Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups

DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Now Production 1992 GEN, MD, WII

Now Production’s disgusting enemy design has It feels so satisfying to bash an enemy’s head in SPLATTERHOUSE 2
to be applauded. This guy looks manky! with the game’s many weapons.

Three months have passed since the gruesome Everything here looks and sounds great,
events of the first Splatterhouse (p50) and with weighty combat that makes you feel
poor Rick still can’t seem to catch a break. His unstoppable, especially when Rick slams
one true love, Jennifer, has been kidnapped enemies into the background with a wooden
and dragged into the land of the dead. The plank or baseball bat. He also has his usual
Terror Mask convinces Rick to return to the standing and crouching punch, a jump-kick
hellish West Mansion once again in search and a new sliding tackle, which are perfect for
of answers, triggering another bloody and tearing your enemies to pieces. The sliding kick
gore-spattered brawl against a cast of can also be used to quickly dodge under enemy
grotesque nightmares. attacks or projectiles, which gives Rick a little
more agility than he had in the first game.
Rather than completely overhaul the first
game’s format, developer Now Production Just like its predecessor, Splatterhouse 2 is
decided to fine-tune all of Namco’s original punishing, so you’ll probably get several ‘Game
mechanics to make a superior sequel. There’s Overs’ before memorising the best way to get
a greater variety of horrific enemies to slay and through its challenging sections and boss
a new cast of challenging bosses lurking in encounters. Stick with it, though, and you’ll get
the mansion. The stages are both creepy and to experience one of the most stylish, rewarding
varied, taking you from misty graveyards and and atmospheric brawlers of the ‘90s. The only
ghostly basements to diseased rivers and a downside is that the game was a Mega Drive
ride on a rusted, creaking elevator. The game’s exclusive, meaning it doesn’t have the same
atmosphere nails the dank, eroded horror widespread appeal of the original. Seek it out
vibe that made the first Splatterhouse such for a fun – if decidedly grisly – time.
a standout experience.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Konami 1992 ARC

X-MEN

As always, Konami’s cutscenes capture the Wolverine’s ferocious claw special rips through
Saturday morning cartoon vibe well. a whole line of enemies at once.

Based on the X-Men cartoon show, this is Like Konami’s tie-in with The Simpsons (p144),
another beat-‘em-up that borrows its central X-Men hit arcades with multiple cabinets that
gameplay mechanics from Konami’s Ninja offered co-op support for up to two, four and
Turtles series. It controls almost identically even six players at once. The six-player cab is
to those games, but mixes things up with a huge beast that’s plastered with wonderful
some crazy special moves that see each Marvel artwork, helping you spot it from a
hero unleashing their mutant powers to mile off in the arcades of old. This version is
devastating effect. The colourful art and fluid interesting, as it used mirror trickery to give the
character animation also help the game feel illusion that you’re looking at a wider screen,
like a comic book come to life, which is sure which helped accommodate six player-
to delight fans of the X-Men world. characters and lots of enemy sprites at once.

The plot is pretty generic, involving a scheme by Each of the six playable heroes also feels fun
Magneto to overthrow the planet with his army and varied, with crazy moves that stay true
of Sentinel robots. You’ll probably get really to their comic book origins. Wolverine lets rip
tired of beating up the same handful of with brutal claw slashes, Cyclops zaps enemies
mechanical enemies throughout the whole with optic blasts, and Nightcrawler teleports
story, but it’s worth getting through them all around the screen while lashing out at foes.
to reach each level’s end boss. You’ll face off Meanwhile, Storm can call in a whopping
against a variety of great X-Men villains ripped hurricane, Dazzler creates huge explosions,
straight from the pages of Marvel’s comics, and Colossus electrifies enemies with a
such as The Blob, Juggernaut, Mystique and screen-filling shockwave.
Magneto himself, each with their own powers
and personalities.

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Colossus is a solid tank-class pick. His special The stage bosses range from surprisingly easy
has a huge blast radius. to coin-guzzlingly savage.

Depending on your fondness for the game, Storm’s mastery of the elements lets her fire
it may or may not live up to your nostalgic powerful tornadoes at her enemies.
memories. You could argue that it’s aged a
little poorly due to its simplistic combat, which Overall, X-Men is one of those old-school brawlers
starts to get a little mind-numbing after just that still has a huge following today. It might
a few stages and seems to lack the polish not have aged gracefully compared to its peers,
of other Konami arcade brawlers like The but the game still holds a lot of nostalgia value
Simpsons or the impeccable Violent Storm for players who have fond memories of it from
(p260). But this potential issue goes away a simpler time, when the arcade was king.
immediately once you throw additional players
into the mix, as it ramps up the fun factor by
intensifying the chaos on screen.

Sadly, licensing issues make X-Men very hard
to play today. It was famously removed from
Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service and Sony’s
PSN store back in 2013, which was a pain, as
network play meant you could enjoy the game
with a full squad of six players, just as Konami
intended. It was a decent port that featured
re-recorded dialogue and kept everything else
intact as you remembered it.

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COMIC BOOK VILLAINS

X-Men is full of evil mutants working with Magneto

to take over the world. Here’s an introduction to

them and their comic book origins …

JUGGERNAUT BLOB
First appearance: The X-Men #12, July 1965. Although First appearance: The X-Men #3, January 1964. He might
Juggernaut walks slowly he can catch you off guard with look big, but this blobby brute is slow and leaves himself
a rapid charging sprint that tears up anyone in his path. open to quick attacks. Use jumping strikes only to avoid
He’ll also kneel when he’s about to use the giant mortar his crushing face-slam move. He’ll eventually fall over,
he carries around. Walk up or down to avoid its blasts. which is your chance to hit him with a full combo.

WENDIGO NIMROD
First appearance: The Incredible Hulk #162, April 1973. First appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #191, March 1985. As a
Based on a North American legend, Wendigo is one of the descendent of the Sentinels, this metallic menace doesn’t
easiest bosses in the game, thanks to his big hit box. It go down without a fight. He stomps around the screen like
means that your standard melee attacks can sometimes he owns the place, throwing haymaker punches and energy
hit him before he even has a chance to reach you. blasts at you. Keep moving and only attack when it’s safe.

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WHITE QUEEN PYRO
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129, January 1980. First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #141, January 1981. This
Also known as Emma Frost, this villainous vixen pauses hot-head isn’t much of a challenge. Simply wait for him to
momentarily before hurling an icy blast across the screen. do his fire blast, walk up or down to dodge it then smack
Her crown lights up before she does this, so pay close him about with a combo or special move. Keep repeating
attention and move quickly when necessary. until he’s extinguished.

LIVING MONOLITH
First appearance: X-Men #54, March 1969. Formally known
as Professor Ahmet Abdol, you’ll face two clones of Living
Monolith before going toe-to-toe with the real deal. Try
goading him into using his scythe combos then quickly
counter-attack with standing blows until he’s defeated.

MYSTIQUE
First appearance: Ms. Marvel #16, May 1978. Also known
as Raven Darkhölme, this shapeshifter attacks you while
disguised as Magneto. She doesn’t do much while in his
form, so should be easy enough to take down. Just pelt
her with specials and combos until she collapses.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
SEGA 1992 ARC

ARABIAN FIGHT Even without her awesome fire spells, Ramaya is The beautifully detailed sprites add a tonne of
a great all-round fighter. weight to each attack and boss battle.

This little-known fighting game is unique firestorms, genie strikes and water jets.
in the way it seamlessly blends classic Your hero then jumps back into the screen
pixel-based sprites and animated cartoon before returning to sprite form as the battle
sequences to keep the screen feeling alive recommences. It’s a wonderful mechanic.
with colour and movement. An early battle
on board a galleon shows animated pirates Arabian Fight’s plot involves an evil sheikh who
swinging onto the deck with ropes from the captures Princess Lurana and whisks her off to
game’s foreground, before landing in sprite his lair in the castle of Sazabiss. He has a vague
form to challenge you in battle. It’s a really plan to take over the world, which leads four
neat technique to see in motion, thanks to brave warriors to step up and take him down.
SEGA’s powerful System 32 arcade hardware, They largely have the same moves, including
which was the company’s first ever step melee combos, air attacks and non-magic
into 32-bit territory. specials. First on the list is Sinbat (whose name
weirdly isn’t a translation error or typo for
Each of the four playable heroes also makes Sinbad). He’s the ‘vanilla’ character, who has a
the transition between sprite and anime fairly simple command list, as well as a special
character whenever they unleash their two- whereby he creates clones of himself to attack
button magic special. Pick up enough genie enemies in all directions.
lamps to fill your magic gauge and you can
unleash a screen-clearing attack that’s similar There’s also Ramaya, who is a master of fire
to spells in Golden Axe (p86). The anime version spells. She unleashes hard-hitting kicks at the
of your character then strikes a well-animated end of her combo strings, which can be great
and totally triumphant pose as the screen for knocking back enemies. Goldor is the
becomes awash with magic, in the form of grappler type, who has a crushing throw and

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The blend of anime-style cartoon scenes and Flanked on both sides? This is when specials can
sprites looks incredible in motion. get you out of a jam.

mean uppercuts that knock down bad guys
to give you some much-needed crowd control.
Datta the warrior monk is the last hero, and he’s
the only character who has a projectile-based
special. He clasps his hands together to charge
up his magic then hurls lightning straight
ahead and behind. It’s easily the best basic
special of the bunch.

You could argue that Arabian Fight is a The magic carpet stage is a fun gauntlet of
precursor to Treasure’s legendary brawler enemies and ace visuals.
Guardian Heroes (p308). The anime art style is
similar and the game also plays around with a Arabian Fight might not be that familiar, but
sense of depth, thanks to SEGA’s iconic Super it plays well and has some superb technical
Scaler technology, designed by the legendary features that make it unique in the side-
Yu Suzuki. The technique means that both scrolling genre. While it was never ported
enemies and player-characters change in to consoles, you can still play it at home on
size as they walk in and out of the background. SEGA’s Astro City Mini arcade cabinet.
You can even use this freedom of movement
to walk around enemy projectiles, such as
the slithering Snakewoman’s multi-arrow
bombardments and the swipe of the pirate
captain’s spiked ball and chain.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Kaneko 1992 ARC

B.RAP BOYS While DJ Boy was abstract but drab, B.Rap Boys Try not to leave your bike behind; it gives you a
is colourful and zany. serious combat advantage.

