/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.9499306]

What's the best beat-em-up of all time?
I can't really get into this genre because the gameplay is too repetitive.
Is there a perfect example I should try out before I write it off as a whole?

[Anonymous No.9499316]

>>9499306

Accept they aren't for you and play games you enjoy, there is no sense in trying to make yourself like something

[Anonymous No.9499325]

>>9499306
I got hooked after playing Cadillacs & Dinosaurs

[Anonymous No.9499327]

The two Capcom D&D beat em up games are the only ones I can stomach. Spells, equipment, and branching paths break up the monotony.

[Anonymous No.9499332]

God Hand

[Anonymous No.9499336]

>>9499306

>too repetitive

You probably think that because you credit feed your way to the end.

[Anonymous No.9499337]

>>9499327
Complex inventory system in a beat em up? No thanks.

Goldenaxe and SoR2 are much more fun. Especially multiplayer.

[Anonymous No.9499341]

I'll also recommend the d&d bmups, specially start with the first, Tower of Doom. Then try King of Dragons or Knights of the Round.

[Anonymous No.9499348]

>>9499306
Streets of Rage 2 or 3
Guardians / Denjin Makai 2
TMNT Genesis or SNES
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
undercover cops
Ninja Baseball Bat Man
AvP
Battle Circuit
Violent Storm

Some good variety there. But if you want a ton of move variety that is more in newer beat em ups

[Anonymous No.9499369]

>>9499306
I only ever enjoyed them as a kid playing with friends. Have a really hard time enjoying them as an adult singeplayer.

[Anonymous No.9499374]

Battletoads, because it's not a beat-em-up.

[Anonymous No.9499394]

>>9499337
>Complex
Beat em ups are a brainlets genre after all.

[Anonymous No.9499459]

play streets of rage 2, it's got a nice repertoire of moves, specials and different grappling techniques, along with a decent difficulty curve for a newbie.

[Anonymous No.9499462]

>>9499336
constantly gameovering and replaying the same sections would also be repetitive.

[Anonymous No.9499463]

>>9499462

What you do is play the game with a handful of credits, you naturally git gud over time and lower them as time goes on. That's how you're supposed to play these games.

[Anonymous No.9499465]

>>9499463
yeah and you'll have to endure intense repition to get to that point, no way around it.

[Anonymous No.9499509]

>>9499306
you had to be there. they dont appeal to >modern audiences

[Anonymous No.9499514]

>>9499327
i bet you shitter can't 1cc either

[Anonymous No.9499861]

>>9499306
Thats like asking what the best turd is. They all have mindboggingly braindead and insulting gameplay

[Anonymous No.9499865]

I don't see why Viewtiful Joe shouldn't count unless they must be multi plane, so that easily

[Anonymous No.9499919]

you seem low iq so jarpigs might be more your speed

[Anonymous No.9499927]

>>9499861
This thread isn't about RPGs though?

[Anonymous No.9499958]

>>9499465
Man, no one is forcing you to post on the retro games board. If you are going to whine about arcade games being games for the arcade just go back to talking about Elden Ring or whatever on /v/ already.

[Anonymous No.9500068]

Retro would be Streets of Rage 2. All time would be Dragon's Crown, but this is VR so we're not talking about that one.

[Anonymous No.9500147]

>>9499514
I'm not good at bmups I admit, but I managed the tower of Doom 1cc with a couple weeks of playing

https://youtu.be/a9Qj8YEmsKw
https://youtu.be/a9Qj8YEmsKw

>>9499341
>>9499348

All great, I'd also add Metamorphic Force, it's silly but fun to play.

[Anonymous No.9500156]

>>9499514
Wat

[Anonymous No.9500165]

>>9499465
If you don't enjoy playing through a standard 4 credits of an arcade game once or twice a day til you git gud, you don't enjoy arcade games period.

[Anonymous No.9500183]

>>9500147
Noice

[Anonymous No.9500197]

Why did the entire genre move away from special moves costing health? Was it bad game design?

