Special Feature: Beat ’em Ups Are Back
The halcyon days of the side-scrolling brawler are long behind us. There was a time when it felt like new titles in the genre were gracing arcades every time some of us visited them between the late 80s and early 90s, between titles like the X-Men arcade game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, The Simpsons Arcade Game, N.A.R.C., Final Fight, and several more. When the first signs of trouble manifested for arcades just before the mid-90s came along, the genre shifted to console with examples like the Streets of Rage games, the Golden Axe games, the Final Fight sequels, Comix Zone, and, to a lesser extent, Rival Turf and its progeny. Not to say there weren’t any in arcades at the time, but they were noticeably less in number. Then, they mostly went away.
The era of 2D titles, as dictated by publishers and consumers to a lesser extent, faded with the end of the 16-bit era. The new hotness was 3D, but brawlers never fully transitioned to the format. Fighting Force was one of the biggest early attempts, followed by titles like The Bouncer and Urban Reign; but none of them achieved popularity on par with their 2D counterparts. They released alongside a dwindling number of 2D brawlers, the biggest among them being Capcom’s Dungeon & Dragons games. Perhaps the most successful 3D example around these days is the Yakuza series, which combines brawling with RPG elements in open cities.
(Though that will no longer be the case as of the newest installment, which will be a full turn-based RPG. Whether that will apply to future titles will depend on how it performs.)
Fortunately, there’s been a good resurgence of brawlers in recent years. The superlative (and now sadly lost in the digital void) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game and Mother Russia Bleeds showed how there’s a good place for them digitally, while Dragon’s Crown proved that some can still be released physically depending on their format and promotion. There’s little place from them in the AAA space, but there are more upcoming mid-tier examples than there have been in a while.
The newest release (in one territory, anyway) was The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, released in Japan (under the much better name) as The Ninja Warriors Once Again. This is a remake of Natsume’s Super Nintendo brawler Ninja Warriors Again by many of the original game’s staffers at Taito subsidiary Natsume Atari, which keeps the same sprite style with improved animations for the playable characters and enemies. Like the original game and Natsume’s other brawlers in the 90s, including two Power Rangers adaptations, the brawling occurs on a flat side-scrolling 2D plane with enemies approaching the main characters from both directions.
Despite Natsume’s North American division still being intact, ININ Games is publishing the title internationally. It will release on September 26th for PlayStation 4 and Switch in North America, about two months after the Japanese version arrived in late-July.
River City Girls is one of the newest spinoffs in the River City Ransom/Kunio franchises, and the most intriguing one in a while. The game stars Kyoko and Misako as the main playable characters, the girlfriends of Riki and Kunio from the other titles, in an adventure to save their boyfriends from their kidnappers. It’s developed by WayForward, with Arc System Works providing assistance through funding and IP lending, and features the company’s trademark sprite work. One look at the game is all it takes to see how it’s brimming with personality and references to both previous RCR/Kunio titles and several other works. It helps that it looks fun too, and its quests and multiple paths will make it more than the average brawler. It’s a pity that it will only have a local co-op option, but it could be a good time while playing solo too.
River City Girls releases digitally this Thursday for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. The physical release from Limited Run Games is now available for preorder until September 27th, and will ship out between late September and early October.
It’s taken over 25 years, but there’s finally a new Streets of Rage game coming. Streets of Rage 4 is coming through the combined forces of developers Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games, and publisher DotEmu — while Sega is lending the IP rights. Previews thus far have shown how the game will inherit the style of the older games, with similar gameplay fundamentals and a nice hand-drawn presentation that resembles a moving comic. Returning characters Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding are being joined by Cherry Hunter, the daughter of Streets of Rage playable character Adam Hunter; the sparse character select screen shows how they still have several more of them to reveal. A dizzying ensemble of composers are also lending their talents, including Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima from the previous games.
Streets of Rage 4 will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC sometime in 2020. The developer and publisher team still have plenty more to show, so the Gamescom and PAX West showings likely mean we’ll be seeing the game more often.
The prevalence of memes and 90s nostalgia over the last decade has given new life to Battletoads through the announcement of a new game from Microsoft and Rare, primarily developed by Dlala Studios. The original series was known not only for its brawling action, but also some solid platforming and racing segments. The games sometimes tried to achieve too much, but the best installments were appealing enough to provide good memories.
Unfortunately, previews for the new game thus far suggest it won’t capture that spirit. The new art style looks reminiscent of modern cartoons and animation for the new-age internet kids rather than the 90s titles, a peculiar choice considering most Battletoads fans are at least in their mid-20s by now. It also looks too slow, with sluggish hand-to-hand combat and the enemies that take too long to stand up after knockdowns.
There’s still time for them to make changes, so hopefully the developer is taking suggestions. The game will release for Xbox One (and likely Windows PCs) in the not-too-distant future, according to Microsoft’s last update two months ago.
There aren’t many examples of upcoming side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, but this is the most worthwhile collection we’ve seen in a good while. Still, there could be more of them. Double Dragon tends to return occasionally, as it did with 2014’s WayForward-developed Double Dragon Neon and 2017’s NES-style Double Dragon IV; don’t rule out another one. But there isn’t a better time for Capcom to give Final Fight another shot, especially with two of the latest character entries in Street Fighter V. Keep your fingers crossed.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
