Breakneck City

Breakneck City

One of the reasons I love Steam is I keep finding games I didn’t know I need. I feel that developers loved the Dynamite Deka series and wanted to create a similar game but in a Double Dragon mold. The gameplay handles well with a controller and the boss fights have real character. One sword wielding foe tosses one of his blades in air to free up his hand and spit a fireball across the screen. Small touches like this indicate a love for the genre.

Real player with 2.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best Beat 'em up 3D Games.


A fantastic throwback to 3D beat ‘em ups, a genre that is woefully undeserved given that we mainly throwbacks to 2D beat ‘ems ups that are inspired by the likes of Final Fight or Streets of Rage rather than games following the Dynamite Deka or Spikeout lineage.

Combat is pretty simple, there’s no Devil May Cry style move list, but the fundamentally solid basic attacks and a great feeling dash combine with top notch level design, clever environmental interactions, dynamic enemy types make for a really fun time.

Real player with 2.1 hrs in game

Breakneck City on Steam

Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior

Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior

Pros:

  • Protagonist and rabbits are cute.

  • Japanese style music with Japanese theme. Awesome for me.

Cons:

  • Easy level is still too hard, might dishearten players.

  • Annoying and frustrating enemies. Too many of them in each area.

  • Some enemies rather cheat players.

  • The story is too short; only 4 chapters. (in my view, Rabbit dojo mode is not interesting)

  • The price is quite expensive. Not worth purchasing if it’s not on sale or not in a bundle.

  • Looks like it can’t remap buttons when using controller. (I play with a keyboard, quite awkward)

Real player with 9.7 hrs in game


Read More: Best Beat 'em up Action Games.


This is a fun little game that feels like a mash-up of Samurai Warriors crossed with the old 4 Player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the arcades way back in the day with the fable like elements of Okami tossed in.

I love the character designs (Kaguya is adorable), the music is great, and the attacks (both normal and special) are really impressive - I mean come on, a rabbit archery brigade just looks hilarious.

Now, the movement is a little stiff in that it is strictly 4 directionial, but once you start to get used to that, the game does become a lot easier to navigate around in. One other thing worth mentioning is that while playing, try not to button mash like you might in say Samurai Warriors/Dynasty Warriors. Button mashing will get you creamed here (you can’t move an attack at the same time); so keep your attacks light so you keep your feet moving and you’ll have a lot of fun with Princess Kaguya.

Real player with 7.4 hrs in game

Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior on Steam

Cosmic Cube

Cosmic Cube

WELL THIS GAME IS BUGGY I CANT PICK THE DOCUMENT OR THE BOOKS IN THE LABS AND THE MONSTER’S ARE WAY TOO STRONG FROM THE BEGINNING ALSO THE LEVELLING SYSTEM DOES NOT SEEN TO WORK. BUT I WILL REFRAIN FROM A PERSONAL RATING TILL AFTER ITS OFF EARLY ACCESS THAT HOW BAD IT IS RIGHT NOW SO I HOPE THE DEVELOPER FIXES THESE PROBLEMS.

Real player with 3.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Beat 'em up Linear Games.


Cosmic Cube reminds me the time I enjoy various side-scrolling doujin games from DLsite. The game is now in early access and only support two languages (Japanese / Chinese) for user interface.

Cosmic Cube is very simple anime action game with R-18 content (pretty much reason for purchase). You play as female protagonist that somehow reminds me of Skyfire character without ears and break in secret lab filled with robot enemies and Bane’s lost brother.

The combat is similar to side scrolling brawler genre, but pretty straightforward. Here’s keyboard control because the game does poor job on in-game explanation basic mechanics.

Real player with 1.8 hrs in game

Cosmic Cube on Steam

Gazmatera: Return Of The Generals

Gazmatera: Return Of The Generals

Greetings, folks!

We came from MOWAS1/2 mods to create something more cool!

In the years between 1988 and 1994, somewhere in Europe a squadron of the best fighters from crime, called “generals”, was blacklisted for liquidation. Take control of four survivors, Jeff, Kayla, Helga and Emilia, and exterminate the leader of the enemy gang!

-all 10 levels are made in different genres

  • 4 playable characters

  • soundtrack from famous musican Ilya Vodyanoi

Gazmatera: Return Of The Generals on Steam

Kings and Pigs Prequel

Kings and Pigs Prequel

Kings and Pigs Prequel - fun pixelated 2D platformer with the possibility of playing together.

History:

The king of pigs lived in 3/9 kingdom. He was very rich and cunning, but once his treasures, honor and many subordinates were stolen by a king from 3/10 of the kingdom!!!

The pig could not stand it and had to prove to everyone in the world who is the meanest king in the world!!!

Take on the burden of the King of Pigs and get to the main King, at the same time kill the traitors who have joined the king of people, take other people’s wealth, look for detours and secret paths, break the barricades built by the king and do not forget to take your friend on the adventure!

Kings and Pigs Prequel on Steam

Princess Edge - Dragonstone

Princess Edge - Dragonstone

Hi Erobotan, I played Princess Edge and it’s decent game.

