Looking for the best 2D beat ’em ups? Here are the top modern and retro-inspired brawlers worth playing today, including indie standouts and big hits.

I maintain that Streets of Rage 4 is one of the best beat 'em ups of all time. The revivalist sequel was a genre masterclass and celebratory evolution of the Genesis classics, which made me all the ...

Matt Karoglou is a freelance writer and musician who has been playing video games for 36 years and writing about them for almost as long. When he's not editorializing about the intricacies and ...

For more reasons than it’s possible to count, the 80s were one of, if not the best, decades in gaming. Franchises were born, ...

For my money, Streets of Rage 4 is the best beat-em-up of the modern era – and honestly might give the retro classics that inspired it a run for their money. While one of the three studios involved in ...

While the genre isn't as prolific as it once was, beat-'em-ups still tend to follow in the mold of Final Fight and Streets of Rage: You're a muscle-bound mayor or a martial arts expert or occasionally ...

Talamh has been shattered by a magical cataclysm caused by ambitious wizards, leaving magic mistrusted by the common folk. Sun King Azra took advantage of this panic, enslaving wizards through his ...

Fond of weirdly obscure titles since childhood, Ivanir has been captivated by many Japanese games over the years. Some of his most passionate topics are the Dept. Heaven series, Summon Night ...

Development studios Guard Crush and Supamonks have partnered with Gamera Games and Dotemu to announce a brand-new game called Absolum. This is an action RPG meshed with the genre these folks know best ...

The story of Absolum follows four heroes on a quest to take back the magic stolen by the Sun King named Azra. Azra and his followers rule the land with an iron fist and have stripped the world of ...

After their success delivering one of the best beat-’em-ups of the past decade with Streets of Rage 4, developer Guard Crush Games is working on something original. The studio announced its new game ...