Cameron Powell Specialism Beat 'em Up Game Research

Introduction

A Beat 'em Up is a video game genre that focuses on hand-to-hand combat against a large number of enemies. Traditionally, Beat 'em Ups take place on a side scrolling two-dimensional plain, while some of them feature more three-dimensional environments. 

The first game of this genre was 1984's Kung-Fu Master, distributed by Data East. The player controls Thomas with an 8-way joystick and two attack buttons; Punch and Kick. The player has to play through five levels of the Devil's Temple, fending off enemies while being cautious about Thomas' health.

Kung-Fu Master has had a significant cultural impact in the video game industry, as it was the established the concept of Beat 'em Up games as well as Side-Scrolling Action Games.

Two years later, Technos Japan and Taito released Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, otherwise known as Renegade in the West. The game is presented in an isometric perspective with the character sprites and backgrounds being rendered in a three-quarter perspective. The player can move in horizontal and vertical directions with a joystick and press buttons to jump, kick and punch.

Worth noting is that Renegade was the first Beat 'em Up game to include the concept of belt-scrolling, where the player can move horizontally and vertically in a scrolling arena-like space.

The following year, Technos Japan and Taito released Double Dragon. It introduced several additions to the Beat 'em Up genre, such as a continuous side-scrolling world, two-player co-operative gameplay and the use of cinematic cutscenes.