Back in the early 90s, the thriving arcade scene was dominated by colourful, sprite-based belt scrolling brawlers, known more commonly as “beat ‘em ups”. Capcom (along with Konami) were the undisputed kings of the arcade beat ‘em up back then, churning out smash hit after smash hit all the way through to the early 2000s. The Beat ‘Em Up Bundle brings together some of Capcom’s most influential brawlers along with a couple of slightly more obscure titles that have never seen an official release on a home console.

There are seven games in total (Final Fight, Knights Of The Round, King Of Dragons, Captain Commando, Warriors Of Fate, Armored Warriors and Battle Circuit), and although there is obviously a lot of similarity in terms of gameplay, there is enough variation in environments, backgrounds and art style to keep things fresh. Going from the gritty urban sprawl of Final Fight to the futuristic dystopia of Battle Circuit and back to the medieval setting of Knights Of The Round, there’s pretty much something for everyone here (assuming everyone likes beating the ever living heck out of a never-ending stream of bad guys).

There are also some nice nuances to the gameplay in some of the individual titles. The mech-based combat of Armored Warriors with its huge sprites feels distinctly different to the more cartoony Battle Circuit, for example. There are also some RPG elements and levelling up features in Knights Of The Round and King Of Dragons, which add a lot of variation and replay value. It’s a superb selection that any aficionado of the genre would be happy with. Perhaps the fact that some other well-known titles and a few late additions to the genre (such as the excellent Dungeons & Dragons games) weren’t included here means Capcom are keeping the door open for a Beat ‘Em Up Bundle: Volume 2? We can only hope.

The presentation and content of the overall package here is excellent. Each game has a pretty substantial gallery featuring concept art, promotional images, posters, sketches and the like. It might have been nice to have included a bit of information about each game (similar to Capcom’s other recent gaming compilation, the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection), but we’ve already been pretty spoilt and you can’t have everything! Players can also choose between the Japanese or American versions of every game on offer, further extending the longevity. Online options are also present for both versions of every single title, so you can pair up for some multiplayer button bashing action to your heart’s content.

While we maybe wouldn’t recommend this one to absolutely everybody (this is somewhat niche gameplay) we really can recommend it highly to fans of the genre, fans of Capcom, fans of the arcades or fans of nostalgia in general.

CAPCOM BEAT ‘EM UP BUNDLE / DEVELOPER: CAPCOM / PUBLISHER: CAPCOM / PLATFORM: NINTENDO SWITCH, PC, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW