Beat’ Em Up Archives from QUByte Interactive brings us a pair of old-school brawling games on PS4. Check our Beat ‘Em Up Archives review!

 

Beat’ Em Up Archives from QUByte Interactive brings us a pair of old-school brawling games on PlayStation 4. Both Iron Commando and Legend were originally released way back in the 1990s. Iron Commando and Legend were developed by French studio Arcade Zone. Legend was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System – a.k.a. the SNES – in 1994, published in North America by Seika Corporation and in Europe by Sony Electronic Publishing. As for Iron Commando, it was originally set for a 1995 release under Sony Electronic Publishing, but those plans were scrapped, with the game only getting a Japanese on the Super Famicom in early 1995.

Both Legend and Iron Commando are titles that were inspired by the beloved beat ’em up arcade classics from CAPCOM, which is why even if you never played either title, both games will feel a bit familiar. Legend brings us a medieval-themed beat ’em up in which you’ll be plating as either Kaar or Igor as they explore the Kingdom of Sellech. Their goal? To fight the evil forces of King Clovis, who rules the land with an iron fist and is seeking to use the powerful essence of the trapped Beldor, a maleficent despot who ruled before him.

 

Iron Commando is a beat ’em up set in a more modern era. For Iron Commando, you’ll be playing as either soldier Jake or martial arts master Chang Li. Your adventure will take you on a quest to stop the evil G.H.O.S.T., who captured a radioactive meteorite for evil intents. You’ll be exploring 10 levels as you defeat enemies of different shapes and sizes. As you punch and kick your way through the army of G.H.O.S.T., you’ll also get to ride a jeep, a motorcycle, and a mine cart.

Since these are old-school beat ’em ups from the SNES/Super Famicom era, you’ll be controlling your character with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, attacking with the X button, jumping with the Square button. You can perform jump attacks as well. For Legend, you will get to collect magic vials to unleash powerful magic attacks – in a clear nod to Sega’s Golden Axe series – and you can also press the Triangle button to perform a special attack that will consume some of your health. You can also block with the L1 and R1 buttons.

For Iron Commando, since it’s a game set in a more recent era, you’ll also be able to collect some firearms to deal some extra damage from a safer distance. Get close to enemies, and you’ll get to grab them so that you can deal some extra damage and throw them. Oh, and don’t forget to collect healing items in both games so that you can heal your wounds and recover some of your lost health as needed!

In this collection, you can select different filters for how the image will look on your TV, including giving it that classic old-school CRT look and feel. You can also take advantage of the collections save slots so that you can save your progress at any given time. Just press the L2 and R2 buttons at the same time to bring up the menu, select save, and then the slot where you will save your progress. If you make one too many mistakes, just open up the menu again and load one of your save states. There’s also the option of remapping the buttons if something feels a bit off – like, say, switching the jump and attack buttons.

For this PS4 release, you’ll work on unlocking a long list of trophies so that you can add a new Platinum trophy to your collection. The list includes 8 Bronze trophies, 10 Silver trophies, and 7 Gold trophies. You’ll have to grab a variety of weapons with each character in Iron Commando, get to 300,000 points total, defeat each boss, and beat the game with each character. For Legend, you must defeat each boss in the game, including the final boss, and get to 30,000 points total.

Beat’ Em Up Archives brings us a pair of old-school 2D brawlers from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom era from French Studio Arcade Zone. This collection marks the Western debut of Iron Commando on console since it’s originally planned launch back in 1995 ended up being limited to a Japanese release. Beat’ Em Up Archives is available on PlayStation 4 with a $9.99 price tag.

Disclaimer
This Beat’ Em Up Archives review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by QUByte Interactive.