Favorite SEGA "Beat em up" Games

[JohnOfRage]

Please tell me why this is your favorite SEGA Beat em up game. If it is not one of the seven choices tell me what game is missing, that is your favorite.   

[stevetheman90]

I would beg to say that Golden Axe and Streets of Rage are the two best beat em ups from Sega with Altered Beast as a close third, but my most favorite beat em up due to the memories it gives me and uniqueness of the game has to be Dynamite Cop. I remember my brother and I playing this for hours. Also, the fact that you can beat the crap out of some one with a fish is awesome!   

[mylifewithsega]

Had to go with Dynamite Cop, followed by Streets of Rage. I'm a bit of a loner, and there's no way I can play Streets of Rage without a partner. It's just not the same, ya' know?

[ROJM]

Guardian Heroes isn't a beat em up its an RPG.

And why isn't Virtua Fighter, Last Bronx, Fighting Vipers and even Madworld not on the list?!

[Barry the Nomad]

Madworld should be on the list, but Virtua Fighter, Last Bronx and Fighting Vipers aren't beat em ups. They're fighting games. I see beat em up as fighting games in which you progress through stages and defeat swarms of enemies. Virtua Fighter, Last Bronx and Fighting Vipers have you take on one opponent at a time in arenas. Only progression is in moving from arena to arena.

I picked Streets of Rage, because I love SoR2.

[SOUP]

As far as straight beat 'em ups go, my vote would have to go with Dynamite Cop. Streets of Rage 2 would be a close second.

A special mention goes out to the Yakuza series. The best beat 'em up ever made, dressed up as an RPG. I'd still say it qualifies as a beat 'em up. Just as much as something like River City Ransom, but with more story bits, and side content.

[CrazyT]

I love dynamite cop alot, but no beat em up makes my day better like streets of rage does.

[stevetheman90]

Guardian Heroes is a beat em up that contains RPG elements or you can reverse that as an RPG with beat em up elements. I do not see why it would not have the criteria to make the list regardless.

[Centrale]

Of the ones on the list, I'll go with Golden Axe.  It doesn't have the deepest gameplay, but its art direction is pretty striking.  It has a great sense of a journey and the passage of time, with the passages through the village on the turtle's back, and through the skies on the eagle's back.  These battles are interspersed with the bonus rounds -- being awakened around the campfire by the mischevious elves, who you then chase around and kick the hell out of to get their little blue potion vials.  This is something I actually do whenever I'm awakened in the middle of the night.

However, I agree with SOUP that Yakuza is the king of contemporary beat-em-ups.

[MadeManG74]

I'm going to abstain from voting because I can't choose. Dynamite Cop/Die Hard Arcade are awesome games, and I used to play them heaps on Saturn/DC. Guardian Heroes is probably the better game overall though, and it's got some god-like music and visuals too, one of the most addictive games around.

And SoR 2 is SoR 2. I don't need to go into details for that one.

[el_clown]

Streets of Rage 2 is by far my favourite Beat 'em up: the music, the gameplay, the graphics... everything is perfect in that game!

[ROJM]

Guardian Heroes is a beat em up that contains RPG elements or you can reverse that as an RPG with beat em up elements. I do not see why it would not have the criteria to make the list regardless.

Because it isn't a beat em up its an RPG. That's the point. If you're going to include Guardian Heroes and leave out Virtua Fighter because someone thinks they aren't beat em ups but fighting games despite being part of the same genre,  makes this whole thing redundant. Now were getting the "RGG" fans trying to include the game in the list. What's next SHENMUE? You might as well include Phantasy Star online and Shining Force Cross in the list as well since they use hack and slash game mechanics which was an offshoot of the beat em up genre in the first place.
If it isn't a one on one beat em up which was the fighting game or versus game's original term in which you must beat an opponent to progress to the next level or a horizontal sidescroller beat em up like RAGE without any other added genre involved then it defeats the point and all it shows is what's essentially wrong with today's "gamers" today who obviously can't be bothered to tell the difference.

[Barry the Nomad]

I disagree. Guardian Heroes is a beat em up with RPG elements. It counts. The beat em up element of the game is so strong that it makes it a beat em up.

Virtua Fighter is NOT a beat em up because you face ONE opponent at a time and you don't progress through a stage. It may have the fighting element of a beat em up, but it does not have any of the other elements that makes a beat em up a beat em up. (thank god for copy/paste, I can't type beat em up each time I say it).

I do agree thought that RGG/Yakuza is not a beat em up. It has elements of it, but there is a LOT more to the game then just that aspect. Action-adventure would be the proper classification.

[stevetheman90]

ROJM you have a fine argument but I am going to have to disagree. (Note: Regardless to you, I, or what anyone else says we are all entitled to our opinions on games, and we as human’s can perceive things differently.) First thing I will like to address is the author of this post said, if he didn’t include the game you wanted/like, include it yourself and state why you like it, after all not everyone has complete knowledge of every game Sega conceived. Next I have to go with the majority on Guardian Heroes being a beat em up, yes it contains a large amount RPG elements, but its core physics and design strongly reflected what is considered a beat em up. A good comparison to this argument can be found in music, there can be a fusion amongst genre’s mixing two styles to make a new style that can  be considered both styles at the same time regardless if it added or reduced instruments, timbres etc; this can apply to video games as well since they are both creative arts. There is nothing wrong with genre mixing and a work of art’s genre’s can be considered two or more things at once. Lastly I will have to agree with Barry; there is no arguing that Virtua Fighter is not a beat em up and is in fact a fighter, I just can’t see any dispute about this. Finally as a future educator and historian I find it necessary cite some sources to help my argument. I recommend you to take a look and see what they have to say. In conclusion, I am not here to change your mind , force an idea on to you or troll you; you are a free being a can think and feel how you desire, but just take a look into what I say and maybe you might be able to agree.

Sources:
Guardian Heroes: http://segaretro.org/Guardian_Heroes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_heroes]ttp://segaretro.org/Guardian_Heroes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_heroes[/url], http://www.sega.com/games/guardian-heroes/
Beat em up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_'em_up
Fighting Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_game
Virtua Fighter: http://segaretro.org/Virtua_Fighter, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtua_Fighter_(series), http://www.sega.com/games/virtua-fighter-2/

Note: These links all hold relevance to our conversation, they are in agreement with the points I made and as public encyclopedias show what the common people classify these games as.
Note: Beat em up and brawler are considered the same genre.

[max_cady]

You guys have mentioned a lot of good games. Guardian Heroes is high up there, Streets of Rage is great for some quick fun action.
But there's one that's way higher, personally:



Do I need to say anything more?