Man, I've been away for awhile but couldn't pass the chance to preach about beat-em-ups.
Sumez wrote:I never understood belt scrolling beat'em ups. I can't beat them, and I never had fun playing any of them. I realise how popular and respected they are, so I really hope that one day I'll be able to "get it", but I just can't figure it out. What am I supposed to do?
Tried popping in Mighty Final Fight today, hoping that the barebones NES gameplay and graphics of the game would make the gameplay more immediately approachable to me, but I'm actually really impressed just how much this game completely feels like a 16-bit beat'em up, for better or worse.
Definitely for the better, MFF is a great game.
Sumez wrote:As standard for the genre, it's incredibly repetitive. Just keep walking right while fighting copies of the same guy over and over. As far as I can tell, the best way to approach the game is to find a way to attack the enemies without giving them the chance to get close enough to you to get the first punch in, which as per genre standards seems to usually mean a jumping attack. Over and over again. Over and over. Occasionally I'll take damage, but I'm not really able to tell why. Some times even without the enemy pulling off a visible attack.
I'm completely unable to understand how I should approach the game. As far as I can tell, there's only so much I can do with my moveset which seems to be limited to aforementioned jumping attack and a basic punch-combo, as well as the special attack you do by pressing both buttons, but which eats your health when used to attack enemies.
So I seem to move back and forth between boring repetitive moves to cheese my way through without getting hit, or getting my ass kicked without any idea what I can do about it. Obviously I'm not playing the game the way I'm supposed to, it's just that I have no idea what else I can do.
The best advice I can give you is: don't do these boring tactics.
I speak from experience, as stopping doing this is exactly what made me love Bare Knuckle 1 again, and paved the way to allow me to enjoy the genre at a greater level.
That doesn't mean that you shouldn't use jump kicks -- it's a perfectly valid move to close in and/or start a combo -- but really, you should just observe each enemy type and see how you can best deal with them.
In Mighty Final Fight, for example:
The slow, standard mook can be safely approached and dealt with without any trouble. He will only attack you if you linger close for too long.
The mohawk guy is more dangerous, not only is he fast, but he'll sometimes out-punch you if you get close (or let him get close). You can jump kick him to score a knock down, get close to him, and punch him as he's getting up.
The El Gados will throw knives or do a spinning slash attack if you're on the same lane as them. Bait them into performing either, get close and beat them up.
The big guys that block can be dealt with by jump stunning and grabbing them. If you let them approach you, they'll kick and knock you down.
And so on. As it's been said, it's the variety in the formations that make the games good. There's not much in MFF, given the low enemy numbers, though.
Squire Grooktook wrote:If you want to get into the genre, my advice would be start with the cream of the crop. No offense to Mighty Final Fight (never played it) but what you want is a magnum opus like Capcom's Alien Vs Predator, a game where the movement mechanics on the most basic character (P.Warrior) are so deep and flexible that it becomes a game onto itself.
Solid advice, but I'll add that MFF plays nearly as good as any other FF and has the advantage of being easier (2 enemies at once only), so it might be a better place to start for someone who's not too into the genre.
It's also worth noting that there are several schools of BEUs (besides all the other orphaned games in the genre), and even though they all belong in the same genre, they each have their own intricacies and tend to favor different styles of play. Of course, you then have different flavours of the same school (like Capcom's later games vs Final Fight) and the rest of the genres library.
SquireGrooktook wrote:Also while I do think the sub-genre is respectable, that's not to say it's all gold! Just like STG, there are a lot of formulaic clones which might differ only in the subtlest of nuances (if at all). I don't know just how adverse you are to emulation, but this is why I recommend Capcom's library in particular: Capcom was basically the leading innovator in the genre, and if you play through their brawlers sequentially, you can see how each game they released worked to innovate over the last one. Starting with Final Fights simple "pure spacing" action, introducing parry mechanics in King of Dragon's and Knights of The Round, refining movement mechanics and variety in Dungeons and Dragon's, AVP, and Armored Warriors, etc. Each of their games brings something new to the table which genuinely increases depth.
Yeah, but the same happens in every genre. As for BEUs, I think what separate the good games from the not-so-good is how well the gameplay engine is implemented, rather than what sort of moveset/mechanics a particular game has.
As diverse as Capcom's catalog is, all their games have a very well implemented gameplay engine which makes them a joy to play.
For example, compare Final Fight to Rushing Beat (two similar games in gameplay and movesets), and you'll see that it is the gameplay engine itself that makes FF infinitely better than RB.
Ah, another set of GIFs is overdue, to convert some more souls to the genre.
By the way Sumez, did you 1CC the game? And have you played the Bare Knuckle games?