This is the sequel to Kaneko’s mediocre 1989 The bike is especially useful, as it has its own
brawler, DJ Boy (p90). Although B.Rap Boys two-button special move, which lets you pull
isn’t as well-known as its predecessor, off a mid-air flip that uppercuts packs of
it actually raises the bar in every possible enemies in front of you. It also has a greater
way – so it’s a shame that it doesn’t seem range and damage output than your rollerskate
to have the following it rightly deserves. The attacks, which means you’ll fight extra hard
graphics are a huge step up, the gameplay to keep it throughout the stage. The original
is far tighter and the soundtrack genuinely game’s chase sequences also make a return,
slaps in places. It’s a rare case of a studio throwing you against a pack of enemy skaters
taking real lessons from its first game and as the screen scrolls automatically. Things get
applying them to the follow-up. pretty urgent in these sections, as the screen
fills with opponents pretty quickly. It forces you
The characters in the first game always to juggle attacking, defending and navigating
rollerskated around the screen while fighting, around the scrolling environment to stay on
but this time you can fight on a skateboard or top of everything.
while riding a tricked-out bicycle. This makes for
a nice bit of risk-reward gameplay, as you can There are even some bizarre and hilarious
lose your mount if you get knocked off too many set-piece encounters that help mix up each
times. The same feature was seen in Golden stage. One sequence sees the heroes on top
Axe (p86), in which your beast mount would run of an amusement park log ride, where you have
off if you kept getting knocked off its back. to time your attacks perfectly to deflect snare
drums being hurled by a pair of thugs in the
front carriage. There’s literally no narrative
reason for this to happen and it’s not even

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Walk up or down to avoid the random rubbish Time your punches to deflect the snare drums
that gets thrown at you. these bozos hurl towards you.

clear if the bad guys are even drummers, but Keep moving when this mech leaps into the air
this is the kind of madcap humour you can to avoid its ground slam.
expect from this wonderfully bizarre game.
Your best bet is to not ask questions, and just Either way, B.Rap Boys is a game that all
buy into the madness unfolding around you. beat-‘em-up fans should try, especially if
you like your brawlers a little on the strange
Look and feel aside, B.Rap Boys has a far tighter side, like Dynamite Düx (p56), Sonic Blast Man
combat system than DJ Boy, with moves that (p193) or Ninja Baseball Bat Man (p244). If that’s
feel more weighty, thanks to the over-the-top your bag, then you’ll probably get a laugh out
reactions from all the enemies. Their eyes bulge of this game’s weirder moments.
out of their heads and they pull all sorts of crazy
expressions after each hit lands, adding to the
surreal, cartoony vibe. Speaking of vibe, the
game is also notable for having a kickin’ hip hop
soundtrack that’s genuinely infectious and
features real artists.

It’s unclear why B.Rap Boys never got the love
it deserved back in the day. It might have been
the result of DJ Boy’s poor home port on the
Mega Drive. Ask people who have played the
home version and there’s a good chance they’ll
spit on the pavement and curse the game’s
name (it’s honestly not great!).

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
East Technology 1992 ARC

SILENT DRAGON This is a contender for the most awkward aerial To be fair, the visual design and sprite art aren’t
attack ever coded in the genre. all that bad.

This Taito-published brawler doesn’t do some kind of mystical ninjitsu magic. But
much to stand out from the pack, but it has nah, it’s literally just a small, stubby standing
a few qualities that might pique your interest. kick that does slightly more damage than his
For starters, the game’s world is a little usual attack. Hmph.
bonkers. Set in that most vague of futuristic
years – A.D. 19XX – an unnamed city has been To make matters even weirder, Kato and
reduced to total ruin after the nefarious Dr. the soldier character, Sonny, share the exact
Bio decided to unleash a wave of mutant same jumping attack and wear a set of lazily
beasts on the population. Of course, Silent palette-swapped army fatigues. For all we
Dragon wouldn’t be a generic early ‘90s know it was the artist’s last day at Taito before
brawler without someone’s girlfriend getting leaving the company and maybe they just
kidnapped, so that’s in there too. couldn’t be bothered designing some new
trousers for these guys before they left the
With a crazy idea like this, you’d think the game building. There’s maybe a story about the origin
would be a total riot, but it just manages to of Sonny’s trousers out there somewhere, but
be an average experience. That’s because one thing’s for sure, it’s probably more exciting
the combat’s really generic, with floaty and than Silent Dragon’s combat system.
weightless moves that don’t feel like they have
much impact. The combo strings look really Silent Dragon’s quirky game world and weird
awkward and it also has the honour of enemies might give you something to enjoy, but
featuring some of the lamest special moves in overall, this one is just okay. It could have been
the genre. For example, you’d think that Kato, elevated had the combat been deeper and
the badass ninja character, would have a cool more exciting.
special move at his disposal, like shurikens or

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Atari Games 1992 ARC

Expect to get your butt handed to you during Some of the more complex moves look pretty GUARDIANS OF THE ‘HOOD
the mid-stage sparring matches. funny with the digitised actors.

This woeful brawler will test your patience to when they don’t work half the time. The final
the limit, thanks to a horrible combat system straw is when you get knocked over, only to be
and squelchy music that sounds like a bloated repeatedly beaten down until you lose a credit.
rhino passing wind. While it’s a pretty poor It’s absolutely maddening.
experience, Guardians of the ‘Hood is notable
for its use of real actors, who played all of the All of the characters were created with
characters and enemies. the same digitised sprite technique used in
Atari’s 1990 arcade game Pit-Fighter. It’s more
But foremost, the combat really is poor, as advanced than rotoscoping, which is when
enemies can grab or attack you through your pixels are drawn over live footage, as seen in
combo strings, meaning there really is no safe games like Flashback and the original Prince of
strategy to avoid getting your butt kicked. Persia. For Guardians of the ‘Hood, the studio
Typically, side-scrollers stun-lock enemies when filmed real actors performing moves and
you hit them, which lets you land follow-up hits. motions in front of a bluescreen, before the
That doesn’t really happen here, with most animations were transferred into the game.
thugs shrugging off your blows and countering
at random. Enemies also have better range The same technique was used in Midway’s
than you, and sometimes your hits don’t Mortal Kombat, which also hit arcades in 1992.
register at all. It had far more marketing hype than Guardians
of the ‘Hood, which is probably why the latter
It’s a shame, as each character has a wide didn’t make much of an impact on release.
command list of moves, including throws, It’s unfortunate that an early form of motion
ground grapples, projectiles and more. But capture was wasted on such a poor side-
the range of moves doesn’t really matter scroller. Those actors deserved better.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Irem 1992 ARC, SFC, SNES

UNDERCOVER COPS The stone column is absurd, but it’s one of the Use the girder to hold back the subterranean
best weapons in the genre. scumbag boss, Gunpuncher.

Many scrolling beat-‘em-ups take place in starting with Claude. He’s a disgraced karate
gritty, urban settings, but they don’t get much master who was kicked off the professional
darker than the post-apocalyptic brutality of circuit after accidentally killing a man in
Undercover Cops. The year is 2043 and New combat. His standard attacks are lightning-
York City is overrun by rampaging gangs and fast kicks, and his throw is good for bowling
menacing mutants. The city’s top brass have over groups of thugs. Claude’s special is an
decided they’ve had enough, so they call in overhead bicycle kick that drains some of
a trio of City Sweepers to take out the trash your health each time it connects.
and restore peace to the streets.
Bubba is a former American football player who
Undercover Cops stands out for its gorgeous lost his career after being accused of murder.
sprite work and fluid animation, which look He’s slower than the rest but has a great
seriously advanced for 1992. In fact, many of the running shoulder charge move that sends
developers who worked on this game at Irem enemies flying. His special is a bit weird, as
went on to jointly set up their own studio, Nazca Bubba makes a glowing football materialise
Corporation, and there developed the Metal above his head before slamming it into the
Slug series, which is renowned for its cutting- ground to create a devastating shockwave.
edge visuals and animation. You can definitely Surely that would be illegal in pro football?
see some of the Undercover Cops DNA in Metal
Slug, including its incredibly detailed character Last but not least is Flame (known as Rosa in the
sprites, dark humour and lavish backgrounds.  Japanese build), who is out for revenge after her
lover was killed by criminals. She’s the quickest
Solo, or as one of two players, you can choose of the bunch and has a very strange flying butt-
to play as one of the three City Sweepers, bash aerial move. Flame’s special is a neat attack

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Throw stage one’s boss Cue Ball into the crusher This is where the game jumps the shark and
and you’ll land an instant kill. gets weird. You’ll see …

that creates waves of energy all around her, You’ll need that health, too, as Undercover
harming anyone foolish enough to come close.  Cops throws some pretty tough and frankly
The game starts off very promisingly, with a irritating boss battles at you – like Cue Ball,
grim stroll along a harbour beach, which is a towering cyborg who tries to throw you into
littered with corpses being pecked by crows. All a trash compactor on the right side of the
of the combat feels like it has real heft, and the screen. Luckily, you can give him a taste of his
sound of your fists and feet connecting with own medicine and hurl him in for a quick kill.
criminal scum makes it feel satisfying. You can It’s a good fight, but eventually you face
even wield some absurd weaponry, such as multiple Cue Balls in stage four, which takes
stone columns and long steel girders that place inside a giant plane. If he grabs you in
would be far too heavy for a single person to the fourth level he’ll throw you off the aircraft
lift. It’s slightly hilarious to see your fighter for an instant kill, which can burn through your
swatting chumps with them using just one arm. continues like crazy.
It really does make you feel a bit of a badass.
While it runs out of steam in the last two
You start to see some odd humour creeping in stages, Undercover Cops is well worth playing.
too, such as the bizarre health items. Where The visual design and apocalyptic aesthetic
games like Streets of Rage would have you pick are engrossing, and the weird enemy design
up steaming roast chickens for health, here you keeps things visually interesting. The controls
are offered delicious live frogs, waddling baby are also slick and responsive, but in the end a
chicks and piglets that run around the screen. weak and tedious final stage lets things down
You literally have to try and catch them, pick before the finish line.
them up and then eat them for health. Someone
get PETA on the line, pronto!

