The Best Modern Beat ’Em Ups (As of 2026)

It’s been a couple years since I did my last video about modern beat ’em ups. So, let’s talk about the best co-op modern beat ’em ups as of 2026.

This is always a controversial topic. I know nobody ever really agrees on these things. These are just my favorite games. The ones I actually want to sit down and play from beginning to end with friends.

Let’s count them down.

#20 – Mayhem Brawler

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Branching paths, comic book art style, five playable characters

This is one that I played quite a bit when it came out. It has branching paths. It has a really cool comic book art style. There are five playable characters. The gameplay is solid, even though it’s clearly inspired by Streets of Rage 4. But that’s not exactly a bad thing since that’s an excellent game.

#19 – Jitsu Squad

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Hand-drawn art, fast combo system, anthropomorphic ninja characters

I didn’t play this one until recently. You can play with up to four players locally. It has a really cool hand-drawn art style, and you play as these anthropomorphic ninja animal characters. It definitely has a ’90s Saturday morning cartoon vibe. It’s incredibly fast-paced with lots of combos and infinite juggling.

#18 – Vengeance Hunters

Players: 2 Local
Platform: Neo Geo (AES/MVS), PC
Notable Features: Classic arcade feel, three selectable characters, pixel art.

Built for Neo Geo hardware. Two-player co-op. Three selectable characters. This isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It just feels like a really good arcade-style old school brawler.

#17 – Young Souls

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Action RPG elements, loot system, story focus

This one doesn’t get talked about enough. It incorporates a lot of action RPG elements and has a pretty in-depth story where you follow two kids. There’s loot, weapons, armor, accessories. And it feels like it was really built around two-player co-op.

#16 – Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

Players: 6 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Six-player co-op, Megazord battles, gameplay variety

You can play this one with up to six players locally. It changes things up between levels with on-rail shooter sections and big Megazord boss fights. It had some balance issues at launch, but after updates, it felt a lot better. I think this is an excellent beat ’em up.

#15 – Paprium

Players: 2 Local
Platform: Sega Genesis
Notable Features: Genesis exclusive, huge cartridge, impressive presentation

This one was controversial due to the developers. It’s exclusive to the Sega Genesis. For a long time, you couldn’t emulate it. But ultimately, I think this is an excellent beat ’em up and incredibly impressive for the hardware. I love the art style and the music. It’s just cool seeing new games on old hardware.

#14 – Wendigo Blue

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PC (Early Access)
Notable Features: Skill tree, character upgrades, strong combo system

Four-player co-op. Skill trees. Customization. As you go through levels, you earn skill points and upgrade your characters. It’s still in early access, but it feels really polished. Pixel art is awesome. The soundtrack is great. Very underrated.

#13 – Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PC
Notable Features: ’90s arcade vibe, large roster, pixel art

This feels like the old Marvel arcade games from the ’90s. Excellent pixel art. Solid gameplay. My only issue is that it felt a little too long and got repetitive halfway through. But I love the variety of characters.

#12 – Mighty Final Fight Forever

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PC (Fan Game)
Notable Features: Expanded roster, new moves, NES-style presentation

This is a fan-made follow-up to Mighty Final Fight on NES. The original was single-player only. This adds two-player co-op, new characters, new moves, and tons of extra content. As a fan game, it’s incredibly impressive.

#11 – Final Vendetta

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC, Neo Geo
Notable Features: Arcade length, high difficulty, straightforward combat

This one is clearly inspired by Streets of Rage and Final Fight. No roguelike systems. No RPG mechanics. Just straightforward brawling. Only six levels, meant to be played in one sitting. It’s difficult, but incredibly tight and satisfying.

#10 – River City Girls 2

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Open city progression, RPG elements, crossover characters

Set in the River City Ransom world. It has nonlinear city progression and RPG mechanics. There was even DLC where you can play as Billy and Jimmy from Double Dragon. I prefer this over the first River City Girls.

#9 – Castle Crashers

Players: 4 Local
Platform: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC
Notable Features: RPG progression, four-player co-op focus

This is the game that really brought beat ’em ups back into the mainstream. Four-player co-op was the big draw. It added RPG elements. It’s still important to the genre.

#8 – Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Roguelike structure, tag-team system, unlockables

You pick two characters and switch between them on the fly. Between missions, you upgrade stats and unlock abilities. We’ve had a handful of new Double Dragon games recently, but I think this is the best of the bunch.

#7 – Mother Russia Bleeds

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Brutal combat, Necro mechanic, weapon variety

By far the most brutal game on this list. Fast-paced. Violent. You can use the drug Necro to heal or go berserk. It’s one of my favorite games to play start to finish in one sitting with friends.

