I’ve played many, many games over the years and I often find myself attracted to 2 main types, the good old platformer and Beat Em Ups. I’ve recently been referring to Beat Em Ups as "Brawlers" as I’ve never really liked their genre definition. “Fighting game” doesn’t fit, as something like Virtua Fighter, DOA and Street fighter all fit into that mix and are very different. A few years ago I was introduced to the term “Belt scrollers” which is just a stupid term; people defended it as the characters often travelled along the screen as if they were on a conveyor belt and they had the ability to move left/right and up down in the playing field. Yeh? Well guess what, Zaxxon does that, 1942 too, it's just a vertical conveyor belt, Paperboy, the list goes on and on. Essentially it doesn’t describe the game play at all, just the movement of the screen and therefore something like Kung-Fu master nor Altered Beast fit in that classification.
So here I will refer to them as Brawlers, as I think it fits well indicating the often chaotic nature of their gameplay and the fact that you can often punch more than one enemy at a time.
Firstly though, I have to remind myself about the brawlers I have played over the years. I am sure I am missing some, but after scrolling through a few lists, these are the ones I have played enough to be confident I have a pretty solid idea of what is going on in them:
1. The list would be way too long.2. For my purposes it is unneeded, because if a particular version is in my top 10, I will state so.3. I probably can't remember them all.
So, due to popular demand (heh) here I am with a nice little list of my top 10 Brawlers on various platforms that I have played over the years.
Working from the bottom, for suspense of course.
10.
Target Renegade (Commodore 64 Version)
I got this game in some kind of action pack with a bunch of other games, known as The In Crowd on the C64. Or my dad did, and boy oh boy did I play this game. I thought it was the coolest; not only was the music seriously cracking, the guy had big muscles and could do a very cool flying kick! I actually enjoyed the (limited) range of moves you could pull off, the flying kick, duck punch, double swing and the back kick. Also being able to pick up the pipe and slap the dudes was nice as well.
The graphics were great and the title screen with he bullet holes when you pressed fire really made it exciting. I thought the graphics were great! You had a Rambo looking dude with a headband to play as, level 2 had smooth criminal, MJ looking dudes and prostitutes to fight! I remember the instructions actually referring to the guys as pimps! What a time!
I never finished this game though as the time limit was always too tight. Even when I had a perfect run and took no damage, the time limit would give me a game over somewhere in the level 4. So wile basic and not as well known as other Brawlers at the time (Double Dragon was in the arcades), Target: Renegade was my go to at the time. Mainly helped by the fact that the game played and looked a LOT better than the C64 version of Double Dragon!
Images cortesy of www.lemon64.com
09.
Final Fight
For me this is the game that started it all, sure I had played Brawlers before, but FF really opened the door to the genre. Big gorgeous sprites, decent splatty sound effects, multiple characters to choose from and a nice variety of weapons. It also helped that the characters played slightly differently and they had moves aside from just "Mash the punch button." Guy had his hard-to-find-a-place-to-use off the wall kick and flying knee. Cody could continuously stab dudes. Haggar had his rather naff belly flop, but also the awesome PILEDRIVER. That's not counting the fact that all the characters had grab moves.
I loved this game so much that I suffered eventually playing the C64 version. I spent years hunting down the MEGA CD version and even bought this dumb one on the PS3, which doesn't work because it needed to be connected to the internet. What a scam. Goddam you Capcom you arseholes!
FF Comes in so low as it feels a tad unrefined. Some of the bad guys are just really unfun and it has moments where I just feel like it wants to eat my money.
I did play 2 & 3 on the SNES, but neither of them grabbed me that much. 2 Felt like it was just reskin of the first (it did introduce Maki though!!) and 3 actually seemed very well done, if a little slow. But #1 is what really got me into the genre and opened my eyes to what could be.
08.
Knights of the Round
Man, the name of this game has always bugged me, the round WHAT? I assume table, but you can't really tell. Anyway I really enjoyed this game with its three distinct characters and crazy sound effects. The ability to block attacks and gain a little bit of invincibility was pretty cool, and so was the chance to mount horses ad attack from them. Each character also gained levels and better weapons and armour, Arthur getting a cape was awesome to me back in the day! Capes are fantastic! I did find it rather odd that Percival would change from a white guy with blonde hair in a bowl cut to a rather dashing bald black dude towards the end.
I've always loved knights and stuff like that, so while the mechanics of the game aren't as complex as others, it still ranks high on my list, just for the mere fun factor.
07.
Streets of Rage
Here we go! I got this game when I got my Megadrive on a triple cartridge thing, it also had Golden Axe and Revenge of Shinobi. Seriously it was a cart of QUALITY!
SOR really got me going. Having the fun of Final Fight close at hand in my very own bed room? Hell yes! It had similar moves, with a few extras and being a 2 player game, they actually included a few combo attacks! Spring off your pal! Grabbed from behind? Well then, give the guy in front of you a kick to the chest and then use the momentum to flick the dude grabbing you over your shoulder!
