The Forgotten Genre
Beat-em-ups are one of gaming's most purely enjoyable genres — and one of its most neglected. The formula is simple: move through levels, fight enemies, occasionally eat a chicken that was somehow hidden in a barrel. Two players, one screen, endless fun.
The genre peaked in the late 80s and early 90s when arcades were still alive and home console ports brought the experience to living rooms worldwide. These games were designed for shared play — and they remain some of the best co-operative gaming experiences ever created.
Why Beat-Em-Ups Were So Great
The beat-em-up's brilliance lies in its simplicity. You don't need to read a manual. You don't need to understand complex systems. You pick a character, walk to the right, and punch things. The accessibility made these games universal — anyone could pick up a controller and immediately be part of the experience.
But beneath the accessible surface, great beat-em-ups rewarded skill. Learning enemy patterns, mastering special moves, understanding when to use your limited resources — the depth was there for players who wanted it. This combination of instant accessibility and hidden depth is rare and valuable.
The Greatest Beat-Em-Ups of All Time
The Urban Brawlers
The archetypical beat-em-up takes place on city streets. Gangs have taken over. Your girlfriend/friend/city needs saving. You have fists, a selection of weapons found on the ground and occasionally a bicycle.
The best urban brawlers of the classic era set a template that's never been improved upon. Responsive controls, satisfying hit feedback, escalating enemy difficulty and boss fights that tested everything you'd learned. The co-operative mode transformed what could have been a decent single-player game into something genuinely special.
The Fantasy Brawlers
Replace city streets with dungeons, dragons and wizards, and you get the fantasy beat-em-up — a genre that combined the accessible combat of urban brawlers with RPG-lite character progression.
Fantasy brawlers often supported more players than their urban counterparts — some classics supported four simultaneous players, which created an entirely different kind of chaos. Choosing your character class (warrior, elf, dwarf, wizard) and then navigating the dungeon together produced memories that four-player arcade sessions are still talked about decades later.
The Licensed Brawlers
Every major film and television franchise of the era eventually got a beat-em-up adaptation. The best of these transcended their source material to become genuinely great games in their own right. The worst were cynical cash-ins. But even mediocre licensed brawlers were more fun than they had any right to be with a friend on the second controller.
The Sci-Fi Brawlers
Futuristic settings unlocked creative possibilities that urban and fantasy settings couldn't offer. Mechs, alien weapons, cyberpunk aesthetics — sci-fi beat-em-ups brought variety to the genre and attracted players who might not have engaged with more traditional settings.
The Art of the Two-Player Beat-Em-Up
Playing a beat-em-up alone is perfectly enjoyable. Playing one with a friend is a fundamentally different experience.
The dynamic changes completely. Suddenly you're coordinating attacks, accidentally hitting each other (some games featured friendly fire, adding an extra layer of chaos), sharing limited resources and making split-second decisions about whether to help your partner or focus on your own survival.
The best two-player beat-em-up sessions create stories. "Remember when you used the last continue without asking?" "Remember when that boss took us both down with one move?" "Remember when we finally cleared that level after twelve attempts?" These are gaming memories that last.
Beat-Em-Up Tips and Strategies
For Beginners
- Don't button-mash — it works initially but fails against later enemies. Learn the basic combo timing for your character
- Watch enemy animations — enemies telegraph their attacks. Learning to read these is the key to surviving later stages
- Use your special move wisely — most beat-em-ups have a screen-clearing special that costs health to use. Save it for emergencies
- Grab weapons from the environment — weapons dramatically increase your effectiveness but are limited. Prioritize the most powerful ones
For Two-Player Sessions
- Coordinate on bosses — don't both attack from the same side. One player attacks from the front, one from behind
- Communicate about health items — the player in worse shape should take the food, not whoever reaches it first
- Don't use continues without discussing it — this is a relationship-damaging move. Always ask first.
- Spread out against regular enemies — clustering together lets enemies hit both players simultaneously
The Beat-Em-Up Lives On
The genre had its golden age in the 80s and 90s, faded in the 2000s and has seen a modest revival in recent years. But the classic examples from the arcade and 16-bit era remain the benchmark. No modern beat-em-up has quite matched the feel of the originals — that perfect combination of visual satisfaction, responsive controls and cooperative chaos.
The good news is that thousands of classic beat-em-ups are available on modern plug-and-play retro consoles. The genre that requires a second player is best enjoyed with a second player — and most retro consoles include two controllers, making it immediately accessible.
Play the Classics Together
The RetrotvPixel™ comes with two wireless controllers and thousands of classic beat-em-ups preloaded — ready to play on any TV in under 60 seconds. Grab a friend, pick your characters and start brawling.