Together Retro: Beat-'Em-Ups

[Ack]

I take it back, I did end up beating Streets of Rage 2 before Streets of Rage, which I have yet to go back to. So there you have it, SoR2 is out of the way. I'll do a write up in the Games Beaten 2018 thread.

I booted up Streets of Rage 3 (well...Bare Knuckle 3. The Steam SEGA collection now offers the ability to swap between regions!) to give it a shot, and whoa, it's different. Specials are now on some kind of timer, enemies are more varied from the start and display better skills and teamwork, I can roll around, and everything feels very, very fast. I got to the first boss and found myself presented with something that's just embarrassing. Yeah, I think I prefer SoR2. I'll spend more time with the third one though.

I also booted up Alien Storm to give it a shot, and it's a weird one! I am fighting aliens with a flamethrower in a beat 'em up style and can roll across the screen to evade, but I have to keep an eye on my health and my energy levels. On top of this, there are light gun-style segments mixed in at times. What a strange hybrid that has completely flown under my radar! I'm kinda digging it.

[Exhuminator]

Well, I have the following queued up and ready to play:

Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Golden Axe 2
Golden Axe 3
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3

Are all these new to you? Or have you beaten some and are just revisiting?

[Ack]

They're mostly new. I stuck to the Nintendo side of the street during this era, so the classic Genesis beat 'em ups are not something I have much experience with.

Now on the SNES side, yeah, I have a lot more experience with the likes of Final Fight, the Rushing Beat series, Turtles in Time, Death and Return of Superman, Combatribes, and so on.

[marurun]

I think you’ll find SOR2 and BK3 trounce any SNES-side competition. Have to go to the arcades or 32-bit consoles to do better.

[Xeogred]

Ahh, now Ack too! Join the internet to discover that SoR3 garners strange (often negative) reactions...

I mean I can see how it's more over the top and Yuzo Koshiro got a little weird with the music experimentation... but it's still pure bliss to play. 10/10 for me even if I do love SoR2 the most. The fluidity and movesets of SoR3 is incredible.

I liked The Peace Keepers (Rushing Beat Syura) growing up a lot but nowadays it's hard to get into, every enemy is a sponge and the pacing of the combat is just so sluggish. Bit of a drag, a tough balance for some beat em' ups. I think the TMNT's all hold up well. I'd take Final Fight 1 over Streets of Rage 1, but after that... nothing even comes close to SoR2/SoR3 for me console wise.

Undercover Cops is a cool gem on the SNES, I haven't beaten it though since it does seem to drag too. But it's pretty cool, has that distinguished IREM look and an amazing OST.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H32Ym9TUu_c

[Ack]

Hahaha, ah, Xeo, please don't think I'm trashing SoR3. It's not bad, just different. It's gonna take some getting used to. The music is good, the changes interesting, and I'll have to adapt with new tactics and strategies for all the tools I now have access to. The embarrassing part isn't the game itself, it's the first boss, who is... something.

Now that I've put time into the SoR series though, I can see clearly what the Rushing Beat games were trying to do. There's a lot that feels *inspired* by SoR.

[Sarge]

I'm not a huge fan of SoR3 myself. I like Bare Knuckle III more, but that isn't quite as good as SoR2. I think I actually prefer Final Fight 3 over either iteration. I adore the first two Streets of Rage games, though.

I think you'll find the SNES side still has some great brawlers and hack-and-slashers. For instance, the SNES got a lot more of the Capcom arcade ports, which means King of Dragons and Knights of the Round, and there's also Captain Commando, although it doesn't stack up as well to the arcade version. There are even some weirder offshoots like the Pirates of Dark Water game; the Genesis version is a platformer, the SNES one is a decent brawler. Sonic Blast Man 2 ends up being pretty fun, too.

Plus, SNES has Ninja Warriors, Turtles in Time, and Super Double Dragon.

Now, Rushing Beat is something I never could get into. The combat feels a bit off to me. Maybe I should try to give them a go again.

[Exhuminator]

There are a fair amount of Super Famicom beat 'em ups that never made it to the west. A few have been fan translated.

Anybody gonna play 3D (polygonal) beat 'em ups besides me?

[Sarge]

Depending on how things go, I might make a run at Die Hard Arcade or Dynamite Deka. It's also been a long time since I played through Gekido on PSX.

EDIT: Double Dragon III done. Again. Well, I ended up using save states at the very end this time, as I screwed up the last stage and lost both of my helpers quickly. Don't even ask. I usually get to the final boss in really good shape, and I totally have that pattern down. It's actually easier in a lot of ways than the final fight of Double Dragon II, as the AI can be baited a bit more. As long as you know how to avoid her fire pillar, you can Cyclone Kick her to bits (go for it as she approaches from the top or bottom). It does take pretty good timing to land the hits, though. If you pull them consistently (easier than in DD2), you'll also avoid the flame pillar when she disappears if you happen to be too close to her (which, actually, you need to be).

This one is still solid, but it's not nearly as good as Double Dragon II. Areas are pretty much just arenas, and enemies keep coming until you clear them all out. The cool addition is recruiting two of the bosses. Chin is crazy slow, but very powerful, and Yagyu is a high-jumping ninja that has mobility to spare, but not a ton of power on his strikes, despite wielding a sword.

Really, the name of the game is health management. Until you get Chin and Yagyu, use lots of Cyclone Kicks and take out the bosses with your Nunchucks. Once you get them, use them copiously and save Billy for last; he's the best against bosses in my opinion.

EDIT 2: I don't know why I do this to myself sometimes. Morbid curiosity, I guess. I played through the terrible Chinese unlicensed game, Dragon Knife. I'm pretty sure they snitched their engine, or big parts of it, from Double Dragon II. You've got a cyclone kick, attacking differently with the face buttons depending on your direction, and so on. Of course, they completely missed the point of the A/B thing, as both attacks hit forward...

Graphics were okay for an unlicensed game, the soundtrack was bleeeeeaaaargh. Could have been much worse; strangely, I don't think it was even far removed from Arabian Fight. I'll give it... maybe a 2.5 a 3.0, just because it's so much of a slog getting through some stages.

[alienjesus]

Hahaha, ah, Xeo, please don't think I'm trashing SoR3. It's not bad, just different. It's gonna take some getting used to. The music is good, the changes interesting, and I'll have to adapt with new tactics and strategies for all the tools I now have access to. The embarrassing part isn't the game itself, it's the first boss, who is... something.

Now that I've put time into the SoR series though, I can see clearly what the Rushing Beat games were trying to do. There's a lot that feels *inspired* by SoR.

I was wondering what was so weird about Shiva and then I remembered you were playing the Japanese version and you’re talking about Ash.

He’s playable with a cheat code and is ridiculously OP