Board 8 > i didn't "get" beat 'em up games

(+) Yeah! (+)

tmnt, scott pilgrim, simpsons, etc

they were fun to mash around in but i never saw the actual gameplay appeal

and then i played streets of rage 4

this game is a lot of fun

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What was it about Streets of Rage that changed your mind

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i don't know, maybe it's that it's not inherently designed to gobble quarters? plus the fact that i can appreciate good game design better than when I was younger.

when i first played scott pilgrim it really bothered me that the enemy had to be directly on the same y axis for me to hit them, it felt super stiff and i lifted my nose and said HMPH

and now i wish i could play it somehow

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If TMNT and Simpsons were your main touchstones then I can understand why youd feel that way. Konami were the worst offenders when it came to bullshit design in beat em ups. Plus those two arent particularly deep since you only have one ground attack and one or two jump attacks

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I'm interested in Streets of Rage 4 since it has combos and a buncha different attacks, seems to feel like a fighting game?

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I didn't really either when I was young. I just knew they were fun with friends.
However there were a few standouts back then.
Notably, Captain America and The Avengers and Maximum Carnage.

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Turtles in Time is actually pretty complex compared to the previous TMNT games but still pales in comparison to Streets of Rage.

bullhogderbaxer posted...

Turtles in Time is actually pretty complex compared to the previous TMNT games but still pales in comparison to Streets of Rage.

This is a correct take (with the caveat TiT is still a masterpiece)

Basically you have about three levels of Beat em up quality

Old TMNT/Final Fight/SoR1 (terrible depth, mash button to win)

Final Fight 3, Knights of the Round, Turtles in Time, etc. (some depth, still kinda superficial though)

SoR2/3/4/Remake, Guardian Heroes, etc. (actual complex mechanics and/or sophisticated enemy manipulation, has a meaningful gap between skill floor and ceiling)

All the SoRs are extremely good and very different from each other so they come strongly recommended if you want to see what a good but more classic BMU is like! They also have incredibly soundtracks too, as a bonus, so the experience is amazingly pleasant.

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it seems like sor1-3 aren't on switch BOOO

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Snrkiko posted...

it seems like sor1-3 aren't on switch BOOO

There's the Sega Genesis Classics that has SOR 1-3, but I heard the Switch version of that collection has input lag sadly so you're better off playing them on something else.

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Having enemies bounce off walls is legitimately enough to make beat em ups go from bleh to great

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Back in the day they were a pretty safe bet when picking up a new game.

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SoR3 is neat because you need basically 0 skill until the Mona/Lisa fight where suddenly you NEED to know what you're doing

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When they first started "hitting" (pun intended) arcades, they were a breath of fresh air for the newer generation of arcade-goers. After the golden age ended in '83 or so, arcades started to downsize due to "samey" games or completely wacky games.

When Double Dragon came out...wow! I still remember the first time playing Double Dragon at a small bowling alley arcade. Completely mesmerized! And then when Final Fight came out...beat 'em ups just really took off.

I can understand if you didn't grow up with them or weren't "there" when they first started coming out in arcades, you may not get them. But for those of us who did experience this new type of arcade game at the time in the mid-80s, it was pretty exciting.

And then SFII came out... :D

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I played through SoR2 for fun yesterday on my Genesis mini

always fun to play through

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Excellent ending to the story. I recommend playing the rest of the series now, particularly Streets of Rage 2.

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Streets of Rage Remake is a pretty great way to play them if you want to.
one of the best fan projects ever made. Sega DMCA'd the game after release but it pops up in a google search as it's considered abandonware.

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StifledSilence posted...

Excellent ending to the story. I recommend playing the rest of the series now, particularly Streets of Rage 2.

And only the japanese version of SOR3. Western version is very broken with lot of enemies having way too much HP. It ruins the flow of the game.

Play as blaze to watch her get punched by bad guys is fun

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are sor1-3 available in any form of ps1/psp/vita?


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I mean.
Genesis emulators sure.
Sega Ultimate Genesis Collection too, though I don't know how good the ports are.

