Best Classic Beat 'em Up Games

The beat-em-up that started it all. Double Dragon's blend of martial arts combat, weapon pickups, and mission-based brawling defined the belt-scrolling genre for years to come.

The original Streets of Rage — Axel, Blaze, and Adam fight through a crime-ridden city in the Genesis beat-em-up that introduced Yuzo Koshiro's legendary score and established Sega's most beloved brawler franchise.

The final Genesis Streets of Rage built on Streets of Rage 2's foundation with a darker story, faster gameplay, special moves tied to health management, and a more complex combat system. While divisive on release due to its difficulty compared to SoR2, Streets of Rage 3 has grown in reputation as a mechanically deep action game.

Konami's 1992 NES beat-em-up and the second side-scrolling TMNT NES game — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project improves on TMNT II: The Arcade Game with Super Jump moves unique to each turtle, a longer eight-stage campaign with Manhattan transported to Florida by Shredder's flying island, and a larger budget presentation that made it one of the NES's finest late-era beat-em-ups.

Capcom's 1993 SNES-exclusive Final Fight sequel — Final Fight 2 expands the Metro City brawling to an international stage with three new playable characters (Maki, Carlos, and Haggar returning), two-player simultaneous co-op that the original SNES Final Fight lacked, and six countries across ten stages. A direct correction of the original's co-op omission.

Capcom's defining beat-em-up, ported from the 1989 arcade hit to SNES. Mayor Mike Haggar, Cody Travers, and Guy fight their way through Metro City's six districts to rescue Haggar's kidnapped daughter from the Mad Gear gang. With three distinct fighter styles, iconic enemies like Andore and Poison, and nonstop brawling action, Final Fight established the beat-em-up template that defined the early 1990s.

A landmark crossover event for early 90s beat-em-up fans, Battletoads & Double Dragon unites Rare's bruising amphibian warriors with Technos' iconic martial arts duo against the shared threat of the Dark Queen and the Shadow Warriors. The game wisely tempers Battletoads' notorious difficulty with Double Dragon's more accessible combat pacing, resulting in a co-op brawler that rewards skilled play without punishing newcomers at every turn.

Software Creations' 1994 SNES beat-em-up based on the Maximum Carnage comic arc — Spider-Man and Venom team up across 14 stages fighting Carnage's gang. The game is notable for its red SNES cartridge (one of very few), the music by Green Jellÿ and Zoebleed, and two selectable protagonists with different combat capabilities.

Natsume's 1994 SNES beat-em-up based on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers — the game features all five Rangers as playable characters across five stages, Megazord battles against giant monsters, and two-player simultaneous co-op, capturing the TV series' combination of ground combat and mech battles.

Software Creations' 1995 SNES sequel to Maximum Carnage — Separation Anxiety continues the Venom symbiote storyline, adds playable Venom with Spider-Man across 14 stages fighting the Life Foundation symbiotes (Scream, Lasher, Phage, Riot, Agony), and maintains the two-character beat-em-up structure with hero card assists from the original.

The Genesis launch pack-in that greeted millions of new console owners. Altered Beast's transformation mechanic was innovative and memorable, even if the overall game was short and repetitive by modern standards.