Book edited by Kurt Kalata.

"In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the beat-em-up was one of the hottest genres in American arcades. It's easy to see why - most of them were multiplayer, offering both friends and strangers the opportunity to team up for cooperative action, and were either influenced by familiar American movies or licensed from red-hot cartoon properties. Their popularity dwindled in both the face of the competitive 2D fighters and the downfall of arcades in general. Plus they never quite managed to transition into 3D, as other similar genres like character action games and Musou titles took their place. Still, they've seen a resurgence since 2008 thanks to the indie renaissance, with many developers experimenting with ways to modernize the basic formula."

Planned as the first in a series. Covers foundational entries in the genre from Technos, Capcom, Konami, and Sega.

Buy the book here.

List here in book order (by developer and series).