[Anonymous No.9500223]

>>9500197
No it was great game design, its a valuable resource and last resort move but casuals hated it they want to see the cool moves man

[Anonymous No.9500230]

>>9499306
Knights of Valour 2.

[Anonymous No.9500319]

>>9500197
No. It's just bad players. Though I do like SoR3 handled specials: A separate meter builds up, if it's full, the special attack is free. If it's not, the player loses health depending how low the meter is when they fire it off again. So specials can potentially cost more health compared to other games, or be free if used sparingly.

[Anonymous No.9500321]

>>9499306
I have the same problem as fighting games, I don't know the movesets and how to do anything except mash. And there is no instruction manual for arcade games (as far as I know?)

[cope No.9500324]

>>9499306
>simpson shit
gay

[Anonymous No.9500619]

>>9499306
I love games like Streets of Rage 2, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Denjin Makai 2 and other beat em ups with fun movesets. They don't get too repetitive since they are usually short games and the characters have interesting shit that they can do
But I do hate every beat em up where you can only jump and use one or two different attacks, like The Simpsons, Asterix, etc. Am I looking at it in the wrong way? I feel like there's something to like about these games, but I just can't understand the fun in it

[Anonymous No.9500643]

>>9500619
Thats why the genre is almost dead now,
Difficult to keep it interesting.

[Anonymous No.9500668]

>>9499327
OP these are the only ones. That’s it.

[Anonymous No.9500673]

>>9500324
i've always loved the box art for this game.

[Anonymous No.9500678]

>>9499306
>I can't really get into this genre because the gameplay is too repetitive.
Then fuck off, it isn't for you. Asking for "the best" is just bait because you've already stated outright you won't tolerate it, you wouldn't be able to even understand the metric by which it would be judged best.

[Anonymous No.9500851]

>>9499306
>I can't really get into this genre because the gameplay is too repetitive.
I bet you play JRPG's all day and think a beat em up is too repetitive. lol

[Anonymous No.9500886]

>>9499927
>>9500851
Rent free

[Anonymous No.9500939]

>>9500886
>t. jarpig

[Anonymous No.9500942]

>>9500673
indeed.

[Anonymous No.9500947]

>>9499306
battletoads

[Anonymous No.9500952]

>>9499306

[Anonymous No.9500953]

>>9500673
I always picked Max.

[Anonymous No.9500954]

>>9500947
It's not a beat em up.

[Anonymous No.9500964]

>>9499306
>write it off as a whole?
Feel no shame in doing that. RPG's aren't my thing. Doesn't make them bad games.

That said, I like the SNES Turtles in Time and Streets of Rage 2. Got REALLY close to beating them both, but never did finish them. They're good solo or on their own. TMNT turns into grab spamming because its super strong in that game. SoR2 has a bunch of different special moves per character so I'd say that's better than TMNT.

[Anonymous No.9500965]

>>9500964
>They're good solo or on their own.
Jesus, alcohol. They're good solo OR WITH FRIENDS.

[Anonymous No.9501016]

>>9499958
I'm not whining I'm being honest, enduring repetition is a part of these games, something you have to become acclimated to in order to enjoy them.
>heh I bet you think it's repetitive because [insult]
is trite nonsense.

[Anonymous No.9501082]

>>9500954
filtered
>>>/v/

[Anonymous No.9501098]

>>9500954
the best games in the series are bmups (arcade + & double dragon)

[Anonymous No.9501103]

>>9501082
It can't fucking be both. Might as well class it as a first person shooter while you're at it.

[Anonymous No.9501106]

>>9499306
Spikeout

[Anonymous No.9501108]

>>9501098
The NES original is the best game in the series.

[Anonymous No.9501115]

>>9501108
if you like gimmicky shit maybe

[Anonymous No.9501142]

>>9499327
>* Pauses everyone's game every time you use a spell*
YOU WILL WATCH MY COOL SPELLS.
AND YOU WILL LIKE IT.

