Grazza Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 For my first thread, I thought I'd continue our conversation about scrolling beat 'em ups! As darksnowman suggested, I don't want to derail King V's thread. How I loved walking along bashing the baddies! I think the first one I played was Double Dragon, and it was huge influence on me. The first time I saw it was in a local leisure centre. I put my money in, got as far as when the Abobo punches through the wall, and it was Game Over! The whole thing was so exciting, it really used to get my adrenaline pumping! Then came Golden Axe on the Mega Drive. I hadn't actually played the coin-op, but trusted my friends that it was an essential buy. Much 2-player bliss followed. I received it and the Mega Drive on Christmas Day, and took it round my friend's (who also got one, but not Golden Axe), because I couldn't get it to work (it was my first console and I wasn't pushing the cartridges in hard enough!) We're now 30 and we still laugh about it! In the late '80s, we had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was at another leisure centre. I was such a fan of the cartoon, it was impossibly exciting to be able to control Donatello, Leonardo & co, and fight Bebop and Rocksteady. Every single week in my school diary, I used to write "On Saturday I am going to go swimming and play Turtles!" Every week (I was boring!) Then, of course, came Final Fight. I very much enjoyed the SNES version, and also bought it on GBA and Capcom Classics Collection on Xbox. Probably the most timely version was the Mega CD edition, which, although I didn't play, was the complete game. (By the way, I didn't play Rival Turf.) I never owned Streets of Rage, but played it a lot (great music), and I did buy Streets of Rage II. Later on in the '90s we found a brand new Golden Axe in the arcades, where you could ride scorpions and such! The funny thing is, I already had Golden Axe II on the Mega Drive, so we called this (which was much better) Golden Axe II-III! (I never actually played Golden Axe III.) My favourite was probably Sega's 4-player Spider-Man. The sprite-scaling seemed brilliant at the time, as well as the ability to play as Spidey and fight all the classic villains. Konami's X-Men was not bad either. What are your favourites?
Roostophe Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 Streets of Rage II is one of my all-time favourite games. I recently bought Streets of Rage I on VC, and I gots to get me III real soon.
Cube Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 I had Streets of Rage 2 on the Mega Drive, Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade. Awesome game, even if I am awful at bear 'em ups. Possible the only beat 'em up I've ever played through to the end (and done so multiple times, I have). I loved Golden Axe back in the day but I tried the XBLA demo and it was virtually unplayable. Hasn't aged well at all.
Grazza Posted October 18, 2008 Author Posted October 18, 2008 Streets of Rage 2 is actually one of the longer beat 'em ups, I found, and I didn't actually complete it personally.
Hero-of-Time Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 My fondest memories of scrolling beat 'em ups are of the arcades. I used to spend stupid amounts of cash on the likes of Final Fight, Captain Commando and Turtles when I was on holiday as a kid. Oh and I used to play Turtles Arcade at my local swimming baths aswell Other worthy mentions go to The Simpsons and X-Men arcade games When it comes to home consoles here are a few games that I played. Turtles II The Arcade game on the NES was a joy to play. It finally gave me and my mates a reason to stay at home and not go to the swimming baths. Im sure the NES version had a few extra levels/bosses over the arcade one. I remember we could never beat it legit so we slammed in the Game Genie and tanned the game with infinite lives! There was a great little game made by Sega on the original Xbox called Spikeout. I played that to death in single player and with friends over Xbox Live. It was in 3D but it kept the classic feel of just beating the hell out of everything that moved. On the Sega Saturn I used to play Guardian Heroes alot. It was and still is a gem of a game that added a decent story and a little RPG elements into the mix. On the GBA I played Final Fight to death. I only ever played the game in the arcades so to finally get ahold of this and on a portable was heaven for me. I bought it when it first came out and during the same weekend my parents and I went and visted my brother down Doncaster, I never seen much of him as I was constantly playing on my GBA The gameplay style of these games is just so simple but at the same time very enjoyable, shame the genre is pretty much dead now.
