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[X3N]

If the weapons change the way you fight.. I'm thinking of Double Dragon for the SNES - you had to adjust your attack patterns, ranges, timing, and even movement styles based on what weapon you had (like the boomerang).

[FrankieSmileShow]

I agree with most of the first post except the too many moves part! I think there isn't really a maximum number of moves games should stick to, as long as they're not cumbersome to remember and execute. A game can have plenty of moves that are all very simple but just happen in very different circumstances, like when next to a prone enemy, while running, while jumping, while holding a certain weapon...

[Crowbar]

Maybe what not makes a good Beat 'Em Up, but a pleasant surprise for me in the genre:

I played a lot of "The Peace Keepers" for the SNES not because it was a great game (It was pretty okay; I'm still baffled by the fact that music was defaulted to off in that game though.) but because it had so many different branches and secrets to unfold. Choosing the top path didn't just take you to a different room and then back down to the stage once more. It would bring you along a different path of the story and maybe a different stage or two. It had some problems (It wasn't that fun to play cooperatively, from my experience.) but it really tried hard to expand the arcade beat 'em up style to a home environment.

I'm pretty sure there's other games that took a similar approach, but that one sticks out because I owned it.

[loempiavreter]

Although I have to sa I'm a hardcore fan of the genre, so I'm pretty much making it on terms that (japanese) fans of the genre demand.

And most important rule on what makes a good beat'em up, imo.

Crowd Control!
Beat'em up games are about managing crowds. So crowd combat is essential focus on making a beat'em up game. U need to tune ur fighting system on fighting multiple opponents. Gamers have the wrong examples. SNES/SFC beat'em ups should NOT be taken as example for ur beat'em ups. And that's because SNES/SFC processor cannot generate more then 2 enemy grunts on the screen for beat'em ups with final fight sized sprites. Which means the 2 grunts perform either too much damage or are HP sponges. Both are not good for the pacing. While their are some close examples on consoles, a beat'em up/belt scroll game should play as their arcade counterparts. Generate at least 8-12 enemies on screen, but balance the HP so that it doesn't become tiresome and stale, so the point of combat is control the crowd effectively.

This my friends, makes beat'em up/belt scroll games not stale unlike the bad mouthing by videogame press that beat'em ups are repetitive.

I have some beef with IGs beat'em ups, they are quite crunk games! But the focus on juggles can be boring. I don't if it's me but juggle combo-ing bosses once in a while is fine, but to constantly perform juggles is jut plain repeptitive. Crowd control is exhilerating, and keeps u on the tip of ur chair.   

Most of the console beat-em-ups of the 90s were actually impossible to win, because no matter how good you were you always traded blows with enemies until you lost by sheer attrition.

Maybe u don't understand the fighting system...?

I am making a belt scroll/beat'em up game myself, called Dragon Arm.


It's inspiration for it's setting is the new school HK movies. But there's a good bit of influence from old school 60s/70s/early 80s Shaw Brothers and Taiwanese swordsplay in it as well (the bosses, mainly), think Master of the Flying Guillotine or 5 Deadly Venoms.

[gunswordfist]

loempiavreter, shut up and take my money.

[loempiavreter]

should i take that as a compliment?? :D :D

Did I mention it's gonna be one of the first beat'em ups to feature eagle claw (red dressed girl) and drunken master (greem dressed girl) fighting style for players  

I am probably using a tweaked fighting system from Road of the Sword/The Gladiator where there are 5 slots for moves to place on, but there more moves available. No Lvl-ing system though, but a shop system (forgotten worlds style aka get the fuck outta the shop as quick as possble. And hope to mix passive as active powers for the player.

I am also a big on team/coop attacks, and hope to elaborate on that in the game. Weapon handeling I take my que's from Vendetta which has imo the best use of weapons and the effects on enemies.

Also secret rooms! I think zombie revenge did that right! Discovering that one off weapon storage bunker was awesome, but also faulty secret rooms with lots of traps, or secret room in a secret room... u get the drift.

I hope to honor my fav. genre well. I have over 15 arcade pcb's of belt scroll action, a lot which have not been emulated or properly emulated (Big Fight), obtained of over 10 Korean pc belt scrolling gems as well as most console ilk... Learned a lot also from conversing (japanese beat'em up fan page... beat'em up dojo) and watching japanese players on nicovideo (learning how to properly play D.D. Crew... mindblowing!). So I hope to have learned a trick or two from it.

[gunswordfist]

i loved forgotten worlds. and yes, it was a compliment. good luck with the game.