100°

A Tribute to the Beat'em Up Genre

You probably know Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and TMNT Turtles in Time. All three are "oldschool" beat'em ups, developed in the eighties and nineties, but the genre changed with the time.

The Game-Art-HQ Community started an art collaboration where 15 beat'em ups from 1988 till 2010 were illustrated by around 20 artists, there are also lots of informations about the beat'em up genre, the illustrated game and what it added to the genre.

The games are:
Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Golden Axe, Captain Commando, Streets of Rage, TMNT: Turtles in Time, TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist, Legend, Battletoads, Comix Zone, Panzer Bandit, Castle Crashers, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Tron: Evolution

Not every famous beat'em up is featured there yet, and i guess not everyone would count Castlevania Lords of Shadow as a beat'em up too.

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game-art-hq.com
kewlkat0073981d ago (Edited 3981d ago )

Damn what happened to this genre..with online gaming evolving over the past couple of years, you would think that you'd get some nice brawlers...

There is a game I used to play on the SNES called "Brawl Brothers"...Good game. I used to love that "Jaleco" tune at the beginning.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Genres That have died or dying slowly, are Beatem ups, Platformers, Jrpgs

rextraordinaire3981d ago

At least there's Dragon's Crown coming out on august 6.

This one should fix the empty space for a while.

As for JRPGs, those are all on handhelds, but the genre is far from dying. Just take a look at the PSP and DS libraries of great JRPGs. Vita is on a slow start for those, but the 3ds already has Shin Megami, Fire Emblem, Etrian Odyssey, Mario and Luigi, Rune Factory, etc.

It's no snes days, but it's not dead.

THamm3981d ago

nothing compared to back in the day like putting a fist to thugs, nowadays it's a crime

tacotruck3981d ago

This just reminds me why Beat 'Em Ups are the best games to set aside an afternoon with.

Thanks, looks like I know how I am spending my Sunday now.

isarai3981d ago

Some of these aren't really beat'em ups though, they're more hack and slash, you can't exactly beat someone up with a sword. I do miss the genre though, there are far too few entries in the genre these days, wish we could get a martial arts RPG already

ShaunCameron3981d ago

True. But the hack-and-slash genre right now is the closest you're gonna get to beat-'em-up's.

I enjoyed MadWorld, Anarchy Reigns and SSB Brawl's Adventure mode.

330°

Anyone else not blown away with graphics these days? Me neither

Talal writes: "I'm talking about having that rush of excitement - that feeling you get when you know you've just made a memory for a lifetime."

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videogamer.com
OptimusDK10h ago

There are different games. Some have gamplay at it highest priority, some have the story, some have the replay value and choices... There are a lot of different game experiences.

It is laughable that just now graphics does not have anything to do with that experiene. We have had many games of that type over time. This is just the one that have come closest to feel like playing an actual movie. Just look the the Digital foundry walkthrough it is a masterpiece in that perspective and hence wrth trying. But yes do not do it for the gameplay - but that was never the goal of this experience.

GamerRN2h ago

It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!

Lightning772h ago

Pretty much my thoughts. They were technical marvel's on PS and still are. The moment Xbox puts out a graphically intense game is doesn't matter suddenly.

4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. Glad to finally see it in its glory.

fr0sty1h ago

FFS, gaming journalism has really gone downhill. At least hire people with a basic grasp of grammar... "Me neither" means the exact opposite of what the "author" is trying to say. That's like saying "I could care less"... lol.

S2Killinit1h ago

Maybe because the gameplay being dull allowed it to have the amazing graphics and people are not as impressed by graphics alone anymore? I mean there is a lot of sites saying the story and the gameplay are lackluster. So what are we supposed to enjoy then? Cgi graphics are beautiful but since they arent interactive, they dont impress me as much as they used to. Thats an extreme example, but you get my drift.

10h agoReplies(7)
Kneetos9h ago

Mario kart 8 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sonic18819h ago

Horizon forbidden West has great graphics and great gameplay

GamerRN2h ago

Yeah but graphics don't matter, remember?

