20 Best 4-Player Arcade Beat-'Em-Up & Party Games (& How to Set Up 4 Controllers on Batocera & TV)

Below is the technical breakdown of the 4-player vs. 2-player arcade ROM secret, a seller checklist, a 3-step guide to mapping four controllers on Batocera Linux, and the 20 greatest 4-player arcade brawlers and party classics ever built.

1. The 4-Player vs. 2-Player Arcade ROM Secret for Wolverine and Bart

Original 4-player Konami cabinets tie each hero to one joystick seat, so loading the 2-Player (2P) ROM on the 2Bluebox Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) or 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99) opens free character selection for one or two players.

Back in 1991, walking up to a four-player The Simpsons or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet at a pizza parlor meant standing at the joystick for your character. In the 1989 TMNT cabinet, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael sit on seats 1 through 4 from left to right. The Simpsons Arcade Game puts Bart and Lisa on the two right-hand seats, and Konami's X-Men ties each of its four or six mutants to a fixed seat the same way.

Growing up, my neighbor friend was always the one stuck with the Player 2 controller and its sticky buttons. Konami's seat lock is the arcade version of that problem, and at home the fix takes one menu choice.

When you boot a raw 4-Player (4P) arcade ROM with only two controllers plugged in, the emulator assigns your pads to seats 1 and 2, so Donatello and Bart never get a coin. Konami also built 2-Player versions of these boards for standard two-player cabinets, and both MAME and FinalBurn Neo (the arcade emulator core documented by Libretro) carry them as separate sets. Those 2P sets swap the seat lock for a character select screen:

In the game lists for both the 2Bluebox Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) (SEGAM-M8-V5.0 board, covered in our complete retro game stick 4K guide) and the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99) (detailed in our Portable HDD Super Console guide), you will find several regional and cabinet revisions of TMNT, The Simpsons, and X-Men. Search the title in the searchable 14,755-game list to see every set by name. If you are playing two-player couch co-op like the favorites in our 30 best 2-player couch co-op and versus TV games or our plug-and-play TV game console buyer's guide, open the 2P revision so both players can pick any hero.

Before you buy any of these, check where the box comes from. Retro stick and handheld listings on Amazon, AliExpress, and TikTok often share one product name while shipping different boards and microSD cards:

2. How to Connect 4 Controllers to Batocera for Multiplayer Arcade Games

To connect 4 controllers to Batocera for multiplayer arcade games on the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99), attach a powered USB hub to your Windows PC, open Controller & Bluetooth Settings, and assign P1 through P4 in seating order.

The 2Bluebox Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) is built around a dual-controller 2.4GHz receiver for instant two-player TV plug-and-play, so a four-player living-room brawl needs extra USB ports and x86 PC horsepower. Your Windows PC or laptop already outruns any original PS2 or GameCube. Boot it from the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99) (Batocera is a ready-made Linux arcade system that runs from the drive and leaves your Windows install alone), run an HDMI cable to your TV, and your computer becomes a multi-controller arcade station:

1. Step 1: Connect a Powered USB Hub or Pair Four Gamepads. Plug up to four wired USB pads (Xbox, PlayStation DualShock or DualSense, or 8BitDo pads) or four 2.4GHz wireless receivers into your PC. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) specifies 500 mA per USB 2.0 port and 900 mA per USB 3.0 port, so a powered hub keeps four rumbling pads from browning out a bus-powered splitter.
2. Step 2: Map and Lock P1 Through P4 Seat Order in Batocera. Press START on your primary pad to open the Batocera MAIN MENU, then select CONTROLLER & BLUETOOTH SETTINGS. Following the Batocera.linux Official Controller Configuration Wiki, scroll to P1'S CONTROLLER through P4'S CONTROLLER and assign each physical pad to the matching person on your couch (see our step-by-step Batocera controller mapping guide for button screenshots).
3. Step 3: Launch the 4-Player Arcade ROM and Drop Coins Per Seat. Open the MAME, FBNeo, or Arcade collection from the main carousel and boot the 4-player cabinet version of X-Men, The Simpsons, or TMNT. Each player presses SELECT on their own pad to trigger their coin chute (Chute 1 to Chute 4), then presses START to jump into the fight together.

Once your four controllers are assigned to P1–P4, Batocera passes those player slots to its MAME, FinalBurn Neo, Flycast, Dolphin, and PCSX2 emulators. In most cases you won't touch a config file when you switch from a 1991 arcade brawler to a 2003 GameCube party game:

3. Konami and Capcom 4-Player Beat-'Em-Ups: The Arcade Titans (#1–#12)

Konami and Capcom 4-player beat-'em-ups peaked from 1989 to 1997 with Turtles in Time, The Simpsons, and X-Men; run them with four pads on the 2Bluebox Portable HDD 500GB ($64.99), or as 2P sets on the 2Bluebox Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98).

