The "Beat 'em Up" genre is a cousin to the Fighting Game genre popular since the eighties, with their Trope Codifiers Double Dragon and Golden Axe. Most games that fall under this genre have very little in the way of story, and lots in the way of bash-the-other-guys'-heads-in-with-your-fists action. The Co-Op Multiplayer in these games used to be a highly popular feature.
These games eschew one-on-one duels for the protagonist (and a friend or two) rampaging across the map, handing out unmerciful beatdowns to every group of gangsters, mutants, robots and ninjas they meet, acquiring weapons from their environment and finding cooked chickens inexplicably hidden inside arcade cabinets. Many Beat 'em Ups include weapons and magical powers.
In Japan, Beat 'em Ups of the Double Dragon or Final Fight 2D variety are known as "belt-scroll" action games (ベルトスクロールアクションゲーム) due to their semi-isometric perspective and the fact that the characters are always facing left or right despite being able to move up and down as well. Games like Kung-Fu Master (which is completely side-scrolling) or Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance (which is in 3D) are not considered belt-scroll games.
Known as Beat 'em All in France (in English) and Russia, due to the various occurrences in side-/belt-scrolling games where the game won't scroll any further until all enemies are down.
A large number of "urban" themed beat 'em ups have the same basic plot - a female friend/lover/relative of one of the playable characters is kidnapped by a member of a criminal gang for some reason and the protagonist(s) have to travel through a number of areas of the city, beating the crap out of gang members and fighting a boss at the end of each area before kicking the ass of the gang leader and rescuing the girl.
3D Beat 'em Up games are better known as Stylish Action or Character Action Games. Also see Hack and Slash, which is more or less the exact same genre but with weapons; therefore, expect to see several overlapping examples.
Games in this genre include:
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- 198X
- 9 Monkeys of Shaolin
- 64th Street: A Detective Story
- 99Vidas
- Abalaburn: An RPG, but its fights play out in this format
- Absolver
- Abyss Odyssey, a side scrolling Beat 'Em Up generated Roguelike style.
- Aces Wild: Manic Brawling Action!, a side-scrolling platform beat 'em up which is based around High Altitude Battles with frequent Megaton Punches.
- Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl
- The Adventures of Bayou Billy, which also contains driving and light-gun sections
- Akiba's Trip
- Alien Storm
- Altered Beast (1988), one of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive's launch titles. "Wise fwom youw gwave!"
- Anarchy Reigns, the spiritual successor to Mad World.
- Ane-San
- Arabian Fight
- Arabian Magic
- Armored Warriors, Capcom's mecha brawler; the predecessor of Cyberbots.
- Astral Chain, a Cyberpunk love-child of Xenoblade Chronicles X and NieR: Automata.
- Asura's Wrath, something of an odd example, as it also presents itself as an interactive anime to an extent.
- Avengers/Hissatsu Buraiken
- Bad Dudes. "Are YOU a bad enough dude to save the the president?"
- Bad Street Brawler
- BANZAI PECAN: The Last Hope for the Young Century, a fanservice-laden parody indie brawler.
- Batman: The Animated Series (Game Boy)
- Battle Beavers, a 2D Flash beat 'em up with some RPG elements.
- Battle Circuit, Capcom's last traditional 2D brawler.
- Battletoads
- Bayonetta, a spiritual successor to Devil May Cry.
- Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance, a dismal 2000s 3D Beat 'em Up from Capcom made to capitalize on Grand Theft Auto's success; Mainly remembered for the characters' liberal use of the F-word.
- Big Action Mega Fight!
- Big Fight
- Bio Force Ape: A beat 'em up-platformer hybrid that was eventually scrapped.
- Blade Master
- Blood Over
- Bloody Zombies
- The Bouncer
- Bravery and Greed
- Brawlin' Sailor
- Breakneck City
- BROK the InvestiGator, a hybrid between this and Point-and-Click Game starring a boxer-turned-investigator alligator.