VincentVanBro4h ago

I agree and I actually think Forbidden West looks better than Hellblade 2. I easily prefer looking at it at least.

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70°

Cronela's Mansion Gets Physical Game Boy & SNES Cartridges

The upcoming Cronela's Mansion will launch on Switch, NES, Game Boy and SNES, with the latter now set to receive physical cartridges.

210°

Atari has acquired the Intellivision brand, ending the first ever console war

Atari has acquired Intellivision. The company announced today that it had acquired its long-time rival, ending one of the original console rivalries, dating back to the 1970s.

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videogameschronicle.com
darthv721d 15h ago

Wow.... two of my earliest gaming platforms. All they need is Coleco to round things out.

This is like Nintendo buying SEGA.

OtterX1d 13h ago

YES! Colecovision was my start! I came to know Mario there in Donkey Kong before the NES was even a thing. :)

Golfcoachh1d 10h ago

Yes such fond memories. My first was the odyssey, but I really started gaming on my colecovision. Had atari and intelivision but coleco was by far the best of the bunch to me.

Kratos_Kart20071d 10h ago

Yes...a gamer from my era...LMAO

Coleco was good...LOL

shinoff21831d 4h ago

Mine was atari. You guys go back further then me even

anast1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

Good piece of history here.

edit: I wanted to read it but the cookies pop up is stopping me.

badboyz091d 15h ago

This was just before my time. I do remember my mom's friend having one all dusty in her apartment back in the day.

[R.I.P.} Ms. Irene

Abear211d 15h ago

People forget that console wars are part of the history of this industry. The console wars were started by competitive companies all the way back then and continued through Sega vs Nintendo, Jaguar/3DO/NeonGeo, and PlayStation vs Nintendo and Xbox.

These companies are across oceans and competing for the same business. These companies created the console wars, not crazy fanboys.

anast1d 12h ago

Console wars are fun. It's fun to be a fanboy too. I don't get what's wrong with any of this as entertainment.

darthv721d 12h ago

Young kid school yard banter was fun. 30-40+ year olds still doing it is just disturbing. Many my age (50+) grew out of that a long time ago. We may still have our preferences, but we also embrace a more central position because there is a lot to enjoy on a wide range of genres and systems.

You'll understand one day and then things will forever change.

shinoff21831d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

Atari to nes. Mario bros hooked me

anast14h ago

@Darth

Yes, I'd like to think 'we' take a central position most of the time, at work, at the grocery, mundane interactions in the world, with our health habits, and so on. Sure, reaching the Aristotelian middle is a great thing, but so is having a few hobbies in which we don't have to be this way, and as long as there's transparency, which is key, they can be considered a category of 'socially acceptable' fun not completely limited to age. Of course, there are extreme circumstances, but to blanket the whole idea of fun with only extreme cases and age is a bit juvenile.

Also, as I've been doing this living thing, I've found that age isn't a necessary perquisite for wisdom, though, it does affect taste.

anast14h ago

@Shin
Mario pulled me in, but Mega Man hooked me. We even used to LARP it. Good 'ol days.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 14h ago
Petebloodyonion1d 10h ago

The only thing back then was that the game would still appear on competing platforms.
Remember the Coleco Vision could play Atari2600 games via an Expansion modude.

jznrpg1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

I had both. Snafu on Intellivision was addicting as hell. Also had Colecovision which had Time Pilot. Combat was probably my favorite Atari game and both Atari and Intellivision had similar games like Pitfall and Jungle Hunt. It’s been so long I don’t really remember which game I liked bettter out of those but I did play my Intellivision a bit more than Atari though I’m not sure why besides Snafu. That was 40+ years ago damn I’m old lol

Dagexon1d 13h ago

Ahh you're making me all nostalgic! Not old enough to have played these on original hardware but my first console was a bootleg console from Costco that had a bunch of intellivision and atari games. Then had a lot of fun with intellivision and atari collections on ps1 and 2.
Snafu was one of my favourite games and me and my partner still occasionally play it to this day

Abnor_Mal1d 4h ago

Yes, River Raid was my sh*t.

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