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Retro: The Best Scrolling Beat ‘Em Ups
In my youth from the days of home computing all the way through to feeding coinage into arcade machines my favourite type of game is the beat ‘em up. Now I’ve already expressed my love for Street Fighter 2 and its ilk but another passion of mine was the side-scrolling smashers and just a few get a mention on my list in the fact that they completely captivated me.
Double Dragon
This is the daddy of all side scrollers and the one that really started it all. It started life in 1987 as an arcade game but soon made it to home computers and consoles. I remember it favourably on my ZX Spectrum 128K+. The premise was simple as will all of the games in this rundown.
The gameplay followed the Lee brothers who strutted their way through the bad parts of town beating the 7 shades of shinola out of their adversaries. There wasn’t much of a storyline, just punch, kick and go. It was also one of the first 2 player beat ‘em ups and I played it to death. There was nothing special about it but it delivered what it promised. It evolved to many other systems and sequels but the original idea was steadfast and was the catalyst for what came after it.
Final Fight
Capcom complimented the success of Double Dragon with their own interpretation in 1989 with Final Fight. This time there was a storyline. Mike Haggar, the mayor of Metro City is contacted by a representative of the Mad Gear gang telling him that they have kidnapped his daughter Jessica. Her safe return depends on an agreement to play ball in the Mad Gear’s favour. Add to the mix that Cody, a kick ass street fighter is her boyfriend and his best friend Guy are ready to fight for her freedom then you have a battle on your hands. Let’s hit the mean streets.
As with Double Dragon, Final Fight had you in a side-scrolling environment beating the crap out of the assembled Mad Gear brethren. One of my favourite facts about the franchise was the fact that you would puch multiple enemies at one which as we know is a physical impossibility, but man it was satisfying.
You could play as any of the three characters, Haggar, Cody or Guy and also co-op in 2 player mode. Each of the characters have their own unique traits and attacks. Haggar is a beast and smashes and pummels his foes into to pulp, where Cody and Guy are much more agile with flying kicks and rapid attacks their forte.
One of the most impressive elements of Final Fight was its graphics. It very much resembled what we have come to know and love in the Street Fighter series. The sound effects are also great and you feel every connect with someone’s face when you land a punch.
The oncoming enemies are relentless so you have to keep you wits about you as they come at you from every angle and they have a varied arsenal from fists to swords to fire so you need to dispatch them as quickly as possible.
Apart from the game I’m reviewing next nothing has come close to the enjoyment of Final Fight, not even its sequels seemed to recapture the magic.
Streets of Rage
With Nintendo capitalising on the Capcom catalogue Sega had to respond and they delivered in 1991 with Streets of Rage. There was nothing new in the concept from what they were trying to mimic and it wasn’t just a rip off it was a cleverly developed unique take on what had become before.
Storyline wise Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding and Adam Hunter a group of young police officers have committed themselves to cleaning up their city with their fists from the evil grip of Mr X (come on with the original names).
As with DD and FF you spend your time smashing in the faces of you enemies and although there is nothing new there, but, if you find yourself in a bit of bother you have you special move which is to call on backup which comes in the form of a SWAT team that pulls up in a police car and rains down on your attackers with air to ground weapons. Very helpful.
One of the things I loved about SoR was the soundtrack. It was gloriously 8-bit and but my word it was atmospheric. And although it was never present in the arcades as a console only game it was certainly one of the best.
Author
Paul Wright