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Konami 1992 ARC

ASTÉRIX

Your loyal pooch Dogmatix will sometimes bring Charge up your super-punch to make short
you meat and potion power-ups. work of these pesky cavalry troops.

Based on the French graphic novel series by True to the source material, Astérix is short,
René Goscinny, Astérix is one of Konami’s most quick and scrappy with a mean right hook,
inventive brawlers, thanks to a wealth of ideas while the oafish Obélix is slower and lazily
and mechanics that broke away from the potters about as he bats enemies away as if
traditional side-scroller norm. The end result they were flies. It’s impressive that every enemy
is a fresh, colourful and challenging game type has been handled with the same level of
that, while far from perfect, has gained a care, as they all move with fluid animation and
cult following among fans of the genre. over-the-top comic book reactions whenever
they get hit. It’s funny to see your opponents
The game plays out like a greatest hits tour of scarper and run away in a panic as they realise
the most iconic Astérix and Obélix adventures, they’re no match for you.
taking you from the French countryside to the
blazing deserts of Egypt, as you fight to repel Interestingly, the game’s combat mechanics
Caesar’s invading Roman Empire. Each location feel quite different to Konami’s Ninja Turtles
looks fantastic, with a distinct atmosphere and system from 1989, despite seemingly running on
plenty of new things to see and do, whether the same engine. Both characters have simple
you’re fighting soldiers during a magic carpet standing melee combos and the option to grab
ride through India or swimming through downed opponents before either slapping them
shark-infested waters off the British coast. about for a while or throwing them across the
screen. Astérix also has a sliding kick that can
Konami’s superb art direction is particularly be unleashed by entering the same command
striking, and perfectly emulates the style of inputs as Ryu’s Hadouken in Street Fighter II.
artist Albert Uderzo’s original illustrations, It’s great for bowling over a pack of enemies
with great recreations of all the main cast. and leaving them open for a throw.

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This minecart section is tough, but the change Position yourself slightly below this guy and
in gameplay styles is really neat. attack to cheap-out his hit box.

Combat aside, Konami shook things up with More annoying, however, are the boss battles.
some light platforming elements that come In true Konami fashion some of these guys just
with mixed results. An early example finds our whale on you while rarely giving you a safe
heroes having to scale a series of ledges inside opening to counter-attack without taking
an Egyptian tomb while huge boulders cascade damage. Spain’s bullring fight is a good
down. The ‘depth’ of the simulated 3D can be example, as you take on a rampaging bull
hard to gauge here, which can lead to misjudged in a matador arena full of screaming fans.
jumps and plenty of headaches, especially No matter how you come at the beast, you’re
when being repeatedly crushed by the onslaught almost guaranteed to get gored by its horns
of boulders. This is also an issue when trying to or kicked in the face with its hind legs, which
jump between boats and avoid sharks in the makes the battle feel like it was designed
Britannia stage. purely to guzzle up the pocket money of kids
intent on seeing the end credits.
While there are some frustrating sections, you
have to hand it Konami for trying something Astérix might not be well-known in some parts
different with this game. Other mechanics of the world, but this quirky and colourful game
work well, such as swinging on vines or ropes to is worth a look, even if it has a few flaws here
kick enemies, and there are some interesting and there. It has a unique identity and charm
hazards that add an extra layer of depth to that many other side-scrollers lack, and you
battles, such as a pesky soldier in the Rome can tell that the team at Konami put a tonne
stage who pushes statues out of windows to try of effort into its production. That alone is
and hit you on the head. He’s annoying, but it worth a lot.
shakes up the fight with a new layer of danger,
so it’s not just the same thing over and over.

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HITTIN’ THE BOOKS

Konami dug deep into the Astérix books to come
up with scenarios for each of the game’s stages.

Here’s a tour of the source material …

STAGE ONE STAGE TWO
Based on: Astérix the Gaul, published in 1960. The game Based on: Astérix and Cleopatra, published in 1963. Your
opens with the Romans launching an attack on your journey takes you to the scorching sands of Egypt, where
village. This stage is pretty simple and gives you plenty you’ll rumble with tougher Roman guards and bandits who
of breathing space to learn how to time your charged have holed up in an ancient tomb. Watch out for collapsing
punch against Caesar’s spear soldiers and centurions. floors and boulders during the platforming section.

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STAGE THREE STAGE FOUR
Based on: Astérix in Britain, published in 1965. The Gauls Based on: Astérix the Legionary, published in 1967. This book
journey to Britannia to help Astérix’s cousin defend his home featured the first appearance of the maiden Falbala, and
against a Roman fleet. The stage begins with you jumping your mission in this stage is to rescue her from bandits.
between boats while dodging sharks, and ends with a The stage has you climbing up the side of a mountain
rumble against two brutes on the deck of a Roman galleon. before you fight the bandit leader at the summit.

STAGE FIVE STAGE SIX
Based on: Astérix in Spain, published in 1969. This stage Based on: Astérix and the Magic Carpet, published in 1987.
is much more straightforward, with plenty of Roman Things get tricky during the opening magic carpet ride
soldiers to beat up along the way. Halfway through, you’ll section, as lightning bolts and crows pelt you from the
have to take down a whole siege tower full of enemies skies above. You’ll also have to fend off enemies that jump
before fighting a raging bull in a packed arena. on board, before facing an evil sultan at the end.

STAGE SEVEN BONUS STAGE
Based on: Astérix versus Caesar, published in 1986. Your While this bonus round isn’t inspired by an Astérix comic,
final fight begins on the streets of Rome, as you punch there was a newer book called Astérix and the Chariot
your way through waves of soldiers. The last battle is Race released in 2017. You have to hammer the attack
a four-phase Colosseum brawl against a vicious tiger, button to make your horse and chariot speed up while
a shield squadron, a barbarian, then a pair of hulking jumping over hazards to reach the finish line before the
centurions. timer runs out.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Taito 1992 ARC, PS2, WIN, XB

ARABIAN MAGIC You can summon the genie to help you fight The multi-part brawl against Roc is one of the
through some tricky situations. most epic in the genre.

Loosely based on the Arabian Nights Afshaal is a slow but powerful tank character
mythology, this whimsical side-scroller is set who can destroy enemies with his spiked chain
in the mythical land of Shahariyard, which mace. His attacks are sluggish, so you’ll need
has been plagued by the powerful, yet blandly to think more carefully about your accuracy.
named Evil One. After the land’s king is Lastly, Prince Rassid is similar to Sinbad, but
transformed into a monkey, a group of he sacrifices attack power for an extra burst
legendary heroes sets off on a grand quest of speed. In a refreshing twist, you can make
to find seven fragments of a magical jewel. each of the characters block incoming attacks
Can they locate all of the pieces and restore by holding down the attack button. It’s incredibly
the king to his former glory? helpful when the screen becomes full of enemies
and mythical beasts out for your blood.
Arabian Magic gives you four varied characters
to choose from, starting with the legendary When times get really tough, you can use your
hero Sinbad. He’s the classic all-rounder of the magic lamp to summon a powerful genie to join
group, with powerful scimitar combos ending the fight, or call upon a multi-armed giant who
with a rising slash, which send your opponents lashes out with four massive blades. Summons
flying off-balance. He can also charge up are limited, so you’ll probably want to save
and unleash a flaming sword attack for extra them for the boss fights. Most of these big
damage. Princess Lisa is the fastest fighter of battles are real blast, and show off Taito’s
the bunch and uses an enchanted scarf to fire superb creature design and colourful artwork.
magic blasts at bad guys from a safe distance.
You can also make her perform a dashing spin Best by far is the superb two-phase encounter
move by tapping forward twice. against the giant eagle, Roc, as you soar above
the clouds on your magic carpet. The winged

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Defeat Mumukinsula by blocking his attacks Some stages throw devious traps at you, like
then countering with a hit or two. these rotating saw blades.

terror is so big, in fact, that it fills most of the Your summons can help you out when the going
screen. In the first section you have to hack gets tough, and they look great, too.
away at his giant talons before flying up to his
eye level, where you’ll have to dodge feather in each stage helps keep things interesting.
blasts while slashing his beak. It’s a stunning The small sprite size might put you off at first,
fight that looks absolutely fantastic on Taito’s but it makes sense when you see some of the
F3 System arcade hardware. colossal bosses you have to defeat. Try this one
in four-player mode for an incredibly fun time
It’s not just the bosses that look great, but the – you’ll find it in the Taito Legends 2 collection
actual stage design and overall vibe of Arabian on PC, PlayStation 2 and original Xbox.
Magic feels at home with its source material.
You’ll fight armed guards as you brawl through
lavish, golden palaces, tread carefully around
swirling quicksand to cross a desert swarming
with bandits, and leap over spinning saw-blade
traps while sneaking through rooftop gardens at
night. While the game might look basic at first
glance, there are plenty of ideas and challenges
to overcome, so that it never really feels boring.

Arabian Magic is a whimsical brawler with a
colourful and intricate visual style. Each of the
four heroes plays differently enough, and the
variety of enemies and environmental hazards

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
SNK 1992 ARC, NCD, NEO, NSW, PS4, WIN, XB1

MUTATION NATION The lightning special sees you leap into the air The bizarre and over-the-top enemy design is
before slamming back down to earth. one of the game’s highlights.

