Beat em up

I should probably stop calling this a revival. Beat ’em ups have been back for a while and it’s just become a genre developers are happy to return to. Big Helmet Heroes is the second effort from French outfit Exalted Studios. Expanding on from their similarly titled mobile game, this […]

Big Helmet Heroes – PS5 Review

February 4, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2D brawler / Beat em up / belt scroller / big helmet heroes / co-op local multiplayer / combos / exalted studios / french / princess / sheep by Mike

The belt scroller revival has been going on for a few years now. Digital Eclipse seem to be the right people for this work and the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge have beenwarmly received. Following in those footsteps is Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. This is […]

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind – PS5 Review

December 21, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2d sidescroller / angel grove / Beat em up / belt scroller / giant robots / martial arts / melee combat / mighty morphin power rangers / teenagers / time travel by Mike

Night Slashers: Remake is an update of the well-regarded 1993 beat ’em up from Data East and is brought to us by the safe pair of hands that is Forever Entertainment who are behind a lot of remakes such as 2020’s Panzer Dragoon: Remake and 2022’s House of the Dead one. The original arcade […]

Night Slashers: Remake – PS5 Review

September 30, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / Beat em up / coin-op / night stalkers / port / remake / renegade 3 is the worst game of all time by Richie

Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn is a scrolling beat ’em up from Tengo Project, best known for recently revamping old games like Wild Guns, The Ninja Warriors and Pocky & Rocky. We also fondly remember their work on the Xbox 360 shoot ’em up Omega Five, which is one of the greatest games ever made (and […]

Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn – PS5 Review

September 12, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / Beat em up / natsume / NES / retro / shadow of the ninja reborn by Richie

The beat ’em up renaissance has been interesting to see. Whilst it does play on people’s nostalgia, the higher profile efforts have been of a pretty good quality. Next to return to the fray is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of The Dragons. The series itself hasn’t always hit the right […]

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons – PS5 Review

July 27, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2D brawler / Beat em up / crime / double dragon gaiden rise of the new dragons / jimmy and bimmy lee / kingpin / local co-op / melee combat / secret base / trash pyramid by Mike

Fight’N Rage is a side-scrolling beat ’em up from Uruguayan developer, and fighting game enthusiast, Seba Games Dev and it is very much inspired by the classics of the genre, a genre which arguably had its heyday back in the late ’80s and early ’90s but repeatedly gets dipped back […]

Fight’N Rage – PS5 Review

March 19, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 90s / Beat em up / fight'n rage / final fight / retro by Richie

Sometimes it’s good to be late to the party. When Sifu originally released I was knee deep in review mania and I always have trepidation tackling a game where the difficulty is a keen selling point. Sloclap’s been tinkering with combat systems since their debut Absolver. Whilst that focused on […]

Sifu – PS5 Review

December 4, 2022 in PS5 / Reviews tagged Beat em up / brawler / chinese / kung fu / martial art / pak mei / revenge / sifu / sloclap by Mike

There is something just so intriguing about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise isn’t there? Despite being fad material from the late eighties and early nineties, the Turtles have managed to endure the test of time, whether that be in comics, movies and of course, video games. With over twenty […]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – PS4 Review

June 18, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged Beat em up / mutant / ninja / revenge / shredder's / tee lopes / Teenage / turtles by Grizz

Okinawa Rush is a 2D beat ’em up from London-based Sokaikan Limited. Released on Steam back in May 2021, it garnered decent reviews before reaching a wider audience thanks to a Switch release in October the same year. But now it’s here on PS4 and we have to say, we […]

Okinawa Rush – PS4 Review

February 7, 2022 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / Beat em up / coin-op / fighting / karate / okinawa rush / shinobi / street fighter 2 by Richie

WarDogs: Red’s Return is an old-school 2D beat ’em up in the tradition of games like Renegade, Double Dragon and, most notably, Final Fight. It comes to us from QUByte Interactive and Brazilian coders Mito Games. In it you play as Red, an anthropomorphic fighter (human body, dog’s head) as he returns home […]

WarDogs: Red’s Return – PS4 Review

May 13, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 2.5d / arcade / Beat em up / final fight / too much story / wardogs by Richie

We’ve reviewed Netherrealm’s spectacularly gory fighting game, Mortal Kombat 11, previously, along with its Aftermath DLC but both have made it across to the PS5 as part of this, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate. What you get for your money is the original game, the DLC and the two Kombat packs which add a […]

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate – PS5 Review

November 28, 2020 in PS5 / Reviews tagged Beat em up / fighting / gore / mortal kombat 11 / netherrealm by Richie

Shing! is a side-scrolling hack and slasher very much in the grand tradition of games such as Golden Axe and, more recently, Castle Crashers. This is a genre that doesn’t make as many appearances these days as others. We’re forever reviewing top-down shooters and 2D platform games but, clearly, the golden […]

Shing! – PS4 Review

August 28, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged anime / Beat em up / hack and slasher / shing! / sword by Richie