B: Types beginning with B

[Bytor]

under construction

[Bytor]

BEUVG: Beat 'Em Up Video Games (sometimes also referred to as Brawler Video Games) are by definition games in which one person fights multiple enemies either at the same time or in waves (usually the enemies being individually much weaker than the player), this employees what has become termed as melee battles. This games are also typically 2-D and scroll from side to side although a few have branched into the 3-D realm. Typically these games take place in one of three environments, urban, historical or mythological and are often associated with stories of revenge and/or crime fighting storylines. The first real release in the genre was Kung-Fu Master (released in 1984 by Data East in the US and Irem in Japan and also ported very successfully onto the Atari 2600, Apple II, and Commodore 64 just to name a few). The next evolution was Renegade (US title released in 1986 by Taito) which strayed from the martial arts theme and concentrated on a more urban environment and street brawling. The next inspiration is the one that busted the market wide open. In 1987 Techno Japan released Double Dragon which added two play co-op play and added much more complex moves based on speed and memorization of button mashing combination's. The next evolution of the genre was Golden Axe (released by Sega in 1989) introduced distinct fighting styles by different enemies and involved a more fantasy oriented environment and Final Fight (released by Capcom in 1989) but these two releases also were the last two great ones of the time due mostly to a lack of anywhere else to take the games, there was only so much to do with a 2-D side scroller based on melee battles. Dynasty Warriors 2 (released by Koei in 2000) was one of the few highlights of the genre released since the late 80's With the appeal of free roaming 3-D games as well as more complex shooters and hackers the genre is certainly no where near as present as it was in the 80's but games such as Viewful Joe (Capcom's 2003 release) and God Hand (released by Capcom in 2007) are keeping the genre alive, barely, but still alive.