This inventive brawler from SNK received Gimmicks aside, the core combat leaves a
a lukewarm reception at its launch, but it’s little to be desired, but it’s not too bad at all.
actually held up quite nicely over the years. Your playable heroes are Ricky Jones and
The plot focuses on a weird viral outbreak Johnny Hart, two generic fighters who return to
that’s turning Earth’s population into mutant the city to find it overrun by mutants. For some
creatures, which take on the characteristics reason they vow to personally clean up the
of various animals and plants. It’s a crazy streets and find the mad scientist responsible
idea that actually gave the developer’s art for all the chaos. So yeah, they’re not exactly
team plenty of creative licence to come up the most memorable guys in the genre, but
with a roster of imaginative enemies for they handle well enough.
you to fight.
You can unleash a standard assortment of
For example, you’ll face street thugs that melee combos, jump attacks and throws, as
are half stag beetle and which try to kill you well as Ricky’s janky two-button special. It’s
with a running charge. There are also female basically an oddly-animated jumping uppercut
enemies who have been spliced with rose that has an almost vertical arc and a pathetic
plants and boast green thorny skin, as well hit box, so most of the time you’ll end up
as weird blue-skinned freaks that throw their missing everyone because you leapt right over
own exploding heads at you. One of the bosses them. It’s unclear what the devs at SNK were
even has long droopy arms with fists like smoking when they came up with this move.
hammerhead sharks. It’s absolutely bonkers
and highly inventive, and that’s why Mutation Thankfully, an assortment of elemental specials
Nation deserves a second appraisal today. helps the combat system feel interesting again.
Along the way you’ll pick up colourful orbs that

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Pick up a red sphere with the letter ‘B’ on it to do The rose flower mutants are both quick and
the fireball punch special. crafty. Keep moving to hit them.

contain different special attacks, which you No spoilers, but this is a hard-hitting boss battle
have to charge up over time by holding down that’s a lot of fun.
the punch button. Charging roots you to the
spot for a few moments, so you’ll need to find Mutation Nation doesn’t have the slickest
enough space to do it safely. Once charged, combat, but it’s got some crazy design
you can let rip with a variety of area-clearing choices, decent pixel art and some chunky
attacks that light up the screen and utterly special moves to give you a solid burst of
destroy your opponents. fun for an hour.

You’ll need your specials to overcome the
game’s challenging and inventive bosses,
which include a giant raider in armour who
looks like he strolled in off the set of Conan the
Barbarian. It’s a multi-phase fight that starts
with you fighting his human form in a museum.
After taking enough damage he’ll get mad and
smash the floor apart, which makes you both
fall down into the basement. The second phase
is much harder, and he’ll now have the mutated
skull of a dinosaur sticking out of his chest. Get
too close to him and the head will chomp you
with its razor sharp teeth. It’s one of many
bonkers and fun fights you’ll have to tackle
throughout the game.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
SNK 1992 ARC, GEN, NCD, NEO, NSW, PS4, SFC, SNES, WII,
WIN, XB1

KING OF THE MONSTERS 2: Famardy’s attack ships look suspiciously like Hammer all of the buttons like crazy to avoid
THE NEXT THING Thunderbird 2. A mere coincidence? getting hurled off this cliff.

Set three years after the first game, Earth giant ape in the first game, but he’s since
has become relatively peaceful after most of become mechanised, with an extendable neck
the monsters died out. Only three kaiju have that lets you headbutt enemies from a safe
survived – giant lizard Super Geon, robotic distance. Godzilla knock-off Super Geon also
ape Mega-Woo and the colossal humanoid has a longer tail that can whip aliens to create
Atomic Guy. When the planet is suddenly some much needed space.
invaded by an army of grotesque alien
creatures, the remaining kaiju team up to The game’s stages have really evolved as
save the human race from extinction. well; while the first King of the Monsters (p178)
was presented more like a wrestling game, SNK
The team at SNK really used their imaginations mixed it up for the sequel by including true side-
for each of the alien enemies, such as their scrolling levels. You’ll fight Famardy’s ground
weird leader Famardy – basically just a forces during these stages, including waves of
disgusting blob with many eyes. They’re joined tanks that spew gunfire, and flocks of pesky,
by Eiffelyte, which is a stretchy, fleshy creature swooping aircraft. Make it through alive and
that can break apart into smaller versions of you’ll get to fight a giant boss alien at the end.
itself to swarm you. Each invader has a different
combat style, which means you’ll need to fight The only negative here is the reduced roster
smart to take them all down. of playable characters when compared to the
original. Otherwise, King of the Monsters 2 is
Luckily, each of the titanic heroes has been a huge step up. Sadly, the Mega Drive port
upgraded since the previous game, complete removed the side-scrolling stages altogether,
with a new command list of weighty attacks. which is a real loss.
For example, Mega-Woo was just a regular

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Konami 1992 GEN, MD

Donnie’s still got the best range out of all the The surfboard stage is fast, so keep moving to TMNT:
turtles, making him the best pick. smash Foot ninjas quickly. THE HYPERSTONE HEIST

Although this Mega Drive exclusive shares The Foot are joined by rock soldiers, Mousers
mechanics and assets with the Super and Pizza Monsters, each with their own
Nintendo game Turtles in Time, there are many attacks and weaknesses. You’ll also fight many
who feel that The Hyperstone Heist is the challenging bosses, including Shredder’s
superior effort. They’re both superb games, right-hand man, Tatsu, and the snivelling
which manage to feel arcade-like on your scientist, Baxter Stockman. They all look perfect
home format of choice, which is something compared to their cartoon counterparts,
Konami should be applauded for. thanks to Konami squeezing as much as it
could out of SEGA’s 16-bit hardware.
In Hyperstone Heist, Shredder uses the
Hyperstone’s magical power to shrink There isn’t much to be said about how the
Manhattan Island and steal it. It’s the kind of Turtles handle, as their moves are identical
zany premise that feels like it came right from to those in Turtles in Time. Donatello is still
the cartoon show. As usual, the Turtles have arguably the best, thanks to his bo staff’s
to hit the streets of New York City to fight outrageous reach, while Leonardo continues
Shredder’s goons and save the day. to look the coolest with his ferocious dual
katana combos.
While Konami reused many elements of
Turtles in Time to make this game, the stages in While Hyperstone Heist looks identical to
Hyperstone Heist are far longer, and have more Turtles in Time, Konami tweaked the formula
environmental hazards. There’s even a wider with enough new content to make it stand out.
variety of Foot Clan ninjas to test your combat Both games are essential if you’re a fan of
skills, including ninjas who can block, a nice side-scrollers, but the debate rages on about
addition that means you can’t just button- which game is the best. What do you think?
mash your way to victory.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Ocean Software 1993 NES

LETHAL WEAPON Spam your flying kick to tear through the stages The background in stage one hilariously
with little thought or strategy. changes from forest to desert in an instant.

Loosely based on the Lethal Weapon film The combat is basic but also seems to defy
franchise, this mediocre side-scroller logic. You can defeat most enemies with just one
can’t escape the curse of terrible movie kick or punch, but enemies will soak up several
adaptations. The game is notorious for its rounds from your pistol before keeling over.
weird character-swapping mechanic that It would make sense if Riggs and Murtaugh were
lets you switch between detectives Riggs using Nerf guns, but these are standard-issue
and Murtaugh by simply walking off the sidearms we’re talking about here. Oh, and you
screen’s left border. It’s largely a moot point can also defeat helicopters by kicking them out
however, as aside from having different of the sky like some kind of superhero. The game
jumping heights, both characters handle actually gets pretty hilarious when you see the
exactly the same. older Murtaugh fly-kicking a chopper to death,
despite only being two days from retirement.
To be fair, each character has his own health
bar, so you could argue that the mechanic So yes, Lethal Weapon is total pants, but it’s
gives Lethal Weapon a tactical edge, but that one of those games that might make you laugh
would be extremely generous. This one weird because it’s just so inept. It’s unfortunate that
quirk aside, the game is a total slog, with stages the game wasn’t made by a more competent
that seem to go on forever. You’ll get sick of team, as the movies are the perfect source
seeing the same flat, repeating environments material for an exciting beat-‘em-up or
and identical bad guys who keep rushing you run-‘n’-gun adaptation. Ocean Software and
from both sides. Eurocom developed another Lethal Weapon
game for Super Nintendo that plays out like a
run-‘n’-gun shooter, but that one is based on
the third movie and is still a bit guff.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Malibu Interactive 1993 AMI, GB, GEN, GG, MD, NES, SCD, SNES

Hell has a reputation for being hot, but now we The combat is just okay, which is a small CLIFFHANGER
know it’s actually ice cold. blessing in this snowy trash heap.

Based on the action movie starring Sylvester Cliffhanger’s beat-‘em-up sequences are the
Stallone, Cliffhanger has a pretty poor best part of the overall package, but they’re
reputation among fans of retro gaming for incredibly basic. Gabe can punch, kick, jump
being a bit rubbish. You play as Stallone’s buff and slash thugs with knives. The range of
mountain climber, Gabe, as he fights terrorists attacks on offer is fine, but the combat moves
on a snowy mountain to reach the criminal at a sluggish pace and lacks any real weight.
mastermind, Eric Qualen. The gameplay is a You don’t really feel powerful when you hit bad
mix of side-scrolling beat-‘em-up sections, guys, which makes it genuinely dull after a while.
passable rock climbing, awkward platforming
and, worst of all, a notorious avalanche The only good thing that can be said about the
chase sequence. game is that the developers tried their best to
stay true to the movie, and at least managed
The avalanche level has been the bane of many to shoehorn some key scenes in there. As movie
gamers due to its crushing difficulty, and could games go, Cliffhanger isn’t exactly rock-bottom
just be the absolute worst level featured in this stuff, but it still deserves to be pushed into the
book. It’s essentially a memory test as you ravine of bad movie licences without a rope.
dodge boulders and leap over logs, but if you
put one foot wrong you’re instantly killed by a As if more proof was needed, Electronic Gaming
torrent of snow. Worst of all, if you lose your last Monthly magazine slammed Cliffhanger, dubbing
life, you have to fight through the whole game it the Worst Movie-to-Game Adaptation in its
up to that point before you can try again – an 1994 awards, while SEGA magazine Mega gave
utterly ludicrous piece of game design. it a score of 29% on review, calling it a “truly
disgusting piece of software”. Ouch!

