Genre of the Month (MAR 2024 TR) - Brutal Beat 'em Ups

[ZRofel]

Yeah, Fight'N Rage is fantastic. It feels like a melding of all the best parts of Streets of Rage and Turtles in Time.

Streets in Time: Turtles of Rage

In a parallel universe, that was my favorite arcade game of 1995. The best part was the 15-minute elevator battle against every U.S. president in the form of a dinosaur.

I think a big part of why I've always loved beat 'em ups is, for a long time, they felt like the games with the richest, most detailed sprite-work you could find. I feel like fighting games eventually claimed that title, but because I'm extremely noncompetitive I never got as into them as I did beat 'em ups.

[Ziggy]

I finally tried TMNT Shredder's Revenge, and hot damn, this game is awesome!

My first reaction of just opening the case for the first time was complete joy. I'm so use to modern physical games coming with nothing. Not even a manual, since a lot of them are just digital now. But Shredder's Revenge comes packed with a bunch of stuff. An art booklet, stickers, a Pizza Hut coupon and a reversible cover!



It was such a throwback to gaming in the 80s and 90s, when you would open up the box to a new game and it was packed with a bunch of stuff. Sometimes cool foldouts to advertise other games. I don't know if that was the intention including all of that stuff, but that was the impression that I got. And the Pizza Hut coupon definitely put a smile on my face.

Oh, right, and the game itself is awesome to play! The instant I took control of a turtle, I was able to tell how well the game plays. It's so smooth and satisfying. And I'm loving all of the new play mechanics. I particularly like the new upward launch attack and the way special moves work.

Double Dragon Neon is one of the funniest games ever made, but the newest one is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons

Either of them worth paying money for?

I made it up to what I think is the last boss but kept dying. I might have to use the option for more credits.

Last boss is the twins, and when you beat one of them the other jumps into a robot or something if I recall.

Yep, that's exactly what happens. That robot or something handed me my ass on my last credit the first time I played it. In fact, it took me a few tries to get up to the last boss, that last level was a little spike in difficultly (not in a bad way). I tried the assist that only adds one credit, but still failed. So I ended up using the assist that adds the most credits and special moves, but divides your score by 10, and I beat it that way. But this game was a lot of fun, I'll have to remember to return to it. Maybe I can eventually beat the last boss without any assists.

[Raging Justice]

Double Dragon Neon is one of the funniest games ever made, but the newest one is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons

Either of them worth paying money for?

I made it up to what I think is the last boss but kept dying. I might have to use the option for more credits.

Last boss is the twins, and when you beat one of them the other jumps into a robot or something if I recall.

Yep, that's exactly what happens. That robot or something handed me my ass on my last credit the first time I played it. In fact, it took me a few tries to get up to the last boss, that last level was a little spike in difficultly (not in a bad way). I tried the assist that only adds one credit, but still failed. So I ended up using the assist that adds the most credits and special moves, but divides your score by 10, and I beat it that way. But this game was a lot of fun, I'll have to remember to return to it. Maybe I can eventually beat the last boss without any assists.

Don't know which version of Streets of Rage 4 you're playing, but I think in the latest updates they made that fight harder. Actually, the whole last level was made harder from what I have heard. After making the rest of the game easier, it's like they upped the difficulty of the last stage to maintain balance in the universe I guess LOL

I haven't played the new one, but Double Dragon Neon is fun. It's very 80s inspired with its looks and sounds, it definitely looks and feels like an arcade game too. Honestly though, the humor is the best part. Skullmageddon is a phenomenal character. His personality is infused into every part of the game. He's like a parody of Skeletor from He-Man. They also have cameos of him and Neon's versions of Billy/Jimmy in the River City Girls games. Soundtrack in Neon is excellent too, some remixed, classic DD tunes and some 80s inspired stuff. It's not quite as amazing as SoR 4 though in terms of overall gameplay, but Neon is definitely a memorable experience, just don't expect a traditional DD game. It's probably more in line with those silly DD/Battletoads crossover games.

Nice tune from the soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW98Z9W1X5I

Skullmaggedon, along with one of his appearances in River City Girls:




EDIT: So if you get the LRG release of Streets of Rage 4, which I think was the second physical release after the initial retail one, you get this awesome image as an alternate cover (it's reversible):

[Syndicate]

...this is a really cool topic for March. It's also great to see, like others pointed out, that this genre definitely isn't dead. Over the last few years I've enjoyed Streets of Rage 4, Shredder's Revenge, River City Girls, and few others that may have been mentioed or not that I have in the stacks but just haven't a chance to try out yet (e.g. Jitsu Squad and Final Vendetta). I really enjoyed SOR4, I didn't expect much once I saw the art style, which I warmed up to, but the gameplay is excellent. The OST is solid, my favorite track is the one that plays through the dojo stage, but not quite up to the level of the first two games. Looking back on some classics in the genre though, some of my favorites are that I didn't see mentioned, it was cool to see Night Slashers get some attention though, I've had a bit of fun w/that one.

• Moonwalker (Arcade)
• Captain America and the Avengers (Arcade)
• Aliens vs Predator (Arcade)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
• Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
• Guardian Heroes
• Growl (Arcade)
• Mystical Fighter
• Dynamite Cop
• Zombie Revenge
• Die Hard Arcade
• X-Men

...there are a few I'd like to try out that look kind of cool like Batman Returns of the SNES and Arabian Fight, which I've never seen in an arcade or got a real home port.

[Raging Justice]

...there are a few I'd like to try out that look kind of cool like Batman Returns of the SNES and Arabian Fight, which I've never seen in an arcade or got a real home port.

Batman Returns has really nice graphics and music. To say that it's cinematic is not an exaggeration and the game actually follows the movie story line pretty closely too. There's one level I love that is darkly lit, really sets a mood.



It's funny because it's a Konami game but plays closer to Capcom's Final Fight games, but with some twists like pure side scrolling levels and Mode 7 Batmobile stages. I feel like this may be the most brutal version of Batman in a video game. He is very much a brute force fighter in this game, grabbing people by the neck and throwing them into background scenery or just slamming their face into the ground. This is Batman on steroids. I mean, look at this:



The side scrolling levels are interesting, one has you moving through a building as it's burning around you

Listen to this amazing music from the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojV13a-128
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T81MPQb6FJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdEfyOEMGf8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_3uvpQvRrg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCiqUO1_3_o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqhK5Kdk4iM

The SNES and the Genesis both have their merits when it comes to audio capability, but this soundtrack could only have worked on the SNES, as i feel like that console was easier to do cinematic, film score, style music on.

The really pinnacle of Konami and Batman though would be The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the SNES, a masterpiece in my humble opinion. Both games are great though











EDIT: You know talking about these games and thinking back on the 16-bit era, I don't know if younger gamers will ever truly understand what a massive leap forward the 16-bit era was for graphics and audio in video games.