Technabob » beat-em-up

Shank: It’S a Beat-Em-Up, Not a Stab-Em-Up

Alisha K. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:56:01 +0000

The delightfully named Shank seems to have been big business at the just-wrapped Penny Arcade Expo, with the Internet a-buzzin’ over the game’s ridiculous cartoon violence. It’s slick, it’s beautiful, and it takes its cues from beat-em-ups, which makes it automatically among the best games ever.

Shank’s 2D action is glossy and gorgeously rendered, but still manages to look more like old school cartoons than most of its contemporaries. That works, though; the cartoons I grew up with were always full of ridiculous and awesome violence, so I’m already sold on the concept.

Shank is still so early in development that there’s no official word on a release to any platform but PC, though a console release seems likely with the uniformly positive impressions out of PAX. Just look at the footage.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Man, I want to play that right now.

[via Game|Life and GamerBytes]

Castle Crashers on Its Way to PS3

Alisha K. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:19:12 +0000

The XBLA hit Castle Crashers is set to come to PS3, according to an announcement at Comic-Con. PS3 owners everywhere let out a roar of approval, while Xbox 360 owners stomped around and demanded Noby Noby Boy in exchange. Sadly, we they were ignored.

If you’re hoping for some sort of detailed information, such as when the game will be available on the PlayStation Network, well, keep hoping; nothing else was announced beyond the fact that the game is crossing platforms. Well, that and the fact that Castle Crashers seems to run just fine on the PS3. That’s certainly good news!

Now about that Noby Noby Boy….

[via PS3 Blog]

Fight Your Way to the White House With Angry Barry

Alisha K. — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:18:11 +0000

One of the latest offerings added to the Xbox Community Games lineup, Arrogancy Games’ Angry Barry is a political parody beat-em-up, and yes, that’s a word combination I never thought to use together in one sentence. As the titular Barry (yes, that one), you’re charged with smashing your way through waves of enemies in your quest for the White House. The news networks should take note: this is a throwdown.

Angry Barry is a lot of game for a community games title; it features nine levels, multiplayer (you have to bring along your veep, after all), and tons of enemies just waiting for your angry fists. Better still, you can pick up just about anything and use it as a weapon.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Demonstrate your political anger and desire for change for a measly 400 Microsoft points.

[Angry Barry via IndieGames]