The beat ’em up genre has been experiencing a resurgence in recent years, with a slew of licensed retro brawlers, such as TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, and collections of games from companies like Digital Eclipse and Capcom. If you’re interested in the more obscure side of beat ’em up history, then you may want to check out the Beat ‘Em Up Collection from QUByte Interactive.
Beat ‘Em Up Collection features seven titles:
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First Samurai – Embark on a mystical journey through time as a lone samurai. Use ancient powers and enchanted weapons to defeat demons and restore balance to the world.
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Second Samurai – Continue the warrior’s saga as you face the Demon King once again. Travel across time, overcome brutal enemies, and solve environmental puzzles in a fast-paced martial arts adventure.
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Gourmet Warriors – In a bizarre post-apocalyptic future where food is scarce, battle against mutants and demonic robots in the streets of Zeus Heaven Magic City. A chaotic and flavorful beat ‘em up experience!
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Iron Commando – Choose between Jake, a soldier, or Chang Li, a martial arts expert, and fight to prevent the terrorist group G.H.O.S.T. from stealing a radioactive meteor. Engage in relentless action across moving trains, mine shafts, vehicles, and more.
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Legend – Enter a brutal medieval world and fight to liberate the kingdom of Sellech from the cruel sorcerer Clovius. Face off against dark knights, dragons, and otherworldly magic in this gritty brawler.
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Sword of Sodan – Step into the shoes of a mighty barbarian warrior (male or female) and confront the evil sorcerer Zora. With its dark fantasy setting and unique visual style, prepare for intense side-scrolling combat against a monstrous army.
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The Tale of Clouds and Winds (Water Margin) – Inspired by the Chinese literary classic “Water Margin”, choose from three outlaw heroes and battle corrupt warlords in ancient China. Features branching paths and multiple endings based on your character and difficulty level.
The games feature translations into English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and include most of the features you would expect in a modern retro collection, such as rewind, multiple display options, filters, and cheats that can activate features like unlimited lives or unlimited health. The games all include digital scans of their original manuals, along with in-game manuals that provide instructions on controls and offer an overview of the plot and characters. Collections like The Cowabunga Collection have spoiled us with an avalanche of bonus features, and this collection feels relatively bare-bones compared to games like that if things like concept art or behind-the-scenes information interest you.
As far as the games themselves, they are an eclectic mix that ranges from almost unplayable, in the case of Sword of Sodan, to bizarrely over-the-top, like First Samurai, to decently solid, such as Iron Commando and Gourmet Warriors. Of the games included, my personal pick for a favorite would be The Tale of Clouds and Winds (Water Margin), as it’s a pretty fun, solidly executed take on games like King of Dragons or Knights of the Round. Iron Commando and Gourmet Warriors are also relatively solid, with Gourmet Warriors offering a unique cooking mechanic where you collect ingredients in the stages and then can make recipes to give yourself a boost going into the next stage. You can tell which of the games is trying to emulate a more high-profile, more polished game. Iron Commando seems to be inspired by The Punisher, while Gourment Warriors is closest to a Final Fight or maybe Captain Commando. I would never choose to play any of these games over the bigger and better retro classics. Still, if you’re interested in beat ’em up history and appreciate the weirder, quirkier side of retro gaming, this is a pretty fascinating collection, and many of the games have never been released outside their initial arcade or console release. For $19.99 Beat ‘Em Up Collection is a solid purchase for gaming historians or anyone interested in playing some super deep cut beat ’em up games. None of the games included really stand by themselves, but collected together, it’s an interesting package. You can get Beat ‘Em Up Collection now on Steam, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch.
