Memories of salons (Scrolling Beat Em`Up Games)
(...) I remember today, late in the evening, a specific smell, a pocket full of chips ... and the fight begins. Me versus slot machine, a different title every day and a challenge at the same time - how atmospheric, it's a pity that those times are over ...
I already have 21 springs on my account, so I know something about it. It all started in my case around 1990, as a young inexperienced player, I was dragged by my brother to the train station (we were supposed to go to Grandma). It was about 30 minutes until the departure of the train, the "goal" was somehow to kill this time, and we enter the waiting room, where in the corner there were 3 black "wardrobes" with a TV screen at the top. I was not so layman as not to "fumble" that you can play there (so far the only form of fun at home was the "black box" - ATARI 2600). My good brother threw me two coins with a rather strange appearance, as it turned out they were chips that could be use to play. There was a guy standing by one of the standing "wardrobes", you could see that he knew his stuff. When I approached the machine, an unknown person looked at me with his eyes and after a while he left (as it turned out, Game Over on the screen) without thinking much, I threw both "discs" into the "mouth". After a while I saw the inscription Final Fight. I did not expect this game to take over me so much and I will become what I am now, i.e. a compulsive player who cannot live without games ...
This article, as you probably guessed, will be about the so-called "Walking Fighters", in which you play as a character that moves mainly to the right, killing everything that stands in its way. I will introduce you briefly, most (not all of them, of course - there are too many to describe them) specific walking "Beat Em`Up Games", which I was given to play and which I still play to this day. The beginning of this genre dates back to 1984, when the IREM company released the game entitled KUNG-FU MASTER. This game, as it turned out, can be considered the ancestor of all that have been released so far. So the game consisted of traditional traveling, and then left and then right in a Japanese palace, the guy not specified (no information about his name or anything else) was visible only a hero dressed in a white kimono, the control was extremely crude (left, right, up, down + button responsible for the attack) in total, you could only move on the plane of one of the 5 floors (left, right) kicking and hitting opponents. The fun was diversified by various "obstacles", such as spikes which had to be avoided, or objects falling from above. Anyway, the game was extremely sweet, and it was quite successful, thanks to which 4 years later (1988) we received a sequel called VIGILANTE. Mainly the graphics were pulled up, and the action itself moved to the street and local slums, an unusual novelty was also introduced, so you could hit your opponents with found gadgets (knife, club).
A year later, thanks to Technos, the excellent, as it later turned out, DOUBLE DRAGON series was released. Many sequels were released mainly for Nintendo consoles (NES, GB, SNES), a film was also made based on this game! Meanwhile, on home computers (ZX SPECTRUM), the first "Beat Em`Up Game" for two players appeared: TARGET RENEGADE, in which you and your friend could cooperate, on the basis of "one holds, the other beats!".
Slowly publishing this type of games was gaining momentum, as a result of the popularity of the movie "Ninja Turtles" another walking "Beat Em`Up Game" was created: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. As it turned out, the game turned into serial parts. There were 4 characters to choose from (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello), you had to rescue the journalist April from Shreeder's hideous hands. You could play up to 4 people at once! SEGA also released a great fight in the atmosphere of the fantasy GOLDEN AX. Here we had 3 different characters to choose from: a knight, a dwarf and a warrior. A novelty introduced in the Arcade genre masters was the possibility of firing specials / spells that destroyed all characters on the screen, on the SEGA console - GENESIS (known as MEGA DRIVE) appeared on the console as many as 3 continuations of this item.
