Beat ‘Em Up Collection (QUByte Classics), is, as the title strongly suggests, a collection of classic beat ‘em ups. Some of which you may be familiar with already, others less so. There are a total of seven beat ‘em ups included in the collection, with a good variety of styles and settings on offer, so let’s dive in, fists first!
First Samurai perhaps isn’t strictly a beat ‘em up in the strictest sense, being more of a platform game with beat ‘em up elements, but it’s probably one of the best-known titles on the collection, and it’s enjoyable enough in its own right, providing something of a change of pace from the other brawlers included here. The game’s colorful 16-bit graphics still impress today. The version included here is the Genesis/Mega Drive version, and it’s fun enough, but perhaps not a game you’re likely to return to often.
Second Samurai joins its predecessor, continuing the story from the first game, but this time in a more traditional side-scrolling beat ‘em up style, but sadly, it’s probably the weakest game in the collection, feeling a little too sluggish to play, and really showing its age. Arguably it’s worthy of inclusion here as a companion piece to First Samurai, but you probably won’t play it more than once or twice, especially when there are better brawlers included in this very collection.
Gourmet Warriors pulls off the impressive feat of seeming both utterly bizarre and very familiar at the same time! This side-scrolling beat ‘em up was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan only, and it’s certainly an utterly Japanese experience. On one hand, you’re in a familiar but nightmarish post-apocalyptic world, where mutants and robots have taken over, and you’re tasked with beating them up, but, as the game’s title suggests, food is also crucial to the game , as food is scarce in the world of Gourmet Warriors, so you must not only become a hunter of baddies, but also a gather of foodstuffs! One of the things I love most about being a retro gaming fan is getting the chance to play a whole load of games that weren’t released in my country back in the day, and it’s especially satisfying when they’re as enjoyable as Gourmet Warriors is! It’s a real tasty retro gaming treat, and one that any beat ‘em up fan is sure to savor.
On then, to Iron Commando, which is a superb arcade beat ‘em up that boasts chunky Final Fight-style sprites, and many of the tropes one normally associates with the genre, such as a choice of playable characters with different fight styles to suit your personal preferences, or just your mood, tough-looking street ruffians to beat ‘up, and collectable weapons including knives and baseball bats, though the story line is on the unusual side, as it’s your job to stop the street ruffians from stealing a radioactive meteorite! Iron Commando looks good and is slick to play, and it exactly the sort of forgotten gem that makes these compilations of retro games such a worthwhile endeavor! One of the highlights of the collection.
Legend is a fantasy-based swords & sorcery brawler that appears to be heavily inspired by Sega’s classic Golden Axe, with its hack and slash gameplay and deployment of magic attacks, but it’s also a fine game in its own right, boasting gloriously colorful chunky spites, an atmospheric soundtrack, and slick gameplay, all ensuring a fantastic, fantastical tine for any beat ‘em up fan.
Sword of Sodan continues the fantasy theme, offering you a choice of playing as a male or female barbarian. The sprites in Sword of Sodan are huge, and well-animated, but this means that the game itself feels on the sluggish side, with combat feeling rather ineffective, feeling rather like you’re giving your enemies a gentle prod rather than a vicious slaying, which is a shame as it’s a great looking game with some pleasingly brutal and bloody animations, but it’s just not up to the high standards of the other games on this compilation.
Thankfully, Water Margin: A Tale of Clouds and Winds brings the quality right back up again, even though Chinese literature from around the 14th century might not seem like the most obvious inspiration for a side-scrolling beat ‘em up, but it really works well! Set in China circa 1120, the game gives you a choice of three warriors, and boasts colorful cartoonish graphics, atmospheric sound, and an experience that any fan of retro beat ‘em ups would enjoy, and its setting is a lit something a little different from the usual mean city streets or fantasy worlds so often employed by beat ‘em ups.
Overall, Beat ‘Em Up Collection (QUByte Classics) offers four genuinely great examples of its genre amongst its seven games, which is a pretty darn good hit rate, and best of all, the games included in the collection are all so obscure that there’s a very good chance that even seasoned beat ‘up veterans won’t have played them before, making Beat ‘Em Up Collection (QUByte Classics) a must-buy for fans of retro beat ‘em up looking to delve beyond the well-known classics of the genre, and even though the collection lacks any of the genre’s big hitters, it would even be a worthwhile purchase for newcomers thanks to the quality and variety of the games on offer, as well as welcome modern quality of life enhancements including remappable controls and optional cheats. Beat ‘Em Up Collection (QUByte Classics) is out now on Xbox (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, and PC.