Guest Captain Falcon Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 As good as Turtles in Time was, Streets of Rage 2 still gets the nod for the best ever scrolling beat-em-up. It was a vast improvement on the first game thanks in part thanks to the additional characters offering greater variety and production values unseen of at the time and rarely later surpassed on the console. Turtles IV though, is also something else. Despite it's license potentially condemning it to be a product of it's time, it still has the goods to bring you back for one more go. I've hardly played any modern beat em up due in part to there not being very many and in part to them getting bad reviews. But one I was glad I eventually purchased was Viewtiful Joe. With style pouring from every orifice, it's difficult not to like. I think the thing that makes those particular titles stand out is the fact that the have great art direction and rocking soundtracks. No matter how many moves you allow the player to use, they'll normally revert to the most powerful to finish the enemy as quickly as possible over time. In addition to this, there is only so much you can do with the formula without straying from the beat em up genre and turning it into a standard action title. Since the gameplay will always be subject to heavy repetition, you have to mix up the rest of the game as much as possible if you want the gamer to continue after more than 5 minutes. And this can be achieved through strong level identity - note I didn't use the words "level design" as there really is only so much you can do, especially in a 2D game. A unique look to each stage coupled with a good tune can keep the player distracted enough to not realize that they've spent the last 30mins just bashing the same button over and over again. And that's where all those games truly excel and that's why they will always stand the test of time.
nekunando Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 Streets of Rage 1 & 2 and Golden Axe are games I played to death when I was younger with my friend at his house practically every day.. there are some really special memories associated with those games and to me it doesn't matter whether they have aged well or not, the fact is I still love to play these games and I don't think I will ever lose interest in them. I had a great childhood and these games were a part of that Perhaps because of that, I can't quite explain the disappointment of playing Streets of Rage 3 for the first time on VC when it got released.. maybe if I had played the game years ago it would have been special to me but probably because I didn't I just feel nothing for the game (very much like how I feel with the fairly recently purchased Banjo-Tooie after loving Banjo-Kazooie back in the day.. just a massive let down ) Because of this disappointment, I have resisted getting Golden Axe II and III as it is likely they won't be able to replicate the feelings and memories of the first game.. I have Final Fight One on the GBA and thought it wasn't too bad and had many similarities to Streets of Rage.. though, other than that, the only other game like this I played was Fighting Force on the PS1 which, at the time, my friend and I thought was OK but it likely wouldn't be up to much now as I'm sure it likely wasn't really up to much back then I have Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2, but I wouldn't really classify those in the same sort of area.. Anyway, all I will say is that sometimes you maybe show these games, such as Streets of Rage, to people who never played them before and tell them how great it is.. but they just don't really think it is all that it's cracked up to be. That's absolutely fair enough because memories are a really special thing and are so influencial in the enjoyment of games.. I know that even to this day I play lots of games that are probably completely terrible but because I played them when I was younger I have a special attachment to them and it can just feel nice to relive those moments.. The 90s were such a great time to grow up
darksnowman Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 Anyway, all I will say is that sometimes you maybe show these games, such as Streets of Rage, to people who never played them before and tell them how great it is.. but they just don't really think it is all that it's cracked up to be. Streets of Rage 3 is probably the best of that trilogy. You would know it if it wasn't for your rose tinted glasses! There was a sidescroller on the Gameboy, but I can't remember what it was called. I've done a bit of Googling and all I can come up with is Kung Fu Master. From checking it out on Youtube, I'm not sure that its the game I'm trying to think of... anyone know any Kung fu/ Karate sidescrollers on the Gameboy? Come on, someone else is bound to have played Rival Turf?!
