We continue our rumble with the best beat-’em-ups ever

12. Virtual On
Year: 1995
Publisher: Sega
A third-cum-first-person arcade game with giant robots armed with laser swords and guns. A controversial addition this one, it’s certainly got the right ingredients to put a few fighting fan’s noses out of joint. But the fact of the matter is this: Virtual On proved that robot wars could actually be enjoyable.
 
Slaying the demons of Capcom’s sluggish (and not intentional, we suspect) Cyberbots and that mechanised PSone drivel Krazy Ivan, Virtual On simply proved that the idea could work. Admittedly, the battles weren’t particularly close range, but the dual joystick controls were simple enough and the unusual kiss-chase approach meant the fights felt brilliantly innovative. This would be pivotal to the game’s charm. The battles played out at a blistering pace, so the ducking and diving really added a sense of tension to the game.

Virtual On proved that fighting robots didn't have to equal a bad game.

Also, kudos to Sega for fusing the game with an imaginative narrative – you weren’t actually playing an arcade game it transpired, but an elaborate machine sent from the future to seek potential Virtual On pilots – and enlisting the giant-robot design talents of fabled Gundam designer Hajime Katoki.

11. Super Smash Bros
Year: 1999
Publisher: Nintendo
Given Nintendo’s family-friendly image, it should come as absolutely no surprise that it would be responsible for giving us the ickiest, most sycophantic fighting game the world had ever seen.

Yes, pitting its well-known IPs together to duke it out inside wonderfully vivid stages themed around various Nintendo games was a no-brainer for success. Boasting a colossal 26 characters, plus plenty of mini-games to work through, Nintendo had certainly put a tremendous amount of effort in to ensure Super Smash Bros held a lot of longevity.

Nintendo would predictably baulk at the idea of allowing gamers to smash the chipper out of its heroic superstars that it’d worked so hard to create, by coquettishly wussing out and saying they were cuddly toys and adopting a clean stance on the fighting – a win was achieved by wearing your opponent down so much that you could smash them out of the ring and watch them disappear into the sky like an excitable helium balloon.

Super Smash Bros: a beat-’em-up for the family.

The greatest thing about Super Smash Bros is just how accessible it is. With many of the attacks performed using a combination of one button and a stick turn, the game would be easy to pick up for all ages, creating a videogame first: a fighting game that an old granny and a three-month-old baby could easily thrash it out to.

10. The Last Blade
Year: 1997
Publisher: SNK
There have been some stunning fighters produced over the years, but few of them can match the sheer beauty and elegance of The Last Blade. With its bold, gorgeously animated fighters and staggeringly detailed backgrounds, SNK’s short-lived franchise (only three games currently exist) set a standard that few other brawlers have ever been able to match and it still looks amazing nearly a decade after its original release. Audio is also exceptional and while the music is of an incredibly high standard, it’s the sound effects that really impress here. Every single animation, whether it’s the shuffling of someone’s feet or the swish of a heavy blade, is captured perfectly, with special mention going to the stages that forego music completely, just so you can hear those meticulous effects.

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