The Greatest Trendy 2D Beat ‘Em Ups To Play At the moment
The “beat ’em up” genre is one of the oldest in gaming. Despite the peaks and valleys its seen, these games have managed to hang on to relevance since their inception. The formula of beating the tar out of baddies in a 2D environment while racking up points still holds true as a great way to spend a few hours alone or with some friends. Minimal control inputs, simple stories, and fun characters have been propping up the genre for ages and serve as an even bigger respite from the complicated trappings of modern gaming than ever before. Given that, check out this curated list of the best modern 2D beat ’em ups that can be played right now on modern gaming platforms.
1. Streets of Rage 4
Starting off with the newest Streets of Rage title makes a lot of sense, not only because it’s an outstanding example of the genre done right but also because most beat ‘em ups still borrow themes and ideas from it even today. As the original titles inspired so many retro beat ‘em ups of the 16-bit era, Streets of Rage 4 provides new ideas and thematic elements to its design that would be iterated upon in other modern beat ‘em ups. Moving away from the hard pixels of its Sega Genesis brethren, Streets of Rage 4’s art style takes on a fresh and crisp feeling more comparable to a comic book than a typical retro throwback video game. Still, the controls keep it nice and simple while tweaking a few things, like providing a separate button for picking up weapons and attacking. The soundtrack also turned out fantastic, with some tracks featuring the input of original composer Yuzo Koshiro. With a wonderful campaign, lots of unlockable characters, and an addictive survival mode, Streets of Rage reclaims its place as the king of the genre with this 4th entry.
2. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons
The Double Dragon series seemed mired in mediocrity after the last couple of titles released to a lukewarm reception, but Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons elevated it back to a prominence it hasn’t seen in ages. With a similar approach to Streets of Rage 4, Gaiden looks more like how most people remember the original titles as opposed to how they looked and felt to play. Lots of background detail, explorable areas, and a dash of rogue-like elements keeping things spicy take it beyond the finish line, though. Unlike Double Dragon IV, Gaiden doesn’t feel like a cash grab banking on nostalgia, but rather, like a bold new direction for a franchise that needed one.
3. Mayhem Brawlers
Beat ‘em ups have always struggled with their lack of voice acting and replay value. Even modern entries to the genre seem to avoid making much of a stride towards addressing this. We’re all for that classic gameplay and presentation, but it also doesn’t hurt to inject some modernizations into it either, and Mayhem Brawlers understands and solves both issues. The moment-to-moment gameplay feels as typical as it gets with weapons, combos, and great variety in level and enemy designs, but the game adds in multiple paths during level selection to give the player plenty of reason to play the game multiple times. Going even further, cutscenes feature real voices. Still, images have limited animation, but hearing the lines spoken out loud feels like a logical evolution that any game of this sort could benefit from. Mayhem Brawlers easily becomes one of the better games on this list, as it executes on the tenets of the genre while also slipping in several modern niceties.
4. Raging Justice
Raging Justice makes a point to replicate the classic feel of retro beat ‘em ups with its gameplay but injects tons of personality into its visuals as well. Unlike most 2D throwback games, Raging Justice’s characters have a 3D look to them. Similar to the pre-rendered assets we saw towards the end of the 16-bit era meant to fool players by simulating a 3D image, Raging Justice implements a similar look despite not needing to do so at all. It’s a very niche era of gaming to replicate, and perhaps not everyone will get it, but we think it sets the game apart from its contemporaries. Gameplay feels standard for the genre, with little in the way of innovative hooks, but it does enforce the rules of the genre nicely, with plenty of enemy types to keep players on their toes.
