What do you think are the best beat 'em ups?

[evil_ash_xero]

All this Dragon's Crown talk has me thinking about what are the best ones.

It seems like tons are forgotten, due to them being so similar. I'm actually not that big of a fan of the genre, due to repetition(I know, a shmup player saying that!).

Anyway, what are your favorite beat 'em ups?

I'll list mine(not in any order).

Bare Knuckle II/Streets of Rage 2(probably my favorite)
Bare Knuckle III
TMNT IV(probably my second favorite)
D&D: SoM(I'm late to the party)
Alien Vs. Predator
Guardian Heroes(I think it's overrated though)
Double Dragon Advance
Dragon's Crown

Oddly enough, I never cared much for Final Fight. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
Never really understood the appeal of River City Ransom either. BARF!

[KAI]

I Love Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, "Matte konoyaro!!"

[Bananamatic]

god hand

[CIT]

My favorite is Guardians a.k.a. Denjin Makai II. Really fast gameplay, tons of characters and moves, branching paths, and great style make for a really fun and varied game.

EDIT: Its moderate (by beat em up standards) difficulty is a nice change in pace too.

[iconoclast]

Denjin Makai 2 is probably my favorite belt scroller.

[hermit crab]

Golden Axe!

And another one I really like is Asterix from Konami. Simpsons is kinda nice too but there are some things I don't like about it like how the characters look so "off".

From console games TMNT2 NES, and a hacked version of TMNT3 that plays more like 2. And... Fighting Force! (don't care what anyone, or "conventional wisdom" as BIL put it, says).

That's about it. Not really a huge fan of the genre because often you just stay in one spot mashing buttons/enemies and that gets boring to me pretty fast.

[evil_ash_xero]

god hand

Oh, I meant the old school variety.

[evil_ash_xero]

Golden Axe!

Revenge Of Death Adder is pretty damn good.

[CIT]

Also: Good call mentioning Double Dragon Advance in the OP! IMO it's the definitive version of the game.

[soprano1]

Ninja Baseball Bat Man, excellent Irem game and best name ever.

[evil_ash_xero]

Also: Good call mentioning Double Dragon Advance in the OP! IMO it's the definitive version of the game.

Definitely! I think a lot of people over look it due to it's platform.

[Hagane]

The best are usually Capcom's games. Console games are generally signficantly inferior (I haven't tried DDA enough, otherwise I would not have to add the "generally" bit, ha). Older ones like Street's of Rage due to low amount of enemies on screen (the main point of the genre being dealing with groups of enemies), DC and GH for being stretched out, sloppily designed, easy and dumbed down with jRPG elements, among other issues. By the way, I don't know why so many people say the genre is repetitive. Each new group of enemies is a different situation that requires a different approach based on distance, positioning, attack recovery, crowd control / management, etc... it's a very rich type of game when done right.

My list of the best ones is:

The Punisher: Great weapon system, lots of abilities and mobility. A middle ground between the complex combo systems of newer games and the more methodic pacing of games like Final Fight.

Dungeons and Dragons: very complex in general, with all the character variety, items, combo system, branching paths, secrets, etc. All the characters are powerful, unique and viable, it's fun to play with friends, lots of abusable fun stuff to do... one of the very best.

Alien vs. Predator: Capcom's finest. Superb graphics, relentless pacing with high damage, speed and lots of enemies on screen. It's like a danmaku beat'em up of sorts. The best physics and combo system in the genre IMO, great character variety and good challenge.

Armored Warriors: Capcom's toughest game. Their most accomplished title in the audiovisual department, no juggles but rewarding OTG combo system, lots of abilities to get from mech parts, fast pacing, unforgiving difficulty more focused on pattern dodging than other games in the genre.

Honorable mentions: Captain Commando, Tenchi wo Kurau II, Battle Circuit. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and Final Fight are well liked, but I find the first too dry and the second too archaic.

Other good games by other companies are

- Denjin Makai II: Extremely deep combo system, selectable levels, lots of abilities and characters... ugly presentation and easy too, but it's fun to master all the things you can do with the combo system.

