In fact, in can be argued that beat’em ups, fighting games and platformers were the most prominent genres of the 16-bit era. Beat’em ups and fighting games were a regular fixture of arcades in the late eighties and early nineties and both genres had a large output on home consoles in the 16-bit era as well. The Beat’em up genre initially flourished in arcades and went on to find success on home consoles as well. Getting through an arcade beat’em up using only one credit is as popular a challenge among hardcore gamers as it is in the shoot’em up genre. For fans of the genre however, the challenge of mastering these difficult games is part of the appeal. High difficulty meant more player deaths, which meant more quarters being funneled into the machine.
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This is to be expected from a genre having its roots in the arcade. Some have also criticized the high level of difficulty many beat’em ups have.
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Repetition is an oft-used complaint regarding this genre as well, though there are many examples of beat’em ups that offer a lot of variety in play through deep combo systems similar to fighting games, playable characters with different combat style, a variety of weapon use, clever level designs, environmental hazards that can be used for or against the players, bonus games and even gameplay elements borrowed from role-playing games. However, like many games rooted in the arcades, the depth comes from getting high scores or the challenge of attempting to complete the game in one credit. However, this simplicity has also drawn criticism from some, particularly later in the genre’s history. The whole purpose of arcade games was to get as many people as possible interested enough in a game to start putting quarters into the machine and playing it. Like most arcade games, things are kept simple in order to make the games accessible to a wide audience. Beat’em ups generally have easy to learn controls and the focus of the gameplay never becomes more complicated than simply pummeling every person you see on the screen until you see the end credits. The genre’s arcade roots are reflected in its simplicity. Though there is some shared history and crossover between the two genres in terms of characters and certain gameplay elements, they are not the same.
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The genre should not be confused with one on one fighting games inspired by Street Fighter II, which is a common mistake some gamers make. The beat’em up genre is also well known for offering co-op gameplay for 2-4 players, which for some people is a big part of the genre’s appeal. About The Beat’em up Genreīeat’em ups, which are also known as Brawlers (and belt scroll games in Japan), generally focus on one player taking on a large number of enemies in some form of melee oriented combat. Enjoy! BTW, this is our second installment of our Genre 101 series, following up on Ack’s Survival Horror 101. His passion for the Beatemup genre really shone through with this piece and I look forward to more guides from him. Note from racketboy: I’m proud to welcome the forum veteran, Gamerforlife to the contributer team. Beat’em-Ups 101: All You Need to Know About Brawlers