Before diving into individual cabinet strategies, use this master compatibility table to check player counts, 2P vs. 4P ROM choices, and hardware fit for all 20 games in this guide.

"Tested on our unit" means we found the title in the game list exported from our own 2Bluebox Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) (/pages/all-games) or 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99) (/pages/hdd-super-console-game-list). "Community reports" means 3D performance depends on your PC and comes from Batocera user reports.

Here is how the 12 core arcade beat-'em-up titans play when you gather your crew around the TV:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989 · Konami Arcade, 4-Player)

Konami's 1989 quarter-eater ignited the 4-player arcade boom, dropping Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael into a burning apartment building to rescue April O'Neil. Donatello's bo staff gives you the longest safe reach against Foot Soldiers and Baxter Stockman, while pressing Jump + Attack triggers a spinning screen-clear attack.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (1991 · Konami Arcade / SNES, 4-Player)

A benchmark for side-scrolling brawlers, Turtles in Time adds dash attacks, shoulder tackles, and the famous move where you hurl Foot Soldiers straight at the camera. Both the 4-player arcade board and the SNES port appear in the TMNT entries on /pages/all-games.

3. The Simpsons Arcade Game (1991 · Konami Arcade, 4-Player)

After Smithers runs off with a stolen diamond and baby Maggie, the Simpson family charges across Springfield using a vacuum cleaner (Marge), skateboard (Bart), jump rope (Lisa), and bare fists (Homer). Stand two characters side by side and press Attack to pull off a team move, like locking hands and rolling across the screen together.

4. X-Men: The Arcade Game (1992 · Konami Arcade, 4-Player / 6-Player)

Famous for its booming digitized voice clips ("Welcome to die!"), Konami's X-Men puts Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler against waves of Sentinels, Juggernaut, and Magneto on Asteroid M. With unlimited virtual coins on SELECT, your group can keep spending health on mutant power attacks without running out of quarters.

5. Sunset Riders (1991 · Konami Arcade, 4-Player)

Trading fists for six-shooters and shotguns, Sunset Riders is a four-player Wild West run-and-gun where bounty hunters Steve, Billy, Bob, and Cormano leap across galloping horses, saloon balconies, and speeding trains. Cormano's wide shotgun spread makes him the top pick for newcomers; load the 2P set if you want to select Cormano with two pads.

6. Captain Commando (1991 · Capcom CPS1, 4-Player)

Set in a crime-ridden Metro City of the year 2026, Capcom's 4-player CPS1 brawler teams up Captain Commando, Mack the Knife (an alien mummy with dual blades), Ginzu the Ninja, and Baby Head (a genius toddler piloting a mech). You can knock enemy riders off their mech suits and drive the suits across the stage yourself.

7. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (1996 · Capcom CPS2, 4-Player)

Capcom blended fighting-game command inputs with tabletop RPG leveling, branching paths, and an on-screen item and spell menu for four players choosing from six classes (Fighter, Dwarf, Elf, Cleric, Thief, and Magic-User). Unlike early Konami boards, Capcom's CPS2 gives every player a full character selection screen on both 2P and 4P setups.

8. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1993 · Capcom CPS2, 4-Player)

The prequel to Shadow over Mystara, Tower of Doom sets a deliberate, tactical pace where shield blocking, oil flasks, and Cleric healing spells decide whether your four-person party survives the lich Deimos. Playing Tower of Doom back-to-back with Shadow over Mystara feels like running a real tabletop campaign in one evening.

9. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (1993 · Capcom CPS1, 3-Player)

Though built as a simultaneous 3-player cabinet, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs belongs in every party rotation for its smooth CPS1 sprite work and a driving stage where you plow through poachers in a vintage Cadillac. Jack Tenrec, Hannah Dundee, Mustapha Cairo, and Mess O'Bradovich are all open on the select screen.

10. Gauntlet II (1986 · Atari Games, 4-Player)

Before side-scrolling brawlers took over, Atari's top-down maze crawler made 4-player co-op panic famous as Thor the Warrior, Thyra the Valkyrie, Merlin the Wizard, and Questor the Elf fought through ghosts while the cabinet voice warned "Red Warrior needs food badly!" On an emulator, your health pool never runs out of virtual quarters.

11. Battle Circuit (1997 · Capcom CPS2, 4-Player)

Capcom's final CPS2 beat-'em-up is a colorful sci-fi romp starring Cyber Blue, Captain Silver, Yellow Iris, Alien Green (a giant Venus flytrap), and Pink Ostrich (a girl riding a battle ostrich). Between stages, your four-player squad spends earned points to buy new special moves and stat upgrades.

12. Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992 · Sega System 32, 4-Player)

Never ported to home consoles during the 1990s, this Sega System 32 arcade exclusive upgrades the fantasy hack-and-slash formula with scaling sprites, four heroes (Stern Blade, Dora the Centauride, Goah the Giant carrying Gillius Thunderhead, and Little Trix), and rideable beasts. Its heavier board is why we point it to the Batocera drive.

4. Console and 3D 4-Player Retro Games for Party Nights (#13–#20)

When your group wants competitive trash-talk alongside co-op brawling, these eight 4-player retro games span arcade sports (NBA Jam TE, WWF WrestleFest), 16-bit bomb arenas (Super Bomberman 2), and 3D party classics on the 2Bluebox Portable HDD 500GB ($64.99).

Here are the eight best arcade sports and console party games for a four-controller couch night:

13. NBA Jam Tournament Edition (1994 · Midway Arcade / SNES, 4-Player)

Two-on-two arcade basketball with zero fouls, full-court shoves, and a flaming ball once a player hits three straight baskets ("He's on fire!"). Playing 2-on-2 with four pads turns every buzzer-beater into a living-room shouting match.

14. WWF WrestleFest (1991 · Technos Japan Arcade, 4-Player)

Built by the creators of Double Dragon, WWF WrestleFest lets four players clash in either a Saturday Night's Main Event tag match against the Legion of Doom or a Royal Rumble featuring Hulk Hogan, Earthquake, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Mashing buttons to kick out of a pinfall or toss a friend over the top rope keeps all four pads busy.

15. Super Bomberman 2 (1994 · SNES, 4-Player)

While the story campaign is solo, the 4-player Battle Mode is pure psychological warfare inside a grid of destructible blocks. Grabbing the kick boot, fire-up icons, and skull curse items leads to hilarious last-second self-traps as the sudden-death blocks close in.

16. Gauntlet Dark Legacy (2000 · Midway Arcade / PS2 / GameCube, 4-Player)

Expanding Atari's maze formula into 3D fantasy realms with eight classes (including the Jester, Sorceress, Minotaur, and Knight), Gauntlet Dark Legacy lets four players save their leveled-up heroes and gold to the virtual memory card on the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99).

17. Power Stone 2 (2000 · Capcom NAOMI / Dreamcast, 4-Player)

Capcom expanded its 3D arena fighter to four players battling across collapsing airships, submarine decks, and rolling boulders. Everyone scrambles to collect three Power Stones to transform into a super-powered form while throwing chairs and grabbing turrets, all running on Batocera's Flycast Dreamcast emulator.

18. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003 · Nintendo GameCube, 4-Player)

The only Mario Kart built around two riders per kart: with four controllers plugged into your Batocera PC, you can race four separate karts in split-screen Grand Prix or pair up into two karts where one player steers while the backseat partner punches rivals and times Red Shells.

19. Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001 · Nintendo GameCube, 4-Player)

Still the reference point for 4-player platform fighters, Melee runs on the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Batocera 500GB ($64.99) through the Dolphin emulator, so four players can battle across Hyrule Temple, Corneria, and Final Destination. How smooth it feels at higher resolutions depends on your PC's graphics chip.

20. Def Jam: Fight for NY (2004 · PS2 / GameCube, 4-Player)

Built with AKI, the studio behind WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF No Mercy, Def Jam: Fight for NY pits four fighters against each other in gritty underground rings where you mix fighting styles and slam opponents into the surrounding crowd (listed in /pages/hdd-super-console-game-list).

Whether your crew wants a quick two-player nostalgia run through Turtles in Time on the living-room TV ($59.98), a full four-controller PC party spanning X-Men, Power Stone 2, and Double Dash!! ($64.99), or a solo handheld for flights ($79.99), compare our three systems below:

5. Frequently Asked Questions

6. Conclusion & Further Reading

Four-player arcade beat-'em-ups were built to turn a noisy room of friends into a cheering squad: sharing pizza slices between stages of Turtles in Time, arguing over who gets the roast chicken in Captain Commando, and yelling for a Cleric heal in Shadow over Mystara. Once you know the difference between a seat-locked 4P ROM and a free-select 2P ROM, you can set up the exact experience your living room needs without spending several hundred dollars on a single-franchise cabinet.

Plug in the hub, hand out four controllers, drop a stack of virtual quarters into X-Men, and press Start tonight. — Liam Parker, Head of Retro Gaming & Hardware Testing at 2Bluebox

Further Reading & Resources

• Parent vs. Clone Arcade ROM Sets (4P Seat-Locked vs. 2P Character-Select): Libretro FinalBurn Neo (FBNeo) & MAME Arcade ROM Documentation (Libretro Docs)
• Multi-Controller Port Assignment (P1–P8): Batocera.linux Official Wiki: Configure a Controller & Player Order (Batocera Wiki)
• USB 2.0 & 3.0 Port Power (500 mA vs. 900 mA, Bus-Powered vs. Self-Powered Hubs): USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) Document Library (USB-IF)