- Sengoku 3: I don't have that much experience with this game and the juggle system is a bit too generous with the floaty physics, but otherwise it has challenge and variety. Worth playing.

- IGS games: Knights of Valor picks a lot of things from Mystara (item system, branching paths) and expands upon it in some aspects, but I find it has nowhere near its character variety. Still very solid games with complex combo systems and great spritework.

Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder and Cross Swords! seem to be fine too but I don't have as much experience with them.

[lilmanjs]

Ninja Baseball Bat Man, excellent Irem game and best name ever.

I must agree on both points. That game gets overlooked way too much. An awesome game!

[SuperGrafx]

Final Fight is a classic that never gets old IMO

[Ruldra]

My favorite ones were all mentioned already: Final Fight, Dungeons & Dragons series, Armored Warriors, Warriors of Fate. They're all solid games.

Cross Swords!

Do you mean Crossed Swords? Would that count as a beat-em-up?

I gave it a serious attempt years ago but couldn't get farther than chapter 4. After a certain point the game becomes way too unforgiving, enemies attack so fast they're pretty much instant, you can't even react properly to block.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

god hand

Oh, I meant the old school variety.

God Hand is still a beat 'em up, and certainly one whose mechanics are unforgiving enough that it's worthy of mention compared to newer, sloppier beat 'em ups. Bayonetta likewise deserves mention because of how tight its controls are... its only real failing is the quick time cutscene events that kill you if you fail them (their timing can be a bit iffy). I don't think it's fair to exclude 'em just because they're not 2D. They might possibly be among my faves ever.

I prefer Bare Knuckle III's fast paced combat over Bare Knuckle II's, but they're both solid games. The first one in the series is a bit lame, the moveset is so limited that it's reduced to mostly stunlocking enemies in jabs at high level play. The music's horrible in the third game though, way better in the first two. The Remake is fun too, though I wish they hadn't included police specials, having fullscreen bombs feels out of place in a technical beat 'em up, like they're a holdover from the first game more than anything else. You get one per life which can translate to quite a few bombs... compared to say God Hand's roulettes where you use them to avoid getting killed, they're more limited and less abuseable to get through entire sections without having to learn 'em, etc.

Double Dragon 2 is awesomely fun in co-op. I spent a lot of time on the NES version... learning to consistently use the hyper uppercut/knee to send enemies flying makes things a lot easier, and is incredibly satisfying.

The Game Gear port of Streets of Rage 1 is an unplayable piece of garbage, but the port of the second game is pretty fun... it's just really, really easy.

Zombie Smashers X (made by the guy who did the awesome Survival Crisis Z) is pretty nifty too. Think River City Ransom except with lots of zombies. Not bad for a freeware game.

Battle Circuit's awesome, but very, very hard. I'm nowhere near a 1CC yet.

King of Dragons is quite simplistic, but that makes it pretty easy to pick up and play casually. Playing as the Wizard or Elf and pegging away enemies from a distance is actually kind of fun.

Castle Crashers isn't terribly hard on normal mode, but it's fun to play with friends. The combat's largely about ridiculously long airjuggling strings or spamming magic (Red Knight's lightning chews through enemies, buzzsaw magic rips up many bosses in seconds).It's a lot more fun when you get to Insane Mode as the difficulty really ramps up seriously.

[Hagane]

Ruldra: Ah, the name is Cross Blades!, sorry.

Roo: 3D beat'em ups are definitely not the same thing. They don't really play alike, even if you are beating people up.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

What do you think are the best beat 'em ups?

What genre is God Hand?

[evil_ash_xero]

What do you think are the best beat 'em ups?

What genre is God Hand?

I guess 3D beat 'em up.

I mean, it IS definitely a beat 'em up. I just meant the old side scrolling type.

[Hagane]

Roo: The topic is clearly focused on the 2D kind.

[Bananamatic]

go play God Hand again anyways

[Bar81]

The Punisher: Great weapon system, lots of abilities and mobility. A middle ground between the complex combo systems of newer games and the more methodic pacing of games like Final Fight.

and... we're done. The rest are good but there's nothing that quite matches big PUN.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I mean, it IS definitely a beat 'em up. I just meant the old side scrolling type.