- Bully
- Burning Fight
- Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
- Captain Commando
- Castle Crashers
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a modern-day re-interpretation of the franchise
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, interquel
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the sequel
- Charlie Murder
- Chicken Warrior
- Chipmonk!, a 2018 Genre Throwback to old-school arcade games, with a catch: the players are anthromorphic chipmunk warriors battling various rodent bandits and hostile badgers in a medieval setting! It's a surprisingly cute game
despite (or maybe because) of its premise.
- Claws of Furry
- Closers Online
- The Combatribes
- Code of Princess, a spiritual successor to Guardian Heroes.
- Coffee Crisis - two nerdy baristas versus an alien army.
- Comix Zone
- Conan
- Cosmo Police Galivan
- Crash of the Titans, part of a (very brief) Soft Reboot of Crash Bandicoot
- Crawl, in which one player controls the hero, while everyone else plays as the monsters to kill the hero and become them.
- Crescent Pale Mist, a hack-and-slash doujin game with platforming elements.
- Crime Fighters
- Vendetta (1991), a.k.a. Crime Fighters 2.
- Crime Life
- Crimson Tears
- Crisis Beat
- Cröixleur, an arcade-styled doujin beat 'em up styled after the Bloody Palace of the Devil May Cry games.
- Crossed Swords - in first-person, no less
- The Crown of Wu
- Crows: The Battle Action
- Crude Buster (a.k.a. Two Crude Dudes), a spiritual successor to Bad Dudes.
- The Crystal of Kings
- Cyborg Justice
- Dad Game
- Dancin Divas
- Dante's Inferno
- Dark Judgement
- Dark Seal
- Darkside Story, a Korean beat'em up by the makers of Astonishia Story.
- Darksiders, a mix of beat 'em up and an action-adventure game akin to The Legend of Zelda series.
- Dawn of the Breakers
- Dawn of the Monsters
- Dead Rising, often described as a beat'em up combined with Survival Horror and the Sand Box genre.
- Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, an adaption on the Wii, this version is often mistaken for a port.
- Dead Rising 2
- Dead Rising 3
- Super Ultra Dead Rising 3: Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX + α , a DLC/Spin-off game for Dead Rising 3
- Dead Rising 4
- Defenders of Dynatron City
- Demolish Fist
- Denjin Makai
- Detained: Too Good for School
- Devil's Dare and its Updated Re-release Streets of Red
- The Dishwasher
- D. D. Crew
- Demon Skin
- Devil's Hunt
- Dino Strike
- DJ Boy, with narration by Wolfman Jack, recorded shortly before his death.
- B.Rap Boys, notable for having an entirely lyricized soundtrack, performed by the rap group 3 Stories High.
- The Devil May Cry series, coined as the codifier of the modern beat 'em up genre.
- Devil May Cry
- Devil May Cry 2
- Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
- Devil May Cry 4
- DmC: Devil May Cry, a failed attempt at a series reboot.
- Devil May Cry 5
- Devil's Third, it doubles a Hack and Slash and a Third-Person Shooter with first-person shooter aiming.
- Doman: Sins of Ardan
- Double Dragon
- Drakengard, mixed with Action RPG and flight sim
- Dragon Knight
- Dragon Valor
- Dragon's Crown
- Dragon View
- Dungeon Fighter Online
- Dungeon Magic - a.k.a Lightbringer
- Dusk Diver
- Dusty Revenge - the adventures of Dusty, an ass-kicking rabbit mercenary out to avenge the death of his wife
- Dusty Raging Fist, a prequel to the above
- Dynamite Cop, the first game was released outside Japan as Die Hard Arcade.
- Dynamite Dux
- Dynasty Wars — NOT to be confused with a similar-titled game also based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms below.
- Dynasty Warriors and its many sequels from Koei.
- Samurai Warriors
- Warriors Orochi
- Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
- Fire Emblem Warriors
- Hyrule Warriors (Yes, a The Legend of Zelda Spin-Off.)
