64th Street: A Detective Story is a gumshoe-themed beat ’em up from Jaleco. It’s claim to fame is the ability to throw enemies into the background, which breaks walls and reveals items. Besides that, it follows closely in the footsteps of Final Fight.

Alien Storm is a futuristic weapons-based brawler from the same team that developed Golden Axe. Its rapid, distance-based combat is defined by its large movesets and unique Energy meter. Although it has few bosses, there are a handful of first person shooter and shoot ’em up stages to mix up the action.

Alien vs. Predator is one of the most beloved brawlers of all time. In addition to its crossover license, it has an extremely refined and varied combat engine that incorporates projectiles, energy bars, special moves, and freeform combos. Its hour-long campaign is packed with tons of variety and emphasizes fighting huge swarms of enemies with overpowered characters.

Arabian Fight is a Final Fight knockoff based on the Arabian Nights mythology. Its art style is notable for its widespread sprite scaling effects and hand-drawn anime-style cutscenes. It also features stock-based magic attacks like Golden Axe.

Arabian Magic is a weapons-based beat ’em up based on the Arabian Nights mythos. It plays like a mix of Golden Axe and King of Dragons with flying carpet segments thrown in for good measure. Each boss is a genie that can be summoned as a magic attack after being captured.

Armored Warriors is a unique mech-based late-generation brawler from Capcom. Its refined combat engine features large movesets, ammo-based projectiles, and manic explosion-filled action. Its groundbreaking weapon system allows you to equip parts on your mech, changing your attacks permanently.

Asterix is a licensed brawler from Konami in the same vein as TMNT and The Simpsons. It has a humorous, cartoony style and casual, accessible gameplay. It stars Asterix and Obelix, two Gauls empowered with magic strength, who fight against Julius Caesar and his subordinates.

Avengers is an early overhead arcade beat ’em up from Capcom. Like most brawlers, it has an urban setting and its plot revolves around kidnapped girls. You can punch and kick but not jump or throw. You also die in one hit. Although there are large waves of enemies, most of them die in one hit. Bosses, on the other hand, have plenty of health and require skill and strategy to beat.

B. Rap Boys is the sequel to D.J. Boys from Sega. It features its predecessor’s hip hop style and rollerskate-based gameplay but adds new vehicles, 3-player gameplay, distinct characters, and a hip hop soundtrack complete with lyrics.

Batman Forever: The Arcade Game is a very loose adaptation of the film. It features pre-rendered graphics and impressive screen-filling special attacks. Gameplay-wise, it sticks close to the Final Fight formula.

Battle Circuit is the last brawler released for arcades by Capcom. Its gameplay expands on the tried-and-true Final Fight with Street Fighter-style special attacks and unlockable moves. Its eclectic, cartoony art style features a superhero, a fox-lady, a sentient plant, and an eyepatch-wearing pink ostrich.

Battletoads is a one-of-a-kind brawler from Rare that features anthropomorphic toads that can morph their body parts into weapons. It features intense scaling effects, extreme gore, and a raunchy sense of humor. Its gameplay is defined by its emphasis on finishers and variety stages.

Blade Master is a one-of-a-kind hack ’n’ slash brawler from Irem. In addition to phenomenal enemy design and pixel art, it features an atypical combat engine that emphasizes parries, ripostes, and strange projectile aerial attacks.

Brute Force is an early western-developed arcade-exclusive beat ’em up from Leland with a classic urban setting. It plays like a watered-down Double Dragon with far fewer attacks, enemies, and bosses. However, it does have plenty of weapons and even guns. It’s mainly notable for its extensive use of voice-overs, not to mention its goofy rap intro.

Bucky O’Hare is a licensed brawler from Konami featuring fully animated and voiced cutscenes. It emphasizes projectile attacks more than any other brawler, to the point of almost being a run ’n’ gun shooter. It’s also notable for having persistent weapon upgrades that are only lost on death.

Burning Fight is the quintessential Final Fight rip-off. Even its title and logo are obvious plagiarisms. It mixes up the formula with a kick button, optional bonus stages, and not much else.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is a Final Fight-style brawler by Capcom. It’s licensed off of an obscure comic book series and TV show about a group of dinosaur protectors 400 years in the future who drive around in Cadillacs. It features a handful of special techniques and a ton of weapons, including guns.

Captain America and the Avengers is a Marvel-licensed brawler developed by Data East. Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Vision are playable characters and other Avengers join the battle in the form of special attacks. Its action is defined by unique character abilities, shooter stages, and projectile attacks.

Captain Commando is a futuristic Final Fight alternative from Capcom that features ridiculous playable characters and bizarre enemies. It plays a lot like its predecessor but adds dashing, guns, vehicles, and four-player gameplay to the formula.

Chinese Hero is an archaic martial arts-themed arcade beat ’em up from Taiyo System Co., Ltd. It’s a single-screen game (i.e. no scrolling) where you have to beat all enemies in a stage to proceed. You have a punch, a jumping somersault attack, and a stock-based flying kick lets you cover long distances quickly. This game would later become the Super Chinese (aka Kung Fu Heroes) series on the Famicom.

Crime Fighters is an archaic Double Dragon knock-off from Konami that’s notable for being the first four-player brawler. It also introduced usable guns to the genre. Its slapstick art style belies its brutal difficulty.

D.D. Crew is an obscure brawler from Sega that features realistic art, fluid animations, and a hip hop soundtrack. Its broken combat engine is defined by useless attacks, nearly invincible bosses, and hard-to-stun enemies. This is the only brawler where your normal attacks don’t have crowd control.

D.J. Boy is a hip hop-themed brawler from Kaneko featuring voice overs from real Disc Jockeys (Demon Kakka in Japan and Wolfman Jack in the US.) Its style is a blend of 90’s hip hop caricatures with classic Japanese weirdness, such as a fire-breathing hobo that transforms into a Chippendale’s dancer. Its one-of-a-kind rollerskate-based gameplay is defined by its slippery controls and auto-scrolling stages.

Denjin Makai, roughly translated as "Hell Power God," is a Japan-exclusive brawler from Banpresto about fighting a futuristic gang that has allied itself with demons. It’s notable for its huge character roster, unique energy-based specials, and team-up attacks.

Double Dragon is a landmark brawler that introduced scrolling levels, items, and simultaneous two-player gameplay, changing the genre forever. Although Renegade came out first, Double Dragon was the first internationally successful brawler. Its unprecedented co-op gameplay, expansive movesets, and iconic soundtrack allowed it to dominate the arcade beat ’em up scene for several years and solidify its status as a cultural phenomenon. To this day it remains one of the most widely recognized brawlers.