As a love letter to 90s and action movies and classic beat-em-ups,Midnight Fight Expresssucceeds in being one of the more unique brawlers available. There are pop culture references aplenty as one works their way through various levels of bad guys and street punks.
The game empowers the player by giving them the ability to defeat large numbers of enemies at once in free-flowing combat.Midnight Fight Expresshas one of the most cinematic and accessible systems in gaming. The brutal combat system gradually opens up as the game’s story progresses, and its sense of style will keep players coming back for more. Once players have exhausted every aspect ofMidnight Fight Express, there are other gloriously violent and stylish action games they should try.
8Batman Arkham Series
WhenBatman: Arkham Asylumlaunched in 2009, it proved that licensed superheroes could be good in the right hands. The stealth mechanics rivaled the best in the genre, and the combat was revolutionary.
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TheArkhamseries' combat system is an influence onMidnight Fight Express.There is a lot more to theArkhamseries than just combat, but the free-flowing fighting will keep fans ofMidnight Fightentertained for hours. There are combat-based challenge modes where Batman has to fight waves of enemies.Batman: Arkham Originsis the most underrated in the series andhas some of the best combat scenarios. The boss fights in particular are the best, and a standout fight against Deathstroke is far more satisfying than the disappointing tank fight inArkham Knight.
7Streets Of Rage 4
Midnight Fight Expressis like a modern-day equivalent of classic side-scrolling beat-em-upsDouble Dragon, Final Fight,andStreets of Rage. One of the most popular and modern entries in the beat-em-up genre isStreets of Rage 4,and it’s better than ever.
The combat isn’t free-flowing, but there is still fun in beating up waves of villainous goons on the street. The combat system and story have a surprising amount of depth and longevity. There are also online and local co-op modes to get more out of the game.
6Sleeping Dogs
Open-world titleSleeping Dogsis an action game set in Hong Kong. It significantly uses theGrand Theft Autoformula but places players in the shoes of an undercover cop named Wei. UnlikeGTA,Wei is a good guy instead of a criminal, but gets pulled in too deep with his undercover work as a Triad.
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Where it improves on the standardGTAformula is the combat system. LikeMidnight Fight Express,it uses a free-flowing fighting system. It implements Kung Fu and takes inspiration from classic Hong Kong movies and martial arts stars like Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, and Jackie Chan.Ten years on,Sleeping Dogsis still one of the best action games available.
5The Hong Kong Massacre
As a game influenced by 1990s action movies, fans ofMidnight Fight Expressshould enjoyThe Hong Kong Massacre. The top-down action game is set in 1990s Hong Kong and takes inspiration from John Woo movies likeHard BoiledandThe Killer.
However, instead of a brawler,The Hong Kong Massacreis a brutally tough shooting game where each level functions as a puzzle the player must solve. Clearing enemies in a level takes timing, skill, and patience. Succeeding by pulling off slow-motion dives and bullet time mechanics is an incredibly satisfying feat in its accomplishment.
4Hotline Miami
In addition to 90s pop culture,Midnight Fight Expressappears to take many of its influences from theHotline Miamiseries. In addition to the ultra-violence, both games share a surreal aesthetic in their storytelling and characters.
Moreover,Hotline Miamiis a top-down shooter with an excellent soundtrack and arguably better storytelling thanMidnight Fight Express. In 2015, the sequelHotline Miami 2: Wrong Number wasreleased to critical acclaim and is even darker and more intense than its predecessor.
3John Woo’s Stranglehold
Released in 2007,John Woo’s Strangleholdis a sequel to the John Woo-directedHard Boiledstarring Chow Yun Fat. Chow Yun Fat returns to the role of Tequila as he’s on a quest to find his daughter.
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John Woo directed some of the most iconic action movies of the 90s and early 2000s. He is known for his use of slow motion and ballet-like shootouts. In addition to his famous Hong Kong movies, he directedFace Off,Hard Target,andMission Impossible 2.His movies were a huge influence on theMax Payneseries.
2Max Payne 3
As stated above, the John Woo movies inspired theMax Payneseries, and the best of them is arguably the last game in the trilogy,Max Payne 3. Like its predecessors,Max Payne 3is an intense shooter with balletic gunplay and slow-motion bullet time mechanics.
There’s no hand-to-hand combat, but fans ofMidnight Fight Expresswill enjoy the non-stop action and 90s movie feel. Thanks to the backward compatibility feature on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S,Max Payne 3is often found at bargain prices on the Xbox Store. The developers of the first two games are currentlyremaking the first two games in the series.
1Sifu
Sifuis a rogue-like martial arts game that implements a free-flowing combat system and an art style not dissimilar toMidnight Fight Express. The game isn’t as surreal, and the repetition of the rogue-like mechanics makes it a fundamentally different game.
However, thanks to its combat system and how players can take down multiple enemies at once using their hands, weapons, and the environment, one can confidently recommendSifuas a great alternative toMidnight Fight Express. LikeMidnight Fight Express,Sifuis inspired by Hong Kong cinema.
Midnight Fight Expressis available now for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
