Let's talk lesser talked about SNES Beat 'em Ups!
I have been on a wicked beat 'em up kick the past month or so, playing lots of Final Fight 1 and 2, Knights of the Round, and a couple of games I want to highlight, instead of talking about all of the usual suspects. I note that there are many Super Famicom exclusives that seem interesting, so the first one I bought was:
Iron Commando (Kotetsu No Kenshi)
This game resembles the Capcom arcade Beat 'em Up, Punisher, and has gameplay fueled by excessive weapon use, which is key, I think, to doing well in the game. There are pistols, shotguns, bats, tommy guns, and so on. The amount of violence is refreshing in a Nintendo game, since the family friendly enforcement was moreso a problem in the West. The hand to hand combat is simple, but enjoyable; there are grenades you can use as a kill screen (but I can't figure out how to use them! Help!!!). There is a two player mode, and brace yourselves, more than four enemies on screen at a time! And no slow down that I ever saw. There is also a rockin, heavy metal inspired soundtrack, with plenty of variety.
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There are also a few levels where you race along with vehicles or a mine cart (pictured) to add some variety to the game. But I honestly enjoyed the beat 'em up stages more. The difficulty is very high with one player, but with two, it seems half as tough, and there's no friendly fire -thankfully.
Regrettably, this game is not cheap, and is SFC exclusive, but it's worth it if you're a Beat 'em Up junkie, or just use other means to play it.
Sonic Blast Man 2
This is a very anime flavored beat 'em up with three distinct characters to choose from, whom all have quite different moves and special attacks, and are more than slightly corny looking (but in a good way.) What sets this game apart from the Capcom beat 'em ups is the more varied movesets, and you'll be using all of the different bottons on your controller to pull off neat moves. There is also the "blast" gimmick which gives you a limited number of cheap, super powerful moves, and even a big screen clearing super move.
The soundtrack is bright and happy 90's anime sounding music, and there are really silly sound effects when you kill the basic enemies; it's hard to spell out, but it makes me laugh at first. The baddies are nice and varied as are the bosses, with some really nice graphics. It's a fun game, but I haven't played the first, which looks more stiff and slow in the gameplay. I would say that this game is a must in the beat 'em up library, but I think it's pricey too. I cheaped out and bought the SFC version.
Iron Commando (Kotetsu No Kenshi)
This game resembles the Capcom arcade Beat 'em Up, Punisher, and has gameplay fueled by excessive weapon use, which is key, I think, to doing well in the game. There are pistols, shotguns, bats, tommy guns, and so on. The amount of violence is refreshing in a Nintendo game, since the family friendly enforcement was moreso a problem in the West. The hand to hand combat is simple, but enjoyable; there are grenades you can use as a kill screen (but I can't figure out how to use them! Help!!!). There is a two player mode, and brace yourselves, more than four enemies on screen at a time! And no slow down that I ever saw. There is also a rockin, heavy metal inspired soundtrack, with plenty of variety.
There are also a few levels where you race along with vehicles or a mine cart (pictured) to add some variety to the game. But I honestly enjoyed the beat 'em up stages more. The difficulty is very high with one player, but with two, it seems half as tough, and there's no friendly fire -thankfully.
Regrettably, this game is not cheap, and is SFC exclusive, but it's worth it if you're a Beat 'em Up junkie, or just use other means to play it.
Sonic Blast Man 2
This is a very anime flavored beat 'em up with three distinct characters to choose from, whom all have quite different moves and special attacks, and are more than slightly corny looking (but in a good way.) What sets this game apart from the Capcom beat 'em ups is the more varied movesets, and you'll be using all of the different bottons on your controller to pull off neat moves. There is also the "blast" gimmick which gives you a limited number of cheap, super powerful moves, and even a big screen clearing super move.
The soundtrack is bright and happy 90's anime sounding music, and there are really silly sound effects when you kill the basic enemies; it's hard to spell out, but it makes me laugh at first. The baddies are nice and varied as are the bosses, with some really nice graphics. It's a fun game, but I haven't played the first, which looks more stiff and slow in the gameplay. I would say that this game is a must in the beat 'em up library, but I think it's pricey too. I cheaped out and bought the SFC version.
Comments
I don't know anything about Power Rangers, but the games were fun. The original was waaaay too easy, but the 2nd is just about right
And then for some of the strangest games on the system... you have Stone Protectors, which is the boys version of Trolls, in the most broken game I've ever played. But its pretty early 90s radical. And then Ultimate Fighter, which is all sorts of lost in translation. Extremely bizarre. You switch between beating up the town, to, uh, fights inside the ring at the beach (?), and some alternate dimension where you transform and fight monsters. Yeah.
Cliffhanger. At least its not the NES version!
The Tick. Four hours of the screenshot below. Enjoy!
WildCats. No one has ever played this game. True story
My fav lesser known beat em ups are King of Dragons, King of the Monsters, and Captain Commando. I could pop those in any day of the week. Love me some beat em ups.
Best one I can think of is Undercover Cops, not really untalked about but its my beat em up hidden gem. The main female character has a jump attack that uses her butt and you eat live snails for energy.
Plus with giant fish as a weapon and Terminator references and I can see why its such an expensive game, plus its Super Famicom only.
They're not great, but the two Marvel games are enjoyable. You pick your own path through the levels, and you have Street Fighter-y combos and moves at your disposal. And the way you try to wear down Magneto's lifebar in X-Men is pretty unique
I don't know anything about Power Rangers, but the games were fun. The original was waaaay too easy, but the 2nd is just about right
And then for some of the strangest games on the system... you have Stone Protectors, which is the boys version of Trolls, in the most broken game I've ever played. But its pretty early 90s radical. And then Ultimate Fighter, which is all sorts of lost in translation. Extremely bizarre. You switch between beating up the town, to, uh, fights inside the ring at the beach (?), and some alternate dimension where you transform and fight monsters. Yeah.
Cliffhanger. At least its not the NES version!
The Tick. Four hours of the screenshot below. Enjoy!
WildCats. No one has ever played this game. True story
Great post, Brock. Lots of memories with these games from the mid 90's. I totally forgot about a few of these! What a great era for beat 'em ups.
Pirate of Dark Water, Wild Cats, AvP, and Captain Commando are all mediocre at best. Ninja Warriors is a little better than those in my opinion. Batman Returns is actually pretty fun too. I dunno... lol... these are all virtually the exact same game.
Always loved the Combatribes, although I freely admit a lot of that is due to nostalgia. Someone who picks it up for the first time today wouldn't be too impressed with it. But for its late, my brother and I loved it. The graphics, the music, the carnage... it was one of the more fun two player games on SNES.
The best SFC exclusive beat em up IMO is Ghost Chaser Densei. And it's not even close.