Game:

The King of Dragons (1991)

Duration: 2:16:15

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00:00 Starting Soon ("Noir" by Aaron Hodges-Boyle)
05:00 Beginning
6:57 The King of Dragons (US Arcade)
1:00:30 Captain Commando (US Arcade)
1:36:45 Knights of the Round (US Arcade)

We continue on with the Capcom CP Arcade System beat 'em ups this week, completing two games and starting another!

First, we play The King of Dragons (1991), the first fantasy-themed beat 'em up that we've encountered so far (though not the first fantasy-themed beat 'em up... we'll circle back around to Golden Axe at some point). The simple controls and limited movesets of the CP System games are ameliorated by the colourful setting and the notable differences between the five playable characters.

Then, it's back to the future with Captain Commando (1991), a determinedly wacky take on the genre (our heroes are an annoying dude, a baby in a man-sized mech, a ninja, and a mummy). There's some novelty to the setting here, but there's less variation within the relatively limited CP System beat 'em up framework... if you want to fight your way through a crime-ridden city in a Capcom arcade game, you probably want to stick with Final Fight.

With our remaining time, we get started with Knights of the Round, another fantasy-themed beat 'em up with an Arthurian setting. We'll come back and finish that one next episode!

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Greg and James Beat 'Em Up is our ongoing exploration of the beat 'em up genre! Broadcast on any Tuesday evening where schedules and Greg's health allow at https://twitch.tv/58DreamStreet

Intro Song: "Noir" by Aaron Hodges-Boyle. Aaron's got a wide catalog of "video game music to study or fall asleep to" over on his Bandcamp page: https://aaronhodges-boyle.bandcamp.com!

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