I'd say you're asking about the best 2D beat 'em ups then. I see the point, 2D ones are great and all, it's just that 3D beat 'em ups like Koei's stuff (Shin Sangokumusou, Crimson Sea, etc) and whatnot unfortunately don't get much love or attention and end up neglected compared to the 'classics'.

[Hagane]

3D beat'em ups are much simpler and easier than oldschool ones in general. And, being console games mostly, also tend to be overlong and easy. They do have their appeal of course, but there are many things that are lost on the transition to 3D and consoles. But, if anything, it's the classics that are neglected and usually seen as inferior, cheap, basic and repetitive, among other things.

[hermit crab]

By the way, I don't know why so many people say the genre is repetitive. Each new group of enemies is a different situation that requires a different approach based on distance, positioning, attack recovery, crowd control / management, etc... it's a very rich type of game when done right.

LOL well it's basically the same thing anyway over and over again, oh wow they're in a different formation. Same few sprites over and over again. Often even hitting the same enemy over and over again. The backgrounds don't even move. And you don't see how people think it's repetitive and boring... But keep on strategising those patterns if you enjoy it I'm not saying that. The ones you think are easy or "doing it wrong" whatever are the best ones to me because they are more like action games.

[null1024]

I've played more SOR2 than any other beat-em-up, and it's my go-to game when I want to smash some face in.
Haven't put enough time into others to make any kind of judgement call yet.

The music's horrible in the third game though, way better in the first two.

It is a super-acquired taste [and still better than more Genesis soundtracks than I'd care to admit]. The only truly horrid song in the game is during the club part.

[evil_ash_xero]

I actually like the club music.

Maybe it's just the lights hypnotizing me into liking it.

[Hagane]

LOL well it's basically the same thing anyway over and over again, oh wow they're in a different formation. Same few sprites over and over again. Often even hitting the same enemy over and over again. The backgrounds don't even move. And you don't see how people think it's repetitive and boring... But keep on strategising those patterns if you enjoy it I'm not saying that. The ones you think are easy or "doing it wrong" whatever are the best ones to me because they are more like action games.

Different formations, spacing, ranges, attacks, AI, less room for error, all contribute towards a much more varied type of game than something like Devil May Cry because accurately controlling crowds matters, and lots of strategic depth derives from that. Much of that is lost in 3D titles, and being so much easier doesn't help things because you have to think and strategize less.

It's like saying that STGs are repetitive or boring because you have to strategize those patterns, as if doing that was easy or repetitive...just play some good belt scroller and try to LEARN how to play them and you'll se my points for yourself. You just sound like you have no idea about how belt scrollers really play.

[hermit crab]

LOL well it's basically the same thing anyway over and over again, oh wow they're in a different formation. Same few sprites over and over again. Often even hitting the same enemy over and over again. The backgrounds don't even move. And you don't see how people think it's repetitive and boring... But keep on strategising those patterns if you enjoy it I'm not saying that. The ones you think are easy or "doing it wrong" whatever are the best ones to me because they are more like action games.

Different formations, spacing, ranges, attacks, AI, less room for error, all contribute towards a much more varied type of game than something like Devil May Cry because accurately controlling crowds matters, and lots of strategic depth derives from that. Much of that is lost in 3D titles, and being so much easier doesn't help things because you have to think and strategize less.

It's like saying that STGs are repetitive or boring because you have to strategize those patterns, as if doing that was easy or repetitive...just play some good belt scroller and try to LEARN how to play them and you'll se my points for yourself. You just sound like you have no idea about how belt scrollers really play.

I'm sure some people do find shmups boring...

[Imhotep]

some of my favourites:

Powered Gear / Armored Warriors
Metamorphic Force
Arabian Magic
Light Bringer / Dungeon Magic


the characteristics of the genre for me are:

-360° movement
-attacks exclusively in two opposing directions
-focus on close combat
-more than one aggressor during levels

games like Dynamite Deka belong to a different genre, imo.

edit: I meant to say Dynamite Deka 2!