Scrolling Down The Belt: Beat ‘Em Up History

Scrolling Down The Belt is a chronological look at Japanese games in the beat-em-up/brawler (sometimes called belt-scrolling action in Japan) genre spanning across all platforms, up to and including the arcade. The beat-em-up doesn’t enjoy the popularity that it did during its golden age in the late 80s and into the 90s, but it still continues to live on. As one of my favorite genres of game, I wanted to take a look at how it evolved and changed over the years by examining one game at a time and in chronological order, even if I eventually come to regret this decision once I hit the beat-em glut of the 90s!

Below are all the games I’ve covered so far, with plenty more to come as time allows.