[Anonymous No.9501158]

>>9501016

We get it, you don't like arcade games. Now leave.

[Anonymous No.9501170]

>>9500321
The instructions were part of the cab, usually on the console or sometimes on the bezel around the monitor

[Anonymous No.9501171]

>>9499306
Final fight is really good but will seem really boring if you just tap the punch button the whole game. You are supposed to use timing along with throws and jumps to get through the levels quickly and without harm. You get kill 4 enemies at once using throws which is a lot more fun than just tapping A for 30 minutes on every single enemy.

Die hard arcade might be the ultimate evolution before it evolved into fighting force. The added a lot of variety to the levels and weapons.

>>9500619
Usually press a and b at once or using running attacks and knocking enemies into pits.

>>9500964
Grabbing takes skill in tmnt so I don't mind it.

[Anonymous No.9501178]

>>9501115
I like platforming and Nes Battletoads has the best amount of it.

[Anonymous No.9501224]

Rushing Beat is my shit, it has some fucked up damage scaling but I never gave up on it when I first rented it.

[Anonymous No.9501295]

x-men arcade (6 player version as the wide screen balances the player supers better)
simpsons arcade
tmnt turtles in time snes
streets of rage remake
dragon's crown

[Anonymous No.9501325]

>>9501103
Why can't it be both?

[Anonymous No.9501454]

>>9501325
Final Fight is a beat em up. There's fuck all platforming in it while battletoads is the opposite

[Anonymous No.9501502]

>>9500952
I never saw the movie but I remember the ads for this game. Is it really good or is it just a weird cash grab a-la Scarface or Godfather: The Game?

[Anonymous No.9501526]

>>9501502
the warriors is a rare case of a movie based property having a game with soul.

[Anonymous No.9501548]

I think the most fun I've had is playing Golden Axe 3.

[Anonymous No.9501554]

I never understood why people liked SoR2 more than 3.

3 looks better, plays better and has more memorable levels.

[Anonymous No.9501558]

>>9501554
soundtrack is shit
defusing bombs is shit
last boss is shit

[Anonymous No.9501571]

>>9501502
It was good, but been a while since I played it. Xbox version is vastly superior over PS2 version.

[Anonymous No.9501581]

>>9501554
SoR3 overcomplicates a winning formula. Also it has a worse roster.

[Anonymous No.9501590]

>>9501502
The Scarface game is excellent, and far from a lazy cash grab.

[Anonymous No.9501623]

>>9499509
>you had to be there.

> Be me
> 9 years old in 1990
> Play TMNT the arcade game in a movie theatre lobby
> Go watch the TMNT movie moments later in the same theatre.

[Anonymous No.9501659]

>>9500952
>>9501502
GREAT atmosphere in this game. They really captured the feel of the film, it was much better than it had any right being.

[Anonymous No.9501673]

>>9501623
I remember when the NES version came out, with that coupon for the free pizza that came with it. It was one of the biggest events in our childhood life. That pizza was so good.

My single earliest arcade memory is probably playing Double Dragon. Discovering it with my best friend and there's two characters so, naturally, that's who we pretended to be in our random outdoor childhood romps for the next year. And of course they weren't Billy and Jimmy Lee at the time, the side of the machine said "Spike" and "Hammer". I remember getting to the forest stage, felt surreal, watching this strange digital world unfold in gleaming phosphorous lights. Could never get past the twin Abobos back then. I think they were green?

[Anonymous No.9501702]

>>9499316
>never attempt to acquire taste
thats retarded but yea beat-em-ups are mid, like shmups. impulsive ape finger games but if thats your thing then hey ooga booga

[Anonymous No.9501705]

>>9501571
in what way? because graphically it aint much of an upgrade

[Anonymous No.9501707]

>>9501702
Imagine being such a joyless, pathetic tryhard your whole life.

