Punch Kick Punch: A History of One-On-One Beat-'Em-Ups
back in 1984, Data East gave them that with "Karate Champ", allegedly
the first one-on-one beat-em-up. Almost fifteen years later, we
have "Tekken 3", "Capcom vs. Marvel", "Star Wars:Masters of Teras
Kasi", and a host of other beat-em-ups which, quite frankly, still
kick ass. So how has this most enduring of genres evolved? And why?
But for the young Japanese and American programmers, who still needed
strong and simplistic themes to drive their graphically simple games,
there began to be other options. Bond movies spawned "Spy Hunter".
The fantasy genre influenced titles such as "Joust". And the world of
Bruce Lee and martial arts allowed the beat-em-up to evolve. It was
easy to see why it appealed - the heroism of combat, the stylishness
of the martial arts hero. In Japan, martial arts were much more
ingrained into culture. But, even elsewhere in the world, Bruce Lee
had made kung-fu a phenomenon. Jackie Chan was the epitome of the
chopsocky stereotype in his brief guest appearance in "Cannonball
Run". The beat-em-up, if you'd pardon the pun, hit all the right
buttons. It was a worldwide success. But, only to an extent.
So the one-on-one beat-em-up evolved in the early 1980s. Yet it
wasn't until the early 1990s that the genre really took off. Why was
that?
etc
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/game_design/19980424/punchkickpunch_
01.htm
Recebida em Tue 13 Nov 2001 - 02:02:22 BRST