According to Official Guinness Records,
The first ever side-scrolling beat-emup was Kung-Fu Master, released in Japanese arcades in 1984. Laying down the template for the genre, Kung-Fu Master featured multiple enemies, five side-scrolling floors and a clichéd storyline that revolved around saving a girlfriend. The game was ported to numerous home computers and consoles, and has been cited as the inspiration for a number of other series in the beatem- up genre, including Final Fight and Streets of Rage.
Featured in Guinness World Records Gamer''s Edition 2010
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