Where Have the Side-Scrolling-Brawlers Gone?

[Daethbane]

Am I the only one that misses the simple pleasure of beating CPUs senseless until they grunt and die? Double Dragon, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, even Fighting Force 64, all great games to play if you have had a bad day and want to beat something up.

Just when gaming tech gets really good to make a really kick ass Streets of Rage for example, they just seemed to stop. Makes me sad. Anyone else?

 

[Lilani]

Aren't the Soul Calibur games still coming out? And all the Street Fighter, Marvel VS Capcom crossover games? I mean, I think those sort of have a story attached, but that all isn't too hard to skip and ignore.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[TrevHead]

3D and movable camera angles happened, and while some genres are fine as 2.5D like platformers, 3D sprites in beat em ups have to me anyway always looked wrong, probably has to do with the traditional brawler viewpoint. (3D world with 2D sprites look good however)

For example look these screenshots of the abandoned 3D SOR reboot, it looks really bland with the 2D character designs more interesting. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-21-bionic-commando-dev-grin-worked-on-strider-reboot-streets-of-rage-remake

I suppose some would call Castle Crashers a good thing since its one of the most popular games on XBLA, I personally would call it a dumbed down button masher with the fact you can always find someone else to play with the only redeming feature.

And while there are better beat em ups on XBLA no one plays them. Imo just a case of ppl only playing what is popular or just don't know there are better games out there

 

[evilneko]

They just figured they'd never top Streets of Rage so they gave up.

 

[Space Spoons]

Hey, there's always Scott Pilgrim vs The World. It took the best parts of Final Fight, smushed 'em together with River City Ransom and threw in a dash of Golden Axe, for flavor. It's easily the best sidescrolling brawler I've played in years, the only flaw being that multiplayer is a strictly local only affair.

And, of course, the classic X-Men arcade game is on XBLA now. Hard to top that one, with its flawless action, six-player multiplay support and, of course, iconic Engrish translation.

Spoiler: WELCOME TO DIE

 

[StriderShinryu]

I would say it's a question of simplicity and value versus cost. It's hard to justify a full game price for what you get in most brawlers, hence why the modern brawler has gone one of two directions. On one hand you'll find a familiar but often less polished brawler experience in things like XBLA or PSN games such as Castle Crashers or Scott Pilgrim. On the other hand, you'll find the modern equivalent of the brawler in titles like God Of War, Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry. Of course, with the bigger budgets, added cinematic story focus, etc. you may get similar gameplay but less of the simple fun mashy gameplay from the old titles.

Aren't the Soul Calibur games still coming out? And all the Street Fighter, Marvel VS Capcom crossover games? I mean, I think those sort of have a story attached, but that all isn't too hard to skip and ignore.

Those aren't the same thing at all really. While fighting games have the same roots as your standard brawler, they are very different these days and have been so for many years. The modern equivalent of the brawler is basically something like God Of War or Devil May Cry, not a dedicated complex one on one fighting game.

 

[teqrevisited]

I'd love for a new Streets of Rage game to come out with online co-op so that I could play it with my mates like we used to do on the Mega Drive.

If Sega had hired the guys who made the remake and gotten them to polish it up and release it, even just digitally, I'd have bought it in an instant. As it is, barely days after I checked it out, Sega's suits sent their Cease & Desist and buried the project, despite having no intention of working on the property themselves.

 

[TrevHead]

Isn't SOR on XBLA? I know Final Fight is, I would highly recommend anyone with a 360 to try the demo of Guardian Heroes XBLA, just to see there is abit of scope left in the genre.

However the main draw of any brawler is co-op, with the arcades dead and most ppl online, it's a case of ppl will only play a game if they can find someone else online to play with, just like with online shooters.

Does The Simpsons arcade and Xmen (XBLA) have anyone online or are they dead like other brawlers except Castle Crashers?

Steam could do with a high quality brawler on it if you ask me.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Nope you`re not the only one.
When it comes to 3d fighting try Final Fight Streetwise, i enjoyed it up to the point with stupid drug mutants, that sucked. It came out on PS2 and the xbox, i´m not sure if you can play it on the 360. It was 3d but at least the fighting works (combos, you can buy new moves, you can pick up knives, trash cans etc). The story and voice acting is so bad that it´s good and you get to see Cody, Guy and Haggar again.

In this gen there are only the Batman games and the upcomming Sleeping Dogs. The last Golden Axe was disapointing to me.

 

[Daethbane]

@TheNamlessGuy, yes I did mean to say NPCs haha!

Thanks for the Sleeping Dogs suggestion OldDirtyCrusty, didn't even know about it and I'll have to check it out more.

 

[F'Angus]

Try the Scott Pilgrim game on PSN and Xbox. It's the perfect, retro side scrolling brawler.

 

[gigastar]

I still harbor some shrivelled hope that Capcom might one day announce either Viewtiful Joe 3 or a PSN release for the first 2 games...

In more recent times however, theres been Castle Crashers, Scott Pilgrim... and thats about all that comes to my mind. In not terribly good at this.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Aren't the Soul Calibur games still coming out? And all the Street Fighter, Marvel VS Capcom crossover games? I mean, I think those sort of have a story attached, but that all isn't too hard to skip and ignore.

and not one of those is what the OP is talking about, your talking about FIGHTING games, which are one on one affairs

a Brawler, or Beat em up, is you walking to the right, beating the stupid out of groups of enemy's until you reach a boss enemy to end the stage and move to the next, usually harder, level

 

[Nash]

Try Shank 2 on PSN/XBLA. It has a Metal Slug feel to it.

 

[imagremlin]

I'd argue they evolved into God of War, Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry and their ilk.

 

[lord.jeff]

They evolved into Devil May Cry, Bayonetta and God of War. I loved the old brawler games back in the day but now they just don't hold a candle to games with multiple combos, that reward prefect timing with dodges and blocks, and feature multiple weapons that change the game up way more then choosing between the weak fast character and the strong slow character ever did.

 

[Rack]

They evolved into Devil May Cry, Bayonetta and God of War. I loved the old brawler games back in the day but now they just don't hold a candle to games with multiple combos, that reward prefect timing with dodges and blocks, and feature multiple weapons that change the game up way more then choosing between the weak fast character and the strong slow character ever did.

Technically those games are offshoots of Resident Evil. Still while the lineage is different they definitely fit as spiritual successors. I'd love to play a new game of this ilk though, just as the genre was peaking with Shadows over Mystara and Guardan Heroes it disappears.