ups
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Batman Returns - SNES
Death and Return of Superman - SNES/Mega Drive
Growl - Mega Drive
King of the Dragons, The - SNES
Knights of the Round - SNES |
Mutation Nation - NEO GEO
Ninja Warriors - SNES
Sonic Blastman - SNES
Two Crude Dudes - Mega Drive |
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