10 Best Side-Scrolling Beat 'Em Ups Of All Time

2. Final Fight

Final Fight was a game whose influences could be felt in games to come after it in the beat 'em up genre. Most noticeably was its influence on Streets of Rage, as the game played almost like a spiritual successor to Final Fight - with both being as equally awesome. Final Fight actually started off as a sequel to Street Fighter in the form of a standard fighting game. However, thanks to the success of Double Dragon and the shift towards the beat 'em up genre the industry was experiencing, Final Fight came to be the game we know and love today.

From Final Fight we received one of the most beloved and awesome video game characters ever in Mike Haggar. He was a former professional wrestler who became the mayor of Metro City and even sports one hell of a manly moustache. He sounds like every action hero cliche rolled into one giant, muscular badass. Thanks to Final Fight's connection with Street Fighter, Haggar has found his way onto numerous rosters as a guest character as well, making him one of the few characters born in this genre to live past his beat 'em up days.

Final Fight was one of the games that inspired many in the beat 'em up genre just as Double Dragon did, and continued to do. It's a classic that will always stand the test of time, even if the genre doesn't hold the weight it used to.