Top 10 beat 'em ups

Before I begin this top 10, I am going to preface it by saying I know purists would say fighting games and brawlers are two separate genres; Fatal Fury is a fighting game, while Double Dragon is a brawler. However, back in the day, any game with fist fighting in it was known as a beat 'em up and here are my favourite 10:

Kung-Fu Master

Kung-Fu Master was the first beat 'em up I ever played that pitched the player against waves of enemies, as opposed to one-on-one.  Despite being based on the Jackie Chan film Wheels on Meals (or Spartan X as it was known in Japan), it actually played out very similar to Bruce Lee's film Game of Death, with each floor being guarded by a different boss.  I always remember hearing people talk about what the boss was on the final levels, but I don't think I ever saw past the Man of Brute Strength on floor 3, so I never knew if those rumours were true.

World Heroes

World Heroes was one of many games designed to cash in on the success of Street Fighter II. While it never did anything to set itself apart from Capcom's classic, I've always been rather fond of it. The characters were generally a little nuttier than those in the early versions of SF2, which was always part of the appeal. Plus, when the Street Fighter cabinets were crowded, this was always a nice alternative.

Favourite character: Hanzo (sorry, you have Street Fighter II to blame for that).

Power Stone 

The first of three Capcom games in this list, Power Stone was an arena fighting game quite unlike any other. The game felt like some kind of crazy mix of a Jackie Chan film, with characters bounding over tables and chairs, as well as hurling anything they could pick up at their opponent, and Power Rangers, which each character capable of powering up into typically Japanese super heroes. The ability to power up was reliant on being able to beat three different coloured gems out of your opponent, then collect them before they did. Matches were frantic games of cat and mouse, often times extracting the gems was by no means a guaranteed victory.

Favourite character: Wang Tang

Guilty Gear II 

When I first saw Guilty Gear X, it had been a couple of years since I had played a 2D beat 'em up and after feeling disappointed by Street Fighter 3, I loved how completely out there Guilty Gear was. I can't pretend I understood anything about the game, from the out-there character designs to the multitude of meters, but it looked wonderful and felt like a much more exciting direction for the old genre.

Favourite character: Jam

Tekken 3 

If you have to pick a point where the arcade first started to show signs of losing the battle to home machines, it was when the original Sony PlayStation came along. I originally played Tekken 3 on a PlayStation and it was probably better than the arcade version. It's also generally considered to be the best game in Namco's legendary series. I've played all but the latest Tekken game and I have to say I don't think any of the later games better this instalment.

Favourite character: Paul Phoenix.

Virtua Fighter 5 

Sega's original Virtua Fighter was a ground breaking game, but once Tekken came along it kinda felt a little stiff in comparison. However, during the life of the series Virtua Fighter has stood out as a solid, deep and brilliantly balanced fighting game.

Favourite character: Lau Chan

Final Fight 

After Street Fighter, Final Fight is Capcom's biggest beat 'em up.  Like Golden Axe it featured a co-op mode that was enhanced by the differences between the characters.  I was a Cody player at the time and because of the bizarre universe Capcom games occupy, that continued in Street Fighter Alpha 3 years later.

Favourite character: Cody.

King of Fighters series 

SNK gave us two great fighting game series, Fatal Fury and King of Fighters, but as good as they both have been over the years, I feel I can only give one a place in this list, so it has to be King of Fighters. Now in its 13th iteration, King of Fighters' tag-team combat set it apart when it first appeared and is still a big part of its appeal.

Favourite team: Terry Bogard, Mai Shiranui and Yuri Sakazaki.

Soul Calibur II 

Of all the 3D fighting games spawned by Virtua Fighter, my absolute favourite is Soul Calibur II. It was the third game in the series and arguably does not add anything that wasn't in Soul Calibur, but I think some of the new characters were interesting. One of my previous employers had an Xbox running Soul Calibur II in the canteen, which was a hugely popular break and lunchtime distraction. Myself (played as Mitsurugi) and one of my mates (playing as Knightmare) were particularly keen on playing the game as methodically as possible, rather than just bashing the buttons in the vain hope of winning. Our long, drawn-out matches were really tense and punctuated by the occassional decisive blow making it through the others defences. Great times.

Favourite character: Mitsurugi

Street Fighter series

I don't know precisely what it is that makes me come back to Street Fighter time and time again, but I know my urge to play it has barely waned in two decades.  My favourite iterations are Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter IV.  Each one has something different about them that makes it possible to enjoy them all equally, without feeling as those the older games have become antiquated.

Favourites characters (because I can't just choose one): Blanka, Ryu, Cody, Makoto, and... oh I'll stop there.