Fan remake on PC would be my go to honestly but otherwise, it's some form of emulation.

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...wait, that never came out on Vita. Shame there.
Then scratch that. Just Genesis emulators.

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Snrkiko posted...

are sor1-3 available in any form of ps1/psp/vita?

if youre looking purely for a handheld version of the trilogy to play, the Genesis collection on Switch is really good. You can even play the superior Japanese version of SoR3.

As for official PSP/Vita releases, I dont think there are.

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are the sor1 and 2 ports on 3ds good?

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looking at reviews sega genesis collection for switch might be the way to go

guess I'll wait for a sale, but man 50 games for a system i never played sounds pretty neat

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SNES Port of Turtles in Time is the standard in which you have to compare others to

if you're looking at the Arcade version, yea, its not that good


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Gonna point out The Ninja Warriors Again. There's a Switch version with new content but it's like $20, so use your judgment.

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Streets of Rage is a great series. Turtles in Time is still my favorite beat em up though.

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oh

i have a gamefly trial guess I'll rent the sega collection there

and probably impulse buy sor4 switch soon after

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That's because you were mashing around. I don't think you can like any game if you just mash around buttons randomly.

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Snrkiko posted...

are the sor1 and 2 ports on 3ds good?

Yes theyre very good. The developers added a few extra features in them, such as a mode where you can one-hit kill everyone.

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Maximum Carnage is one of my favorite games ever. The soundtrack is amazing and you just have so many different moves and ways to dick the enemies over

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Other than SoR4, are there any decent modern Beat 'em Ups?

The only ones that spring to mind are Double Dragon Neon and Sacred Citadel.

Well, and Saints of Rage. Still mad that's not a real game.
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River City Girls was pretty good, and if you're okay with goofy graphics as long as the gameplay is good, check out the SOR4 developers' previous game, Streets of Fury EX which has an even deeper combo system than this game does

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fightn rage is fun

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and now i got sor4 on the go

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hey man

fuck these fucking judo dudes

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when i was a kid i really didn't like trying to figure out the collision, i.e., how far 'up' did you have to be to hit someone, or how far 'up' did you have to scroll to be safe from an attack

i did beat that x-men game in the arcade once. that was a good time, even though it just came at the cost of many quarters from a collective i wanna say... 6 of us

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Snrkiko posted...

hey man

fuck these fucking judo dudes

I dont even punch them anymore, throws only

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please tell me i get to unlock estel as a playable character

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Snrkiko posted...

please tell me i get to unlock estel as a playable character

Sorry, I'm not in Streets of Rage 4.

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no ultraviolence for me v_v

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is there a single highly celebrated pinnacle of this genre, a la super metroid/sotn?

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Snrkiko posted...

is there a single highly celebrated pinnacle of this genre, a la super metroid/sotn?

Streets of Rage 2!

SNES Turtles in Time and the original Final Fight, too.
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Yeah those would be general consensus titles. Ask people who are enthusiasts of the genre and youd probably hear Bare Knuckle 3 rather than Streets of Rage 2, and most of the later Capcom stuff like Shadow Over Mystara, Battle Circuit, or Aliens Vs. Predator.

There are a lot of pretty good beat em ups just a step below the best, by a lot of different companies. Stuff like GROWL, Denjin Makai, Night Slashers, Ninja Baseball Bat Man, Sengoku 3, Knights of Valour, Knuckle Bash, Rastan 3, etc. There actually arent too many well-known beat em ups that are, like, really bad, only Double Dragon 3 (all versions, arcade is even worse than the NES) comes immediately to mind

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Where does Golden Axe fall on the totem pole for enthusiasts? I remember loving it as a kid but I went back to Golden Axe 1 and it definitely felt like it fell in the mashy stratum to me

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yeah 1 isnt too great but Revenge of Death Adder is good

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I dont think Golden Axe is too warmly thought of. The mechanics arent that deep and the existence of the shoulder bash and enemies that constantly try to surround you seem to make it hard for many to adjust. I enjoy it though and it doesnt wear out its welcome.

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no lie sor4 might be my goty

what else has come out this year that i've played

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