Alien Storm on the Master System is a severly scaled-back port of the Genesis version. It’s single-player only, only Slammer and Garth are playable, there are only three simultaneous enemies, and certain attacks were removed. However, it still retains the original’s "triplicated fun" in the form of traditional brawler stages, auto-scrolling shooter sections, and first-person turret stages.

Batman Returns is a single-player licensed beat ’em up from Konami that’s based off the movie of the same name. Its straightforward, accessible gameplay is defined by an emphasis on mobility.

Battlemaniacs on the Master System is a shoddy port of the original SNES game. In addition to being single-player only, it’s also missing enemies, stages, and music. It was developed by Virgin rather than Rare, and it was only released in Brazil.

Battletoads is Rare’s flagship brawler that’s notorious for its intense difficulty and unmatched variety. In fact, the majority of this game is composed of non-brawler levels like platforming and vehicle sections. Its combat is notable for its emphasis on dash-attacks and the ’Toad’s ability to morph their body parts into giant weapons to unleash smash attacks. This is one of the few games where co-op mode is significantly harder because friendly fire is always on and when one player dies in certain sections, both players are forced to re-do it.

Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team is a crossover brawler from Rare that features your two favorite brawler franchises together for the first time. It plays a lot more like a ’Toads game than Double Dragon, with a strong emphasis on vehicle and platforming sections over combat. However, its difficulty is far more tame.

Defenders of Dynatron City is a strange experimental brawler from Lucas Arts. It features six distinct characters that can be switched out at will and open-ended, branching stages that emphasize exploration and stage-based goals as well as combat.

Double Dragon is a re-worked port of the arcade classic. It’s infamously a single-player only game, but it compensates for this by adding an innovative experience system where you unlock new attacks by defeating enemies and leveling up. Like the original, it features a phenomenal soundtrack that strongly influenced the following decade of video game music.

Double Dragon on the Master System is the most faithful 8-bit port of Technos’ classic brawler. Unlike the NES version, it has two-player support, features up to three simultaneous enemies of varying types, and omits the platforming sections. However, it’s missing the backwards jump kick and grabs are very glitchy.

Double Dragon II: The Revenge is a port of the arcade version with very few similarities. It’s a completely re-designed game that features new moves, enemies, stages, cutscenes, and a unique soundtrack that’s at least on par with its predecessor. It also has 2-player simultaneous co-op gameplay and three difficulty settings.

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones is the final chapter in Technos’ genre-defining brawler trilogy. It’s the only version of the game that was actually developed by Technos. It’s a globe-hopping adventure that’s notable for its brutal difficulty and innovative character system. You unlock additional fighter by beating bosses and can switch between characters at any time, although each character only has one life for the entire game.

Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugou! is the Japan-exclusive sequel to River City Ransom. It improves upon its predecessor across the board with better graphics, more music, new attacks, more advanced stages, and a much larger world map. Additionally, when you play in single player you have an AI-controlled teammate to simulate co-op gameplay.

Dynamite Dux is a port of Sega’s cutesy arcade brawler. Although this version is single player only, it captures the goofy, unique style of the original. Its unusual combat engine emphasizes fighting numerous weak enemies with charge-up attacks and ammo-based projectiles.

Ganbare Goemon 2 is the sequel to Konami’s take on the classic Japanese folk hero. Like the original, it’s a brawler/RPG hybrid that requires combat as well as exploration to succeed. However, this game introduces Goemon’s partner Ebisumaru, which allows for two-player simultaneous gameplay. It has that classic Konami style with catchy music, goofy characters, and plenty of humor.

Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu from Konami is the world’s first hybrid brawler/RPG. It stars the folk hero Goemon, who’s a noble thief. You explore an open map, talk to NPC’s, and buy items. When you hit the streets, the game becomes an incredibly simple beat ’em up. This game never left Japan although some of its sequels were brought over under the "Mystical Ninja" moniker.

Golden Axe on the Master System is a scaled-back port of Sega’s arcade classic. Although it’s single player and you can only play as Ax-Battler, you can select any magic at the beginning of the game. It doesn’t have the extra levels of the Genesis version, but it’s a little harder than that port.

Ikari III: The Rescue is a military-themed two-player overhead brawler from SNK. Unlike its predecessors, it’s not an overhead shooter, although there are shooting segments in the form of boss fights. In true Ikari fashion, it’s intensely difficult, although nowhere near as hard as the original Ikari Warriors.

Kung-Fu Heroes (also known as Super Chinese) is a unique martial arts-themed overhead beat ’em up from Culture Brain. Its combat is notable because there is no scrolling and each stage is a single screen. Enemies respawn forever and you need to defeat a certain number to advance to the next stage. Its gameplay puts an emphasis on item collection, bonus stages, and warps.

Lethal Weapon is a licensed NES-exclusive brawler from Ocean that’s based on the classic buddy cop comedy. You can play as both Riggs and Murtaugh, each of which have their own health bar. You can switch out any time by walking off the side of the screen. Riggs is skilled with knives but Murtaugh has more powerful punches. Its combat engine is simple and emphasizes projectiles.

Little Ninja Brothers is a one-of-a-kind brawler/RPG hybrid from Culture Brain and the second game in the Super Chinese series. You walk around on an overhead map, visiting towns, talking to people, buying stuff, and taking on quests. When you encounter an enemy, the game becomes an overhead same-screen brawler like Kung Fu Heroes. It also features several two-player competitive minigames.

Mighty Final Fight is an NES-exclusive parody game from Capcom. It’s like Mega Man meets Final Fight. It features cute, super-deformed characters, bright colors, and an extremely catchy and melodic soundtrack. It plays like Final Fight except you only fight two opponents at once and there’s now an experience system where you level up and gain new moves.

NARC is a port of the unique projectile-based anti-drug arcade brawler developed by Rare. Its one-of-a-kind gameplay involves shooting tons of thugs with limited ammo, as well as getting close to enemies to arrest them for a bonus. Unlike most beat ’em ups, enemies respawn infinitely and you must make it to the end of the stage to beat each level.

Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun is a port of Technos’ arcade classic that invented the brawler genre. Despite coming out in 1987, this game shows an astounding amount of brawler refinement: it has difficult enemies that require strategy and skill to complete, boss fights, vehicle sections, and a huge moveset that’s still more advanced than most other NES beat ’em ups. It also has a catchy rockabilly soundtrack.

P.O.W. - Prisoners of War is a single-player port of the arcade military-themed brawler from SNK. It’s notable for its optional areas that allow you to collect items and weapons, including guns with limited ammo. It’s also very difficult for an NES beat ’em up.

Raid 2020 is a unique unlicensed projectile-based brawler from Color Dreams. It’s very similar to NARC. It’s notable for its unwieldy controls, alternate gameplay modes, and repetitive music.

Renegade is a port of Taito’s single-player arcade classic that started it all. You fight small waves of relatively powerful enemies with a large moveset before fighting a boss in each of four stages. This port adds new areas, a motorcycle combat section, and a redesigned labyrinth-like final stage.