The Beat Em' Up genre is one that used to be much more prevalent in the gaming industry,especially in the Playstation 2 era, but has since shrunken down quite a bit to only a few niche releases per year. That said, these games will always have a faithfully loyal fanbase to play whatever new games come out. They do this for many reasons, but these are some of the largest.
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One, the Beat Em' Up gameplay loop of beating up enemies, dodging attacks, and moving on to the next screen is just innately satisfying. Two, these games tend to feature amazing character designs that all have their own unique mechanics. And three, Beat Em' Up games love to sprinkle little bits of their hidden lore all throughout their levels, dialogue, and narrative. So, let’s take a look at some Beat Em' Up titles, both classic and more modern, that actually have a lot more lore than what one might expect.
6Streets Of Rage
First up is probably one of the more iconic Beat Em' Up games out there,Streets of Rage, otherwise known asBare Knucklein Japan. This classic franchise has been around since 1991, and even had its most recent addition to the IP released in 2020.
Now, on the surface, this game just seems like it’s about a gang of vigilantes taking down a crime syndicate for the good of the city. And, for the most part, this is the majority of its “core” story. But, as players replay the games, look into their lore, and figure out the connections between all four titles, they’ll see how many extra bits of info there are. Some examples include:
5Final Fight
AlongsideStreets of Rage, theFinal Fightfranchise is one of the few other Beat Em' Ups that holds even a relatively comparable amount of reputation and prestige. This long-running franchise started back in 1989 and released two sequels not long after (one in 1993 and then the next in 1995). But, afterFinal Fight 3, the franchise only had re-releases and spin-offs keeping it afloat untilFinal Fight: Streetwisecame out in 2005. Frankly, this franchise deserves more, or at the very least the same sort of treatment thattheTMNT: Cowabunga Collectiongot.
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These games all take place in a fictional metropolitan area called Metro City, a place where playable character Mike Haggar is Mayor, and a city that has been used by Capcom multiple times as the setting or backdrop in other games such asCaptain Commandoor evenMarvel vs Capcom: Infinite. Now, in terms of lore, theFinal Fightfranchise has a ton of it just in the first game alone. For its time, the firstFinal Fighthas an obscene amount of narration and story cutscenes. But, even as a franchise, the characters of theFinal FightIP have so much an expansive mythos tied to them thanks to their appearances inStreet Fighterprimarily.
And, with this tie toStreet Fighter, an IP that’s one of the biggest fighting game franchises of all time, characters like Mike Haggar and Cody Travers have even received bits of extra lore revealed or elaborated on in all the side material forStreet Fighter.These include the Udon comics, codex entries in spin-off games, or even theStreet Fighteranimated series.
4Dragon’s Crown
Next up is a game that any fan of Vanillaware, a group of expert developers, will immediately recognize due to it having their trademark high-quality art style.Dragon’s Crownisone of the more modernized Beat Em' Up games, coming out 2013 and one that obviously is inspired by the CapcomDungeons and DragonsBeat Em' Up series as well asGolden Axe. In it, players can choose between one of six different characters with unique archetypes such as the Knight, Amazon, Dwarf, Elf, Wizard, and Sorceress. Once chosen, they can then go alone or have their friends join them andgo on surprisingly difficult adventuresall throughout the kingdom of Hydeland.
The actual story ofDragon’s Crowncan be pretty confusing at first due to the game being built around replaying old levels a lot, which typically puts a lot of time between new bits of story information. But essentially, the story involves a political coup, lots of adventuring, and working together to slay ancient dragons. Now, in terms of lore, there’s a lot sprinkled throughout the game through side paths to levels, item descriptions, different character endings, and more. Not only that, but the IP has also had an official manga published about it and even some short comics in magazines like Famitsu.
3Castle Crashers
Now, at first,Castle Crashersdoesn’t quite seem like a game that’s overflowing with rich, deep, or even remotely complex lore. And that’s a correct assumption because the game is intentionally very “basic” when it comes to its narrative and story elements. It’s designed tobe an easy entry for newcomersto the genre, so everything is relatively simple. Princesses get kidnapped, Knights go and save them, they beat the big bad, and the world is saved. It’s a pretty cookie-cutter narrative.
But, because there are over 30 different playable characters in the game, about 20 bosses, tons of subtle interactions between enemies and allies, piles of animal orbs, and a bunch more, there are a ton of what could be called “tiny lore crumbs”. Add all these crumbs together and a truly dedicated player actually has a lot they can learn and discover about theCastle Crashersworld, though it will likely take a ton of playthroughs to do so.
2Battletoads (2020)
In the original 1991 game,Battletoadswasn’t exactly a title known for having a lot of lore to find since not many people made it throughthe endless “game over” screens. But, in the 2020 sequel, there is a real emphasis placed on giving a ton of new characterization for Zitz, Rash, Pimple, and even the Dark Queen.
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Not only that, but the setting itself has massive amounts of world-building spread throughout the game. Honestly, the story in the 2020Battletoadsgame is one of the more expansive stories that a singular Beat Em' Up title has ever had, especially in comparison to the almost non-existent lore that was in the original.
1River City Ransom & River City Girls
TheRiver Cityseries might be the most notable “grandfather of all Beat Em' Ups”, even more so thanFinal FightorStreets of Rage, as the original game was one of the first to even attempt it. Now, at its core, theRiver CityIP is all about its protagonist Kunio as he fights against other school delinquents physically, in sports, or even in martial arts.
Throughout all the games there’s been a ton of characters introduced with their own stories, backgrounds, and impact on the story, butRiver City Girls, a reboot of sorts that came out in 2019, really made sure to flesh out a lot of the story elements and even addingnew playable characters into the mixwith its sequel. Not only doesRiver City Girlsadd massive characterization to Misako and Kyoko, who are Kunio and Rikki’s girlfriends, but it also just adds a lot of world-building to theRiver Cityfranchise. Plus, the sheer number ofDouble Dragonreferences in the game, considering how similar the two IPs are and where they were both developed, has basically stitched these two worlds together into the same universe.