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Capcom 1993 ARC

CADILLACS AND The titular Cadillac shows up a few times. You Mess O’Bradovich has a brutal two-button
DINOSAURS even get to drive it in one stage. special that smacks enemies on all sides.

Possibly the greatest side-scrolling beat- called Mustapha Cairo, and the burly Mess
‘em-up released by Capcom, Cadillacs and O’Bradovich, who is the powerhouse tank of
Dinosaurs is an absolute masterpiece of the group. They each have their own combat
gameplay and design. It’s based on a cult traits, ranging from obvious to subtle, giving
comic series that’s set in a post-apocalyptic you a tonne of replay value and variety to enjoy.
future in which colossal dinosaurs and For example, Mustapha’s kicks are by far the
marauding gangs roam the planet. The series most devastating, while Hannah dishes out
stars a mechanic called Jack, who cobbles more pain when using weapons picked up
cars together from junk to help people travel throughout the stages. Each character has a
across Earth’s endless wastelands and humid, unique two-button special attack, and you can
raider-infested swamps. even pull off team specials when playing in two
or three-player mode.
There was also a short-lived Cadillacs and
Dinosaurs cartoon show, which only lasted 13 A big part of the game’s appeal lies in just how
episodes. Amazingly, the show was created powerful it makes you feel. Your moves hit hard
by Steven E. de Souza, who also wrote the and trigger contextual animations, such as
screenplays for such hit action movies as being able to slam enemies up against walls or
Die Hard, Commando and The Running Man. make them go all bug-eyed when you slug them
That’s one heck of a filmography and it’s a in the gut. You can even pick up a wide range of
shame that the series hasn’t been made pistols and automatic firearms that rip through
available as a home release. bad guys with satisfying force. The rocket
launcher is the best by far, as it lights up the
In the game adaptation, Jack Tenrec is joined screen like crazy with explosions and comic
by scientist Hannah Dundee, a fellow mechanic book sound effect text splashes. The assault

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Aim smart and shoot gasoline barrels to create Use a well-timed jumping kick to completely
a huge explosive blast. neutralise Elmer’s running charge.

rifle is also great, but you have to be reserved dinosaurs, before taking a more sinister turn
with your gunfire to avoid wasting bullets, involving gruesome experiments on humans. It
while the makeshift flamethrower rips through even gets pretty violent at times, which draws on
whole packs of enemies and knocks them the dark, pulpy nature of the source material
down instantly. wonderfully. For example, you encounter one of
the bosses while he’s in the middle of hacking
In short, the gameplay is borderline flawless. up the decimated corpse of a poor dinosaur,
It might not have the same deep command complete with blood and gore. It makes you want
list as games like Guardians: Denjin Makai 2 to kick his butt twice as hard.
(p294) or the light RPG progression mechanics
of Capcom’s Dungeons & Dragons titles, (p286 Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is a true gem of
& p318) but everything you experience is fine- the side-scrolling genre. It’s just unfortunate
tuned to a crazy degree. Every hit box feels that Capcom has never released it for home
accurate, every attack feels satisfying, and consoles, presumably due to licensing issues.
when you take damage the game never feels The combat mechanics are perfectly balanced,
unfair or flawed. The result is a true masterclass it has a killer soundtrack, and the 2D visuals
on how to make a tight and responsive side- are simply best-in-class for 1993. There’s even
scroller and has rarely been bettered. a neat driving stage that puts you behind
the wheel of the titular Cadillac as you speed
The sharp controls are supported by a well- through packs of raiders on the dusty, sun-
realised visual tone that blends post-apocalyptic cracked desert plains. Don’t let the niche
decay with vibrant prehistoric landscapes. The nature of the comics and TV show put you off,
story is also interesting, starting with a plot this is an absolute must-play that deserves to
about the appearance of unusually aggressive find a bigger audience today.

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POST-HISTORIC PESTS!

The baddies in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs are a
nasty bunch who need to be taught a lesson.
Here are some tips for all eight stage bosses …

VICE T. BUTCHER
Not to be confused with the rapper and frontman of This bald brute holds a pair of scimitar swords that he’ll
metal band Bodycount, you’ll fight Vice Terhune and his drop each time he’s hit. Once he’s disarmed he’ll try to pick
pet dinosaur, Rock Hopper, on the rooftops of East City. them up again, so use your jump-kick and running strike to
Focus on defeating the dinosaur first, then switch your keep him away. Keep moving to avoid his aerial butt-slam.
attention to Vice. He’s easy to throw just after he lands
from a jump.

HOGG SLICE
This fight begins with you driving Jack’s Cadillac. Move up As the name suggests, this mohawk-sporting killer uses
and down to avoid Hogg’s grenades, and ram him with your blades in battle. He’s a lot like the Final Fight boss, Rolento,
car’s bonnet. Once your ride breaks down, the fight in that he zooms around the screen quickly and can be
continues on foot as Hogg tries to run you over. Simply shoot tricky to catch. Keep moving and walk up or down when
him until he’s dead. he stops to avoid his boomerang knives.

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SLISAUR SIMON FESSENDEN
This is basically the fight against Slice again, except now It’s a showdown against the mad scientist who’s been
there’s two of them and they’ve mutated into dinosaurs. turning people into dinosaurs. His first phase is basically
Use your running move to home in on them as they speed Morgue again, but then he injects himself with serum
about the screen. This move also knocks their blades out and turns into a huge beast. Goad him into attacking,
of the air, which is helpful. dodge, then counter-attack to complete the game.

MORGAN & MORGUE TYROG
This is a two-phase fight that starts with Morgan. A horrific half-man, half-human experiment, your
Move away when he jumps to avoid his gunfire. Once fight against Tyrog is no joke. His body occasionally
defeated he’ll mutate into a half-dinosaur called morphs into blades or shoots fireballs at you, which is
Morgue, who charges at you when he raises his head. your moment to smack him with a jump-kick followed
Jump-kick him then follow it up with a combo to win. up by a combo or throw.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Technōs Japan 1993 ARC

SHADOW FORCE Possess an F-Sword robot and you can use this This robot has a move you can use that’s similar
neat downward katana strike. to M. Bison’s Psycho Crusher.

Based on its neat gameplay hooks, Shadow on-one tournament fighting genre, similar to
Force is one of the most ambitious and Street Fighter II. You can walk around the screen
impressive side-scrolling beat-‘em-ups ever like a normal arcade brawler, but when you
made. Double Dragon studio Technōs Japan get near an enemy, your fighter will face them
really put everything it had learned from the and stay locked on. While in this mode you
genre over the years and injected it all into can hold backwards to block attacks or press
this stunning but criminally overlooked directional inputs to pull off specials and
arcade brawler. moves at different heights.

The thin plot is set in the future and focuses It’s easy to unsnap from an enemy and go
on an organisation called Teaser, which must back into the side-scroller mode by simply
be the least-threatening name for a bunch walking away. In theory, you’d think that this
of bio-terrorists ever. Led by the tyrannical hybrid system would have a lot of issues, like
Mr. Wong, the group has unleashed vicious snapping onto the wrong enemy or being
lab-grown monstrosities onto the world, which unable to quickly break away from them,
is where our four heroes come in. Beneath but Technōs Japan worked a miracle and
the scant narrative is a deep combat system made it all blend seamlessly.
so rich in potential and bold ideas that it
simply shouldn’t work on paper – but it does If that wasn’t enough, there’s also a soul-steal
work, and the result is magical. mechanic, similar to the one in Castlevania:
Dawn of Sorrow on the Nintendo DS. By pressing
At its core, the gameplay blends familiar both buttons, you can possess regular enemies
belt-scrolling mechanics from games like and control them until your life bar empties or
Final Fight (p70) with elements of the one- you choose to return to your own body. With

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The backwards blocking mechanic is both Tengu is great if you like tank characters, but
ingenious and essential to your survival. he’s also harder to master.

over 20 enemies to possess and four main The Tenaga robot has a brutal arm cannon with
characters to choose from, there’s an blasts that break up crowds.
impressive amount of depth here.
It’s weird that Shadow Force doesn’t have a
The main heroes are also quite varied. Kai bigger following, as it’s genuinely incredible,
is a ninja who uses a staff to hit enemies at with a combat flow that demands you balance
range and backflip away from danger. If any blocking and attacking to survive even the
opponent touches you mid-flip, Kai will slam most basic of enemies. To cap it off, the visual
them with an aerial grab. Tengu is a wrestler- presentation is gorgeous and the soundtrack is
type warrior who can charge into enemies pure ear candy. Seriously, make sure this is the
then toss them to the ground, or crush foes next new game that you play.
with a devastating suplex.

Coyote is the trickiest character to control,
thanks to his weird animation frames and
flailing combat style. He can hurl himself at
packs of enemies and bowl them over with
an attack similar to Blanka’s horizontal roll
special from Street Fighter II. Lastly, Blunet can
fire energy waves from her twin short swords
and grapple enemies with her legs before
pile-driving them into the ground. She’s also
the only character who can double-jump.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Sun L 1993 SFC

KAMEN RIDER The audio and visual design is really great for a You might look pretty cool in Kamen Rider form,
licensed television adaptation. but you’re definitely not stronger.

