Has there ever been a good 3d beat em up?

[Classicgamer]

I used to love beat em ups in the arcade when I was a kid. Double Dragon is the first arcade I can remember playing and it was awesome. A few years later, Final Fight blew my mind.

Then.... one day... everyone switched over to polygon based games and I never saw another good beat em up.

I recently tried Final Fight Streetwise on the PS2. It sucks. Using an analog stick is just not fun for these games. A few days ago, I downloaded Doubl Dragon Neo on my PS3. It too sucked and for the same reason - poor controls.

So, does anyone here know of a good beat em up made for modern 3d capable consoles (excluding home brew)?

Or am I destined to be stuck with irritating analog controls and forced to watch those intensly boring cut scene story sequences that modern game makers seem to favor? The most evil of them don't even let you skip to the game unless you have suffered through their cinematic abomination at least once....

[Mischief Maker]

Do God Hand and Devil May Cry count as beat em ups?

[Steamflogger Boss]

God Hand is the correct answer.

[opt2not]

Die Hard/Dynamite Deka is a very underrated beat-em-up. It has so much packed into that game, branching stages, lots of weapons, combos, ground game, QuickTime events. If you approach the fighting like a versus fighter, especially Virtua Fighter, the gameplay opens up and makes for a lot of special moments.

Spike Out is also another under-appreciated title. It’s breaks away from the standard left-right locked camera and goes 3rd person. The game play is fast and frantic, and it especially shines in multiplayer with linked cabinet’s.

[trap15]

Die Hard/Dynamite Deka is a very underrated beat-em-up. It has so much packed into that game, branching stages, lots of weapons, combos, ground game, QuickTime events. If you approach the fighting like a versus fighter, especially Virtua Fighter, the gameplay opens up and makes for a lot of special moments.

Spike Out is also another under-appreciated title. It’s breaks away from the standard left-right locked camera and goes 3rd person. The game play is fast and frantic, and it especially shines in multiplayer with linked cabinet’s.

Came here to post almost literally this same stuff.

[Marc]

I enjoyed Neon. Levels can drag on a little, but I found it to control well enough and it's a great laugh in 2-player.

3D wise I remember enjoying Zombie Revenge on DC, though it's been a long time since I played it.
There's also that 3D Sega one for X360 that I can't remember the name of and always mean to get around to playing properly.... I picked it up because it reviewed quite well then never touched it properly.

[NYN]

Has there ever been a good 3d brawler?

*stern look*

"The best."

The Warriors from Rockstar Games for PS2, PSP, Xbox.

Yeah. It gots cutscenes.

[SuperDeadite]

Manic Game Girl?

[Zen]

3D wise I remember enjoying Zombie Revenge on DC,

First one to come to my mind also.

We are talking scrolling, I take it?
I'll sneak in, State of Emergency - (2002) PS2, while I can.

[tomwhite2004]

Viewtiful Joe 1 + 2

[Steamflogger Boss]

Die Hard/Dynamite Deka is a very underrated beat-em-up. It has so much packed into that game, branching stages, lots of weapons, combos, ground game, QuickTime events. If you approach the fighting like a versus fighter, especially Virtua Fighter, the gameplay opens up and makes for a lot of special moments.

Good game, been awhile since I played it. I remember Dynamite Deka 2 being alright as well.

[Jeneki]

Atomiswave Demolition Fist any good?

[JBC]

3D wise I remember enjoying Zombie Revenge on DC, though it's been a long time since I played it.

I like Zombie Revenge but I don't think it's necessarily 'good'. Still, it's really cool to have a brawler in the House Of The Dead universe & it's pretty fun if you don't mind it being a little janky. The world & monster design don't perfectly match up to what we've seen before in the HotD games either, but it still feels like it fits in. I can't really say the same for other spinoffs like HotD Overkill, which doesn't feel like the same world at all.

I might give Zombie Revenge another playthrough soon since I have it installed on my GDEmu. I've owned the game since it came out & play it at least once a year, so even if it's not exactly great that says something in it's favor.

[louisg]

Die Hard/Dynamite Deka is a very underrated beat-em-up. It has so much packed into that game, branching stages, lots of weapons, combos, ground game, QuickTime events. If you approach the fighting like a versus fighter, especially Virtua Fighter, the gameplay opens up and makes for a lot of special moments.

Good game, been awhile since I played it. I remember Dynamite Deka 2 being alright as well.

I think one reason DHA succeeds so well is that it's still set up as a belt scroller, so a lot of the same strategies apply. That's my favorite beat em up, I think. I used to be able to get to the last boss on one credit. Deka 2 got rid of that, which cut the movelist down a lot. The big issue with 3d beat em ups is that they essentially play like top view beat em ups.