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, prequel to Breath of the Wild.
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors
- Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and The Blight Below
- Dragon Quest Heroes II: Twin Kings and the Prophecy's End
- Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
- Edge (1993 Video Game), an early example for the PC-98.
- Electronic Popple, where you are a sentient microchip in a computer fighting sentient Computer Viruses
- An Egyptian Tale
- EOE: Eve of Extinction
- Evil West - Doubles as a Third-Person Shooter with brawling elements.
- Executioners
- Exit Limbo: Opening
- EXTRAPOWER: Giant Fist
- Extreme Meatpunks Forever, one part Visual Novel, one part mecha brawler.
- Fable Heroes
- Fading Afternoon
- Fairy Bloom series:
- Fallen City Brawl
- Fear Is Vigilance, a free 2D beat 'em up web-game about a pair of college students trying to get college students to pick up free personal alarms to keep them safe at night — by creating something for them to keep safe from.
- Fighting Force, considered to be one of the earliest attempts at a 3D beat 'em up, was originally developed to be a Streets of Rage sequel.
- Fight Knight, an indie First Person dugeon brawler.
- Fight'N Rage
- Final Fight
- Final Vendetta
- Foul Play (2013)
- Frankie's Dungeon (aka Creepy Castle)
- Franko: The Crazy Revenge
- The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa
- Full Metal Furies
- Furi
- Gaia Crusaders
- Gaiapolis; a rare example of a top-down perspective brawler
- Galaxy Keiji Gayvan
- Certain installments of the Ganbare Goemon series
- Gang Wars
- Gekido - Urban Fighters, and the GBA-exclusive sequel Kintaro's Revenge
- Genocide, a single-plane side-scrolling mecha brawler; its sequel incorporates some platforming elements
- Gladiator ak.k.a Great Gurianos (NOT to be confused with the Russell Crowe movie)
- The Gladiator - unrelated to the above
- God Hand, a modern revival of the genre, which had been pretty moribund for the previous ten years.
- God of War
- Golden Axe, and its sequels.
- Gourmet Warriors - one of the more "surreal" arcade beat 'em ups.
- Grand Chase goes with 3D character models but 2D gameplay. Overlaps with hack-and-slash due to almost everyone using weapons. And magic.
- Grey: An Alien Dream
- Grief Syndrome, a doujin beat 'em up fan-game of Puella Magi Madoka Magica by Twilight Frontier.
- Growl
- Guacamelee!, mixed with Metroidvania.
- Guacamelee! 2, same as the above.
- Guardians (1995) / Denjin Makai II, a dual-titled obscure beat 'em up with 8 characters with massive move-sets.
- Guardian Heroes, a hybrid of beat 'em up, action-RPG, and fighting game with branching story paths from Treasure.
- Hachoo!
- Hard Edge, mixed with Action-Adventure.
- Hard Time
- Haunted Halloween 85, an Action Beat 'Em Up Retraux Platform Game.
- Heavenly Sword
- Heart&Slash, a Roguelike/beat'em up hybrid.
- Hidden Dragon: Legend
- Hidden Invasion, a poorly-received, mediocre 3D beat 'em up for the PlayStation 2. Reading the reviews of the game are more fun than playing the game itself.
- Hi-Fi RUSH - a brawler combined with platforming and the Rhythm Game genre.
- Hero of Sparta
- Hiryū no Ken
- Hobo
- Honkai Impact 3rd
- Hong Kong Ninja
- Ikari Warriors - the third game, The Rescue, ditches the guns and have the players kicking and punching instead
- Implosion: Never Lose Hope
- Intrepid Izzy, one part beat 'em up, one part Platform Game.
- Iron Commando
- Jackie Chan Stuntmaster
- Jitsu Squad
- Karateka, in 1984 being one of the oldest available for home computers.