This Japan-only brawler is based on the feel like you’re controlling a superhero at all.
long-running television series, Kamen Rider, Speaking of transformations, whenever
which first aired in 1971. The series stars a you change into Kamen Rider, your chosen
young man called Takeshi Hongo, who is character yells ‘Henshin!’, which is Japanese
abducted then augmented by a shady for ‘transform’ or ‘transformation’. Clover
organisation called Shocker, which wants Studios later riffed on this infamous one-liner
to create the perfect fighter to add to its with Viewtiful Joe’s morphing catchphrase,
ranks. When Takeshi escapes the group’s ‘Henshin a-go-go, baby!’
clutches, he becomes the motorcycle-riding
superhero known as Kamen Rider. You might dig this Kamen Rider adaptation
if you’re a fan of Japanese ‘tokusatsu’, which
The game itself is pretty basic, starting you are live action shows and films that rely on
off as Takeshi in his normal form, as he fights special effects, such as Super Sentai and
against Shocker goons. You can also team up Godzilla. The game captures the weird vibe
with a friend in co-op mode, in which player two of those shows somewhat successfully with
controls Hayato Ichimonji who, in the television some odd bosses. By far the oddest is
series, was known as Kamen Rider 2. Both Tokageron, a former football player who was
Takeshi and Hayato can change into Kamen enlisted by the Shocker group thanks to his
Riders at any time, but it’s a little disappointing powerful sportsman’s legs, before being
that their attacks don’t seem to get any mutated into a lizard creature. Yes, really.
stronger, despite being in a supposedly
super-powered form. Their health bars also So yeah, Kamen Rider is utterly, pleasantly
stay the same and they only have a few extra bonkers, and you might still get a few chuckles
moves to help out in battle, so it doesn’t really out of it, despite its many shortcomings.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Cream 1993 SFC, SNES

Get used to fighting these guys; the game Many of the bosses and standard enemies are COSMO POLICE GALIVAN II:
throws them at you many times! imaginative and well-designed. ARROW OF JUSTICE

There seems to be the kernel of a brilliant game is a nice level of customisation for this genre.
hidden somewhere in the murky depths of this Overall, you can enhance their jumping height,
game’s janky code. It has a few little features health bar, attacking strength and defence.
and ideas that should have made for a better Thankfully, these stat points make a noticeable
experience, but as it stands, Cosmo Police difference to your movement, damage output
Galivan II is a pretty ropey title from Japan. and attack absorption, so you do feel some
benefit of levelling up.
The game follows three members of the Cosmo
Police as they fight to defend the Earth against This neat progression system aside, Cosmo
an army of intergalactic creatures. While each Police Galivan II’s main problem is that some
of the Cosmo cops looks different, they all have of the levels are just too bloody long and
the same basic command list and moves. In tedious. There’s a good chance you’ll get
something of an odd decision, when in two- painfully tired of fighting the same handful
player mode, your friend can choose to play of copy-pasted enemies over and over again.
as either one of the three main cops, or from a It’s unfortunate, as the stage designs are
roster of four standard enemies. It’s unclear why actually pretty neat, such as the second world’s
the first player doesn’t get this choice as well. nightmarish theme park. It’s really unfortunate
that the rest of the game turned out to be a
Rather than mix the fighters up using different bit of a nightmare as well, as it could have
attacks, each one has their own starting been so much more.
statistics that define things like attacking
power, defence and more. In a welcome twist,
you can spend stat points between stages to
enhance your cop’s base attributes, which

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Almanic Corp. 1993 ARC, GEN, MD

MAZIN SAGA: Your small character sprite just amplifies the Side-scrolling stages are fast-paced and
MUTANT FIGHTER sheer scale of each giant boss. challenging, so stay sharp!

Known as Mazin Wars in PAL regions, this Once you reach the end of a stage, Koji powers
challenging brawler is based on a manga up and grows to a colossal size so he can take
series written by Devilman creator Kiyoshi on the skeleton creature on fair terms. The
‘Go’ Nagai. The books follow a university gameplay then switches to a flat 2D style similar
student called Koji Kabuto, who accidentally to Street Fighter’s, complete with blocking,
destroys Earth when he puts on a powerful special moves and aerial attacks. These fights
armoured suit called Mazinger Z. Disgraced, are incredibly difficult if you don’t know your
he vows to leave the planet forever and use opponent’s attack patterns. Spamming buttons
his powers for good by fighting aliens on Mars. in these battles is a sure way to get yourself
That’s a nice gesture, Koji, but it doesn’t killed, so in most cases it’s better to block
really make up for killing the entire planet projectiles and melee attacks until you have
now, does it? a safe window to launch a counter-attack.

Anyway, Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter is a great Each stage follows the same template, jumping
game that takes elements of Nagai’s books and into classic belt-scrolling combat before
fuses them with tropes from Japanese shows flipping into tournament fighter mode. While
like Mobile Suit Gundam and Super Sentai. Each the boss battles are tricky, the preceding
stage starts off like a traditional side-scroller, as stages are no slouch, with a difficulty curve that
Koji fights various mutant freaks across war-torn will keep even the most seasoned players on
cities and various high-tech environments. The their toes. Low-level grunts can quickly gang up
opening stage is brilliant, as you have to battle on you from all sides, smacking you down with
enemies inside a ruined skyscraper while dodging a range of melee, jumping and ranged attacks.
punches from Garada-K7, a giant horned Your health bar drains quickly, so you really
skeleton demon that’s tearing the city apart. need to be on the ball at all times.

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Block Garada’s fireballs, then move in quickly Defeat these nippy speeder bikes by fly-kicking
with a jumping strike. their pilots in the face.

There’s also an amazing sense of scale in these The world has a post-apocalyptic vibe after
opening sections, especially when you run into being accidentally trashed by Koji.
a boss before Koji has a chance to expand into
his larger form, such as an intimidating section material. It has fantastic world and creature
in the first stage in which you have to avoid design, fluid combat and a wicked difficulty
Garada-K7’s massive feet as he tries to stomp curve that will put your mutant-bashing skills
you to death. The large sprites look fantastic to the ultimate test.
and the creature design just gives all of these
encounters an epic feel similar to that of the
Godzilla movies.

While the game is challenging, Koji’s Mazinger
suit allows for a range of sword attacks,
dashing strikes, a jumping spin slash and
other neat moves, such as a special attack
that quickly cuts down foes on all sides. The
special drains a huge portion of your health,
and, given that restorative items are rare,
it’s better if you keep it for emergencies or
when you get crowded.

Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter is a superb and
inventive beat-‘em-up that’s well worth seeking
out, even if you aren’t familiar with the source

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
SEGA 1993 360, GEN, IOS, MAC, MD, NSW, PS3, PS4, WII,
WIN, XB1

GOLDEN AXE III You can knock enemies off both sides of this While powerful, the magic spell effects aren’t
wagon for instant kills. that impressive in this game.

Golden Axe used to be one of SEGA’s most Visuals aren’t everything, of course, even if the
celebrated franchises, but it all went downhill blocky sprites and backgrounds leave much to
when the third game hit Japan in the summer be desired. The true appeal of Golden Axe III is
of 1993. The game eventually released in North in its combat, which has been expanded from
America as late as 1995, but you could only the previous games with the ability to block
download it from the SEGA Channel, which incoming strikes, unleash two-button specials,
was an online content delivery service for the team up for co-op attacks and get fancy with
Mega Drive. SEGA apparently had so little new super-moves. Interestingly, the special
confidence in Golden Axe III that it decided attacks don’t drain your life on impact like they
against releasing it in Europe, making it one of do in games like Streets of Rage 2 (p184), so you
the rarer games in the publisher’s 16-bit library. can use them as much as you like to get out of
tricky situations.
The game isn’t great, but it probably doesn’t
deserve the brutal mauling it often gets from There are now four playable characters to
series fans. Part of the problem is that Golden choose from, starting with Kain Grinder and
Axe III was already two years old by the time it Sara Burn. These characters bear a striking
hit the SEGA Channel in America, but players resemblance to Ax Battler and Tyris Flare from
probably just didn’t realise it. It’s a justifiable previous games, and, interestingly, these are
criticism, though, as the visuals look incredibly the names they were given in the North
dated when compared to other titles that American release. It’s possible that SEGA of
pushed SEGA’s 16-bit hardware to the limit, America didn’t want to confuse players by
such as Treasure’s colourful platformer giving the heroes new names, but it still raises
Dynamite Headdy and Konami’s stunning a few questions.
Castlevania: Bloodlines.

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Press forward, back, then forward with punch True to the series, your jumping slashes will
and kick to make Chronos lunge. knock enemies down instantly.

At base level, the two characters handle panther by the game’s villain, a demonic prince
almost identically to Ax and Tyris, with the same called Damud Hellstrike. Chronos is fast and
standard sword combos, jumping swipes and has a shorter attack range, but his command
dashing moves seen in previous Golden Axe list includes a special that’s similar to Guile’s
entries. Kain uses ice magic, which is a change flash kick in Street Fighter II and an unblockable
from the earth and tornado spells used by Ax in super that sees him leaping through the air
the first game, while, coincidentally, both Sara with his claws out.
and Tyris use fire magic. It’s almost as if they
were the same person. It’s a shame that Golden Axe III gets mauled
at face value, as there really are a lot of new
Thankfully, both of the new characters look and moves and ideas beneath its wonky exterior.
feel quite different to the classic fighters. Proud There are branching stage paths that let you
Cragger is the tank class who moves slowly but chart a route to your showdown with Damud,
hits hard with a jumping two-button special villagers who can be rescued for bonuses, and
that sends him flying across the screen with a new cast of mounts that can be ridden into
a dropkick, as well as a crowd control special battle – although the daft-looking giant snail
in which he swipes the air with both fists. His thing is pure comedy.
dropkick is hard to aim at times, but it deals
huge damage. His super-move lets him summon Overall, Golden Axe III is okay. It pales in
tornados, but it can be quite hard to input the comparison to the glorious arcade exclusive,
two 360° D-pad rotations needed to pull it off. The Revenge of Death Adder (p183), but for a
mainline console release, it’s far better than
The second newcomer is Chronos ‘Evil’ Lait, a its reputation would have you believe. Set some
man who was transformed into a humanoid low expectations and give it a try.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Novotrade 1993 GEN, MD

CYBORG JUSTICE The opening cyborg customisation menu gives You can use the tank tread legs to zip around at
you a tonne of replay value. high speed.

