[details=Spoiler]I’ll be changing the thread title to reflect new beat-em ups that might be out or are soon to come out or ones that might just be all the rage in the discussion at the time (like if we find ourselves discussing the merits of all the characters in Aliens VS. Predators).
2nd Post includes a player list to make it easier to find people to play with online. A lot of these games are getting kind of old so you might have trouble finding a friend.
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A drop dead gorgeous beat-em up game came out a week ago called Dragon’s Crown. It’s a beat-em up. It’s awesome.
This week on XBLA a new beat-em up from Ska Studios came out. It’s called Charlie Murder and it has rpg elements and high difficulty.
At the end of the month the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have a brand new 3D beat-em up coming out. Here’s a video. It looks like a lot of fun actually.
Guacamelee came out earlier this year on PSN and is due on PC next week. It’s more of a platformer metroidvania style game but have you seen some of the sweet luchador inspired moves you can pull off?
Point I’m trying to get at gang is that the beat-em up genre is very much still alive and we at SRK love the pixely/polygonal fuck out of them. So since not every one of them will be as popular as Dragon’s Crown why not have a thread where we can talk about them all. If they have online support we can use this thread to set-up games too.
I also believe that games like Batman’s Arkham series, Ninja Gaiden/DMC/God of War, and God Hand for examples, count as beat-em ups too despite being quite different from one another and what we consider the traditional ones. Some of these games will have their own threads. Some will have door nail dead threads that really need to be revived necessarily to be brought back up again. If you find yourself talking about games like these too that’s fine. They have a place.
I read from joystiq that there are problems with checkpoint placement but other than that it’s pretty awesome and bizarre. It certainly looks more interesting to play than the Dishwasher series was. I got bored of those quickly since they relied heavily on fighting a bunch of enemies over and over again in a small room. Got claustrophobic. Anyway this doesn’t look like that.
The Beat-Em Up Thread Online Players List
SRK Handle Console:Online Handle
Game
Spoiler
FurryCurry Xbox Live: FurryKing
Castle Crashers
Streets of Rage Collection
Scott Pilgrim
X-Men Konami Battleblock Theater - It’s pretty basic and it’s heavy on platforming but there’s a nice suite of moves to use
Guardian Heroes
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - I still need to beat this. Plz hlp!
Anarchy Reigns
I never really understood the hate against Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is it an anti hipster thing? Do people dislike grinding in a beat’emup? I mean the art, music, and game play are all on point it’s a GDLK beat’emup with a ton of replay value minus the no online co-op debacle. Specs sorry but I don’t fucks with you on this one.
I remember seeing TV ads for Comix Zone and being blown away at 7 years old seeing enemies being hand drawn in during game play, man this game for it’s art style alone will always be one of my most cherished gaming memories, it’s great that the game play itself was equally impressive. Unlike most beat’emups you can’t just mindlessly mash, that will get you a game over screen ASAP, there is a give and take flow to each enemy encounter kind of giving it a Street Fighter 2-esque feel, and each enemy required differently timed attacks. The game required the player to think before mashing and it was so punishingly difficult because often times you only had a few seconds to figure out how to get past any given enemy. Beyond being one of the best beat’emups ever made it’s a prime example of thoughtful game design and how to innovate without losing the fundamentals.
And now for what is probably my favorite game this generation if not one of my favorite games ever: Shinobi 3DS, it’s a love letter to the days when games kicked your ass and didn’t give a shit, one of the hardest games I’ve played in years because you can’t block you must parry everything and memorize the stages to advance, if you use ninpo magic you get points deducted
Anyone ever play Super Battletoads in the arcade? I didn’t like it as much as Battletoads and Double Dragon but I remember as a kid being shocked how violent it was:
Also if you like Altered Beast please get a full body tattoo with expired arsenic ink.
All the Dragon’s Crown hype has gotten me interesting in revisiting the old Capcom D&D games. I have completely forgotten how to play these games! Beating up enemies and swapping between items and magic in real time is tough! Real talk though, Capcom was the king of beat em ups in the 90’s. D&D, Battle Circuit, Alien vs Predator, Knights of the Round, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Captain Commando! Come ON! These guys were untouchable.
Konami made tons of true classics, I’ll never forget playing Xmen with five other people in the arcade. But Capcom was always my favorite. Damn, I miss the days when Capcom constantly referenced itself and it felt like this cool secret club.
Guys I have an idea for the 2nd post. I want us to all be able to find players for these games. So list out what online beat-em ups you have, the console it’s for, and your gamertag or whatever. Follow my lead:
FurryCurry Xbox Live: FurryKing
Castle Crashers
Streets of Rage Collection
Scott Pilgrim
X-Men Konami Battleblock Theater - It’s pretty basic and it’s heavy on platforming but there’s a nice suite of moves to use
Guardian Heroes
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - I still need to beat this. Plz hlp!
Steam: Furrycurry
Nothing but I’ll be getting Dungeons and Dragons Mysteria on here. About to make the transition to PC gaming for next-gen at least for a couple of years.
If Dragon’s crown wasn’t so damn good then, Charlie Murder would be a day one purchase.
if its a beat’em up or co-op action RPG I prolly own it, don’t really play the old titles too much if I’ve beaten it several times or got all Trophies/Achievements.
I normally get all my beat’em ups for XBL due their superior online interface and party system. Unless its a PSN exclusive like Dungeon Hunter or Dragon’s Crown.
There’s ANOTHER beat-em up due out on XBL Arcade this week.
This one looks pretty interesting to boot! It’s only 2 player co-op (online and off) but that’s not so bad. Game centers around your “performance” for the audience and not surviving via a health meter. Interesting concept, adorable and fun graphics, and an underutilized setting for a beat-em up (or game in general).
I agree. Streets of Rage 2 is better, but SOR3 is no slouch either.
Even as a Sega fan its hard to say which is better, but both TIT and HH are good. No way HH has better colors though, i love the Genesis and all but it had 64 colors only. Most games did a great job with what they had available, but most SNES games easily has better colors.
And Altered beast f’in rocked! A Sega Beat’em up classic. The genesis version was even better because it drastically improved the controls and gameplay. The arcade was a punishing quarter muncher due to its shit controls.