[Anonymous No.9501723]

>>9501707
cope

[Anonymous No.9501745]

>>9501705
Graphically. Textures are much better.

[Anonymous No.9501767]

>>9501702

OP said he has tried to get into them, but can't, so how exactly will playing "the perfect one" change that opinion? It's the perfect example of something he's already said he isn't into. Just play something else at that point, there are tons of genres of games that you'll like better.

[Anonymous No.9501769]

>>9501702

>my toys are better than yours

Join threads about games you like, stop wasting your time on this earth

[Anonymous No.9501776]

>>9499306
Final fight. Only because of the glitch that's allows to do infinite combos, tmbt turtles in time is pretty goof also

[Anonymous No.9501796]

>>9499306
Little Fighter 2, a freeware PC game that doesn't look like anything special but it had surprisingly fun gameplay with some depth. Lots of customization, and cool characters.

[Anonymous No.9502265]

>>9499306
Something I didn't see others mention that is a huge part of beat em ups is the fact that they are meant to be played by more than one person, with many even going as far as having 4 (and even sometimes even 6) sticks so many people could play at the same time.
The amount of fun playing with 3 more people in a cabinet is hard to explain. With all the monsters, the fighting for the powerups and health, saving a buddy by dropping with a new live/bomb drop, and all the hectic stuff going around.
Playing solo is simply not the same experience. I recommend trying to play them coop with a friend online, physically together would be even better.

As for a specific game, one of my favourites is Alien vs Predator.
It has the perfect amount of complexity in character moves and enemy patterns / powerups that you can always come out of a game session feeling like you got better and the next time you could squeeze more moves/better play from your character.
It's an important part of the experience too because beat em ups that are too simple get boring really fast if the only thing you do is press punch over and over with the occasional powerup and enemy that takes a ton of hits.

Turtles in Time and (not retro) Dragon's Crown are amazing too.

[Anonymous No.9503537]

>>9501796
that's the river city ransom clone isn't it?

[Anonymous No.9503785]

>>9499306
GodHand on ps2

[Anonymous No.9503953]

>don't enjoy beat-em-ups
Everyone's recommending the D&D arcade games because they have an inventory system to add a layer to the gameplay. Also check out River City Ransom, which adds in an RPG-ish system of money, items, and upgrades. Aliens VS Predator leans heavily into weaponry over mashing the attack button. Die Hard Arcade is similar but also has special combo attacks worth learning. Battle Circuit is a bit like RCR, but without the ability to grind. Armored Warriors lets you use defeated enemy's weapons.
Don't play generic jump-and-attack-to-win games like Simpsons, X-Men, or Oriental Legends/Knights of Valour. They are flashy but just button mashers.

[Anonymous No.9503959]

>>9499861
I dunno about insulting, but braindead, yeah. That's great for drunken co-op though.
>>9499865
Also my favorite.

[Anonymous No.9504005]

>>9499306

[Anonymous No.9504903]

>>9499306
unironically only sengoku 3 is remotely fun. horrible genre

[Anonymous No.9504906]

>>9503537
looks like it

[Anonymous No.9505989]

>>9499394
Funny considering the most demanding genre (at least in terms of input coordination), fighting games, is a close relative to it.

[Anonymous No.9505997]

>>9499394
Try IGS beat em ups if you want depth. Some they have fighting game motions to do moves and Gladiator even has wall bounce combos but you wouldn't know that because you're probably some console fag.

[Anonymous No.9506597]

[Anonymous No.9507865]

You might want to try Battle Circuit, Capcom's last beat em up and pseudo sequel to captain commando. Every character has a pretty respectable move pool and you get to buy new moves in between stages, great visuals too. No idea why it never gets mentioned in these threads

[Anonymous No.9509015]

>>9499306
Captain Commando
Xmen
Shadows of Mystara (DnD)

[Anonymous No.9509034]

>>9499306
I had a dream a long time ago that I was at my local arcade (Funspot) and they had a Seinfeld based Beat-em Up
basically it was the Simpsons game but with jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer

[Anonymous No.9509070]

>>9500147
How tf you beat D&D bmups? They ate all my quarters at arcades as a kid

[Anonymous No.9510108]

Streets of Rage 2 is probably the best beat em' up on console, but the Punisher arcade by Capcom was super fun.