But I agree that the first game is really underrated. The moves have uses, the environments and enemies are varied, the patterns are all learnable, and there aren't many moments where I got knocked down and felt like it was random or too memorizey.

For full 3d beat-em-ups, I don't know if I can call it good since the damage model is such bullshit, but I like Zombie Revenge I think the console-exclusive modes balance dealing damage bit better IIRC. But you can still get totally worked within seconds, which I don't like. I think the best I've done on one coin is getting halfway through the train stage. But-- I'd recommend it anyway. I like the gun mechanic (where you keep the gun on a zombie to aim better), and like in DHA, you can spot when someone is about to shoot and rush them. Good, cheesy fun. BOOLETS!

I reviewed both of those on my YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcCjKGKQZvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gEWwPArgI4

Aren't all those games like Bayonetta and Revengeance basically full 3d beat-em-ups, too? I know they're way more console in their presentation and level format, but I think they've got a similar feel in a lot of ways.

[BIL]

Came to suggest the original Deka, seconding opt2not. Superb game. Reminds me of Double Dragon II's Famicom port - makes up for a lack of big crowds with technical, treacherous and raucously brutal showdowns.

Hilarious on top of that too! Shooting a motherfucker in the face with a rocket might seem OTT, but it's also a release from the kick in the nuts immediately preceding! Police hospitality, not brutality!

That said (echoing lousig) it's pretty much a traditional beltscroller in polygonal format, if memory serves. So how "3D" it is might be up for debate. It should be played by anyone with an appreciation of technical brawling violence, regardless.

Good game, been awhile since I played it. I remember Dynamite Deka 2 being alright as well.

Deka 2's a fun blast in need of slightly meaner enemies. Bit too easy to run rings around them with the nimbler movement and sledgehammering dash attacks... and that's ignoring the POW mode (I do precisely that - simply stopped using it, after no-missing both the arcade and DC port's various routes got too easy). DC port's survival mode does develop some do/die pressure, once the meaner waves arrive.

Hard to be too disappointed, with its violence being even more farcically gratifying than the first game's. Combos connect with machinegun power, heavy blows with shattering gravity (human brainbox is no match for justly-wielded porcelain ) - each and every KO and arrest punctuated by ridiculous bawling stock screams. I'm cracking up just remembering 'em. "YOU LOSER!" "NAWWW"

[trap15]

Atomiswave Demolition Fist any good?

IMO it's really bad, but it does have fans, so...

[Vludi]

Fighting force is stiff but kind of alright.

[scrilla4rella]

God Hand

[Vexorg]

If you can find a copy anywhere Oni (made by Bungie a couple of years before Halo) is pretty good.

[quash]

Most of my suggestions were posted already but I'm surprised nobody has recommended Dynasty Warriors. Not the best, but not the worst by far.

Also, you should try some of the more modern 2D beat em ups. Guilty Gear Judgment was an interesting game if nothing else, and I enjoyed both of the Oriental Legend games. If you really want to sink some time into a modern beat em up, I can't recommend Dungeon Fighter Online enough. I never got that much into it myself, but everyone I know that loves the genre can't stay away from that game.

[Mischief Maker]

Well since we're straying so far from standard Belt-Scrollers, I have a really soft spot for Dragon's Dogma.

At a glance it resembles Dark Souls, but it's much closer to Devil May Cry in terms of its mechanics. While all the attention is given to climbing over giant monsters like Shadow of the Colossus, the battles against human foes is very much a belt-scroller kind of crowd control challenge, because enemy fighters getting you from behind can murder you in a couple hits.

Also the wizards trailing behind you with glowing balls of power orbiting their staffs remind me of Magic Sword, one of my favorite arcade games.

[Classicgamer]

Thanks guys.

I am going to try all the suggestions to see if I can find what I am looking for. It's promising that there are some there that I haven't tried yet. That's not that surprising though. I still have unopened PS3 games from 10 years ago that I haven't tried yet.

[evil_ash_xero]

God Hand

[Imhotep]

Lucifer Ring on PS1 is a fine enough game, as is Raging Blades on PS2.

Probably OT, but Breakdown on XBox is an intriguing 1st person brawler.

[OdiousTrident]

Even Crisis Beat on PS1 isn't that bad.

I enjoyed Gekido: Urban Fighters but the constant load times are an issue.

I really want to like Demolishfist but can't get used to controls. I have not seen videos of people mastering the game either. Maybe they're out there?

[cj iwakura]

I've heard The Bouncer is a guilty pleasure.

[Mischief Maker]

The Red Star

[Steamflogger Boss]

I've heard The Bouncer is a guilty pleasure.

I had some fun with this one bitd, but I don't remember much about it oddly enough.

[opt2not]

Does Sleeping Dogs count?

[Specineff]

Does Sleeping Dogs count?

I wonder the same about Transformers: Devastation.