In the United Kingdom, video game magazines during the 1980s to 1990s, such as Mean Machines and Computer & Video Games (C+VG) for example, referred to all games which had a combat motif as beat 'em ups, including fighting games. Occasionally, a game will feature both kinds of gameplay. At times, both one-on-one fighting games and scrolling beat 'em ups have influenced each other in terms of graphics and style and can appeal to fans of either genre. Such terminology is loosely applied, however, as some commentators prefer to conflate the two terms. īeat 'em ups are related to but distinct from fighting games, which are based around one-on-one matches rather than scrolling levels and multiple enemies. Arcade versions of these games are often quite difficult to win, causing players to spend more money. Gameplay consists of walking through a level, one section at a time, defeating a group of enemies before advancing to the next section a boss fight normally occurs at the end of each level. 4.5 Traditional beat 'em ups (early 2000s to present)Ī beat 'em up (also called a 'brawler') is a type of action game where the player character must fight a large number of enemies in unarmed combat or with melee weapons.4.4 3D hack-and-slash games (early 2000s to present).4.3 Transition to 3D (late 1990s to early 2000s).4.2 Mainstream success (late 1980s to early 1990s).Since the 2010s, traditional 2D beat 'em ups have seen a resurgence, with popular titles such as Dungeon Fighter Online, Dragon's Crown, Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. In the 2000s, a sub-genre of 3D hack-and-slash games emerged (also known as 'character action games'), adapting the beat 'em up formula to utilize large-scale 3D environments, with popular franchises including Devil May Cry, Dynasty Warriors, God of War and Bayonetta.

In the late 1990s, the genre lost popularity with the emergence of 3D-polygon technology. Games such as Streets of Rage, Final Fight, Golden Axe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are other classics to emerge from this period. The genre then saw a period of high popularity between the release of Double Dragon in 1987, which defined the two-player cooperative mode and continuous belt scroll format central to classic beat 'em ups, and 1991's Street Fighter II, which drew gamers towards one-on-one fighting games. 1986's Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun introduced the belt scroll format employed extensively by later games, while also popularizing contemporary urban settings, while its Western localized version Renegade further introduced underworld revenge themes. The first beat 'em up was 1984's Kung-Fu Master, which was based on Hong Kong martial arts films. Most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical, science fiction or fantasy themes. Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre. The gameplay tends to follow arcade genre conventions, such as being simple to learn but difficult to master, and the combat system tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, while a number of modern games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies.

The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all ) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat between with a large number of opponents.

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