This might be the only game in the side- While the core command list is huge, the
scrolling beat-‘em-up genre in which the hero game’s real selling point is the option to create
dies in the very first cutscene. Cyborg Justice your own custom cyborg from an assortment
opens with a spaceship crashlanding on a of torsos, legs and arms. You get to design your
mining colony after being struck by an asteroid. rig at the very start of the game and, as with
The human pilot dies during surgery, so his the move list, it’s really unclear what each of
intact brain is transplanted into a cyborg the body parts can do or how they impact your
body, where it’ll spend the rest of its days robot’s handling. The customisation screen tells
working as a slave. But through some random you nothing about the parts on offer, but again,
act of fate, the machine refuses to bow down, a quick glance at a game guide should clear
and fights back against its masters. things up.

It’s a neat concept that’s fleshed out with With a little practice you’ll start to figure out
interesting ideas and a huge list of moves, what the body parts do and how they can give
complete with several inputs that you’ll need you extra support during the game’s many
to memorise. If you were unlucky enough to get challenging stages. For example, some areas
this game on cartridge without the instruction have bottomless pits that can be a real pain
manual, you really should search for a to jump across unless you have the pneumatic
walkthrough online to see just how many double-jump equipped, while the imaginatively
moves there are to master. There are standard named ‘Big Legs’ will let you walk over traps
standing melee combos, heavy strikes that without taking any damage.
take longer to land, and even crouching moves,
such as a leg sweep and a rising uppercut. And if you get bored of a body part or it’s simply
not doing it for you, you can amputate one from
an enemy cyborg and swap your limb for its.

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Each fight is a test of skill that can leave you If you see an enemy crouch low, it might be
dead if you’re careless. about to tackle you.

This is a savage move to pull off but the sight
of your rig ripping an enemy apart and stealing
its ability gives you one hell of a power trip.
There’s even an option to drain the power from
an eviscerated robot chassis to refill your health
(just make sure you read a guide or manual to
figure out how!). Needless to say, the combat in
Cyborg Justice is both weighty and brutal. You
really do feel quite powerful as you tear through
your enemies and reduce them to scrap.

While there are lots of ideas that help Cyborg There are many varied enemy cyborgs that you
Justice stand out from the pack, the gameplay can steal parts from.
beyond these mechanics feels like a mixed bag.
Some players might find the controls a little Overall, Cyborg Justice is a love-hate game
sluggish, especially the crouching moves and that has a killer central hook. With a little more
heavier attacks that feel seriously delayed due polish and finesse, the game could have ironed
to a long wake-up window. Everything starts out some of the pacing issues and unfortunate
to make more sense with time and several trips design choices. It’s still worth checking out to
to the ‘Game Over’ screen, but if you prefer see which side you land on, but no one can
your side-scrollers to be more immediate, blast Novotrade for giving players something
fast-paced and fluid, then this might not be this expansive and ambitious in 1993.
the game for you.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Konami 1993 SFC, SNES

BATMAN RETURNS Cutscenes do a great job of immersing you in Grab an enemy, then either throw them or slam
the world of Gotham City. them into the background.

There were two mainline Batman Returns launch the opposition through park benches
video games released across 1992 and 1993. that snap clean in half and shop windows that
The first was an average platformer published explode in a burst of glass. There are also some
by SEGA, and the other was this side-scroller great screen-shaking effects that give you a
developed by Konami. While both games nail perfect level of audio-visual feedback, making
the dark tone of Tim Burton’s movie quite each punishing move feel immensely satisfying.
well, it’s the brawler that ends up being far
superior, thanks to wonderful visuals and You can also unleash a cape swipe that’s
weighty combat, which make you feel as great for crowd control, a jumping glide that
powerful as the caped crusader himself. bowls packs of enemies over, and batarangs
that can be thrown to keep bad guys at a safe
The action is satisfying from the first moment, distance. Batman even has a smart-bomb
as you lay waste to Penguin’s army of clown attack that he unleashes by smashing a test
soldiers with a variety of melee attacks and tube on the ground. It’s not clear exactly what
bat-gadgets. You can even choke-slam the substance is, but it seems to do the trick
enemies into the ground with a satisfying when you’re facing difficult odds.
crunch, or grab two enemies before violently
smashing their heads together. The animation As a way of breaking up the combat, Konami
is slick, with Batman moving and fighting just threw in some 2D platforming levels. These
like he does in the movie. stages also give you access to the Batclaw’s
grappling hook, which you can use to latch onto
But perhaps the most fun aspect of the combat windowsills and other anchor points before
system is a move that lets you hurl enemies into swooping over perilous drops. The first of these
the background. If you aim it right, you can sections has you fighting against fire jugglers

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Grappling is a little fiddly at first but you quickly It’s possible to lose a whole continue on
get used to it. Catwoman until you learn her pattern.

on stilts before facing Catwoman on a moonlit Throw your batarang to save Selina Kyle, just
rooftop. The shift in gameplay style adds more like in the movie’s stand-off.
variety to the overall experience, and it feels
good to pull off some of Batman’s signature that Konami poured love and effort into this
acrobatic moves. game, just as it did with other SNES classics,
such as Contra III: The Alien Rebels and Super
There’s only one real criticism here, and it’s that Castlevania IV. The end result is an essential
Batman Returns can be a little unforgiving for console brawler that everyone should try.
newcomers or gamers whose patience wears
thin too quickly. For example, you can easily
lose a whole continue during your first fight
against Catwoman. She moves around the
rooftop quickly and lashes out with her claws
and whip at a lightning pace. It’s easy to feel
overwhelmed by her, but with some patience
you should be able to memorise her attack
patterns and send her home to lick her wounds.

Difficulty spikes aside, the hefty combat in
Batman Returns helps it stand tall alongside
the best brawlers of 1993. It’s all backed up by a
stunning soundtrack that uses Danny Elfman’s
original Batman score and graphics that push
Nintendo’s 16-bit hardware to the max. It’s clear

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Data East 1993 ARC, NSW

NIGHT SLASHERS Few games let you take down Frankenstein’s Watch out for moving body bags during the
monster with your bare fists. morgue fight to spot sneak zombie attacks.

The evil king Zarutz has raised the dead an English vampire hunter who uses holy water
and is unleashing his army of unspeakable and blessed crystals to melt zombies down to
horrors across the planet. Three brave the bone, while mystic fighter Zhao Hong
monster hunters set out to battle his hordes Hua uses paper charms to burn foes and can
of zombies, werewolves and other unholy summon the spirit of a phoenix to engulf the
creatures to reclaim Earth for the living. screen in a raging inferno. She’s the weakest
Night Slashers has a wonderful atmosphere character, but also the most agile, with great
that nails the creepy vibes you’d find in fire attacks, which makes her a solid pick.
a classic horror B-movie, taking you through
dank mansions overrun with the undead to Finally there’s American cyborg Jake Hunter,
ancient tombs infested with hellish beasts. a so-called ‘psychic cyborg’ who rocks a killer
mullet and admittedly feels pretty out of place
It’s the closest we ever got to a side-scroller next to the other two fighters. He’s still fun,
adaptation of Konami’s Castlevania franchise, though, with cybernetic arms that pack a
and it works so well that you have to wonder powerful punch and grapple moves that are
why this was never a thing. You could easily simply devastating. He can even charge up his
swap out any of the Night Slashers roster augmented frame with lightning to zap all the
with Trevor Belmont or Sypha Belnades from bad guys on screen at once.
Castlevania III, and it would feel absolutely
perfect. That’s not to say Data East didn’t While the characters are varied, something
do a great job here – far from it, in fact. about the combat feels a little limp. Some
moves, particularly the throws, don’t have
The playable characters are varied and all feel that many animation frames, which leaves
quite different to control. Christopher Smith is them feeling a little stilted and jerky. This

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Use your holy water special to burn the freaky Aim Jake’s throw just right to bowl over packs of
abominations in your path. advancing freaks in one hit.

means you don’t really get the same weighty Dodge the golem’s projectiles by walking up and
satisfaction from hitting bad guys that you do down, then throw him.
in something like Final Fight (p70).
Night Slashers is well worth checking out with
Where Night Slashers excels, however, is the one or two friends in co-op mode. It’s actually
way it digs deep into the horror canon, throwing more fun like this, so be sure to party up and
a ton of inventive boss battles and classic get ready to kick some undead derrière.
horror characters into your path. During the Thankfully, you don’t have to look far to play
game you’ll face off against Frankenstein’s Night Slashers, as Forever Entertainment
monster, a hulking stone golem, possessed announced a remake of the game back in 2021.
knights, a decaying mummy and a pair of Aztec
gods. Each of these encounters is a lot of fun,
and the creature designs look great, thanks to
some detailed sprites and ghoulish art design.

So even if Night Slashers stumbles a bit in the
base gameplay department, there’s still plenty
to enjoy. The music is banging and the horror
aesthetic is handled with real love and care. In
one notable scene, you’re trapped in a room full
of body bags on shelves that start tipping onto
the floor and unzipping to reveal the enraged
zombies within. It’s a great sequence that
helps underline the game’s creepy tone.

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Konami 1993 ARC

METAMORPHIC FORCE The intro cutscene is a pièce de résistance of The ground pound is great for breaking up
Konami’s glorious sprite work. crowds and pushing enemies back.

