List of Underrated Fighters/Beat Em ups

[durkada]

I'm going to throw mine in for Rakugaki Showtime. You have to be playing with friends to get any value out of it, however.

Panzer Bandits isn't bad... Its a Guardian Heroes clone.

[Gamerforlife]

I've always been a fan of the Battle Arena Toshinden series on the PS1.
The first game didn't stand out too much, except for the fact that it was the first weapon's based fighter on the console at the time, (and only fighter, next to the upcoming Tekken port.)
The second game didn't build upon much from the first, with the exception of a few extra combos, a couple new characters, and an overdrive meter..

What made this game superior to the 1st, in my opinion, was it's rocking soundtrack! The tunes were catchier and more pronounced than the first game's soundtrack. (Luckily, you can throw both BAT 1 and 2's discs in your CD player and enjoy the games' soundtracks. I love how old PS games did this!)
The third game is hit or miss for some BAT fans.

New gameplay mechanics such as enclosed arenas, (effectively discarding the Ring Out system of the previous two,) guns (see: Nagisa and Vermillion,) and easier juggling combos made for a dramatically different game than the previous entries. There was also the option to play the game at 60 frames per second, (the first PS game, I think, to do this,) making the gameplay much smoother, but at the cost of the backgrounds' detail. Also, the synth-metal soundtrack returns, but it doesn't retain the charm of BAT 2, IMHO..

Anyway, regardless of any amount of praise I can give this forgotten series, it's reviews were increasingly lackluster with each entry. The 4th game - Toshinden 4, (dropping the 'Battle Arena' moniker,) was only released for Japanese and European consoles, so American gamers like myself never had the chance to experience this one. This, I believe, was probably due to the waning popularity of the series in the States.
There was talk of reviving the franchise for the Wii a couple years ago, and I think a Japanese build of the game was actually created, but that's as far as I'm aware.

I always get a little upset when people bash this series. I own the second one and had some fun times with it. It was a fine game for its time. Not a classic, but a solid game

This is why you can't always go with whatever the gaming media likes or whatever is most popular. Many good to great games have been ignored or bashed by critics over the years. Great games that just ignored and forgotten. The Red Star's reviews(the few that you could even find) were utter bullshit. That game deserved better. Thank god for this site and hardcore gaming 101 for shining a light on gaming's undeservedly ignored games

[Bradtemple87]

I've always been a fan of the Battle Arena Toshinden series on the PS1.
The first game didn't stand out too much, except for the fact that it was the first weapon's based fighter on the console at the time, (and only fighter, next to the upcoming Tekken port.)
The second game didn't build upon much from the first, with the exception of a few extra combos, a couple new characters, and an overdrive meter..

What made this game superior to the 1st, in my opinion, was it's rocking soundtrack! The tunes were catchier and more pronounced than the first game's soundtrack. (Luckily, you can throw both BAT 1 and 2's discs in your CD player and enjoy the games' soundtracks. I love how old PS games did this!)
The third game is hit or miss for some BAT fans.

New gameplay mechanics such as enclosed arenas, (effectively discarding the Ring Out system of the previous two,) guns (see: Nagisa and Vermillion,) and easier juggling combos made for a dramatically different game than the previous entries. There was also the option to play the game at 60 frames per second, (the first PS game, I think, to do this,) making the gameplay much smoother, but at the cost of the backgrounds' detail. Also, the synth-metal soundtrack returns, but it doesn't retain the charm of BAT 2, IMHO..

Anyway, regardless of any amount of praise I can give this forgotten series, it's reviews were increasingly lackluster with each entry. The 4th game - Toshinden 4, (dropping the 'Battle Arena' moniker,) was only released for Japanese and European consoles, so American gamers like myself never had the chance to experience this one. This, I believe, was probably due to the waning popularity of the series in the States.
There was talk of reviving the franchise for the Wii a couple years ago, and I think a Japanese build of the game was actually created, but that's as far as I'm aware.

I always get a little upset when people bash this series. I own the second one and had some fun times with it. It was a fine game for its time. Not a classic, but a solid game

This is why you can't always go with whatever the gaming media likes or whatever is most popular. Many good to great games have been ignored or bashed by critics over the years. Great games that just ignored and forgotten. The Red Star's reviews(the few that you could even find) were utter bullshit. That game deserved better. Thank god for this site and hardcore gaming 101 for shining a light on gaming's undeservedly ignored games

Right on! I used to play this quite a bit around when it was released.

[noiseredux]

I loved the first Toshinden. Or to be honest, I loved the demo. I got a PS1 on launch, but had it on layaway (I was um... 16?) and it took me months to pay off. Then I got it but had no games. Just the demo disc. I played the Toshinden demo sooooooooooo much. I loved it. Never bought the actual PS1 game oddly, but I have such fond memories of this one until I could afford some full games.

[swiftzx]

I loved the first Toshinden. Or to be honest, I loved the demo. I got a PS1 on launch, but had it on layaway (I was um... 16?) and it took me months to pay off. Then I got it but had no games. Just the demo disc. I played the Toshinden demo sooooooooooo much. I loved it. Never bought the actual PS1 game oddly, but I have such fond memories of this one until I could afford some full games.

Yet you never bought a copy of it even after you could afford full games At least on you mod yr psp, you can play this on a ps1 emulator

[Bradtemple87]

I loved the first Toshinden. Or to be honest, I loved the demo. I got a PS1 on launch, but had it on layaway (I was um... 16?) and it took me months to pay off. Then I got it but had no games. Just the demo disc. I played the Toshinden demo sooooooooooo much. I loved it. Never bought the actual PS1 game oddly, but I have such fond memories of this one until I could afford some full games.

I felt the same way about the demo for the first Croc game when I was young. I loved that demo but didn't get the game until years later.

[noiseredux]

I loved the first Toshinden. Or to be honest, I loved the demo. I got a PS1 on launch, but had it on layaway (I was um... 16?) and it took me months to pay off. Then I got it but had no games. Just the demo disc. I played the Toshinden demo sooooooooooo much. I loved it. Never bought the actual PS1 game oddly, but I have such fond memories of this one until I could afford some full games.

Yet you never bought a copy of it even after you could afford full games At least on you mod yr psp, you can play this on a ps1 emulator

nah I'll probably buy it. I have it on GB haha.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

I loved the first Toshinden. Or to be honest, I loved the demo. I got a PS1 on launch, but had it on layaway (I was um... 16?) and it took me months to pay off. Then I got it but had no games. Just the demo disc. I played the Toshinden demo sooooooooooo much. I loved it. Never bought the actual PS1 game oddly, but I have such fond memories of this one until I could afford some full games.

Haha! My buddy and I used to hold marathons with that demo disc - We'd treat the playable games like events and keep combined scores, (kind of like NWC for NES.)

Oddly enough, I've got complete versions of Jumping Flash, BAT, ESPN X-Games, and Wipeout, but I can't seem to find the demo disc for sale anywhere online, (at least for a reasonable price..)

[saturnfan]

WeaponLord is a solid choice. Probably one of the most complex 16bit fighters.

[noiseredux]

Haha! My buddy and I used to hold marathons with that demo disc - We'd treat the playable games like events and keep combined scores, (kind of like NWC for NES.)

Oddly enough, I've got complete versions of Jumping Flash, BAT, ESPN X-Games, and Wipeout, but I can't seem to find the demo disc for sale anywhere online, (at least for a reasonable price..)

oh man Jumping Flash was the other big winner on the disc!!