How long a beat 'em up should be?

[16-bit Fighter]

Hey gus, it's been a while since I posted something in the forum! I'm back in my project, then I need to come back here.

What are your opinions about how long a good beat 'em up should be? Does it depend on things (playing with someone by instance) ?

 

[Bloodbane]

For me, good beat'm up should last for an hour at most. That's for beat'm ups without save feature.
With save feature, the length will depend on content. If the content is deep, couple extra hours should be fine. But if it were shallow, another hour might be too much.

 

[Mr.Q!]

For me, good beat'm up should last for an hour at most. That's for beat'm ups without save feature.
With save feature, the length will depend on content. If the content is deep, couple extra hours should be fine. But if it were shallow, another hour might be too much.

This is right, I have been thinking about this for many years and the best/easy goal would be to achieve a runtime less than an hour, or close to old arcade beat em ups. There are several games in this age that go over 1 hour and despite being pretty looking and with lots of content, people will just leave it and never play it again, despite being that good (for me, that's what happens to me with Shredder's Revenge, for example).

 

[DCurrent]

The most memorable from golden age, as noted above, tend to clock in around an hour. These days, I would want a bit more content, but arranged as such that there are things to explore or routes to take. However, sessions within that world still need to avoid wearing out their welcome. Which means not just open world, recording, and saving, but also a curated layout. One that lets you play "complete" games or chapters that long enough to satisfy and short enough to keep fresh, even if they're part of a larger universe and story.

DC