Top 7 Side-Scrolling Beat 'Em Ups of All Time

Chaos | November 16, 2007 | Top List | Nintendo Entertainment System Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Interesting list. I've never even heard of the first three; Final Fight, BAD DUDES vs. DRAGONNINJA (though it sounds bad-ass), and River City Ransom. I definitely agree with the top three though. I think TMNT IV should've been at number two, but number three is still good. That was one of my most-played games. It was tons better than the first few TMNT games.

Among the many, many genres of video games, perhaps none is as mindlessly fun as the beat-'em-up, and the side-scrollers represented their Golden Age. Throwing nunchuks and repetitive bad guys with different colored clothes are among the hallmarks of the genre… along with a hearty dose of unmitigated ass-kicking. You don't need to be a deep or logical thinker. You don't even need to be accurate with a mouse pointer. All you need is the desire to beat the crap out of people. Forget about those PvP games that were all the rage in the 90s. I'm talking about one man, or a small group of you and your friends, versus a ton of baddies. The odds against you in conjunction with saving your girlfriend or the city you love is what makes side-scrolling beat 'em ups so bad ass.

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Comments

0 thumbs!
Donnelly | November 17, 2007

Woah, blast from the past.
I spent many an afternoon playing Golden Axe and Streets of Rage with my brother.
Good to see they're recognised in this list.
0 thumbs!
Gogetenks | November 17, 2007

I haven't heard of "Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja", either, but otherwise I know all of those games. Final Fight, TMNT and Streets of Rage 2 are all excellent games. I never played Golden Axe, Double Dragon or River City Ransom but they are always praised.

Streets of Rage 2 deserves that top spot, though. Despite being rather easy for the most part (although it gets much more difficult towards the end), it's an excellent game and is the best sidescrolling beat-em-up I've ever played.
0 thumbs!
Rinkydink | November 19, 2007

Nice list! Oh my god, Double Dragon was my favourite of the lot. Truly a legendary game. I remember playing that so much with my brother. Truly awesome times.

Golden Axe and Streets of Rage are also decent classics too.