#6 – River City Ransom: Underground

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PC
Notable Features: Deep combo system, RPG upgrades, long campaign

In my opinion, this is the best River City Ransom sequel. Four-player co-op. Open world elements. Tons of characters and content. It was recently delisted from Steam due to licensing issues, which is unfortunate. If you have access to it, I highly recommend playing it.

#5 – Streets of Rage Remake

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PC
Notable Features: Merges original trilogy, branching paths, widescreen support

A fan-made remake that merges the original Streets of Rage trilogy into one package. Branching paths, improved AI, restored content, remix soundtrack. If you grew up with the series, this is a really cool way to re-experience it.

#4 – Fight'N Rage

Players: 3 Local
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Massive combo system, branching paths, multiple endings

Straightforward arcade gameplay but with huge combos and juggle potential. Works well for button mashers or technical players. When everyone’s on the same page, it’s incredibly rewarding.

#3 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Players: 6 Local
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Six-player chaos, pixel art, classic voice actors

One of the few six-player beat ’em ups. You can play as Splinter, April, Casey Jones. Beautiful pixel art. Great soundtrack. It takes everything from the old TMNT games and improves on it.

#2 – Streets of Rage 4

Players: 4 Local
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Notable Features: Combat refinements, quality-of-life improvements, combo depth

Takes everything from the original trilogy and improves on it. Separate pickup button. Better enemy behavior. Smarter use of desperation moves. I still think Streets of Rage 2 might be the greatest ever, but for modern beat ’em ups, this is nearly perfect.

#1 – Absolum

Players: 2 Local
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series, PC
Notable Features: Roguelike structure, deep combat, high replayability

Made by the Streets of Rage 4 developers. It takes that formula and pushes it somewhere new. It adds roguelike elements, which I’m usually not a fan of, but the combat feels so good that it doesn’t matter when you lose progress. It never got old. There’s so much content and replayability.

At its core, it’s still a beat ’em up. And it’s a really, really good one. That’s why I think it’s the best modern beat ’em up so far.

So there you go. That’s my top 20 co-op modern beat ’em ups. What’s your favorite?

By Logan Hosoda

If you haven’t ever played Portal 2 before, then you are seriously missing out. It was developed by Valve, and released for the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and OS X back in April 2011, and it is still to this day an incredible experience, both single player and co-op. It is a heavily puzzle focused game that features only one piece of equipment: the portal gun. With the gun, you can shoot two different colors of portals, and once both are active, they will connect and teleport you when you walk through them. It’s a confusing concept made even more confusing during co-op play, but it makes for a very fun experience!

The game features a single player campaign, and a co-op campaign, both with their own exclusive puzzles and story. While the single player story is certainly more developed (I mean, it is a continuation of the first game), the co-op story is still fun, and filled with the same great comedic writing. In the co-op mode, you play as two different robots, named Atlas, and P-Body, both equipped with fully functioning portal guns. This really makes the game interesting, because now you have twice the portals to deal with. While this may seem to make the game easier on the outside, in reality it enhances the difficulty ten-fold.

What you absolutely need in order to complete this game is serious cooperation. It starts off pretty easy in the beginning, where you just need to place your portals in the correct spots to complete the test, but the game gets progressively harder, and will twist your brain to the point of spontaneous combustion! One thing that I really love is the natural need for coop. The second player isn’t just a helping hand in the situation, he/she is actually needed every step of the way, and there isn’t any way around it.

In my opinion, the best quality of this game is how blatantly simple it is, yet how amazingly complex it can become at the same time. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and play, you’ll learn the controls in minutes, and you can even beat the whole game in a sitting or two. What really shines is how complex the game becomes as you play. Between the physics based puzzles, portals leading in every which direction, and many more elements, the game picks up incredibly fast. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself staring at a dumb wall, wondering how in the world you could possibly solve what seems unsolvable, it’s downright glorious!

One major feature that I really loved about Portal 2, contrary to many modern day games, is the use of split screen co-op! Most modern games with co-op features focus on co-op over a LAN connection, or the internet, and don’t feature split screen. Even the copy that I own on Steam for PC features split screen as well, which is very rare, while still including online play. The versatility is key here, and sets this game above many others as far as variety of options is concerned.

In conclusion, Portal 2, while not quite a “hidden” gem, is certainly a gem nonetheless. Every co-op enthusiast out there should play it at least once. In my opinion, it is the pinnacle of co-op gaming, and it set a very high standard for co-op games to come. Your brain will certainly regret playing it, and you may end up losing a friendship over it, but you’ll come to find that in the end, it was definitely worth it!