Top Three Upcoming Beat ‘Em Ups
MOST ANTICIPATED UPCOMING BEAT EM UPS 2025
Beat ‘Em Ups have seen a resurgence in the past five years or so after going relatively dormant without mainstream success for a few decades after its dominance during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Titles like Streets of Rage 4 from Dotemu and Lizardcube and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge from Tribute Games have infused vitality back into the genre. Although the year might be almost half way finished, there are still three beat ‘em ups that you should keep an eye on that are all offering a different experience and all happen to be indie. Here are the top three beat ‘em ups upcoming in the second half of 2025.
MARVEL: Cosmic Invasion
MARVEL: Cosmic Invasion is the follow up from Tribute Games, the Montreal based studio that delivered the sublime TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. A game that took what was revered from the early 90’s TMNT Beat ‘Em Ups and blended it with modern elements. Shredder’s Revenge featured a succinct campaign that was playable with up to six players and the ability to control some of the most iconic characters from the TMNT franchse
MARVEL Comsic Invasion is giving the same treatment to the highly adored Marvel Beat ‘Em Ups of the 90’s. The big mechanic with MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is that you get to choose and control your own team of two super heroes with the ability to swap them in and out during battles.
With hundreds of different superhero pairings, not only will this add a much needed level of variety, but as a gameplay mechanic, it will improve depth as you can capitalize on distinct super powers and create unique team ups. Experimenting with different dynamic duos will lead you to discovering stellar power ups and rewards. MARVEL Cosmic Invasion will feature 16 of the most iconic superheroes in their 90’s prime including Spider-Man, Venom, Wolverine, Captain America, Storm with many others being revealed as the release approaches.
According to the CEO of Tribute Games, their goals are “to once again modernize and push forward the genre while respecting what made the classics great”. After their work on TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is one of the safest bets to score at least an 85%.
Absolum
Absolum is Beat ‘Em Up with Rogue-lite elements in what is being referred to as the world’s first Rogue ‘Em Up. Absolum is a rich fantasy adventure that channels the spirt of Golden Axe. Absolum features an engaging narrative with themes of foiling an unbridled, dictatorial power. Any wizard who is unwilling to bend the knee and serve the king will be slaughtered for treason.
Absolum promises to be an unforgettable journey with a campaign that is playable in either solo or two player co-op (local or online). The small band of rebels that you will control features four unique heroes. Galandra the Warrior, Karl The Dwarf, Brome The Wizard and Cider The Assassin. Each hero plays differently with their own unique skill set, personality and motivations.
Absolum is also trying to incorporate rogue-lite elements, four unique character classes, items to unlock, permanent upgrades and quests to add variety as well as to increase the replay factor. More than just having four unique classes, Absolum is also trying to offer a combat system with plenty of depth to keep players engaged with elemental powers, in run upgrades, chained combos, synchronized attacks, and magical counters that demand skill and timing.
Absolum has a unique look, but it’s also going to have a very sound thanks to the score, which is being led by composer Gareth Coker, known for his incredible scores on the Ori Series, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Halo: Infinite with guest compositions from Mick Gordon, best known for Doom and Yuka Kitamura from Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
Ra Ra Boom
The dark horse of upcoming beat ‘em ups is the debut title from Gylee Games, Ra Ra Boom. One of the most interesting aspects of Ra Ra Boom is the premise as it features a story that doesn’t seem too far fetched in a similar way that most Black Mirror episodes seem plausible.
Humans have decided to turn to AI to solve the climate crisis, which it manage to find a way to do. Unfortunately, for civilization, the method was to eliminate the human race, which did solve the problem, but put a slight damper on existence. Now that rogue AI has taken over earth, the only hope is to send back ninja cheerleaders from space to defeat AI and reclaim earth.
On the visual level, Ra Ra Boom is exploding with color and vibrance. One of the unique visual aspects is that it clearly has lanes easily identifiable, which eliminates the frustration of wasted super abilities and throwing punches at the air.
Ra Ra boom is fully playable in solo, but also features 4 player co-op with scaling difficulty. Each character has branching skill trees with combat blending melee and ranged combat seamlessly. Having played the demo at PAX East, Ra Ra Boom is able to capture that addictive nature the genre needs with levels that don’t overstay their welcome. With each character feeling unique and a campaign that should last 4-6 hours, Ra Ra Boom also has strong potential for multiple play-throughs that feel unique.
