OP, I'ma ask.... are you for real, or is this just a bit?
Side-scrolling combat is what I grew up with, it's all I knew back then and it was good. I enjoyed Prince of persia, Castlevania, MegaMan, Robocop/Terminator side scrollers, Simpsons Arcade, Metroid, Contra, Chakan: the forever man, etc.
I still love that genre to this day, because it'll never age (it's about as timeless as Pong/Columns).
Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see
So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"