Top 5 Most Important Beat Em Up Games of All Time

Beat Em Up games are one of the most impactful genres in gaming. While not exactly dominant any more, there was a time when most of the biggest games where beat em ups! The best beat em up games of all time are titles which played great at home but had players lining up at arcades to try and finally beat their gauntlet of fights. Beat em up games might not be fighting games technically, but some of the top titles have fights so intense it can feel like it!

Far from a dying art, beat em up games have actually seen a bit of a revival in recent years. With so many of the most iconic titles dating back quite a while though, getting up to speed with the genre will mean some delving through retro consoles! If you want to explore the genre, then what are the best em up games of all time? These are some picks for the best and most impactful titles in the genre.

Best Beat Em Up Games of All Time

5. The Simpsons Arcade Game

A Simpsons tie-in game might not be the first title to jump to mind when thinking about violent beat em up games, but the Arcade version of the series was a landmark title for the genre.

The Simpsons Arcade game lets you play through loads of levels straight from the early years of the long-running cartoon, playing as Homer, Marge, Bart, or Lisa. You’ll face different enemies from the show as you go like Mr Burns and Smithers. However, beyond being a simple fun tie in the mechanics of this game are great. It serves as one of the best examples of how fun a simple approach to beat em up gameplay was.

4. River City Girls

One of the most iconic franchises from the days of the best beat em up games reigning supreme was River City Ransom. One of the more recent games in the series though is definitely worth highlighting here, River City Girls. It’s a modern take on the beat em up with great sprite artwork (to be expected from Arc, the devs behind some of the best anime fighting games) and fantastically designed gameplay.

It’s got easy-to-understand controls but a lot of room to develop with plenty of challenges along the way. One of its most fun mechanics is being able to use defeated enemies as allies further into the game. It’s a more modern game, but up there as one of the best beat em up games of all time.

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have a lot in common with the Simpsons Arcade game, but this brawler is another highlight of the genre. It has similar gameplay; you work your way through New York City fighting screen after screen of the Turtles’ enemies. Each of the turtles has different attacks for you to master and the boss fights in this game are great.

It’s a little more heavily aged, but still great to hop into, especially with the recent revival Shredder’s Revenge being pretty easy to find and play after. If you don’t mind an earlier game, Ninja Turtles is still one of the best beat em up games of all time.

2. Double Dragon

Double Dragon is one of the titles that made the beat em up genre what it is. These early games are a bit dated by modern standards, but there are still plenty of reasons to jump back into Double Dragon. If you can overlook a bit of clunkyness, you’ll see why this genre took off as it did. It’s a little lighter in difficulty for later games in this vein, which can make it a great starting point for the genre.

1. Streets of Rage 4

Along with Double Dragon, Streets of Rage is another series which is synonymous with the beat em up. Any title in this series could count as one of the best beat em up games of all time, but Street of Rage 4, the modern take on the game, is the best to jump into in 2023. The game has a great soundtrack, fantastic art, and mechanically it’s got some advantages over past instalments. The difficulty ramp and boss fights are definitely a challenge, but they’re fairer. It’s a more modern design on the classic series which makes for a perfect entry point.