- Karate Blazers
- Kenka Banchō
- Knuckle Bash
- Killer is Dead
- The King of Dragons
- The King of Fighters All Star
- King of the Monsters - has segments where you fight assorted kaiju mooks between bosses
- Kings Of Hell, an indie multiplayer 3D beat 'em up inspired by beat 'em ups of the early 2000's that started development in 2017. It's not released yet.
- A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV, a retraux 2D side scrolling beat 'em up Spin-Off title of Final Fantasy XV
- Knack, a combination of this and a platformer.
- Knight's Contract
- Knights of the Round
- The Knights of Valour series
- Krut: The Mythic Wings
- Kung Food
- Kung Fu Master, known in Japan as Spartan X, a very loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan movie better known as Wheels On Meals in the West.
- Kung Fu Strike
- Kuri Kinton
- Legend (1994)
- Legend (1998) - a sequel to the above from 4 years later
- Legend of Heroes - no, not the Trails Series, but a Korean-made arcade game that rips off Disney's Mulan, starring an entire cast of Captain Ersatzes lifted from the animated film. Nope, not making this one up.
- The Legend of Silkroad - and the sequel, The Age of Heroes
- The Legend of Tian-ding, combined with Metroidvania and set in 1900s Taiwan.
- Legionnaire
- Like a Dragon:
- Yakuza
- Yakuza Kiwami (remake of Yakuza)
- Yakuza 2
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 (a remake of Yakuza 2)
- Yakuza 3
- Yakuza 4
- Yakuza 5
- Like a Dragon: Ishin! (Original and Remake)
- Yakuza 0
- Yakuza 6
- Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
- Judgment
- Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
- Yakuza
- Little Fighter 2
- Hero Fighter, a Creator-Driven Successor made by the same programmer as LF2.
- Lollipop Chainsaw
- Loopmancer
- Lost Soul Aside, upcoming PS4 exclusive indie game notable for initially being developed by one man
- Lucifer Ring
- Lugaru, an amateur effort.
M-Z
- Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force, an interesting example as it's a single-plane mecha brawler that plays like a 2D fighting game then shifts into the latter during boss battles.
- MadWorld, featuring over-the-top violence and a comic-book style.
- Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy
- Malicious
- Maximus
- Mayhem Brawler
- Megabyte Punch, a cross between Custom Robo and Super Smash Bros.
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, spin-off of the Metal Gear franchise
- Metamorphic Force, Altered Beast applied to a typical belt-scroll engine; made by Konami.
- Metamoqester, similar to the below-mentioned Monster Maulers.
- Metro Siege
- Midnight Fight Express, an indie game being developed by one man. Features a ton of motion-captured animations.
- Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
- Monkey King: Hero Is Back
- Monster Maulers, though it's debatable whether it's a Beat-em-up or a Fighting Game.
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
- Mother Russia Bleeds
- Mr. Shifty
- Mug Smashers
- Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam
- Mutation Nation
- Mystical Fighter
- Mystic Warriors
- Nekketsu Oyako
- NanoBreaker
- NieR: Automata, combined with Action RPG and some Bullet Hell segments
- The original NieR as well, albeit to a lesser extent.
- Night Slashers, a zombie-slaying beat 'em up that predated Zombie Revenge by several years.
- Ninety-Nine Nights
- Ninja Baseball Bat Man, the general concept and initial designs were made in America with the intent of it being the follow-the-leader platformer game; It was sent to Japan for programming, and when it came back, it became "Power Rangers WITH BASEBALL!".
- Ninja Clowns
- Ninja Combat
- Ninja Gaiden
- Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)
- Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, a Spin-Off of the series. It includes an arcade mode played in 2.5D, as a homage to the Ninja Gaiden arcade game.
- The Ninja Kids
- Ninja: Shadow of Darkness
- The Ninja Warriors (1987)
- The Ninja Warriors (1994)
- Ninjin
- No More Heroes
- Not Dying Today
- Nosferatu, a beat'em up that plays like the original Prince of Persia with emphasis on platforming and puzzle solving.
