Jump Kick to the Face! The Magic and Whimsy of the Classic Beat ‘Em Up

There’s a pretty entertaining article over at DoubleViking.com, extolling the wonder and magic that can only come from kicking a guy’s face in an old school beat ‘em up. Though they always followed relatively the same formula (beat up hordes of gang members to rescue someone, usually your girlfriend or the president), beat ‘em up game were always fun to play. There was just something satisfying about pounding wave after wave of ridiculously-dressed henchmen. And even though they don’t mention it in the article, Bad Dudes for the NES gets my vote for one of the best beat ‘em ups of all time, if nothing more than for this screen:

The answer to his question is, “yes.” Yes, you are.