Best Beat Em Up Games on Steam

The beat em up never really went away, it just got better. Modern entries keep the arcade shape, walk right, hit everything, but layer on juggle systems, combo meters, weapon pickups and co-op that actually holds up online. What makes them great for completionists is that the achievement lists usually push you back through the same short campaign with a different character, a harder difficulty or a self-imposed rule, so a five-hour game turns into a very replayable one. These are the side-scrolling brawlers on Steam most worth clearing, ranked with an eye on how good the fighting feels and how satisfying the 100 percent is.

1

Streets of Rage 4

The genre benchmark: hand-drawn art, a superb soundtrack and combo scoring that rewards juggling enemies instead of mashing. 45 achievements, and the hardest of them want Mania difficulty and one-credit clears rather than just finishing the story.

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2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

A pitch-perfect arcade revival with six-player co-op and a roster that all feel meaningfully different to control. Only 30 achievements, but several are tied to specific characters and difficulty runs, so expect to replay the campaign a few times.

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3

Absolum

A roguelite spin on the formula from the Streets of Rage 4 team, mixing run-based progression with the same weighty, readable combat. 37 achievements spread across runs, characters and unlocks, so progress accumulates instead of resetting.

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4

River City Girls 2

The most RPG-flavoured brawler here, with levelling, shops, recruitable enemies and a genuinely funny script. At 62 achievements it is the longest completion on this list, largely because of collectibles and character-specific goals.

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5

Fight'N Rage

A purist arcade throwback with an absurdly deep move set, a store full of unlockable modifiers and branching stage routes. The 20-achievement list is short but demanding, since the good endings depend on route choices rather than raw skill alone.

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6

Castle Crashers

The co-op brawler a lot of people started with, and still one of the best couch games on Steam thanks to its levelling, weapon variety and animal orbs. Just 12 achievements, which makes it one of the friendliest completions in the genre.

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7

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons

A tag-based roguelite take on Double Dragon where you pick two fighters and swap between them mid-fight. 20 achievements that mostly ask you to clear routes and experiment with the roster rather than grind.

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8

River City Girls

The original of the pair, tighter and shorter, with the same comic-panel presentation and combo depth. 29 achievements, many of them tied to shopping, dojo moves and optional side content you can miss on a straight run.

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9

Young Souls

A brawler and dungeon crawler hybrid with a real story about twin siblings, gear loadouts and stat-driven progression between fights. 33 achievements, a decent chunk of which come from gearing up and clearing dungeons at higher levels.

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10

Mother Russia Bleeds

By far the nastiest game here, a grim and deliberately excessive brawler with a drug-fuelled rage mechanic and heavy, brutal hits. 33 achievements, and the hard difficulty and no-death goals are genuinely punishing.

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11

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition

The long-delisted licensed brawler brought back, with pixel art by Paul Robertson, levelling and money-based stat upgrades. 19 achievements, most of them tied to grinding levels and finishing with different characters.

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Updated 2026-08-30. Every game links to its full SteamVault page with achievement stats, rarity and community completion times.