Armored Warriors

Known in Japan as Powered Gear, Capcom's 1994 CPS-2 side-scrolling brawler supports up to three players piloting Variant Armor mechs against the Raia Empire's invasion of humanity's 22nd-century colonial star systems. The game's standout mechanic lets players tear limbs from defeated enemy mechs and bolt them onto their own frames mid-battle — cannons, chainsaws, drills, and flamethrowers all swap in seamlessly. Discarding your mech's leg units transforms it into a tank or flight mode. With hundreds of possible weapon combinations, branching stage routes, and a sweeping sci-fi war narrative, Armored Warriors remains one of Capcom's most inventive entries in the beat-'em-up genre.