[Anonymous No.9511007]

Outside of Streets of Rage 2 and 3 I'd say Capcom were clearly the kings of the beat em up genre. Alien vs Predator, The Punisher, the DnD games and Final Fight 2 and 3 are all great beat em ups too. Although if we're counting modern releases then Streets of Rage 4 would probably be the best beam em up of all time.

[Anonymous No.9512858]

>>9501623
kingly

[Anonymous No.9513115]

>>9499306
Punisher Arcade game

>>9499327
Punisher Arcade game is better

[Anonymous No.9513118]

>>9499337
>Goldenaxe and SoR2 are much more fun.
They are both shit compared to King of Dragons

[Anonymous No.9513121]

>>9499459
>Streets of Rage 2
That's the most slow repetitive beat em up ever

[Anonymous No.9513125]

>>9510108
>Streets of Rage 2 is probably the best beat em' up on console
LOL
Final Fight on Sega CD cleans house with it
Guardian Heroes is the best one

[Anonymous No.9513137]

>>9500619
Simpsons has some team specials and has all sorts of cool items

[Anonymous No.9513161]

>>9499306
The Scott Pilgrim game is coming out on steam in January, you can try it if you want a really decent look into the genre without being bogged down by anything like quarter-eaters.
Plus you can refund it if you don't like it.
Head over to the Fightcade subreddit and see if you can drum up a ROM collection though, you should be able to snag everything from the Capcom D&D games to Punisher.

Or you can just play Sreets of Rage 2.

[Anonymous No.9513228]

>>9507865
because the games in the genre play very similar for the most part and most recomendations are based on nostalgia

[Anonymous No.9513250]

>>9500147
repetitive as fuck strats, and you call other bmups repetitive lmao

[Anonymous No.9513421]

>>9513250
I enjoy repetition if it's fun to execute and finesse while being challenging. Tower of Doom has all that plus branching paths, very different characters and item system, lots of secrets too, it is a great bmup, one of my favs

[Anonymous No.9513454]

>>9513421
Bmups with weapons tend to be superior to fisting and kicking shite, look at knights of the round or AvP for examples

[Anonymous No.9513495]

The Warriors has a good story, a good combat system, and tons of variety. Robbing stores, stealth sections, graffiti minigames, etc

[Anonymous No.9513542]

alien vs predator
shadows over mystara
denjin makai ii
violent storm

the end

[Anonymous No.9513709]

>>9513454
filtered by based grapplers

[Anonymous No.9513721]

>>9513421
>finesse
spamming oils because you can't fight properly isn't finesse

[Anonymous No.9513741]

>>9499306
I have fun memories of Konami's Vendetta. There's nothing particularly special about it (other than using baseball bats to whack your enemies into the walls to the rear of the scenery) and oddly there's no jump button but the arcade I used to frequent when I was a kid in the late 90s gave you 8 credits for a quid so we really got our moneys worth out of it.

[Anonymous No.9513760]

There's just something special about Final Fight. Not exactly a "advanced beat em up" but, I can just out of the blue boot this baby up and have a great time. I know the game like the back of my hand yet, I keep coming back time.and time to kicking Belger out of the window.

Truly a.magical game

[Anonymous No.9513795]

>>9501502
Weird I skipped both titles you mentioned because I thought that's what they were but /vr seems to be real high on both of them, so much so I put them in my backlog.

[Anonymous No.9513805]

If no one mentioned, the Punisher and Nick Fury is a good romp.

[Anonymous No.9513831]

>>9513118
Nobody cares about your untranslated weeb games.

