Most moves = The best Beatemup game

[Gamerforlife]

Personally, I like a beat 'em up to have just enough moves to keep things interesting, but not so many as to make things complicated. One of the reasons I never enjoyed the Devil May Cry games as much as some people is because there are too many moves and weapons and you're expected to learn how to use to them all and it's just too much. I always preferred Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden games because while they have lots of moves and weapons, you can just find what works for you and stick with that. You don't need to be well versed in every single move, combo and weapon in those games. Sometimes less is more. The 2D equivalent, The Dishwasher games on Xbox Live Arcade, do that as well. There's tons of moves and weapons in those games, but you can generally just find what works for you and stick with it

I think JT brought up a good point. There are other ways to make a game stay fresh and interesting besides just having tons of moves. Double Dragon Neon has a very small moveset, but they find ways to keeps things fresh and entertain you in every stage. If I judged that game on just the number of moves alone, I'd say it's not even worth playing, but there's more to the game than that.

[J T]

River city ransom doesn't have the biggest move set, however it had a nice rpg-like system where you could get money and improve your characters stats and even buy a couple of new techniques. I consider it to be one of the better beat em ups of that era.

I consider it to be one of the better beat em ups of all time!

I always loved River City Ransom.

[Violent By Design]

I think some people are taking what he said a little far. I think at the core, he is correct. Streets of Rage 2 is the best beat em up I've played, and the first thing that comes to mind when I play lesser beat em ups is the lack of maneuvers you can do. Of course it's not the only reason why Streets of Rage is awesome, but a nice variety of move sets removes the illusion that you're repeating the same thing over and over again.

[WARvault]

For a beat'em-up/rpg/metroidvania with a bunch of moves, Monsters Tale for teh DS is terrific. Also, TMNT for the GBA.