As much as the venerable Michael Bay might enjoy populating his action films with an endless series of car chases and explosions, the core of the action film genre is good ol’ fashioned fisticuffs. The crunching sound of bone and flesh colliding. Ahh, what could be more enjoyable? As a genre, beat ‘em up games may be all sound and fury amounting to nothing, but they’re a damned joy to play.
Introduction:
I wish I could infuse this genre with some sort of depth or critical theory. I wish there were something deeper here aside from a torrent of opponents attacking a small band of allies. The closest equivalent in movies might be martial arts movies, but even those mitigate the onslaught with an occasional awkward attempt at storytelling.
In the game universes, as in the movies, the motives are generally so simple that a child could understand them. And that’s helpful because the objectives are so simple that a child could understand them as well. Wouldn’t want the poor tyke getting confused. Generally the main characters are trying to save a kidnapped girlfriend or acquire some sort of ultimate treasure or get revenge. And the gameplay boils down to pressing down on the right d-pad or analog stick while mashing various buttons. Naturally, there are a few complications, but the best games of the genre keep it simple. Punches, kicks, throws, and possibly a special move or two are the main components, and it really doesn’t need much more explanation than that.
As with many of my other genre breakdowns, my coverage is not comprehensive for the sake of a reasonable amount of brevity. While I might want to pontificate endlessly about the various beat ‘em ups that have drained me of my precious money over the years, I’m not sure you’d be willing to sit still that long. So, I’ve left a few off the list. In fact, there are some notable omissions: The Simpsons arcade game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Final Fight, Golden Axe, and many many more. Please don’t be angry. I hate it when you’re angry.
Without further ado…
Double Dragon (1989):
There may have been other games that came before it, but this is the true progenitor of the genre. Billy and Jimmy Lee are brothers who practice a powerful form of martial arts similar to Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee’s creation), and one day Billy’s poor girlfriend Marian is kidnapped by the Black Warriors (sigh). Their ultimate goal is to learn the secrets of the Lees’ fighting style. Never one to sit down for a fight, Billy goes off and beats up every single gang member he can get a hold of. Stages end with boss battles in the way that has become so traditional. The coop gameplay for the NES version, which is the version I’m most familiar with, wasn’t really cooperative. Players actually just took turns controlling Billy on his rampage. In the arcade version, players each took control of a brother. Of course, if that mechanic had been employed on the NES, the ending, where Jimmy is revealed to be the mastermind behind the Black Warriors, would have been truly perplexing.
What, you were expecting something sensical? If the game doesn’t boggle your mind enough, try watching the movie. About the only thing that salvages that movie was Alyssa Milano playing Marian. Who’s the boss, anyone?
Over the years, the game has been ported to different systems, generally keeping the core game intact. Most recently, it was released on Xbox Live Arcade with optional enhanced graphics and true coop gameplay. Despite the utter inanity of the game, it spawned a franchise and still has quite the loyal following.
River City Ransom (1990):
This is the video game equivalent of the movie The Warriors: pure cult classic. Tell me if this plot sounds familiar: two guys fight a bunch of bad guys to save one of their girlfriends. In this particular case, the protagonists are also trying to save their high school, and the enemies frequently yell out “BARF!” upon their defeat. Now, it might sound as though I scorn this game, but that’s not the case at all. It was, in fact, the first beat ‘em up that held my attention. Do you know how it did that? RPG elements! God, I am a sucker for leveling up characters. The attributes that you could level in the game were very simple, and a lot of the game focused on purchasing certain upgraded moves to earn more money. It added a competitive element to the cooperative gameplay.
By definition, a cult classic is not something that sold a lot of copies. In Japan, the game went on to have seven different installments, but in the U.S. it languished for years. That is, until Atlus decided to create River City Ransom EX for the GBA. Unfortunately, that game even became a cult classic of sorts itself, and it’s quite difficult to find copies in stores. Fortunately for you, dear reader, Nintendo is bringing River City Ransom to a Virtual Console near you.
Streets of Rage 2 (1992):
For me, Streets of Rage 2 is the ultimate example of revenge beat ‘em ups. The player could choose from four different characters, each with different move sets, and weapons dropped from enemies could be wielded until they broke. Whenever I played with my friends, there was a lot in-fighting whenever the katana dropped from an enemy. Add that fun game mechanic to an oddly enjoyable soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro based on ’90s club music, and you’ve got one of the few games I beat over ten times.
