Kicking off this list is another cartoon beat ‘em up released by Konami, the hit long-running animated comedy, The Simpsons. While the notion of making a 4-player arcade beat ‘em up of The Simpsons may seem ludicrous to many of you readers, the presentation of the game does a very great job of staying in tune with the series. In this game, Maggie gets her hands, or mouth on a valuable diamond that allegedly belongs to Homer’s boss, Mr. Burns. Smithers, the assistant to Mr. Burns then kidnaps Maggie to retrieve the diamond and it’s up to the rest of the Simpsons family to get her back, even if it means rampaging through Springfield.

Just like how the Turtles have their respective weapons, so do each member of the Simpsons family. Homer just punches and kicks, Marge uses a vacuum, Lisa whips you with her jump rope, and Bart whacks you with his skateboard. While the graphics and sound effects stay faithful to the cartoon, it does take some creative liberties such as fighting a kabuki performer, a man in a bear costume, a giant bowling ball in a dream sequence stage, and Mr. Burns himself in a multi-layered mech. So if you want to enjoy your own Simpsons comedy as your favorite character, this game is your chance. While most arcades have gone the way of the dodo, you can get this game through Microsoft and Sony’s respective networking services.

While a certain number of 90’s kids reading this list may recall the Fox Kids cartoon (or its original comic), it had its own arcade beat ‘em up. In the original story past the year 2513, the sustainability of the Earth has collapsed and has forced humanity to move underground where dinosaurs still exist. And because technology is very scarce, those with technical skills are valued to keep whatever machines are left to maintain their functions. As the title suggests, the characters get around with the help of a classic Cadillac to go from one stage to the next, and there are stages where you get to use it as a weapon to plow through enemies.

In this game, you play as mechanic Jack Tenrec and Hanna Dundee, a scientist and love interest of Jack. Joining along the ride are Mustapha and Mess as they take on the Black Marketeers, a group of dinosaur poachers whose actions have made the dinosaurs hostile towards humans.

Beyond its foundational gameplay, it includes many funny novelties that both compare and distinguished itself with Ninja Turtles such as unique dialog bubbles, and instances of where three players are together and one character stalls, two other characters will force one to move by throwing them. The stages and enemies perfectly capture the post-apocalyptic feel of the original series as you face a mix of vicious human hunters and mutated dinosaur/human hybrids.

Due to the extreme nature of the game, you can occasionally use low capacity firearms such as machine guns and/or bazookas. Other than that, both Ninja Turtles and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs largely take place in New York and share themes about protecting the environment. So if you want a fun game you likely have never played with some great throwbacks to 1950’s pulp comics, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is the game for you.

Also based on another comic and cartoon from the same time as the first Ninja Turtles animated series is the anamorphic space opera, Bucky O’Hare. Like Ninja Turtles, the nature of this game is a 4-player beat ‘em up that largely stays faithful to its original source material. In this game, you travel across the galaxy to stop the evil Toad Empire.

In addition to Bucky, you can also play as his other crewmembers such as Jenny, Dead-Eye Duck, and Blinky. While Ninja Turtles and a majority of the games listed here are generic punch and kick with the occasional foreign object as a weapon, Bucky O’Hare has more leeway with using firearms. So if you want to take out multiple enemies at a distance, this game allows you to do so.

While some games are just running around and beating enemies up, Bucky O’Hare offers some variety to its stages and gameplay such as some racing and flying with jetpacks. The graphics are appropriately in tune with the cult series and even brings back the voice cast of the cartoon for its animated cutscenes.

While Spider-Man has traditionally been a solo hero, in this game, you get to play with three other Marvel heroes to go out and stop the Kingpin and Dr. Doom. The other superheroes assisting Spidey on his quest to stop this villainous plot from taking place are Black Cat, Hawkeye, and Namor. Whoever you select, their abilities from the comics are perfectly featured in this game. As Spider-Man, you can use his amazing agility and webbing to take out enemies. If you play as the Black Cat, she uses her claws and grappling hook to combat all threats. With Hawkeye, you can just simply use his bow and arrow. As Namor, many of his attacks are based on water projectiles.

What makes this game stand out compared to not only Ninja Turtles but to many other cartoon and comic based beat ‘em ups as a whole is that at times, the camera will zoom out and temporarily turn into a platform game in vein of Mario in order to emphasize other features of the respective stage and villains in terms of scale such as fighting a gigantic Venom. In addition to the previous three villains mentioned, you face Spidey’s others foes such as The Lizard, The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, and Scorpion. Many of the generic thugs you face in this game would, later on, have their designs be recycled into another iconic Spider-Man beat ‘em up title, Maximum Carnage.

While Marvel’s recent wave of movies has made The Avengers an international household name, it already had a handful number of games released prior to the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One memorable game that also lives up to the standard set by Konami’s Ninja Turtles arcade gaming series would certainly have to be Data East’s release of Captain America and the Avengers. In this 4-player arcade hit, you play as Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Vision (with Wasp, Quicksilver, Wonder Man, and Namor as the occasional support) as you travel across the Earth and to the moon to stop the plot of the Red Skull. Not only will you have to defeat him, but you will also face other notable villains such as Ultron, Crossbones, Wizard, and the Mandarin along with other traditional non-Avenger villains such as the sentinels and Juggernaut.

Many of the projectile attacks of each character can be spammed without consequence so you can always stay at a safe distance and throw Captain America’s mighty shield at rapid speed, or just shoot an unlimited supply of arrows from Hawkeye. Or you can use Iron Man’s hand blasts or Vision’s head beams. In addition to being your standard beat ‘em up with some superpowers, you can also participate in a stage where you swim underwater and fly through the skies. While Vision and Iron Man don’t require any additional equipment in these stages, Hawkeye and Cap sit on flying machines through the flying stages and use scuba gear when swimming underwater.

The game has a great soundtrack and some cheesy sound effects such as the laughs of the villains. So if you want a superhero beat ‘em up that lives up to its source material that you can enjoy with three people, this is also a great recommendation.

About 20 years before Ninja Turtles popularized the word “mutant,” the OG mutant superheroes happen to be another hit Marvel property, the X-Men. While their popularity boomed through their 1990’s animated series and Fox’s line of live action movies, it actually had another animated pilot from Toei sometime towards the end of the 1980’s, Pryde of the X-Men. While that pilot never made it to syndication, Konami released their own arcade beat ‘em up using that respective pilot as their base.

There are some versions that are 4-players, and there are others that allow up to 6! In this game, the selectable members of the X-Men are the same characters featured in the pilot; Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Dazzler, Colossus, and Nightcrawler. In this game, you travel throughout New York and to Asteroid M to stop Magneto and his band of terrorists so you can save Kitty Pryde, Prof. X, and the world.

The game is your standard beat ‘em up where you fight numerous human-sized sentinels, freaks of the reavers, and many other creatures through the X-Men and Marvel universe. Bosses include Pyro, the Blob, Wendigo, the Juggernaut, Mystique, and Magneto. You can use each character’s respective power, but only within the limits of that character’s power life bar. Like the respective TMNT game, due to the overwhelming number of on-screen enemies and the difficulty of the bosses, you’re going to need all the help you can get but that’s where the fun lies. Last, you’re going to get a kick out of Magento’s lines in the game, “welcome to die!” So if you love X-Men and old school beat ‘em ups like TMNT, this game is strongly recommended.