The beat ‘em up genre, while not as popular as it once was and usually found in arcades, still sees some love in the indie scene. Beating up on a variety of different enemies, whether alone or with friends, is just a simple and cathartic experience.
A well-made beat ‘em up has a selection of moves, a collection of different colorful enemies to beat up on, and over-the-top bosses. There are, of course, many deviations and alterations to the formula including the addition of RPG elements which seems to fit flawlessly with the format. To look back and appreciate the beat ‘em up, here are a few of the best ever released.
Updated on February 17th, 2022 by Geoffrey Martin: The beam 'em up genre has been around seemingly for as long as gaming, at least in terms of when arcades began to flourish. This highly enjoyable, multiplayer-focused genre is teeming with diversity both in terms of gameplay and aesthetics. While the genre had somewhat died down in the 2010s, there has been a great resurgence from the creative indie scene. If you consider yourself a fan of the beat 'em up genre then now is the time to jump into any of these great titles.
14 Streets Of Rage 4
The Streets of Rage series truly needs no introduction given that it was one of the progenitors of the genre along with Final Fight. Streets of Rage 4 is the most recent entry in the long-running series and it brought polished brawler action, unique characters, a bonkers story, and tight stage design to the forefront.
What makes Streets of Rage 4 so iconic is that indie developers DotEmu managed to retain the arcade nature of the original Streets of Rage game while instilling modern sensibilities such as better checkpoints and online multiplayer. Plus, the art style is downright gorgeous.
13 Cuphead
Okay, on the surface Cuphead might not seem like your typical beat 'em up, however, dig a little deeper and you will see a lot of similarities between this incredible title and that of its genre counterparts. Cuphead is a brutal, taxing, and endlessly replayable action game that melds brawler mechanics with shoot 'em up components.
If you think about Cuphead as an arcade game, it's easy to see it being a beat 'em up given the nature of easy deaths and that "just one more go" nature you get when trying to defeat the uber-punishing bosses. If you are able to bring a friend along for the ride as Mugman, then you are in for a fantastic beat 'em up-adjacent experience that deserves your time and attention.
12 The TakeOver
Drawing much of its inspiration from nineties classics like Streets of Rage and Final Fight, The TakeOver is one of the best-looking beat 'em ups ever made. As well as its incredibly appealing art style, the game boasts some really impressive environmental effects which help to provide a cinematic and high-stakes feel to combat.
The controls feel tight and there is just enough complexity about the combat to prevent it from ever feeling stale. There's also co-op functionality and a wide selection of weapons on offer which also help out a lot in this regard. It's not quite as polished as something like Streets of Rage 4, but the occasional glitches aren't nearly enough to soil what is otherwise a highly enjoyable game.
11 River City Girls
The Kunio-Kun series has been incredibly popular in Japan since it first debuted back in 1986. It was not until the release of River City Ransom: Underground in 2017 that the series really began to gain traction in the west. River City Girls, which was released two years later, marks a continuation of that progress and is considered by many to be the best that the series has to offer.
With its fantastic sprite work and fast-paced gameplay, it's difficult not to fall in love with this stunning beat 'em up brawler. It's fun to play, littered with fantastic humor, and features the perfect soundtrack for kicking ass and taking names. What's more, its availability on current-gen consoles makes it easily accessible, which just isn't the case for many of the genre's other top offerings.
10 X-Men
Back in the 90s, Konami was the dominant force in the world of arcade beat ‘em ups. The company held the licences to some of the biggest and most popular franchises around and, unlike in modern times, used them to great effect. As a result, there were plenty of fantastic Konami titles to be found in arcades throughout the decade, with X-Men being one of the very best.
The X-Men were huge in the 90s thanks to the show and comics so a four-player beat ‘em up featuring different mutants in a well-made beat ‘em up from Konami created the perfect storm. Speaking of Storm, you could control her, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, Cyclops, and fan-favorite Dazzler as they attempt to take on Magneto.
9 Final Fight 3
At one point Street Fighter II was to be a Final Fight sequel, until it was reworked into the legendary 1 on 1 tournament fight it is known as today. However, Final Fight is still a large part of Street Fighter with many of the characters from the beat ‘em up making an appearance in Street Fighter including Guy, Cody, Rolento, Hugo, Poison, and more.