- Okinawa Rush
- Onechanbara
- Oni, with a bit of third-person shooter mixed in.
- Oriental Legend duology - the arcade game based on Journey to the West, one which is China-exclusive.
- Overgrowth
- Paint the Town Red
- Panzer Bandit, a Guardian Heroes-esque beat 'em up by Fill-in Café.
- Paprium - Retraux game with the aesthetics of old-timey arcade consoles, but released in 2019
- Penny-Punching Princess
- Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds -Cocoa's Nightmare Attack-, a retro-styled spin-off of the fighting game featuring cutesy, super-deformed characters with gameplay similar to Guardian Heroes.
- Phantom Fighter
- Pirate Hunter
- Pizza Kidd
- Pokémon Rumble
- P.O.W.: Prisoners of War
- Princess' Edge - Dragonstone
- Project Dimentia Bodhisattva
- Pu·Li·Ru·La
- Punishing: Gray Raven
- The Quest for Glory series:
- Quest for Glory I (1989 as Hero's Quest; 1990 re-release with new name)
- Quest for Glory II (1990)
- Quest for Glory III (1992)
- Quest for Glory IV (1993)
- Quest for Glory V (1998)
- Hero-U (2013) (Set in the same setting but not a direct sequel)
- Quit Today
- Raging Blades
- Raging Justice
- Ragnarok Battle Offline
- Railroad Rampage
- Rampage
- Rastan - the Rastan Saga spinoff series
- Rawal Rumble - a Retraux game made in 2021. From Spain
- Redeemer
- Remember Me
- Renegade (1986)
- Riot City
- Riot Zone - a.k.a Crest of Wolf is a repackaged re-release of City above, recycling the graphics, backgrounds and premise.
- The Kunio-kun series:
- Renegade (a.k.a. Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun), the first beat 'em up that used the "belt-scroll" perspective, which allowed characters to move along both the vertical and horizontal axis while still facing primarily to the left or right
- River City Ransom, a co-operative brawler with RPG elements.
- River City Ransom: Underground
- River City Girls
- River City Girls 2
- Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story
- Rise To Honor, which features Jet Li with third-person shooting in the mix.
- Robo Army
- Rushing Beat trilogy - Rival Turf, Brawl Brothers, The Peace Keepers
- Rush'n Attack, a.k.a. Green Beret
- Saints Row IV has one level that adapts a mission from Saints Row 2 into this with the fitting title "Saints of Rage" and does a very faithful adaptation to the genre.
- Saint Seiya: Cosmo Fantasy
- Saint Seiya Online
- Saint Seiya Ougon Densetsu
- Samurai Riot
- Scrap Riders
- Sengoku
- Sengoku Basara
- Senran Kagura
- Shank
- Shatterhand
- Shadow Force
- Shing!
- Shodai Nekketsu Koha Kuniokun
- Shui Hu Feng Yun Zhuan (水浒风云传) - a Chinese remake of Knights of the Round, loosely based on The Water Margin
- Shuihuzhuan: Liangshan Yingxiong (水滸傳梁山英雄) - a far better adaptation of the same novel, one that actually uses it's own graphics
- Shuyan Saga
- Sifu
- Silent Dragon
- Skull & Crossbones
- Slaps and Beans - with the two protagonists being modelled after Terence Hill and Bud Spencer
- Slashout
- Slave Zero X
- Sleeping Dogs (2012)
- Sorcerer Knights
- Sonic Blast Man
- Sonic Unleashed with its controversial Werehog sections.
- Soukaigi
- Special Project Y
- Spider-Man: The Video Game
- Spikeout (and it's spinoff, Spikers Battle)
- Splatterhouse
- Splatter Master
- Spore Hero Arena
- Spyborgs
- Storm - part of the Eojjeonji...Jeonyeok series, a Korean duology
- Strange Flesh, an indie adult Bara Genre take on the beat 'em up game.
