night slashers
2 Likes
If I made one today I would call it Respect for the Dead
4 Likes
I always felt that Undercover Cops really hit the mark pretty close on with the whole post-apocalyptic belt-scroller genre. That and its first boss, Parcs, whose name may be a reference to Xerox-Parc, with the interesting ring-out mechanic of the car crusher available to make it unnecessary to beat him up the traditional way if one has decent timing.
I feel like there was another MAME scrolling beat-em-up that carried a sort of, “Mad Max in light, airy hues” vibration to it.
When it comes to fucked up politics, nothing quite topples N.A.R.C.[S.] for me. Something about a pair of dudes in motorcycle helmets just gunning down a bunch of drug dealers who throw heroin needles at people is absolutely beyond my ability to believe. Granted, drug culture has evolved a bit since the late 80’s, thankfully, but I think in many respects the game still represents the idealized fate of dope men for a great many people: murder without due process.
Obviously I disagree.
1 Like
NARC cannot be read in any fashion other then farcical (ignoring the base point on themeing) because you have guys throwing giant fucking syringes filled with heroin that you OD immediately on and a meth head who throws dumpsters at you
also the drugs are there because of a rich kingpin and not the government so we know it’s fantasy
5 Likes
the actual best beat em up
6 Likes
Yeah fair enough - the more it leans into pro wrestling the better
i was thinking earlier, about how you would mechanically differentiate a modern-themed belt scroller from a fantasy-themed belt scroller, were you to do it today.
the solution i came up with was that the modern one would have more emphasis on throws, and the fantasy one would be weapons-based, and probably have a timing-reliant parry system, ala advanced guardian heroes.
1 Like
Frankly, if there were any feature I’d want to see in a belt-scroller it would be a Dead or Alive-style reversal system.
Super Smash Bros also has a lot that could be brought in to the genre, or so I feel.
1 Like
Authentic smell for the dumpster level?
(I kid, I kid)
4 Likes
the single plane action punch man game genre needs someone to look at the two Vanillaware remasters (Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, Muramasa Rebirth) and take those systems and then strip out the parts where you get hojillion hit combos and your player characters have no weight (which is actually fun in the VW games because you’re never not a light, agile character) and give it a not-classy theme
or maybe I can start drinking and convince everyone in this thread to give Phantom Breaker BattleGrounds and Fairy Bloom Freesia a play and go “actually, this is how I want my games except maybe with less leveling up”
(also, there’s probably someone waiting to jump out of the bushes and go “but Freesia is just an action game in the style of DMC, but 2D” and I would tell that person to shut the fuck up because I’m mad that they’re right but we should accept that the absence of multiple planes will eventually lead us down the path of juggles and dodges)
(seriously though, play PBBG, designed by the guy who designed Asuka 120% and Panzer Bandit)
2 Likes
PBBG is good outside of the voice samples like it is a GBA game that says Mario on the label.
freesia owns
i would literally be satisfied with a single plane game where they fighting engine was literally “just niddhogg with better enemy ai” in an aesthetic that i loved
i said it before and i’ll say it again let me play as all the weirdo punks and have a little animal crossing town where i grow meat in lamposts and fight for fun. Maybe I just want Harvest Moon: The Warriors? I guess this is kinda just a Yakuza game maybe
someone put scott pilgrim on pc and hack it so it gives you all the moves from the beginning and get rid of the level system and let you choose what level you are as a difficulty so it’s just a normal arcade style beat em up and it would be my favorite?
the “prequel” to scott pilgrim, the ubisoft GBA turtles scoller is actually much more well balanced and satisfying
7 Likes
this is the game about missouri I want to make
7 Likes
God I can see the archetypes and variations all superdeformed already and am pleased
Branson Brawl
1 Like
1 Like
I thought about it and the only way they can make a good streets of rage sequel in 2018 is if the opening title music is first we take manhattan
just have it fade in over the sega logo and then cut to stock footage of fascist rallies
4 Likes
just make my game where the the oligarchs order the cops to fill poor neighborhoods with a gas that fills everyone with a desperate need for human blood thus providing them with an excuse to finally cleanse the lower class so you wake up in your shitty tenement a newborn vampire with your health/stamina draining and the cops bust in and from that point on you’re just killing cops and drinking their blood and killing more cops and drinking their blood just consuming the blood of police across the country and world in search of a cure for your affliction and the blood of the rich
3 Likes