5. The Takeover
The Takeover feels like a successful Streets of Rage analogue in most ways. With characters that ooze 90s panache, methodical action, techno-infused music, and lots of temporary weapons with which to bash enemies’ faces, one could do a lot worse looking for a Streets of Rage successor. A few different modes and unlockable characters give The Takeover a reasonable amount of replayability, too. While it does little to move the ball down the field for its genre, The Takeover still offers a great alternative to the classics.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Hyperstone Heist and Turtles in Time still stand tall in the beat ‘em up genre, and not just because they feature the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They’re just great beat ‘em ups that throw tons of enemies at the player and offer truckloads of great music and bright, colorful levels. Given that clear winning blueprint, Shredder’s Revenge didn’t have to do much to stand among those games in the relatively long lineage of TMNT beat ‘em ups. While Shredder’s Revenge plays it pretty safe in most areas, it delivers what made its 16-bit ancestors so fantastic with familiar music, tight controls, and great bosses. It also has a secret weapon; six-player co-op. While most can recall beat ‘em ups with two, or even four players bashing their way through levels together, Shredder’s Revenge ups the ante in that area by two, allowing more than most of its contemporaries to squad up with additional characters like April and Splinter deepening the roster to make it possible.
7. Fight’n Rage
Beat ‘em ups have some inherent challenges by getting outnumbered and outmaneuvered by certain enemies, but Fight’N Rage steps up the challenge to a nearly souls-like level with punishing enemies that take any chance the player gives them to dish out pain. With great challenge comes great satisfaction though, so players who feel up for this button-mashing marathon can expect a great sense of accomplishment upon inching through its rigorous levels. A healthy roster of diverse characters, deep tutorials, and addictive progression systems put it over the edge as an above-average beat ‘em up, but be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart.
8. River City Girls
As a spiritual successor to the classic River City Ransom, River City Girls flips the script on the normative gender roles featured in nearly every other beat ‘em up, which opens the door for a lot of satirical humor and charming self-awareness. Outside of that, it’s successful in carving out its own space in the genre with lots of explorable levels and RPG-style progression. The combat feels fluid and deepens over time, the more modern music elevates the experience well, and the characters become more endearing as the story unfurls. We recommend this one with high regard.
9. Dragon’s Crown Pro
Vanillaware knocked it out of the park with Dragon’s Crown a while years back, but now with Dragon’s Crown Pro, the experience feels tuned even tighter. With an extra difficulty option, improved visuals, and certain bosses getting expanded movesets, Dragon’s Crown Pro emerged as a premier beat ‘em up that retains Vanillaware’s iconic art style and snappy 2D gameplay. Unlike more beat ‘em ups though, Dragon’s Crown Pro features lots of RPG mechanics with weapons, armor, and abilities that add oodles of replayability far beyond every other game we’re bringing up on this list. Developers can take the 2D beat ‘em up genre in all sorts of directions, but this might just be the most impressive.
10. Final Vendetta
Bitmap Bureau’s track record of replicating the tone and style of the 16 and early 32-bit eras remains unmatched, in part, because of Final Vendetta. With stiff arcade-style challenges and outstanding animation work, players can marvel at every second of this 2D beat ‘em up. Leaning more towards the tone of Final Fight than Streets of Rage, Final Vendetta has more of a Neo Geo or Sega Saturn vibe to it than the typical Genesis/Super Nintendo vibe most retro throwbacks go for, making it stand out thematically as well as qualitatively. The euro-techno and late 90’s hip-hop flare to the music keep the action bouncy and fun despite being one of the more challenging games on this list. Couple that with some detailed designs for the characters and levels and it’s pretty easy to give a respectful nod to Final Vendetta.
11. Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Released on the PS2 many moons ago, this remaster of Odin Sphere belongs in every beat ‘em up fan’s library. Multiple characters with deep movesets, some light RPG-style storytelling, and of course, Vanillaware’s eye-catching art style make a return. Other little deviations from the norm like planting fruit to eat later for health, add a lot of personality to the game and set it apart from others in the genre. As usual with Vanillaware, the superb presentation keeps the game in the upper tier of the genre.
12. Jitsu Squad
The frantic, almost musou-style gameplay of Jitsu Squad plays like a colorful fever dream on fast forward. The violent blade-wielding combat betrays the cuddly character designs in the best possible way. The smooth performance and steady frame rate make it all work well, and the jazzy soundtrack adds a little class to the moment-to-moment gameplay’s vibe. Jitsu Squad isn’t the deepest or the most innovative beat ‘em up on this list, but it is a rather unique one that stays fun and avoids repetition quite well.
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