Silent Dragon is a mutant-themed brawler from Taito. It’s a standard Final Fight knock-off that adds sliding, directional specials, and stun-based grabs to the formula.

Skull & Crossbones is an early pirate-themed brawler from Atari. In addition to its fairly unique setting, it features deliberate fencing combat where blocking is a necessity. It also has environment-based special events such as grabbing a rope and swinging across a chasm as well as storming enemy pirate ships to raid their booty.

Spider-Man: The Video Game is a hybrid brawler/action-platformer starring Spider-Man, Black Cat, Sub-Mariner, and Hawkeye. It’s the only licensed brawler released for arcades by Sega.

Takeda Shingen is an early two-player Samurai-themed weapons-based brawler from Jaleco. It features extremely simple and stilted combat that was notable at the time for the amount of gore. It has a left-right button setup like Double Dragon II. It also features archery-based bonus stages.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is Konami’s first successful arcade brawler. It introduced 4-player co-op gameplay and was the first video game adaptation of the TMNT franchise. Its simple yet challenging and fair gameplay combined with its explosive humor and personality solidified its place as a classic and set the stage for future Konami brawlers.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is the sequel to Konami’s popular licensed 4-player classic. It updates the formula with new attacks and features the Heroes in a Half-Shell fighting the Foot Clan through different periods in time.

The Age of Heroes is a late-generation weapons-based 4-player arcade brawler based off of Chinese mythology. It’s similar to the Capcom Dungeon and Dragons games because it has advanced techniques and an inventory button to cycle through items and spells. It’s also notable for its pre-rendered CGI sprites.

The Combatribes is the spiritual successor to Renegade. Its atypical combat engine lacks a jump button and emphasizes dashing for crowd control. It’s the only brawler with the brutal "pavement kiss" attack. Its art style is defined by its vibrant urban setting and bobbleheaded characters.

The Crystal of Kings is an obscure late-generation weapons-based beat ’em up that features pre-rendered graphics, a unique morality system, and a halfling archer that rides an aardvark. It has multiple endings based on character choices such as attacking innocents or stealing gold.

The Gladiator is an extremely late-generation weapons-based arcade brawler from IGS. Like most of their games, it’s heavily inspired by Capcom’s D&D games. It has six playable characters, huge movesets with advanced techniques, large enemy waves, and a magic/inventory system. It has high-quality pixel art, fluid animation, and a fantasy medieval China setting.

The Legend of the Silkroad is a late-generation weapons-based arcade brawler set in a mythological ancient China. It features three characters with unique movesets that include advanced techniques with fighting game-style inputs. It also has a magic/inventory system like the Capcom Dungeons and Dragons games. It’s notable for its pre-rendered CGI graphics.

Ninja Kids is a one-of-a-kind puppet-themed beat ’em up from Taito. It plays a lot like TMNT, but adds distinct characters, Golden Axe-style magic attacks, and unique wall-climbing sections.

The Punisher is a late-generation brawler from Capcom that’s a licensed adaptation of the Marvel Comics series. It features tons of weapons, automatic gun sequences, and unapologetic violence.

The Simpsons is a licensed four-player brawler from Konami starring America’s favorite cartoon family. It features Konami’s signature simple, casual gameplay as well as tons of Simpsons references. It runs on the same engine as TMNT.

Tough Turf is an early two-player arcade brawler developed by SunSoft and published by Sega. It’s a straightforward Double Dragon rip-off with a punch/kick button setup, small groups of tough enemies, strangely proportioned characters, and a small selection of powerful weapons. However, it lacks DD’s advanced techniques including throws.

Undercover Cops is Irem’s attempt at a Final Fight-style brawler. It features simple yet challenging gameplay, bizarre enemy design, phenomenal audiovisual presentation, and a one-of-a-kind personality. It introduced the concept of ultimate attacks, which are basically death-blows on steroids. It also has a unique "Finess Trick" system that rewards using advanced techniques.

Vendetta is the second game in Konami’s Crime Fighters trilogy. Although it features goofy humor, 4-player simultaneous gameplay, and moderate challenge, it breaks from tradition with its huge movesets and strong emphasis on items. In fact, this is hands-down the most weapons-heavy beat ’em up. It’s got bats, knives, whips, chains, and even a shotgun.

Violent Storm is the conclusion to Konami’s Crime Fighters trilogy. This is Konami’s homage to Final Fight: it features similar gameplay, stages, characters, and enemies. It adds huge movesets and Konami’s signature sense of humor. It also features a one-of-a-kind 80’s rock soundtrack from Kukeiha Club, complete with lyrics.

Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III is the final chapter in Taito’s Rastan trilogy, and the first game in the series that’s a beat ’em up. It’s a straightforward weapons-based affair with three characters, a stage select structure, small movesets, and bonus stages such as flying on the back of a giant bird. It’s notable for using two screens, allowing for an extremely wide playing field.

Warriors of Fate is a late-generation brawler from Capcom that’s based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms mythos. It features five extremely distinct fighters, Street Fighter-esque special attacks, freeform combos, and both weapons and hand-to-hand combat.

Wild Fang (aka Tecmo Knight) is by far the weirdest brawler ever created. It features a tiny man that rides on the shoulders of a giant that can also transform into a tiger and sometimes a dragon. Its combat system is the simplest of any beat ’em up and emphasizes the fundamentals of the genre above all else.

X-Men is a multi-screen 6-player brawler from Konami that’s based off the Marvel Comics series. It features Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, and Dazzler as playable characters although more characters are available as special attacks.

Zero Team is an obscure four-player arcade brawler with a Japanese superhero theme. It plays a lot like Final Fight but has a few advanced techniques and dynamic combos. It also places a strong emphasis on weapons, which include a bazooka. It has extremely vibrant graphics, goofy enemies, and terrible music.