Beat ‘Em Up Archives Analysis (QUByte Classics)

Today we bring you a game that compiles two beat’em ups for the popular Super Nintendo (also called Super Famicom). The game is for Xbox One and has no Xbox Series enhancements. It’s true that neither game was a benchmark of the genre, but they were both high quality titles. How do we play them today? Well, continue this analysis of the game to know more.

Beat’em up and Super Nintendo, almost synonymous

The so-called “Brain of the Beast” had a huge catalog full of sagas of all genres. The 90s of the last century, especially its early years, will be marked by the genre of “combat”.” in general. The beat ’em up shone with its own light and left big headlines like Super Double Dragon, Final Fight 1, 2 and 3, Battletoads, Rival Turf, Captain Commando, Sonic Blastman 1 and 2…many of them didn’t see the light of day in any other home format, which makes some of these games truly rare.

iron commando there Legendthe two games that make up the Beat ‘Em Up Archives (QUByte Classics)are among those hidden “rarities” of Super Nintendo. Games of remarkable quality which, with the exception of a sort of remake of Legend by Toka for the first PlayStation, they have not seen the light of day on any other system until today.

Iron Commando, the game that never arrived on the European or American market

iron commando was developed by Arcade Zone. It was to be released in the European market by Sony Electronic Publishing (which also released the previous Arcade Zone title, Legend) somewhere between 1994 and 1995. But then, as you all know, the big “N” betrayed Sony and left it without being the developer of the supposed CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo.

Sony then left, little by little, its publishing activity, and concentrated on the project of manufacturing its own console: the PlayStation. The title then remained in limbo for the European territory and was only released in Japan. from the hand of Poppo with the title Iron Commando: Koutetsu no Senshi back in 1995.

Graphics, choose your favorite filter from Beat ‘Em Up Archives (QUByte Classics)

The graphics little we can comment. These are pixelated graphics typical of the 90s of the last century. For the 16-bit generation level, it has a medium-high level. In iron commando We see very successful lighting effects for the time or in both games we see a remarkable fog effect. But what we have to highlight the most are the filter options. Something already very common in the world of retro, and necessary if we want to recover games from so many years ago and that they can be seen decently on our current televisions.

• Sharp: The pixels are quite noticeable, this would be an HD version without filters.
• Smooth: Smooth pixel finish, these are a bit less noticeable and the game doesn’t lose the retro look but it looks and feels better.
• CRT: Just out of curiosity. It gives us a totally retro look, with a few scan lines that leave an almost blurry and dirty image.

• XBR: This filter makes pixels imperceptible, giving an almost watercolor look. For the less retro purists

There are also multiple viewing options in our TV/Monitor. Remember that these games used the 4:3 format, typical of CRTs (tube televisions):

• Fit: 4:3 suitable for our TV and frameless
• Stretch: Format stretched to adapt to the 16/9 of current screens
• Normal: 4:3 and arcade screen size with a frame

In my experience, the most recommended configuration would be Smooth in the filter and Fit in size, although of course it all depends on taste.

sound and playability

As for the sound, we must highlight the melodies of the two games which are really at a good level. The FX are also remarkable. Regarding the gameplay, it should be noted that this is not the typical game of this type which uses 3 buttons, attack, jump and magic. In this case, they are two titles that have some particularities. Legend It has a cover button, which gives the title a strategy point. By your side iron commando It has a button whose function is only to pick up objects, which will make it a bit difficult for us to use this button, since in almost all other existing beat em’ups the same button is used to attack.

Besides It is worth noting the difficulty of the two titles, which even at an average level are a challenge. With a time counter, which is not particularly spared, we will have to quickly kill all the enemies in both titles, especially in iron commando. Its highest level of difficulty is reserved only for experts in the art of pixel street fight.

We have a handy game save and load option. Ideal for titles of great difficulty, as we have commented.

conclusions

For veterans who loved beat ’em ups on Super Nintendo and Mega Drive, this is a must buy. For fans of the genre’s revitalization who’s seen some big titles in recent years, this can be a great way to learn about the genre’s origins and enjoy games that, in some cases, their parents may have enjoyed in their childhood.

Beat ‘Em Up Archives (QUByte Classics) It’s a piece of nostalgia with a 16-bit aroma, which will transport you to another era and give you a few hours of guaranteed fun, especially with its local co-op.