But, lest you think this game is some paragon of virtue, allow me to quote some of the plot from the instruction manual:
This time it’s personal
One year had passed since ex-police officers Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding had broken the Syndicate’s hold and destroyed it’s leader, the mysterious “Mr X”. Peace had returned to the streets, people were moving back to into the once vacant city neighbourhoods, and the city had returned to prosperity.
On the anniversary of the Syndicate’s destruction, Adam, Axel and Blaze met at their favourite nightspot to commemorate the occasion and catch up on the latest news. Both Axel and Blaze had moved out of the city; Axel working as a bodyguard, and Blaze teaching dance. . .
As he was planning to check out of his hotel the next day, Axel received a frantic phone call from Eddie “Skate” Hunter. He had arrived home from school to find the place a total ruin. He’d called the police department, but nobody there had seen or heard from his brother since early that morning. . .
Assisted by Adam’s brother Skate and Axel’s friend Max, Axel and Blaze set out to rescue their friend and destroy Mr X once and for all. Standing in their way is the nastiest collection of punk and brawlers ever assembled. Add to that a force of professional fighters specially groomed to take them out of the picture!
It’s a popcorn game, really. Lightly, fluffy, and completely devoid of nutrition. Also, buttered and covered in salt. At least my copy of the game is.
There are three games in the series, but the second game in particular has received a lot of love from the downloadable content community. It has been released on both Virtual Console and on Xbox Live Arcade. While I can’t find sales figures for the second game, the original sold 2.6 million copies for the Genesis. Not too shabby for mindless entertainment.
The Bouncer (2001):
I know it’s hard to remember now, what with 10 bazillion PlayStation 2s on the market, but when the system first launched, supplies were limited. Games were limited. If you wanted to get the console, you had to wait in line for many, many hours to fill your sweaty little hands. That is, of course, unless you offered to buy three games and an extra controller to reserve a system from a corrupt Toys R’ Us employee. Surprisingly, The Bouncer was one of the first games I chose as part of the exorbitantly priced package. Actually, it’s not so surprising given my Square obsession. The Bouncer looked beautiful. It was 3D. The characters were controlled by a rag doll physics engine and did all sorts of previously unimagined realistic things. Did I mention it was gorgeous?
I played it as soon as I got home. I was done with it about ninety minutes later, and I turned to my friend and asked, “Is that all?” Yup. That was all. Beat ‘em ups are usually short, but for a game that cost $60 and was created by my favorite company in the whole wide universe, The Bouncer was a disappointment.
It was a disappointment critically as well. It has a woeful Metacritic rating of 66. Fortunately for Square, that didn’t matter for an early fighting game on the PS2. It sold a fair 380,000 copies in Japan. Sales figures for the U.S. are likely lower, but it’s still not bad for a game without the Final Fantasy moniker.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005):
This game surprised me by being incredibly, amazingly fun. One could describe the game as an action RPG, and one would be correct. But really, it’s just a beat ‘em up spread across a 2-dimensional map. The introduction of very simple puzzles involving switches and levers provides some respite from the constant fighting, but it’s almost entirely combat combat combat. But with mutants! And RPG elements! And equipment upgrades! Don’t get me wrong, the game is almost entirely mindless with player just mashing button combinations until enemies die and shoot up pretty little orbs of colorful goodness. But it’s a fun sort of mindless. The sort of mindless I can get behind. It helps that when there is a story, it involves my favorite superhero team of all-time and one of their coolest enemies. (Side note: How awesome is the name Apocalypse? How awesome is it that his henchmen are called The Horsemen? Answer: SO Awesome.)
Released on pretty much every platform imaginable, the series has certainly been a profitable one for Activision. And, in the same vein, there’s now Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which sold 2.4 million copies on the 360. And just check out that 84 Metacritic rating for X-Men Legends II on the 360. In this format, at least, smash ‘em ups are still viable.
Conclusion:
Outside of arcades and the occasional VC/XBLA entry, beat ‘em ups in their purest forms are a thing of the past. Most games these days feel the need to insert at least a few other game mechanics to differentiate themselves from the masses. The most recent game to really have a beat ‘em up section is Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the subspace emissary section, but even that is broken up with platforming elements.
Gamers are never going to tire of beating things up, at least, in theory. In reality, a pure beat ‘em is boring and lifeless with so many other gameplay options available out there right now. Time to throw this genre on the trash heap of history.
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