Shoot 'em ups are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character movement, while others allow a broader definition including characters on foot and a variety of perspectives.
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games.
Kung-Fu Master, known as Spartan X in Japan, is a 1984 beat 'em up game developed and published by Irem for arcades. It was distributed by Data East in North America. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game was based on Hong Kong martial arts films. It is a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao film Wheels on Meals (1984), called Spartan X in Japan, with the protagonist Thomas named after Jackie Chan's character in the film. The game is also heavily inspired by the Bruce Lee film Game of Death (1972), which was the basis for the game's concept. Nishiyama, who had previously designed the side-scrolling shooter Moon Patrol (1982), combined fighting elements with a shoot 'em up gameplay rhythm. Irem and Data East exported the game to the West without the Spartan X license.
Spider-Man: The Video Game, also known as Spider-Man, is a 1991 arcade video game developed by Sega based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man.
Guardian Heroes is a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed by Treasure and released by Sega in 1996 for the Sega Saturn video game console. The game resembles Final Fight or Golden Axe, but with RPG elements. The development team called it a "fighting RPG". A sequel was released in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance entitled Advance Guardian Heroes.
Alien Storm (エイリアンストーム) is a beat 'em up shooter released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1990. It was ported to the Genesis/Mega Drive and Master System. The Mega Drive version was re-released on Wii's Virtual Console in 2007 and was also included on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2022.
A beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, while a number of modern games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies. The gameplay tends to follow arcade genre conventions, such as being simple to learn but difficult to master, and the combat system tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games. Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre. Most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical, science fiction or fantasy themes.
Panzer Bandit is a video game developed by Fill-in-Cafe and published by Banpresto for the PlayStation in 1997 and for PlayStation Network in 2011, exclusively in Japan.
The Wonder Boy series, also known as the Monster World series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment. Beginning with the original Wonder Boy arcade game released in April 21, 1986, the game has spawned several sequels released for arcade, Master System, and Sega Genesis, as well as three compilation titles and three remakes by other developers. Several titles have been ported to other consoles by different publishers under different names, most notably Hudson Soft's Adventure Island adaptation of the original game. The main character "Wonder Boy" was named Book by the developer and Tom-Tom by Sega for overseas editions.
Arabian Magic is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash arcade video game developed by Taito and released in 1992. It was included in Taito Legends 2 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.
A side-scrolling video game is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics during the golden age of arcade games was a pivotal leap in game design, comparable to the move to 3D graphics during the fifth generation.
Dynamite Düx is a beat 'em up developed by Sega AM2 and released by Sega as an arcade video game in 1988. Produced by Yu Suzuki and with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, the game uses the Sega System 16 arcade board, the same board used for Golden Axe and Altered Beast. It was ported to the Master System, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum platforms in the following year. A Mega Drive version was planned but never released.
Night Slashers (ナイトスラッシャーズ) is a 1993 beat 'em up game developed and published by Data East for arcades. A remake for major platforms was licensed to Forever Entertainment and released in September 2024.
Anett Futatabi is a side scrolling, beat-em-up video game developed and published by Wolf Team for the Mega CD hardware add-on for the Mega Drive. It is the final in a trilogy of games that also includes Earnest Evans and El Viento. The game was released only in Japan in 1993.
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire, commonly abbreviated to Sapphire in English, is a shoot 'em up developed by CAProduction for the PC Engine CD-ROM² System. It was published in 1995 by Hudson Soft exclusively in Japan. The story follows an all-women police force in 2092 traveling through time to intercept terrorists committing crimes across the past and future. The player takes on the role of a police officer and controls their spaceship through waves of enemies and powerful bosses.
Flashgal is a side-scrolling beat 'em up action game developed by Kyugo and released for arcades in 1985, by Sega in Japan and Romstar in North America. The game has a mixture of unarmed fighting and shooting gameplay.
Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru is a side-scrolling action game developed and published by the Japanese division of Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Saturn. Players take on the role of psychic ninjas battling an assortment of demons in Feudal Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl. The game was released in Japan in 1997 amid Time Warner Interactive's closure, resulting in a low print run. It is considered by gaming journalists as one of the rarest, most valuable, and most sought-after Saturn games. Critics have generally praised the game for its layered 2D and 3D visual effects, inventive level design, and impressive boss battles. Some compared it positively to the Shinobi and Castlevania series.
Guardians of the 'Hood is a 1992 side-scrolling beat 'em up developed and released by Atari Games for arcades. The game features digitized sprites, similar to Pit-Fighter, and sprite scaling effects that gives a feeling of depth. It was originally sold in both dedicated cabinets and conversion kits.
Takashi Nishiyama, sometimes credited as "Piston" Takashi Nishiyama or T. Nishiyama, is a Japanese video game designer, director and producer who worked for Irem, Capcom and SNK before founding his own company Dimps. He is best known for developing the scrolling shooter title Moon Patrol, the beat 'em up title Kung-Fu Master, and the fighting game titles Street Fighter, Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters. He also helped to develop the Neo Geo system.
Clockwork Aquario is a platform game developed by Westone and published by ININ Games for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows. The gameplay involves defeating waves of enemies, picking up power-ups and items, and destroying bosses across multiple levels to stop Dr. Hangyo from taking over the world.