- Street Fighter 6 - The World Tour Mode is a combination of a Beat'em Up, Fighting Game, and a Wide-Open Sandbox (in the style of Yakuza) with Action RPG elements.
- Streets of Fury and its updated rerelease, Streets of Fury EX.
- Streets of Rage
- Streets of Rage Remake, a fan-made remake of Streets of Rage that combines all three games into one.
- Super Chinese series - depending on where you live, also known as Ninja Boy in some ports.
- Super Crush KO - a 2D platformer beat 'em up.
- Super Punch Patrol
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl mixes a beat 'em up and fighting game in its Story Mode.
- The Super Spy
- Swords of Fury
- Takeda Shingen a.k.a Samurai Fighter Shingen
- The TakeOver - from 2016, a Genre Throwback to old-school arcade beat 'em ups.
- Tecmo Knight a.k.a Wild Fang
- Tekken console releases starting from the third one have beat 'em up game modes:
- Tenchu
- Threads of Fate, while primarily an RPG, has elements of this, including combos and a fixed semi-isometric view in most dungeons.
- Three Dirty Dwarves
- Titenic, an unlicensed game based on Titanic (1997).
- Tough Turf
- Trio the Punch
- Troublemaker
- Tunche
- Twin Blades, an iOS App game; formerly available on Xbox Live Indie Games and Windows Phone 7 that was pulled due to its cartoon-ish violence.
- Unbound Saga
- Unending Dusk
- Undercover Cops, a post-apocalyptic beat 'em up that has a cult following in Japan, but is mostly unknown everywhere else.
- Urban Reign, a 3D brawler from Namco featuring Paul Phoenix of Tekken fame.
- Viewtiful Joe
- Vigilante
- Viking Squad
- Violent Storm, a post-apocalyptic beat 'em up by Konami, often mistakenly labeled as the third Crime Fighters game.
- Wanted: Dead - an action game that's officially touted as a Spiritual Successor to Ninja Gaiden and Devil's Thirdnote
- War Dogs: Red's Return
- War of the Monsters
- Warlords: Heroes, a side scrolling hacky-slashy beat 'em up from Ben Olding Games.
- Wishmere
- The Wonderful 101
- Wulverblade
- X-Perts
- Yahwa / Yahwa 2, beat 'em ups with Turn-Based Strategy (1st) / RPG Elements (2nd) about real-life Korean gangsters Kim Du-han and Sirasoni fighting against the Yakuza underworld.
- Yasha Legends Of The Demon Blade
- Zeiram Zone
- Zeno Clash, an odd example of this genre as it uses a first-person perspective for its combat system.
- Zeno Clash 2, the sequel to Zeno Clash, which continues the story and has a more open design.
- Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
- Zero Team
- Zombie Revenge, a side game to Sega's The House of The Dead series.
- Zombie Vikings
Licensed video games
For a time, it was common for licensed games to be made in this format. Some of the more famous ones include:
- Afro Samurai
- Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma
- Alice in Wonderland (2010), an Action-Adventure game where you play up to five characters and can swap between them in combat.
- Alien vs. Predator: a single-player SNES game by Activision where you control a lone Predator.
- Alien vs. Predator: a three-player arcade game by Capcom with human and predator player characters.
- All Kamen Rider Generations
- Asterix, a two-player arcade beat 'em up by Konami.
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor, a Game Boy Advance game based off of the Astro Boy 2003 anime series.
- Batman, from various sources to various consoles:
- Batman Returns (Lynx)
- Batman Returns (Genesis)
- Batman Returns (NES)
- Batman Returns (SNES)
- Batman Returns (Amiga)
- Batman Forever, two versions, arcade and console. The former is a lively-looking Turtles in Time clone. The latter utilized digitized actors, resulting in few enemies (not enough RAM) but a decent range of animation.
- The Adventures of Batman and Robin, though the Genesis version is closer to Contra (and possibly the hardest game on this entire list).