Final Fight 3 was the pinnacle of the series as well as its final 2D entry, with all of the subsequent Final Fight games instead of playing out in 3D. In gaining a new dimension, however, they ultimately lost a lot of the things that made the original games so enjoyable leading to the series fading away into obscurity.
8 The Simpsons Arcade
Few shows have been able to remain relevant for quite as long as The Simpsons, with everybody's favorite yellow family recently celebrating their 32nd year on the air. They might not be as popular as they once were, but during the nineties, the show was one of the biggest on television and the video game industry was more than happy to exploit this.
The Simpsons Arcade is a four-player beat ‘em up in which you play as Homer, Marge, Bart, or Lisa who are attempting to save Maggie after she was kidnapped by Mr. Burns and Smithers. Each level and character in the beat ‘em up look like they were pulled right out of the show and still look great to this day.
7 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World coincided with the theatrical release of the movie which shares the same name. In the game, you can control either Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Pine, or Stephen Stills. The goal of the game is to go through seven different levels and fight Ramona’s seven evil exes.
Having been mysteriously removed from digital storefronts a few years back, a complete edition of Scott Pilgrim vs The World was released recently on multiple platforms. It includes all of the game's original DLC and consequently provides the definitive way to enjoy this classic and charming beat 'em up.
6 Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is a compilation that includes two Capcom beat ‘em ups based on the Dungeons and Dragons license. The two games included in the compilation are Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom which was released in 1993 and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara which was released in 1996.
The games, like most beat ‘em ups, started off in arcades before eventually being brought home to the Sega Saturn. Luckily, the compilation has also been ported to the Xbox Live Market Place, the Playstation Network, and Steam, so you can easily find it and play it today.
5 Dragon Ball Advance Adventure
Dragon Ball Advance Adventure retells the majority of events that occur throughout the Dragon Ball anime. You go through the World Tournaments, the Red Ribbon Saga, and the King Piccolo saga. As in the anime, Goku becomes stronger with a more diverse move set and stronger Kamehameha throughout the game.
Most of the game is structured like a typical side-scrolling 2D beat ‘em up. When you enter a boss fight, however, the game turns into a 1 on 1 fighter in which you can launch your opponents into the air for juggling and aerial battles. It's a nice touch that allows for a bit more variety in combat while also forcing players to consider their moves a little more.
4 Guardian Heroes
Guardian Heroes was created by Treasure, the same developers that created Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga. Guardian Heroes is a four-player beat ‘em up with some light role-playing elements and was originally released for the Sega Saturn. You can switch to one of three planes which can be used to dodge attacks or simply change to the plane the enemy is on.
Guardian Heroes was eventually remastered and made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network. Much like Treasure's remasters of Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun, this new version features updated visuals as well as some noticeable improvements to the game's original soundtrack.
3 Castle Crashers
Castle Crashers was developed by Behemoth, the creators of Alien Hominid and Battle Block Theatre, and is a four-player beat ‘em up with RPG elements. The game was originally released on the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace but was recently remastered and brought to Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.
You can choose from one of four knights at the beginning of the game, all with different attributes and magical abilities. As you make your way through the game, you unlock different characters including different colored knights and the alien from Alien Hominid.
2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time stars everyone’s favorite heroes in half-shells and made its first appearance as a four-player arcade game before being brought home to the Super Nintendo. You can play as Donatello, Raphael Michaelangelo, or Leonardo, they all have their signature weapons, all-controlling and fighting slightly differently.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, the turtles fight through a variety of levels all taking place within different points in history. You run into classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle enemies like Bebop, Rocksteady, and Shredder.
1 Dragon’s Crown
Dragon’s Crown was created by Vanillaware, the creators of Odin’s Sphere, Muramasa the Demon Blade, and Grimgrimoire. Like with all of Vanillaware’s games, the characters and background are all beautifully hand-drawn in a very distinct art style. Dragon's Crown is a four-player beat-up with heavy RPG elements and endless replayability thanks to the different classes and multitude of levels.
Dragon’s Crown was originally released for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita but like many of Vanillaware’s other games, it has recently been remastered and brought to the Playstation 4 with improved graphics called Dragon's Crown Pro.