I'll be honest, I don't think most 2D beat-em-ups were as good as people remember them being, either.
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I'll be honest, I don't think most 2D beat-em-ups were as good as people remember them being, either.
Agree.
I remember when my friends and I got together to play Final Fight for the first time in a decade. By the second stage of we were all ready to give up and play something else. It just wasn't fun. Meanwhile, I've been playing SoR2 every few years and absolutely loving it.
I've actually played through a few lately, Golden Axe, SoR2, and Pit Fighter.
I still like Golden Axe, but I've discovered that it's not so good as a co-op game unless you're playing with someone that knows how to play and how to manipulate the AI. With one player, it's very straight forward, but with a second player running around drawing enemies away from where you want them, it can be a really random and frustrating experience.
SoR2 works much better as a co-op game, and I still enjoy the gameplay. I think I prefer the first SoR, though. I'll have to give that one a try next.
Pit Fighter is trash and I love it.
The slowdown in the arcade Double Dragon series' first two games is just hell. How could someone have put up with the game chugging along at an underwater pace? TG for CPU overclocking in MAME, which makes them actually playable. Aside from SFC Return of Double Dragon and PCE DDII, this series is kinda blah.
Final Fight could've been a truly good series if the original releases of the sequels had stayed on CPS boards. FF2 & 3 on the SNES were disappointing on release, and don't hold up so well today. If someone out there makes an OpenBOR conversion of FF2 or FF3 that has the proper number of enemies and AI that's actually aware of your presence, I may check that out.
SoR2's AI is some of the best on a console. Enemies like Barbon, Raging Bear, or Donovan are good at swatting away jump-ins, and Galsia is sneaky. FF2 & 3 would've been decent if their enemies were like this.
I actually super-love arcade Ninja Gaiden, but most people don't know how to play it. It's an aerial-throwing-dudes game, not a beat em up.
Yeah Final Fight 2 and 3 are only good for their artwork and awesome sprites. Their gameplay and AI are pretty sub par. The SNES just didn't have enough technical muscle to make a good Final Fight game.
Exactly. H2H doesn't work as well as throwing- it's very easy to get clobbered when trying to punch. OTOH, throwing an enemy into a phone booth then scoring a katana item is what it's all about. The Japanese version of NG arcade is better due to the absence of certain 1HKOs that some enemies (*cough* last boss) can do in the USA one.
Pit Fighter is good if you take it as kusoge and keep clear of the SNES version. The SNES one is just vomit-inducing. Three enemy characters get the axe, you get NO weapons, and the audience won't attack if someone's too close. And that's not all... one of the best things, the power pill? Nuh-uh. The two girls in the ending don't show up. Your fighter just poses for a few seconds as "The New Champion" flashes on screen and then there's just a GAME OVER sign. Lame. Just goes to show how much THQ sucked on 16-bit.
The Genesis version is totally studly.