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Best brawler games on GamesNostalgia

Brawler games, also known as beat 'em ups, are a subgenre of action games that emphasize combat against waves of enemies. Unlike traditional fighting games that focus on one-on-one battles, most brawler games often feature side-scrolling gameplay, allowing players to move horizontally through levels while taking on hordes of enemies. These games typically involve a combination of hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and special moves. The objective is simple: defeat every enemy and progress through the game's story or stages.

Probably the best early example of this genre is Double Dragon, released in 1987 as a coin-op but then ported to all possible platforms. The sequel, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, is still considered one of the best brawler games ever. Karateka for the Apple II and The Last Ninja for the Commodore 64 don't have hordes of enemies, but they are still great examples of early progressive beat-em-up created for home computers.

The gothic horror-themed platformer-brawler Castlevania was released in 1986 for the NES. It was one of the first examples of the metroidvania sub-genre, where the player must explore several levels non-linearly.

SEGA's masterpiece Golden Axe was released in 1989, and it's still one of the best examples of fantasy brawlers with hack & slash co-op mechanics.

We have many examples of great brawlers released for the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: from Streets of Rage to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, without forgetting the fantastic Comix Zone.

On the Amiga side, we should not forget the famous Shadow of the Beast, a game that impressed all players thanks to the high-quality graphics and music.

If you liked these games, don't forget to check the related sub-genre fighting.

Street Fighter II dosgenesisamiga

Street Fighter II is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter and was developed and published by Capcom in 1991. Originally made for arcades, it was later released for other platforms, including that Amiga and PC.

Year: 1992 Genre: Brawler

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Mortal Kombat II dosamigagenesis

Mortal Kombat II is the second installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise, developed by Midway games and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1993. This sequel is just one of the ...

Year: 1994 Genre: Brawler

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Super Street Fighter II Turbo dosamiga

Super Street Fighter II Turbo is a competitive fighting game created by Capcom and released initially as an arcade in 1994. It is the fifth game in the Street Fighter 2 series, b...

Year: 1995 Genre: Brawler

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One Must Fall 2097 dos

One Must Fall: 2097 is a beat 'em up developed by Diversions Entertainment and published by Epic MegaGames in 1994. It is set in the future, where fighting between humans is outlawed.

Year: 1994 Genre: Brawler

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Streets of Rage genesis

Streets of Rage is a beat 'em up game developed and published by Sega in 1991 for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game is also known in Japanese as Bare Knuckle: Ikari no Tekken. The g...

Year: 1991 Genre: Brawler

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WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game genesis

WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game is a coin-op created by Midway in 1995. It is impossible to deny that many of today's adults grew up with games like Super Mario Bros or Sonic. Bu...

Year: 1995 Genre: Brawler

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Shadow Warriors amiganes

Shadow Warriors (or Ninja Gaiden in non-PAL countries) is a coin-op created by Tecmo and released in 1988. The home computer versions were developed by Ocean and published in 1990 ...

Year: 1988 Genre: Brawler

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Streets of Rage 3 genesis

Streets of Rage 3 is a beat-em-up created by SEGA for the Mega Drive/Genesis, released in 1994. It is the third chapter of the famous Streets of Rage series. After the success of ...

Year: 1994 Genre: Brawler

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Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master genesis

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master is a hack-and-slash platformer game that was developed by Megasoft and published by Sega. It was released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console.

Year: 1993 Genre: Brawler

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 genesis

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed and published by Midway Games in 1995. It is an improved and slightly different version of Mortal Kombat 3. The original thi...

Year: 1996 Genre: Brawler

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Golden Axe genesisamiga

Golden Axe is a side-scrolling hack and slash fantasy game created by Sega and released for arcade machines in 1989. The game was ported the same year to the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesi...

Year: 1990 Genre: Brawler

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Altered Beast genesis

Altered Beast is a beat ''em-up arcade game created by SEGA in 1988 as a coin-op machine. The same year it was also converted to the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis console, becoming the pack-in game officially offered with the console.

Year: 1988 Genre: Brawler

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International Karate++ windows

International Karate Deluxe is a fantastic freeware remake of the never-released International Karate++. It was supposed to be the sequel of one of the most popular fighting games ...

Year: 1999 Genre: Brawler

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Super Street Fighter II DX amiga

Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers is the fourth chapter of the popular beat-em-up series based on the arcade Street Fighter II. This edition, known as Super Street Fighter 2, is the first to use "Super" in the title.

Year: 1995 Genre: Brawler

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