10 Great Modern Side Scrolling Beat ’Em Ups

The side-scrolling beat-’em-up was a genre that was once at the forefront of gaming. You were just as likely to be striding through murky, graffiti-covered alleyways beating up the local delinquents in the ‘80s and ‘90s as you were to be exploring shady, underground facilities with a gun poking out of the bottom of the screen in the late 2000s. Whether you were loading Renegade from a tape on your Amstrad CPC, throwing coins into Final Fight at your local arcade, or heading down to the Streets of Rage, there was plenty of digital, street-based violence to keep you occupied. If crime gangs weren’t your thing, but you still wanted your taste of 2D physical assault, there were plenty of more outlandish offerings too. The likes of Battletoads, Golden Axe, and Alien Storm all had you covered if you wanted to beat up something a bit more … unusual. Here are 10 Great Modern Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups. VO: Ben Potter (@Confused_Dude) Script: Simon Pike (@Sim198k) Video Editor: Saul Phillips