The History of Beat Em' Ups (Part 1 - The Pre-Final Fight Era 1980-1989)

The History of Beat Em' Ups (Part 1 - The Pre-Final Fight Era  1980-1989). Beat Em' Ups is one of my favorite genres of gaming.  However, the history of this arcade staple isn't really widely known or  discussed. Today I am joined by Kriegor, a man who knows a ton about the  genre's history in detail, and we go through the first era Beat Em Ups,  the Pre-Final Fight Era. We have termed this era "Pre-Final Fight"  becuase, as we discuss at the end of the video, this Capcom classic  CHANGED EVERYTHING. Which is crazy to think about how important Capcom  is for the arcade genres. Not only did they define the fighting game  genre with Street Fighter 2, but they also defined the Beat Em' Up  formula with Final Fight 1. The games we discuss in this episode are:  Samuraï, Swashbuckler, Spartan X, Nekketsu Koha Kunio-Kun, Double  Dragon, The Ninja Warriors, P.O.W.: Prisoners of War, Ninja Gaiden,  Golden Axe, Dynasty Wars, River City Randsom, Teenage Mutant Ninja  Turtles, Crime Fighters, and FINAL FIGHT! I'm not sure how many of these are availible on modern consoles like  Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox, or Steam (PC), but I imagine a good  many :-) I know Final Fight is in the Capcom Beat Em' Up Collection,  which is pretty sweet!