beat em up this article is about the scrolling video game genre for the related genre for oneonone combat see fighting game for the iggy pop album see beat em up brawler redirects here for the 2011 american film see brawler film for the 2017 indian film see the brawler brawlers redirects here for the english punk rock group see brawlers band part of a series onaction games subgenres actionadventure game action roleplaying game open world stealth game survival game survival horror battle royale beat em up fighting game platform game platformadventure game metroidvania shooter game firstperson shooter thirdperson shooter hero shooter light gun shooter roleplaying shooter shoot em up tactical shooter rhythm game topics capture the flag cover system firstperson shooter engine free look quick time event wasd keys lists list of beat em ups list of fighting game companies list of fighting games list of firstperson shooters list of freeware firstperson shooters list of thirdperson shooters list of shoot em up game companies list of survival games list of gun games list of maze video games list of platform games vte beat em up also known as brawler is a video game genre featuring handtohand combat between the protagonist and an improbably large number of opponents traditional beat em ups take place in scrolling twodimensional 2d levels though some later games feature more open threedimensional 3d environments with yet larger numbers of enemies these games are noted for their simple gameplay a source of both critical acclaim and derision twoplayer cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crimefighting and revengebased plots though some games may employ historical science fiction or fantasy themes the first beat em up was 1984s kungfu master with 1986s renegade introducing the urban settings and underworld revenge themes employed extensively by later games the genre then saw a period of high popularity between the release of double dragon in 1987 which defined the twoplayer cooperative mode central to classic beat em ups and 1991s street fighter ii which drew gamers towards oneonone fighting games games such as streets of rage final fight golden axe and battletoads are other classics to emerge from this period the genre has been less popular since the emergence of 3dbased massmarket games but still some beat em ups adapted the simple formula to utilize largescale 3d environments definition beat em ups such as streets of rage 2 feature combat against multiple antagonists often taking place on modern city streets a beat em up sometimes also called brawlers beat em ups are related tobut distinct fromfighting games which are based around oneonone matches rather than scrolling levels and multiple enemies in the united kingdom gaming magazines of the early 90s such as mean machines and computer video games cvg refereed to all games which had a combat motif as beat em ups even the fighting games and games such as street fighter ii or mortal kombat were referred to as a one on one beat em ups game design beat em up games usually employ vigilante crime fighting and revenge plots with the action taking place on city streets as players walk through the level they are stopped by groups of enemies who must be defeated before theyre able to continue beat em ups often allow the player to choose between a selection of protagonistseach with their own strengths weaknesses and set of moves history origin the first game to feature fist fighting was segas boxing game heavyweight champ 1976 golden age in 1987 the release of double dragon ushered in a golden age for the beat em up genre that lasted nearly five years the game was designed as techns japans spiritual successor to renegade the streets of rage series was launched in the early 1990s and borrowed heavily from final fight 32bit era onward zeno clash features beat em up gameplay from a firstperson perspective core designs fighting force 1997 was anticipated to redefine the genre for 32bit consoles through its use of a 3d environment however it was met with a lukewarm reception guacamelee is a brawlingbased game based on luchadors fashioned after a metroidstyle adventure game capcoms viewtiful joe 2003 used celshaded graphics and innovative gameplay features such as the protagonists special powers to reinvigorate its traditional 2d scrolling formula after 2000 the beat em up genre has seen a revival in the form of popular 3d hack and slash games in the style of devil may cry 2001 onwards including ninja gaiden 2004 onwards god of war 2005 onwards heavenly sword 2007 afro samurai 2009 saints row iv 2013 featured a parody of streets of rage entitled saints of rage where the player rescues johnny gat from a virtual prison list of beat em ups shoot em up genre beat em up brawler at mobygames vtevideo game genres listaction beat em up hack and slash fighting maze pacman clone platform shooter firstperson thirdperson light gun shoot em up tactical survival battle royale actionadventure grand theft auto clone immersive sim metroidvania stealth survival horror psychological horror adventure escape the room interactive fiction interactive movie visual novel mmo mmofps mmorpg mmorts mud roleplaying action roleplaying dungeon crawl roguelike tactical roleplaying simulation construction and management business city government life simulation dating sim digital pet god social simulation sports strategy 4x multiplayer online battle arena realtime strategy tower defense time management realtime tactics turnbased strategy turnbased tactics wargame vehicle simulation flight simulator amateur combat space racing kart racing sim racing submarine simulator train simulator vehicular combat other genres artillery breakout clone digital collectible card game eroge exergame incremental music rhythm nongame party programming puzzle sokoban tilematching related concepts 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