Topic: Best Beat-'em Ups

I LOVED beat-'em ups as a kid, but have had a hard tome finding ones i like as much on the VC. for instance, i downloaded Final Fight because everyone was speaking so highly of it, but i found the single attack button and lack of multiplayer made it incredibly boring and repetitive. anybody have any suggestions?

River City Ransom and all 3 of the Streets of Rage games are the way to go, if you're a Nintendo-Only gamer. If you got a PS3 or 360, I also suggest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Final Fight: Double Impact once it comes out(The arcade version is much better, and will have online MP, and Magic Sword is awesome). Oh, and of course Castle Crashers and Fat Princess(if that's a Beat 'em up. It sounds like a beat 'em up, from how it's been described to me).

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Comix Zone! That's also a great one, though it's been rereleased a gazillion times, and for good reason.

I second River City Ransom and Streets of Rage, especially SoR2

Streets of Rage 2 and Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team.

@Toki: is Battletoads and Double Dragon on the VC?

@MickeyMac: i'm Nintendo-only at the moment, but i'll look into River City Ransom and Streets of Rage. thanks!

@ bro2dragons
Sadly, no.

Streets of Rage 2.

Seems to be a lot of SoR2 love. i think i'll give it a go.

Yer welcome, and I WISH both Battletoads and Battletoads & Double Dragon were on VC. If, by the hand of some benevolent unearthly being, they do arrive on VC, you gotta pick 'em up day 1! They're great.

@MickeyMac: will do!

The Streets Of Rage trilogy.

If you ever get a 360 or a PS3, you gotta try TMNT IV: Re-Shelled (never played the original) and Castle Crashers. Both completely awesome.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- any of them
Comix Zone

The Simpsons Arcade

I'd suggest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time as well, should it hit the VC.

Final Fight 1 may not be that good, but Final Fight 3 is pretty good.
Golden Axe (Arcade version) is also pretty good despite being pretty short.

As far as Wii disc games, you should try Spyborgs. It's like a spiritual sucessor to the 8/16-bit beat-'em-ups.

Oh, and don't forget about Pokémon Rumble on WiiWare.

Yeah, i would like spyborgs, but i'm looking for something 2.5D like the old ones. i tried the demo and pokemon rumble was enjoyable, and i'll probably get it eventually, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. and a lot of people don't like Golden Axe, but i guess that's why you picked the Arcade version...

Of course, how could I forget? And Viewtiful Joe, if that's your sort of thing -- I didn't like it very much, but I know a lot of people love it.

i enjoy Viewtiful Joe, though i actually did forget i had it. just looking for something a bit more old-school, though. to remind me of games like Captain America and the Avengers and The Tick that i played as a kid...

Let's see ...

River City Ransom - Good fun. There's ten or so weapons to be used, new techniques to learn and A LOT of dudes to beat up. The co-op, though, is lacking. If one character stands on a wall, the enemies stop moving, and the game also lags up quite a bit in co-op. More over, there is no save option (though VC save states solve that), only a 30-digit long password system.

Comix Zone - One of the most unique titles ever, and great fun too. It's a bit on the hard side, giving you only 1 life, no continues, and pretty much everything, including attacking, can hurt you.

Golden Axe 2 - The first one is great, but it has a lack of polish that is fixed in GA2. Also, enemies can't "juggle" you in GA2. Don't get 3, though.

For wiiware, i've only played Pokemon Rumble, but I feel the game is far too repetitive (even with beat-em-up standards) to warrant the high price.

For retail beat-em-ups I've only played MadWorld and it is freaking awesome. If over-the-top violence is your thing, get this.

EDIT: I see you're looking for retro titles, though. So I'd say RCR is about as old school as they come.