- The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES, based on the animated series
- Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, also based after the animated series.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold on the Wii and Nintendo DS. The former has co-op and both were developed by WayForward.
- Batman: Arkham Series - Often considered the best Batman games ever made. Also arguably the most famous modern example. Overlaps with Stealth-Based Game.
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Arkham City
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Gotham Knights (2022) - Seperate from the Arkham series and is in its own continuity.
- Bébé's Kids, the craptastic Super NES game adaptation of an already craptacular animated movie.
- Bleach: Soul Resurrección
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002)
- Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
- Captain America and the Avengers
- Captain America: Super Soldier
- Cliffhanger - based on the 1993 Stallone flick with the same name
- Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
- Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade
- The Crow: City of Angels has a game made for the PlayStation. It's... not very good.
- Crows: The Battle Action for Sega Saturn
- Cutthroat Island
- Deadpool
- Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
- Dragon Ball GT Transformations for the GBA
- Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
- Tower of Doom
- Shadow Over Mystara
- Eight Man (1991)
- Enter the Matrix
- Fantastic Four - the original adaptation for the PlayStation
- Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage (a.k.a. Hokuto Musou)
- Guilty Gear Judgement
- Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, 3D beat 'em ups for the PlayStation.
- Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Genie and the Amp
- Hook, a four-player arcade game by Irem
- Hulk
- Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger has a game like this for the PlayStation
- Islands of Wakfu, a mixture of beat 'em up and shoot 'em up games that's a Prequel to Dofus and Wakfu.
- Jackie Chan Adventures: Legend of the Dark Hand - a GBA-exclusive game based on the cartoon
- Jim Lee's Wild CA Ts 1995: Covert Action Teams - adapted from the comic of the same name
- Janggun-ui Adeul / Street Hero, based on the 1990 Korean blockbuster about gangster Kim Du-han's rise in his youth.
- Judge Dredd, the unreleased Midway arcade game
- Justice League Heroes: The Flash
- Kamen Rider for the Super Famicom.
- The Xbox adaptation for Kick-Ass 2, released a full year after the movie
- Kishin Douji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight, an obscure game for an equally obscure manga
- The Legend of Korra
- Kung Fu Panda
- Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems: Spiritual Successor of X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, based on The Infinity Gauntlet Story Arc.
- Mazinger Z: Based on the popular Super Robot anime, licensed for the Super NES
- Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter for the Genesis
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, a The Lord of the Rings adaptation that takes many cues from the Arkham series. Also Action RPG
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the sequel
- Minority Report: Everybody Runs
- The Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series: Developed by the same company that made Asura's Wrath, the series also mixes it up with Fighting Game and Rail Shooter elements.
- Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (Nintendo DS)
- The Pirates of Dark Water
- Power Rangers
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Nintendo) on the Super NES and Game Boy.
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie on the Super NES, Genesis, and Game Boy.
- Power Rangers Zeo Vs The Machine Empire for PC.
- Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue on Playstation and Game Boy Color.
- Power Rangers Time Force on Playstation, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance.
- Power Rangers Wild Force for Game Boy Advance.
- Power Rangers Ninja Storm for Game Boy Advance.
- Power Rangers Dino Thunder for the Game Cube, Playstation 2, and Game Boy Advance.
- Power Rangers S.P.D. for Game Boy Advance.
- Power Rangers Samurai for Nintendo Wii and DS.
- Power Rangers Super Samurai for XBox 360 Kinect.
- Power Rangers Megaforce for Nintendo 3DS.
- Power Rangers Super Megaforce for Nintendo 3DS.
- Power Rangers Beats Of Power for PC.
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Mega Battle for Playstation 4, XBox One, and PC.
- The Punisher, a two-player arcade game by Capcom co-starring Nick Fury; also released for the Genesis.
- Rollergames
- Sailor Moon had a few alongside the fighting and puzzle games; It can be very entertaining to see tiny girls like Mercury and Moon bust out DDTs and suplexes.