The term of gameplay is really good and remind me of old school beatem up (very hard to find in these days). You can do combos, air combos, special attack and ride dragon(it’s a dragon right?). The difficult is a bit high but it’s ok after a few game over -_-"

Pro :

  • Smooth animation

  • Responsive Control

  • Rare to find air combos in side scroll type

  • Good AI and variety enemies attacks

  • Great boss fight

  • Cool BGM

Con (you can fix in future update) :

Real player with 15.1 hrs in game

If you thought that there were no more beat’em ups in Golden Axe-style nowadays, think again!

Princess’ Edge - Dragonstone is the debut title of indie developer Erobotan, and it’s a great beat’em up! Here you will experience one solid title with two special features: multiple planes (Guardian Heroes) and backstab attacks for more damage. You will control a Princess inspired by Tyris Flare from Golden Axe on her quest to defeat a great evil that has been unleashed (And no, you can’t summon a dragon here! That’s the enemy!), aside from standard attacks, combos, and mounting beast, you can execute a variety of magical attacks with unique properties for destroying waves of multiple enemies. The graphics, music, and playability are very good, but the difficulty may require some practice to get used to. This game is in early access, so you can drop your suggestions for improving!

Real player with 11.3 hrs in game

Princess Edge - Dragonstone on Steam

River City Girls

River City Girls

TL;DR if you don’t want my extensive review;

+Presentation is gorgeous

+Gameplay feels right and responsive

+Combos are fun to explore and execute (speaking of non light-spam combos)

+Several playtroughs feel rewarding and I enjoyed beating the game 100%

-Entering an area, light attacks, and picking up an item are all mapped to X. Will be awkward to get used to at first, but didn’t feel clunky for me after a while

-Game’s story is rather short (this does make repeated playtroughs more bearable and fast-paced however, so it’s usually a minus sometimes a plus)

Real player with 22.9 hrs in game

No one kidnaps our boyfriends!

The beat ‘em up genre is one genre that I barely stick my hand into. I guess none of them really caught my eye lately and I never was interested in them as a kid (well except the Scott Pilgrim game, but I was late on that front) nor were any of my old friends. I do vaguely remember playing one in an arcade, but that’s it. I never really thought about beat ‘em ups unless someone else brought them up. However, once I saw the trailer of River City Girls it immediately caught my eye. Despite (obviously) not ever playing a River City title before, I just had to play River City Girls.

Real player with 21.1 hrs in game

River City Girls on Steam

Shattered Soul

Shattered Soul

About the Game

  • Shattered Soul is a modern game that interprets Beat’em up by adding the fun with a charming narrative based on Metroidvania-styled epic action. Explore a fantastic world that intersects medieval Europe, follow stories of adventure in search of lost soul and bodies.

  • You become ‘Ireth’ and venture out looking for her lost memories. She explores the forests, cathedrals, and snowy villages of the border area, and battles enemies by using various techniques against bandits, fanatics, demonized humans and mutant animals. ‘Ireth’ discovers secrets all over the continent to find her soul with shattered sword ‘Bias’.

  • As you hack-and-slash your way across town - either solo or with a friend in local co-op - you’ll gain new skills, chow down on power-ups, wield an assortment of weapons, and unleash an arsenal of combos, throws, and special combat moves for both fighting enemies and platforming challenges

Key Features

  • Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.

  • Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash, and slash your way through over 24 enemies and 6 epic bosses. Face ferocious beasts and vanquish ancient knights on your quest through the lost kingdom.

  • Five large city regions to fight through, complete with shops and side quests.

  • An expansive world filled with unique dungeons, quests, and secrets.

  • All in classic hand-painted original 2D drawings.

Shattered Soul on Steam

BANZAI PECAN: The Last Hope For the Young Century

BANZAI PECAN: The Last Hope For the Young Century

(Special thanks to Zaraki Snakenoman for this game. Many thanks, man.)

200TH REVIEW!!!!!!! Man, I have no life…So, what can I review with this opportunity? Well…I’ve gotten an opportunity to chat with the dev (friendly guy), so I think I’ll let this be a shout-out to him. However, the purpose of reviewing is to remain impartial and not let any personal connections sway my view of the product.

The year is 20XX and we now enter a world not occupied by a popular Blue Bomber, but rather one BANZAI PECAN: The Last Hope For the Young Century!!! Follow this “Banzaider” (Banzai Raider) in her quest for…her prince?! With some twists at the end, you’ll find a particularly unique experience here, which took me over a year to determine whether it was “GOOD” or “BAD” in the end…“So, which is it?!” See my “thumb” for spoilers…or continue reading to enjoy my perspective.

Real player with 8.0 hrs in game

Oh man,

Where do I even start with this.

Well I suppose the first place to start would be the art style. From cusctenes to characters everything has this mediocre “deviant art” feel to it that you get with a lot of artwork that you find on that sight that come from artists who aren’t that good yet. The backgrounds range from bleh to terrible with no animation even when you would think there would be animated things in the background with maybe the exception of the last level which is the best looking level by far when compared to the rest.

Real player with 5.3 hrs in game

BANZAI PECAN: The Last Hope For the Young Century on Steam

Basta Ya

Basta Ya

Basta Ya is a short and saucy spectacle fightin’ visual novel- an AVN, if you will- that sees our heroine hacking and slashing her way through America’s brutal and corrupt immigration apparatus.

Basta Ya on Steam