This was one of the last side-scrollers, along Shadow. The powerful villain has been
with Violent Storm (p260), that Konami resurrected on a mysterious island that has
released in arcades. It’s also one hell of a risen from the ocean depths, so it’s up to you
swan-song for the developer, as it brought to travel there and kick his undead butt back
together all the best elements of its brawlers to the underworld.
up to this point, and fused them with a
brilliant animal-morphing mechanic. Each stage starts you off in human form, and
you actually have some good moves right off
Metamorphic Force’s high-quality visuals the bat. Your standard melee combos feel
and superb gameplay showed that the chunky; there’s the option to pummel downed
studio had learned a lot from its early work enemies until they die; and you even have a
on titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-button special that’s great for crowd
(p80) and The Simpsons (p144), but this is control. It’s nice that your human state isn’t
actually kind of bittersweet, as the dwindling totally feeble, like it was in Altered Beast, in
appeal of arcades around 1993 meant that which you constantly got your ass handed
the game didn’t gain the kind of fan base to you by low-level enemies.
it deserves. It’s definitely something that all
fans of the genre should check out today. Along the way, you’ll find golden statues of
Athena that transform you into your animal
The plot is a little similar to that of SEGA’s alter ego, which you keep until you lose a life.
arcade smash Altered Beast (p44). Set in the Martial artist Ban can turn into a rampaging
year 199X, the ancient Greek goddess Athena minotaur that gores grappled enemies with
has summoned four shape-shifting champions his horns, and can bowl them over with a swift
to help her defeat an evil entity called Death spinning kick. If you pick up another Athena

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Avoid standing directly in line with the ice golem Walk around the phoenix’s tornado attack, hit
to dodge its powerful laser-blast attack. him a few times, then repeat.

statue while transformed, your fighter dashes Retreat when this guy lines up his explosive
around the screen like a human smart bomb, projectiles, then slap him about.
dealing huge damage to everyone in sight.
guitar solos, massive riffs and hard-hitting
There’s also a swordsman called Claude, who beats that elevate the intensity of each fight.
boasts the fastest attacks in the game, and
can unleash a rapid bicycle kick special while in Overall, Metamorphic Force is a simply wonderful
werewolf form. You’ve also got a wrestler called scrolling beat-’em-up, so it’s surprising that
Ivan who fights with a massive log for some Konami never released it for home systems,
reason, and can turn into a werebear that has following the demise of the arcade scene.
a brutal ground pound special. Lastly there’s
Max, a boxer who morphs into a werepanther
that has a devastating flame punch.

Each of the characters feels incredibly powerful
in both human and beast form, so it’s really
satisfying to smash and hammer your way
through packs of enemies. Speaking of which,
Death Shadow’s island is populated with an
inventive cast of animal warriors that range
from hedgehogs who hurtle across the screen
like Sonic to cackling lizard men who gang
up on you in large numbers. It also helps that
Konami’s soundtrack is full of power metal

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Irem 1993 ARC

NINJA BASEBALL BAT MAN Hop in the car and drive straight into enemies to Grab a stack of base plates and hurl them at
deal them some harm. enemies to deal ranged damage.

When priceless artefacts are stolen from the Irem released the game in Japanese arcades
Baseball Hall of Fame, the Commissioner of under the name Yakyū Kakutō League Man,
Baseball calls upon four ninja warriors to get which loosely translates as ‘Baseball Hand-
them back. This wonderfully absurd brawler to-Hand Fighting League Man’. The cabinet
is the brainchild of Drew Maniscalco, a huge supported up to four players and gave you a
baseball fan who mashed up his love of the surprisingly diverse roster of ninjas to choose
sport with some heavy-hitters from popular from, each with their own attacking reach,
culture of the time, such as Teenage Mutant two-button specials and other little quirks that
Ninja Turtles and the Michael Keaton Batman set them apart. Think of them like a baseball-
movies. The end result is one of the most themed take on the Ninja Turtles and you’re
obscure yet slickest side-scrollers ever made. in the right ballpark.

The final product could have turned out very Each character is named after a real-life
differently, as originally Maniscalco wanted baseball pro, starting with Jose, who is a nod to
Ninja Baseball Bat Man to be a single-player Jose Canseco. He’s the classic all-round fighter,
platform adventure game, similar to Super who attacks with a standard baseball bat that
Mario Bros. After he sent his original character has medium reach, as well as a special that
concepts to Irem Japan, the programmers makes him wind up a devastating swing that
loved them and asked him to help firm up batters groups of enemies in front of him. Next
the game’s cast and stages in a side-scrolling there’s Beanball Roger, who’s based on Roger
brawler setting. He also came up with the Clemens. He’s the slow, hulking tank class, who
idea that the game should progress through can destroy enemies with devastating grapple
North America like a road trip, taking you moves.
to abstract versions of several states.

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Use a running strike to topple this monster, then Ryno is similar to Ninja Turtle Michelangelo,
deal some extra hits. with rapid, multi-hit combos.

There’s also Ryno, named after the Chicago The abstract ideas work, though, as you never
Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who really know what to expect from each stage.
lets rip with rapid attacks from a pair of mini From battling packs of playing cards in Las
baseball bats. His special lets him spin both Vegas to tussling with a demonic buffalo in a
bats like propellers and unleash laser blasts haunted mansion, few could argue that this
on enemies as he flies above them. And lastly, game is boring. In fact, while many scrolling
there’s Straw, who was inspired by New York fighters suffer from repetition, Ninja Baseball
Yankees right fielder Daryl Strawberry. He’s the Bat Man comfortably does the opposite.
tallest fighter of the bunch and his bat is so There’s even an odd mini-game where you
long that he fights with it like a bo staff. have to mash buttons to crush a cheeky
baseball with your hands.
Eccentric characters aside, Ninja Baseball Bat
Man stands out in the genre thanks to its weird Sadly, while it’s an enjoyable romp, Ninja
themes, bizarre enemies and quirky stage Baseball Bat Man didn’t sell well at release,
design. In the opening Seattle stage, you shifting only 1,042 arcade cabinets worldwide.
literally have to beat up sentient baseballs that Maniscalco has since explained that many
walk around trying to kill you. Weirder still is arcade owners complained about the game’s
the first boss, which is a rampaging plane that difficulty, which meant it was passed over for
you fight inside a bigger plane. The stages are broader distribution. It was unfortunate, but
full of American culture parodies, which can thanks to a growing cult following among
sometimes be a little on the nose, such as evil YouTubers and the emulation community, the
smog clouds on the Golden Gate Bridge in game is being discovered by new players all
California, a state famously known for its the time. It’s well worth checking out, just to
rampant pollution levels. see how oddball it can get.

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STRANGE ENCOUNTERS

Ninja Baseball Bat Man is home to some truly
weird and random boss battles, which will test

your skill and boggle your mind.

WINDY PLANE GHOST BUFFALO
Being the first boss, you’d expect Windy Plane to give you You’re in a spooky mansion and for some reason a ghost
a mild challenge as a way of easing you into the game. has possessed a buffalo head that’s mounted on the wall.
However, he’s actually a total breeze and apart from The head combines with other furniture in the room to
being able to push you away with his spinning rotors, create an unholy abomination that can set you on fire
he’s only got a punch that’s easily avoided. by kicking you with its candlestick feet. Jings!

MAD LAX DEFENDING SLOT
Yes, this car has giant blue lips coming out of the front Do you feel lucky, punk? This boss is a killer slot machine
end. What’s weirder is that Mad Lax throws what looks like that can spin its reels to create different attacks, such as
sentient saxophones about the screen, and these will take summoning a shower of gold coins that pelts you from
a bite out of you if they get close. Just focus on the boss above and some giant rolling dice that crush you under
and watch out for its jumping crush attack. their weight. It’s a great battle.

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BASEBALL BRO MECHANICAL ALLIGATOR
This guy is a mini-boss who pops up a few times in the This alligator is in charge of a manufacturing plant that’s
game. His kneeling ground punch will deal a lot of damage making all of the game’s enemies, because why not? He’s
if it connects, so when he does it, be sure to walk around to a tricky boss unless you know how to approach him for an
his back and get some free combos in. easy throw or grapple special. Just keep an eye out for his
brutal lunging punch!

MAKESHIFT VILLAIN THE KING BABE
It’s not clear what, exactly, makes this guy a ‘makeshift’ Before you fight the mysterious final boss (no spoilers
villain but whatever it is, he’s a tough guy to take down. here!) you’ll have to make it through a short boss rush
He can blast you to bits with his pump-action shotgun on the field of your home baseball stadium. The crowd is
and slice you up with the concealed blades he has going wild and the bases are loaded, but can you survive
stitched inside his long trench coat. to see the end credits?

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DEVELOPER RELEASED PLAYABLE FORMATS
Capcom 1993 3DS, NES, WIIU

MIGHTY FINAL FIGHT Guy’s flying kick is just as awesome as it was in Watch out for Abigail’s huge attacks, and use
the full-fat game. an air move to counter.

The 8-bit home console market was entering The combat is simple, but Capcom’s typically
its final days in 1993, but many developers fluid gameplay makes it a joy to control from
were still bringing out great games for the start to finish. Just as in the original, you have
NES right up to the very end. Mighty Final standing attacks, jump-kicks and two-button
Fight is essentially a remake of the 1989 specials at your disposal. There’s even an RPG-lite
arcade original, but with a few new mechanics, progression system that sees your character
a cutesy art style and a fun sense of humour. get faster and stronger after earning enough
experience points, giving you a real sense of
The plot is actually a silly parody of the old empowerment as you battle across Metro City.
kidnapped girlfriend concept, which had long
grown stale by the time the game came out. On top of the gameplay and stylised visuals,
In Mighty Final Fight, Cody’s girlfriend Jessica one of the game’s highlights lies in seeing
is literally a beacon of hope and light who cute versions of the original Final Fight’s bad
keeps the people of Metro City happy, so the guys and bosses. Most of the classics return,
Mad Gear gang kidnap her to bring the city including the pink-haired street punk Poison,
into an age of crime and darkness. It makes hulking pro-wrestler Abigail and the katana-
no sense, but it’s also brilliantly tongue-in- wielding samurai Sodom. It’s great fun taking
cheek. The lighter tone also means you get them all on again in their new, cute forms.
a lot of corny and hilarious trash talk between
the good guys and some meat-headed bosses It’s really interesting to see Capcom’s original
along the way. game remixed in such an inventive way. It
makes Mighty Final Fight something of a rare,
curious oddity that’s well worth seeking out.

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