1990 came, so came the aforementioned divine and considered by most to be the best game in this genre: FINAL FIGHT. It was she who initiated the greatest popularity of this game genre. The game was released by CAPCOM. Final Fight was already a classic of the genre, with 3 wonderful distinct characters (Cody, Guy, Haggar). Totally different levels (Slums, subway driving, factory, park ...), after walking 2 stages we also had the opportunity to test ourselves in the bonus stage of the game, where we were able to destroy a car. The game also had a banal story, but it was extremely playable and atmospheric. On the street, apart from the "food" that raised the health level, you could find a large number of additional weapons with which you could smash your opponents. And when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, for the first time, blows could be combined into one combo that knocked out the opponent. There was also a button responsible for launching a special attack that knocked everyone around. The game gained considerable popularity and as many as 3 sequels on the SNES were released. Unfortunately they were not, although half as good as the "first". After this game, a huge number of clones were released, referring to the principle of "go right and kill everyone as it goes ...", here are more interesting titles: KARATE BLAZERS, 64TH STREET, VENDETTA, KING OF DRAGONS and CAPTAIN COMMANDO. A year later CAPCOM provided us another killer; KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND - this game referred to the story of King Arthur and the knights of the round table, with a choice of three historical knights (Arthur, Lancelot, Parceval). Interestingly, a cool gadget was added here, thanks to which killing enemies gained experience points, which in turn increased the up levels (the higher the level, the better armor, attack, etc.).
It's 1992, once again a CAPCOM hit!
This time with a brawl set in the fights of feudal Japan: WARRIORS OF FATE, beautiful graphics and a trifle as many as (!) 5 Characters to choose from (completely different), including even an archer! You could ride horses here (easier to fight with opponents), the blows system was also much richer than in the previous "yellow-blue" games, interestingly, you could kill your opponent by cutting him in half! While wandering through very colorful levels, you could find chests, barrels - after destroying which you could get a really large number of various weapons (Axes, swords, machetes, etc.). In the same year, CAPCOM released another great game - CADDILACS & DINOSAURS. Here we had 4 characters to choose from (including a dog!). The action of the game was set in the future, and the plot was based on the fight to defend the dinosaurs, as an addition the possibility of driving the Caddilac was introduced. The game also had something that made it different from other games of this type - a very rich assortment of firearms (pistol, shotgun, machine gun or even a bazooka!). Then KONAMI hit the market with its hits: HOOK, ASTERIX and UNDERCOVER COPS. In the summer of 1993, another creation from the CAPCOM genius appeared in the salons: ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. The title was characterized by great graphics and atmosphere, as well as real hordes of attacking aliens, there was also a large amount of both melee and firearms. This title is now remembered as the first game of the new CPS2 system. In the 90s, there were also gems such as DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (two parts: TOWER OF DOOM and SHADOW OPER WYSTARA).
Great atmosphere of the Middle Ages, in fact. There were many RPG elements in this game (after all, it's D&D), such as collecting amulets, rings, experience, you could also use different spells that were different for each character (Warrior, Cleric, elf - grace, dwarf). In the second part there were two heroes (The Thief and the Magician). The game was also less linear, the authors of the game often gave us a choice of the path we want to follow. It should be added that SEGA released both games for its Saturn console (they only worked with a 4mb memory expansion). Another one on CAPCOM's list was a game based on the well-known comix THE PUNISHER. Two heroes, a huge number of weapons, completely different levels and a very high interaction (you could take a chair, flowerpot, cupboard, table - almost anything and hit your opponent with them!).
Konami released in 1993 a game considered by many to be the best, VIOLENT STORM. Unfortunately this game is not well emulated so far, and playing it is complicated. And more or less at this point the story ends, although games of this genre continued to be released, this genre is dying out (if it is not already extinct). There were attempts at resurrection for Amiga, even Poles released a game entitled Franko, where you could even hear Polish curses and run over your grandmother with a "toddler"! In turn, "clones" of Ninja turtles appeared on SNES / Mega Drive like Battle Toads (even more interesting game than the one with turtles). The great Fighting Force was released on PSX and PC (it's a pity that it's so short) - the first "walked" in 3D. The sequel was so pathetic that there's not even much to mention. On Saturn they came out very good games: Guardian Heroes and Three Dirty Dwarfs. It could have seemed that something else would come of it ... The Dreamcast also had something to say; Dynamite Cop, Zombie Revenge and Soul Fighter - these are good games but nothing extraordinary. There was a quirk from Square on the "blacknule"; the Bouncer, which was not really a game but numerous movie inserts, in which the authors sometimes let us play. There were also Dynasty Warriors 2, 3 - where we fight hundreds of opponents with a very low AI coefficient. What's next? - Time will show ... let's hope that with the passing of arcades, this genre will survive and that we will play something half as sweet as Final Fight.
