Mother Russia Bleeds is a game that I’ve had my eye on for a while. Not only do I dig its gruesome setting and portentous soundtrack, but I’ve also been itching for a good, mindless beat ’em up. I’ve read some reviews and the common consensus seems to be this: the gameplay is mindless, which is what I wanted, and only challenging because of the numerous enemies on screen, which I’ve learned to begrudgingly accept. Pretty much your standard criticism for a beat ’em up these days.
The thing that’s bothering me is I’m not sure what we want from arcade-style beat ’em ups anymore. I mean, don’t get me wrong: I get why we complain about the legion of enemies as a substitute for challenge. I get that this was originally a sinister design that successfully scammed many a child – not to mention their tired, acquiescing parents – into spending all of their quarters. Despite how the medium has evolved, developers of classic-style beat em’ ups can’t let go of the outdated cheap tricks.
But now that we’ve removed the quarters, how do we compensate for the challenge? I remember when Capcom released Final Fight: Double Impact on the PSN, and I noticed that without having to spend any change, I was able to complete the game (finally). I still died many times before I kicked the final boss out of his wheelchair and onto the ground floor. But I didn’t feel like I accomplished anything because I knew it was inevitable that I would win if I just kept going. Kind of like how I knew that if I just kept banging my head against my desk I’d – well, bad example because I only succeeded in busting my own skull, but you get the idea.
One common solution is blending genres. The most popular hybrid I’ve seen is that of the beat ’em up and the RPG, like in River City Ransom and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . With this combination, there’s just a tad bit more to think about. Just a few more combos to learn upon leveling up, and just little bit of strategy to consider when purchasing power ups. Do it correctly and you can become overpowered enough to deal with the same goddamn problem that’s plagued the 2D beat ’em up since its inception. You guessed it: red rover, red rover, send waves of badly dressed, glam-rock gangsters on over.
Now, I’m not writing this to spell the end for beat ’em ups or anything. The waves of enemies are a staple that may or may not work for you. It’s funny that the genre seems to blend so well with RPGs, because I think it’s possible to achieve the flow-state that comes from hours of grinding. Maybe the waves of enemies are like the flaws in our family and loved ones: annoying yet endearing.