[Anonymous No.9513846]

>>9513760
>when you learn about the punch cancelling

[Anonymous No.9513872]

I can't believe no one said River City Ransom for the NES, my favorite.

[Anonymous No.9513883]

>>9513831
retarded newfag zoomer

[Anonymous No.9513887]

>>9513872
Was this originally an arcade game about high school romance?

[Anonymous No.9513890]

>>9513883
>newfag
I've been coming to this website for at least 25 years now.

[Anonymous No.9513892]

>>9513890
that's not even your actual age fag

[Anonymous No.9513917]

>>9513892
No, I'm almost double that. BTW zoomer being born in the 90s makes your opinion worthless so you can shut up now.

[Anonymous No.9513937]

>>9513872
It is kinda sad that it became River City Girls, which is the pinnacle of suckiness, I know, not retro.

[Anonymous No.9513942]

>>9513887

You're probably getting it confused with Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun aka Renegade, which was an arcade game but didn't have any romance.

>>9513937

RCG1 wasn't even the worst Kunio game that launched that year.

[Anonymous No.9513960]

>>9513942
>but didn't have any romance
You are wrong about that.

[Anonymous No.9513979]

>>9513721
Oil is one strat among many, and if your timing and movement is tight you can chain lock the dark elf with oils but it's tricky

[Anonymous No.9514000]

>>9499348
>Streets of Rage 2 or 3

Streets of Rage 2 is the perfect bmup for me. Tight controls, varied enemies and strategies to deal with them in varied numbers which it's constantly throwing at you and forcing you to adapt to, and holy shit that soundtrack (either on original hardware or like Genesis plus GX with Nuked YM2612 for accurate sound emulation)

shit i'm gonna go play some more

[Anonymous No.9514027]

>>9499306
I won't say they're the best, but some memorable ones for me are
>Turtles in Time
It has lots of cool Turtles villain bosses and the way you can throw enemies at the screen is neat. Very exciting. Probably the best Turtles game?
>Fighting Force (PSX)
I replayed this quite a few times with my brothers.
>Gauntlet Legends
I'm stretching the definition a little but I don't know what else to call it, and this game kicked ass. It was another one I had tons of fun playing with my brothers.

[Anonymous No.9514052]

>>9501295

[Anonymous No.9514065]

>>9513917
ok zoomer newfag who never played king of dragons

[Anonymous No.9514093]

>>9499336
>You just don't like my favourite genre because you're bad at it!
Classic response

[Anonymous No.9514141]

>>9501295
SoRR is surprisingly really fucking good for a fangame. I'd even go as far as to say it's as good as SoR2

[Anonymous No.9514154]

I just beat Double Dragon 1 on NES. Fucking hard and getting used to the back elbow was awkward.

[Anonymous No.9514681]

>>9500197
If you are in a tight enough situation to justify spending health to retake the offensive you are probably better off restarting that particular run. It's the same reason I could never get into strategy games. There's no incentive for anything less than an optimal/ideal run so as soon as you slip up, continuing feels pointless.
>>9500319
I too liked specials having a dedicated meter, so they could be limited without pissing away the most valuable in game resource. Streets of Rage 4 allowing you to recover health spent on special moves was an interesting take as well. Rather than outright punish you for specials, it made it a tense gamble.

[Anonymous No.9514691]

>>9500965
Odin, methamphetamine. Having worked in arcades I AGREE.

[Anonymous No.9514693]

>>9500954
there is a beat em up Battletoads game on arcade.

[Anonymous No.9514763]

>>9514093
And yet you cannot refute it. Classic response.

[Anonymous No.9514849]

>>9514693
No one is referring to that when they say Battletoads though.

[Anonymous No.9514851]

>>9514065
I'm not the only one. Goldenaxe has dragons anyway. It's better.

[Anonymous No.9515836]

>>9514849
Patricians do, only NESbeard shitters obsess with the NES one