Scrolling Down the Belt: Fist of the North Star/Hokuto no Ken (Master System)
You’re (hopefully not) already dead…
beat-em-up
Capcom Belt Action Collection with Rensuke Oshikiri (High Score Girl)
“The charm of most beat ’em ups is being able to play them for a long time on a single coin, if you’re skilled enough. The player characters themselves don’t get stronger, but it feels like you do as the player.” – Rensuke Oshikiri
Dragon Ninja
Data East did do a good job of including plenty of references to their own properties into Bad Dudes though, in a way that wasn’t really done up until this point, creating their own sort of Data East culture.
Spartan X
It’s safe to say that none of the many titles in the genre to follow couldn’t have existed without this one.