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, the very same Scott Pilgrim comic book series, in the form of a River City Ransom-style brawler.
- Genseishin Justiriser: Souchaku Chikyuu no Senshitachi
- Shrek 2, which mixes platforming mechanics into the beat 'em up genre.
- The Simpsons, a beat 'em up game based on the popular TV show by Konami.
- South Park: Snow Day!
- Space Jam: A New Legacy has a cartoony Beat 'em Up game made for the XBox made in conjunction with the movie.
- Spider-Man games, also Wide-Open Sandbox and/or Action-Adventure:
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I & II
- Stone Protectors
- Superman, two different beat 'em ups: a 1988 Taito arcade game, and The Death and Return of Superman for Super NES and Genesis.
- Teen Titans (2006)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game for the arcades by Konami, released as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II for the NES.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan for the Game Boy.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Manhattan Missions for MS-DOS.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project, a NES-exclusive sequel to the arcade game.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, sequel to Fall of the Foot Clan.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, for the arcades; released as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV for the Super NES.
- The Hyperstone Heist, A dolled-up installment of Turtles In Time for the Genesis to make up for the system's hardware.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) for Game Cube, Playstation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Two Battle Nexus for the same systems.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Three Mutant Nightmare for the same consoles and Nintendo DS.
- T.M.N.T., the Game Boy Advance beat 'em up by Ubisoft based on the computer-animated film of the same name.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Attack, a Nintendo DS beat 'em up by Ubisoft developed as a "homage" to the older games.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, a downloadable beat 'em up by Activision also homaging Konami's older games.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014, a brawler/dungeon crawler based on the 2014 movie.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, a beat 'em up by Dotemu and Tribute Games homaging both the classic Konami series and the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series
- The Tick has one for the Sega Genesis
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Bad Dream for the Game Boy Advance, which used a gameplay engine that would later be used in Astro Boy: Omega Factor.
- Tom-Yum-Goong - yes, there exists a game adaptation of this Tony Jaa movie.
- Tonight We Riot, which also puts some Real-Time Strategy elements into the mix.
- Toxic Crusaders has a few rather cartoony arcade beat 'em ups based off the cartoon.
- Transformers: Devastation: A beat'em up being developed by PlatinumGames.
- UFO Kamen Yakisoban: Kettler no Kuroi Inbou - the tie-in game which was supposed to promote the advertisement, even though most of the time it's the other way around
- Ultra Toukon Densetsu, based on the Ultra Series. Choose one of three Ultras to beat up a literal army of kaiju and aliens.
- Ultraverse Prime
- The Warriors: Based on the seventies B-movie of the same name. Able to be played by either one or two players, it also has an unlockable minigame if you beat it. Titled Armies of the Night, it features an homage to Double Dragon, Streets of Rage and a few others and feels more like a classic side scrolling beat 'em up.
- Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
- Way of the Passive Fist: An indie title by Household Games, it plays more like a rhythm game in which you have to recognize enemy attack patterns and parry accordingly, knocking them over when tired out.
- X-Men (1992), a six-player arcade game by Konami loosely based on the Pryde of the X-Men animated pilot featuring Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler.
- X-Men: Destiny
- X-Men Legends and its sequel, X-Men Legends: Rise of Apocalypse, as well as its spiritual successor series Marvel Ultimate Alliance, are more recent additions to the genre.
- X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, a beat'em up and platform game by Capcom, based on the popular X-Men comic, with a few elements from the 90s cartoon series.
- X-Men: The Official Game: The Nightcrawler sections are this trope combined with stealth while Wolverine levels lean more into Hack and Slash territory.
- The game based on X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also this.
- We Shall Wake, a high-speed action game where you control an incredibly powerful and fast super-robot.
- Yainsidae/Age of Wanderer, based on the first half of the 2002-2003 hit Korean Drama about Kim Du-han's life.
- Yo-kai Watch Blasters