AMAZING.
Then, the fight where you could beat up your partner and become the boss!
ZOMG! Multiple endings in a brawler?!?
That is not even mentioning the AWESOME, AWESOME music. I tell ya, I have fond memories just listening to the music menu on this game. Level 1, Level 3 were the best; every time I hear them (and Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2) it sends me right back to high school sleepovers with my best mate Ben and spending literally all night playing various games that we'd rent from the video store.
Many hours and good times were had playing this sucker.
Screenshots thanks to Mobygames
06.
Golden Axe
Yes, I was a SEGA boy through and through. This game came on the same cartridge as the afore mentioned Streets of Rage and is the way I spent most of my time playing it. However my first interaction was on the arcade machine (naturally). I remember loving the game a lot and this one is incredibly significant in getting me into brawlers. At the time sword and sorcery movies were a BIG thing, so thematically it was great.
Once again having the choice of characters was neat and each playing differently was cool as well. Having the magic of various levels at your disposal and the visual delights that ensued when it was used was very eye catching (as was Tyris' butt), and the ability to sprint, and access powerful moves from the sprint was new to me. Specifically the devastating run, jump and down stab, which was incredibly handy, yet very hard to make a hit with. Many a coin was lot to this game in the arcade...
The Megadrive version was a pretty good conversion. It played a little differently of course and also had the addition of a versus/arena mode, and an extra level. It was still a lot of fun and along with SOR, it saw a lot of use at sleepovers.
My friend had the Master System version, which only allowed you to play as Gillius, but you did get to choose his magic type, which seems a bit unfair since Gillius had the best reach, and attack which was why he had the worst magic in the normal game, but eh, whatever. It was a pretty solid conversion as far as I remember, but the MD was much better.
I like GA so much, I even bought the C64 version. Gone was the two player option, but you could select the different characters and they still had magic attacks. Riding beasts was still there, as well as the run attacks, but gone were the pommel to the head and body throw moves. Also, good sound effects and a few other things. Let's just say, for the time it was an..... adequate conversion. For the aging Commodore 64. Music sounded good though!
GA 2 & 3 didn't have much of an effect on me. 2 was a bit too similar to 1, but without Tyris' butt. 3 was heavily influenced by SOR and Final Fight so it doesn't really feel like GA much at all. And therefore are just getting a mention here and are not in my top 10.
Screenshots courtesy of Mobygames.
05.
The Punisher (Arcades)
The Punisher was really quite something, way ahead of its time. Using a relatively unpopular character, this arcade game was my first introduction to the Punisher and Nick Fury. But the game play was fantastic! So many moves, grabs, throws, rolls, guns(!!!), objects that could be picked up and great presentation made this one a real ripper. Plus it was at the time that XMEN COTA was kicking in the arcades, and the graphics looked like comic book pages moving on the screen.
It was Glorius!
I always thought it was a waste I never got to buy this for my MD. But it would seem perhaps it was not a good conversion...
Nevertheless, the arcade version being put into a Capcom Marvel collection does have me very excited to revisit this guy. To tell the truth, this is often a game I would emulate when I was in the mood.
Screenshots courtesy of Mobygames.
04.
Aliens Vs. Predator
Oh boy was the attract sequence and sounds of this game an attention grabber or what? (yes)
THIS was a game that tickled all teenage boys fancies when it was out. 2 types of Predator to choose from. 2 types of some kind of space marine to choose from. All managing to play very differently, but still able to handle what was coming.
What was coming was streams of XENOMORPH. So, many, Xenos! You guys could punch them, stab them with a big stick (Predators) or shoot them (everyone). The addition of the shooting mechanic and its cool down (not ammo) limitation was great. Having a big selection of moves per character, Dutch having a seriously kick arse Pile Driver and generally being terribly slow, but such a goddam tank of a dude! Linn having easy access to her sword. The Predators being able to use the frisbees of death, xenomorph of a billion types and in their billions and the big tanky/vehicle thing they use in the movie Aliens.
This game was just a treat in every single way. A shame it never got ported. I bet it would've worked well on the Saturn. As far as I know, there is only 1 legal way to play this now and that was through some very expensive, very large and ugly special Capcom unit. Boo.
A wonderful game.
03.
Streets of Rage 2
Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty. SOR 2 was a huge improvement over the first. New characters, new moves, and MAX THUNDER and his awesome backbreaker move. Kinda tricky to pull off, but damn does it look painful.
All the characters have a whole plethora of moves with which to torture your enemies and they are pretty easy to pull off. Even though you have 2 new characters, they have kept the teamwork combos in there as well. Skate and Max are both new with Axel and Blaze returning. The levels are varied and there are heaps of enemies that will swarm you if you're not careful. This was another excellent sleepover game!
