Two years ago, I turned an accusing eye toward beat ‘em ups, but let it be known that I’m still a devoted fan of the genre, despite its repetitive nature and numerous flaws. Although there are plenty of gameplay tweaks that can be done to breathe new life into the category, I’m going to focus on the positive by highlighting my six favorite BEUs of all time. This will encompass a mix of hall of fame-worthy BEUs, more obscure titles, and at least one game that’s regarded as a turd by many a gamer. So grab your baseball bat and brass knucks, kids,  ’cause we’re takin’ it to the streets.

God Hand (PS2)
River City Ransom (NES)
Otaku, purists, and a wide variety of nitpickers may, in retrospect, hold disdain for Technos’ localization of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, but I will proclaim to the day that I meet the big NES in the sky, that the greaser look that the company’s American division gave the sprites is way more bad ass than the Japanese schoolboy uniforms of the original. It’s the closest thing to an 8-bit brawler version of The Outsiders, but without scenes like this.

The story is typical beat ‘em up fare: a fair maiden  is kidnapped by a shady character (in this case, Slick) who rules the mean streets with a squat, miniature iron fist, and it’s up to our plucky protagonists, Alex and Ryan, to dish out hardcore street justice. Why did it rock my socks? River City Ransom utilized a unique RPG system for powering up your pint-size brawler, which let gamers buy all manner of skills (with money lifted from the pockets of fallen foes) that heightened your fist-smashing-face skills. Plus, you could block attacks (a rare, but awesome gem in the genre), that few other of its contemporaries allowed. After all, if someone wanted to bash me in the head with a 2 x 4, I think I’d guard.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)
Out of all the brawlers on this list, TMNT is the title that brings back the warmest of fuzzies. Back in the day, my friends and I would blow our meager allowances guiding four of the world’s greatest artists as they hacked their way through several waves of Shredder’s bumbling ninja armies using katanas, bo staffs, nunchucks, and sais. This came could’ve been a 100 percent piece of crap, but we would’ve played the heck out of it because of FOUR PLAYER SIMULTANEOUS TURTLE ACTION. Seriously, that’s all it took.

It was the dream game of every  ’80s kid who grew up with the mutant quartet as their favorite show. Fortunately, Konami displayed plenty of care and attention to detail with what would become its golden goose license during the early ’90s; the graphics were aces (I remember my jaw dropping at the sight of the flame effects in stage one while fighting Rock Steady and Be Bop), and  the music was top-notch (I still consider the Technodome stage to have one of the finest scores in action games). Gamplay was simple, but incredibly tight, which served as the peanut butter to the sweet audio/visual jelly.

Final Fight (Arcade)
Mike Haggar, ex-pro wrestler, is the mayor that every major city needs to prevent young punks like the Blood, the Crips, and those Nekketsu kids from running rampant and terrorizing the populace. Final Fight, like Double Dragon, took the action from outer space and fantasy worlds and plopped it down into an urban setting, only Capcom’s brawler was far more playable thanks to sprites that don’t feel as though they’re moving through quicksand.

One of the most overlooked aspects of Final Fight‘s success is one of its most obvious traits: players could choose from one of three characters that weren’t palette swaps–the slow, but powerful Haggar, the swift-footed, but weak Guy, and the pretty boy and future ex-con Cody. Back in the day, when player one and player two were automatically assigned urban avengers, it was more than a little bit awesome to be able to select your on-screen avatar.

The graphics and sound are typical late ’80s/ early ’90s Capcom arcade – - chunky, but so satisfying. There’s some backstory about the Haggar’s daughter getting kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang, but I have to say that it was handled with far more respect than the Final Fight crew’s appearance on the god-awful American Street Fighter cartoon.

Renegade (NES)
Technos knows how to make a fun and engaging brawler. Double Dragon may get the name recognition, and River City Ransom may have the cult status, but Renegade, the company’s first entry into the Kunio series, is perhaps the most underrated brawler in gaming history. Sure, it has an absolutely insane maze in the fourth and final stages that will make you place shotgun securely in mouth, and there’s very little variety in the street thugs’ appearance, but Renegade has a few interesting aspects that makes it one of my favorite beat ‘em ups ever produced.

The bizarrely-named Mr. K could swiftly pummel opponents in front of him and behind him courtesy of dedicated left and right attack buttons, mount downed opponents and ground pound them UFC-style, and hop on a motorcycle and boot rival riders from their perches in a thrilling chase sequence. Individually, these features would’ve ben swank, but together? 100% pure 8-bit street brawling badassedness.

Streets of Rage II (Genesis)
Simply put, Streets of Rage II was the Genesis’/Mega Drive’s finest moment in 1992. The game took the beat ‘em up basics of the original and added a slew of new additions including individual special attacks for each of the four selectable characters (replacing the squad car super of the original), non-energy-draining attacks, life gauges for all characters, and new weapons for laying the smack down on deserving foes. The jump in quality is almost as high as the one seen in Street Fighter II over its predecessor, except that the original Streets of Rage was a playable game.

The enemy legions are one of the most varied and unique in the BEU circle. Some are your typical street thugs, but you’ll also encounter kickboxers and robots – - robots! Despite the latter, the rugged sprites and detailed backgrounds give Streets of Rage II a truly urban feel that few other BEUs could replicate. The true testament to this game’s grestness is its enduring legacy: Out of all of the games on this list, Streets of Rage II has seen the most ports in recent years, landing on Xbox Live Arcade and Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Knights of the Round (Arcade)
This is one title that almost went completely under the radar. If it weren’t for me plundering Gametap’s library just a few weeks ago I would never have discovered this gem as my neighborhood arcade back in the day didn’t house the upright, and I never knew there was a 16-bit home conversion. Knights of the Round, like many Capcom beat ‘em ups, doesn’t exactly turn the genre on its head, but adds a few twists, and rock solid presentation,  that separate it from the pack.

As with Final Fight, you can select from three characters (Arthur, Lancelot, Percival) with a mission to unite Britain. Where things get spicy is in the gameplay: you can mount horses, block attacks, and level up your character depending on the number of dirty heathens that taste your sweet steel. The medieval setting adds a somewhat fresh spin on the genre, but the background graphics, in which members of your storming army battle foes, adds to the title’s semi-epic scope.

You’re probably wondering where popular titles like Guardian Heroes or Golden Axe are to be found; not here, mate. Naturally, in any list of this sort there are certain to be perceived omissions that rile die hards, but gaming, much like a not-so great film, album, or book is often painted in rose colored memories. Nostalgia commands me to like Ghoulies as it does the same with the games on this list, despite knowing that better-crafted material exists. Judge me not – - after all, there’s some schmoe out there that has it hard for China Warrior.