Welcome to Scrolling Down the Belt, a series that delves into beat 'em ups, brawlers, and belt-scrolling action games, in mostly chronological order!
Do you like games for sickos? Well then Magic Sword might shoot to the top of your beat 'em list! It's not the most mechanically deep game, but it does have a lot of systems going on and inherits a lot of DNA from Namco's obtuse 1984 classic: The Tower of Druaga.
On the opposite end of that is a game so simple that they probably should have added a bit more to it: Ninja Combat. It's not a BAD game whatsoever, it's just very...serviceable! It feels a little outdated, having hit arcades in 1990.
These videos are funded by generous contributions via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/onemillionpower). Please consider supporting this channel to get early access, exclusive videos, and more!
Buy my book, Gameplay Harmonies: Japanese Recording Artists and the Video Games About Them, from Limited Run:
https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books/products/gameplay-harmonies-hardcover
or from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Gameplay-Harmonies-Brian-Clark/dp/195518335X/
Watch a preview video about Gameplay Harmonies: https://youtu.be/V9L2yWS8GqE
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Patreon: https://patreon.com/onemillionpower