While I preferred the music style in the first one, I'll admit that the music of 2 has grown on me over the years. The sound effects are very nice. I love the blatt that hittign someone with the pipe makes. It never gets old. I return to this game again and again.
Screenshots courtesy of Mobygames.
02.
Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder
Man this game... THIS GAME... I stumbled across it in the arcade once and gave it a try and damn it was good. Once again different types of characters. Once again, magic and potions to use. Once again, beasties to ride on. It followed the good things of Golden Axe with a bunch of excellent additions. Sure you didn't have grab attacks that worked like Final Fight/SOR, but there were throws and close attacks to be had.
They added in combo attacks when two players were beating up the same baddy. They added weapons that could be manned for long range, if you were riding a beasty, you could carry the weapon on the beasty!! The beasties were varied. Preying mantises, giant scorpions, grass hopper things and they had different types of attacks as well.
The sprites were huge with a lot of character! Voices and sound effects all over the place. Graphical goodness like having to walk into the screen and fight dudes. Having to get the bosses attention by pulling their tent down upon them. Rescuing people from cages, being slaves, yourself when you get captured! Multiple routes to go down, a horse woman (no nice asses in this game sorry), Gillius makes a return riding on the back of a giant, so you have a man, riding a man, riding a scorpion! CRAZY.
Of course there was magic to use and boy howdy was it impressive! When at full blast you got extra close ups of your enemies turning to stone, being burned to ashes, or those trees growing. Yes! Young Trix's magic grew trees that dropped fruit for a life boost.
Finally, so many enemies could be on screen at once as well. This game was truly a spectacle to behold and even now, if I find an arcade running it, I will just drop in some money to give it a blast.
Released in 1992, this one must've been too early for the Saturn and the Megadrive wouldn't have been able to do it justice. Maybe the 32X could have made something from it, but, well, the 32X you know... A bit of a messed up idea in the first place, or at the very least poorly executed. Plus brawlers seemd to be running our of popularity at the time, so like Aliens vs Predator this baby has remained an arcade only title.
UNTIL
SEGA whipped out a rather nifty piece of work called the Astrocity Mini and while it is a great little thing full of awesome SEGA arcade games, it is worth it for Golden Axe, Revenge of Death Adder alone. In fact, that single game is the only reason I bought one. I am glad I did, as all the others on there are pretty awesome as well.
TLDR version, GA: RODA is a goddam amazing game.
Screenshots courtesy of Mobygames.
01.
Streets of Rage 4 (specifically with DLC Mr. X Nightmare)
AH this game... THIS game.... THIS GAME. I remember first hearing about it and I had my interest piqued. Then as bits and pieces got shown I was most excited. Then I bought the game and OMG it was good.
I played it, it was fun. The action was good, character selection was ok (I always felt that Floyd's attacks lacked impact), but the combo potential and enjoyment was all very fulfilling.
Then, one day I finished it. Aside from occasionally going back and trying levels again on a higher difficulty (not mania, as I am not insane), I didn't really see a need to continue.
THEN one day the Mr X DLC came out and I was interested. I've never been a fan of DLC as I fully think the game should just be released finished you know... But this DLC was truly an extra, and on top of that it wasn't bullshit pricing.
 |
| A slew of characters to play with. |
Now the fun began. The DLC provided a slew of old characters to play with, and best of all, a survival mode of sorts. Now, I am not normally into these kind of survival modes, but this one randomised (to a certain extent) the arenas and you could choose to have little power ups that mixed up the gameplay. They added such things such as elemental attacks, double jump, strength/defense increases, massive combo boost and many other things.
Oh man, now we were on! I got so into this mode I was playing at least one round daily. I know for a fact that the disc lived in my PS4 for at least a year and half! For 2 years in a row, it was my most played game (according to the PS4 yearly round up thinga majig) and all that time spent was on the survival mode.
Each character played so differently, there was even the ability to have Roo (yay) summon about 10 of his little whippy friends. Such craziness. The DLC also added new moves and abilities to the original roster, and once they were unlocked these moves and characters could be used in the normal game as well.
The mechanics of the game were also quality too, with partner combo attacks, multiple moves, grabs and weapons and moves with weapons, oh man it was good.
The DLC also allowed for some whacky times. This one in particular I thought most amusing:
Yeap, and silly stuff like that had me playing this game for years. That 10 bucks for the DLC was probably the best 10 bucks I've ever spent. Er, well, I guess I could compare it with the 5 I spent on Mad Max... But eh, they were both totally worth it, so that is good.
Finishing this post:
So there we go, as requested, my top 10 of Brawler games. Man this was a toughy and to be honest I am not 100% sure on the ranking, but probably the top 2 are correct. The rest are fairly fluid in their placements. However, this post has made me rethink my gaming history and I see I have played many a brawler of various types. I kind of feel like going through and generally talking about them... Perhaps a brawler review post will be in the making in the future.
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