Grazza Posted October 19, 2008 Author Posted October 19, 2008 Turtles II The Arcade game on the NES was a joy to play. It finally gave me and my mates a reason to stay at home and not go to the swimming baths. Im sure the NES version had a few extra levels/bosses over the arcade one. I remember we could never beat it legit so we slammed in the Game Genie and tanned the game with infinite lives! I finally completed it when I bought Ninja Turtles 2 for the GameCube (terrible game, but it was an unlockable)! It did feel a bit unsatisfying using infinite continues, but I don't think those Konami games (Turtles, Simpsons, X-Men) can be completed purely on skill. They seem to be designed so that you have to put loads of money in! Of course that's coin-ops for you, but the Konami ones do stand out to me in that regard. There was a great little game made by Sega on the original Xbox called Spikeout. I played that to death in single player and with friends over Xbox Live. It was in 3D but it kept the classic feel of just beating the hell out of everything that moved. Ah, yes, I played that in the arcade! I was trying to think what it was called a while ago, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Dreamcast port too. On the Sega Saturn I used to play Guardian Heroes alot. It was and still is a gem of a game that added a decent story and a little RPG elements into the mix. Brilliant! I don't know how I forgot that one. Of course, another difference with this was that, for the depth, you jumped between three pre-set planes. Turtles IV though, is also something else. Despite it's license potentially condemning it to be a product of it's time, it still has the goods to bring you back for one more go. Is that Turtles in Time? Yeah, I had that on the SNES. Forgot about that one too. Perhaps because of that, I can't quite explain the disappointment of playing Streets of Rage 3 for the first time on VC when it got released.. maybe if I had played the game years ago it would have been special to me but probably because I didn't I just feel nothing for the game (very much like how I feel with the fairly recently purchased Banjo-Tooie after loving Banjo-Kazooie back in the day.. just a massive let down ) Streets of Rage 3 did come quite late, and I remember I wasn't really interested in the Mega Drive any more. This is one of the problems with extremely long console lifespans, in my opinion. Because of this disappointment, I have resisted getting Golden Axe II and III as it is likely they won't be able to replicate the feelings and memories of the first game.. That's probably wise, although I still want to try Golden Axe III. I remember when I first found Golden Axe II in the shops. I couldn't believe my luck, as it hadn't even been reviewed in the magazines! I snapped it up, but it wasn't great. It was worth it at the time though, for some 2-player variety. When I got home a few days later (I was staying away), a pal called round for a bike ride. I'm ashamed to say I told him I'd got Golden Axe II (which he didn't know about either), so we played that for ages instead! Speaking of ones fixed on a 2D plane (like Viewtiful Joe), I also loved Bad Dudes vs Dragonninja. Once, I was playing the coin-op at the seaside and was so excited I was shaking with adrenaline! I always wanted home ports of the later, 4-player ones like Spider-Man and X-Men, but they came at an awkward time. The SNES, Mega Drive and Mega CD weren't really powerful enough to do them and by the time consoles became 4-player as standard, things had moved on... I still never tried Rival Turf though. A pal did mention it, but I don't think he ever bought it (it didn't get great reviews). There was one SNES beat 'em up I was really interested in, but I'm not sure it was ever released in Europe. It looked really good, and was previewed around the same time as Sonic Blastman (home version), but I can't remember much about it at all.
Patch Posted October 21, 2008 Posted October 21, 2008 Sidescrolling beatemups are one of my favourite types of game. Such a shame they don't make them any more. I've played a few, but my faves are the SoR series. I played Streets of Rage at a friend's house and got totally hooked. You know how when you were young and impressionable and there were some games you couldn't stop thinking about, counting the days to Christmas so you could get it for yourself. That was one of them. Streets of Rage II was a vast improvement, adding chunkier sprites, colourful scenery, the best soundtrack heard on a Megadrive, imaginitive moves and decent level variety. Of all my VC games, this is my most played and I can never get bored with it. Even after finishing it, I'm tempted to start again from the beginning. Streets of Rage III was a mildly irritating inferior clone of the second game. The music was the weakest of the series, while the last time-limited maze level is needlessly difficult and very unsatisfying. There were some nice additions though. You could run around at last and there were some decent enemies (the kangaroo/trainer combo and the FBI-type agents).
jayseven Posted October 21, 2008 Posted October 21, 2008 Battletoads! Great charm to the game. Can't believe nobody's mentioned it yet. I remember playing a game on the mega drive where you pressed the C button and the camera would zoom back to the start and a car would come out and shoot everyone on your screen. Was that in teh streets of rage series? Rage 2? I can't remember.
Guest Captain Falcon Posted October 21, 2008 Posted October 21, 2008 I remember playing a game on the mega drive where you pressed the C button and the camera would zoom back to the start and a car would come out and shoot everyone on your screen. Was that in teh streets of rage series? Rage 2? I can't remember. Yeah that was the first Streets of Rage. And just in case there is anybody out there who doesn't know about it... http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_project/ Well worth downloading and playing through. It borrows elements from all three titles in the series into one package.
Zechs Merquise Posted October 22, 2008 Posted October 22, 2008 This is an easy one! Scrolling beat em ups were the best! I used to remember pumping so much money into them, but the best were: Final Fight Turtles the Arcade Game The Punisher Alien VS Predator They were amazing, all arcade versions by the way! The sad thing is very few people remember Capcom's Alien VS Predator, it never came out on any console or PC and was on the CPS2 board, it was amazing though.
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