Crouch. Crouch-Forward. Forward. Punch. If you’re as big a fan of the Street Fighter series of video games as I am, you’ll realize just how grand the whole fighting game genre has become. Other people may like to get their sports fix and countless others much prefer the first-person shooter (FPS) or real time strategy (RTS) genres, but for me, there is nothing better than a fantastically executed versus fighting game.
I’ve gone through my fair share of fighting games in my day, both good and bad, so I think it’s fair to say that I’m a relative expert in the field. I trudged through multiple versions of Clay Fighter, just because I thought the graphics were cool. With Street Fighter IV looming on the horizon, fighting game enthusiasts have yet another reason to get excited.
Well, let’s get out the ground rules for this top 10 list of the best fighting games of all-time. First, it must be a relatively conventional fighting game. This means that Super Smash Bros Brawl is not eligible, even if Solid Snake will be kicking some Zero Suit Samus butt in SSBB. Second, only one game from a given series can be included. This prevents having 9 Street Fighter games hog up all the spots. Lastly, it has to be a game that was/is available in North America. If you found a crazy JDM fighting game, that’s great… but it’s not eligible.
All that said, let’s have a look at what I feel are the top 10 best fighting games of all-time.
10. Virtua Fighter
Traditional fighting games are two-dimensional and typically use hand-drawn character sprites. Sega turned this on its head with Virtua Fighter, a fighting game that featured 3D polygonal characters, ushering a whole new era of fighting games. Arguably, it was Virtua Fighter that paved the way for future titles like the Tekken series and the Dead or Alive series. Sure, the gameplay wasn’t the best in the first Virtua Fighter and the polygons were huge, but man alive was it innovative for its time. The ring out concept was pretty creative too.
9. Time Killers
Mortal Kombat is usually the game that is credited for bringing video game violence to the forefront, but the brutality of Midway’s creation pales in comparison to Time Killers. The button configuration was quite different — five buttons corresponding to the two legs, two arms, and head — but it was when you pressed all five buttons that something incredible would happen: your character would attempt to decapitate his or her opponent. Meanwhile, you could also lop off their limbs. My personal favorite was Rancid with his chainsaw.
8. Fighting Vipers
Yes, Sega was back at it again. Enjoying the success of Virtua Fighter, they applied the same 3D engine to Fighting Vipers, another arena-based battler with some rather colorful characters. There are two main reasons why Fighting Vipers deserves mention. First, the armor system was interesting, because you could target specific body parts and they’d bust open after considerable damage. Second, Fighting Vipers introduced destructible environments and there was nothing more orgasmic that busting your opponent through the wall.
7. Fatal Fury 2
Andy Bogard, Terry Bogard, and Joe Higashi are probably the most recognizable characters from this SNK-developed versus fighting game, but it was when Fatal Fury 2 was released in 1992 that we were introduced to Mai Shiranui. In many ways, Fatal Fury (in all its different incarnations) was a rip-off of Street Fighter II. The same can be said about Art of Fighting, also an SNK title. But you know what? Mai is way hotter than Chun-Li will ever be, and this difference can be summed up in just two words: “Me bouncy!”
6. X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Tag-team fighting that combined two of my biggest obsessions, X-Men vs. Street Fighter gave us the chance to do two super moves at the same time. It was absolutely explosive to see Cyclops perform his gigantic optic blast alongside Ryu performing his Shinku Hadouken, filling the screen with a massive wave of energy. Wolverine was a natural favorite as well. X-Men vs. Street Fighter was truly original for its time and it ushered in a whole era of “versus” games, like Marvel vs. Capcom and Capcom vs. SNK. It’s called fusion, my friends. Fusion.
5. Primal Rage
Pretty well every other fighting game at the time featured human combatants, but Atari’s Primal Rage had ballistic dinosaurs and overgrown apes that released golden showers. The control scheme — which involved holding buttons and then doing a control stick motion — was a considerable departure from the norm as well. This may have been one of the most under-appreciated fighting games of our time. Who could forget playing caveman volleyball?
4. Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
If you don’t really like the supernatural, if you don’t like the idea of fireballs and super specials, the Tekken series is perhaps the best fighting game for you. Well, you can play as a panda and a kangaroo, but that’s beside the point. The sole reason why I selected Tekken 5 was because it introduced the character of Raven, a blatant copycat of Blade. But that’s okay, because he’s so freaking badass. Add in the portability of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection for the PSP and you’re in mobile fighting game bliss. Be forewarned: Tekken 5 is one of the more technical fighting games with one of the steepest learning curves.
3. King of Fighters ’94
This was the title that introduced the world to team-based fighting. We grew far too accustomed to basic one-on-one battling and while that remained as the core gameplay mechanic, you had to best balance the strengths of your team members to succeed in this game. In future editions of King of Fighters, you could custom create your chosen trio as well. Some may even say that KOF is better than Street Fighter.
2. Mortal Kombat II
Flawless victory. Fatality. The first Mortal Kombat got soccer moms crying to the government and adolescents scampering to the arcades. Instead of using character sprites, Mortal Kombat actually video taped their characters, making for some of the most realistic graphics to date. Unfortunately, the first MK suffered from some pretty bad lag… but this was fixed in Mortal Kombat II. We also got a bunch of new characters, including Kitana, Baraka, and Kung Lao. The introduction of Friendship and Babality finishing moves was quite surprising.
That’s a pretty heavy list of games so far, but there can only be one game that reigns supreme…
1. Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
You must have seen this coming. No list of best fighting games would be complete without some mention of Ryu, Ken, and the rest of the Street Fighter franchise. Perhaps the most difficult decision, however, was picking which Street Fighter game was the absolute best and I had to go old school and kick it with Champion Edition. Hyper Fighting got too frantic, whereas Street Fighter Alpha (Zero) and Street Fighter III added little in terms of originality. Champion Edition let us control Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M.Bison and that made it all worth it. No super fireballs or gigantic sonic booms; just straight strategy and skill. It doesn’t get any better than Street Fighter II: Champion Edition.
A few notable games that didn’t quite make the cut are:
- Fist of the North Star (Game Boy)
- Power Stone
- Marvel vs. Capcom
- Pit Fighter
- Soul Calibur III
- Street Fighter Alpha
- Pocket Fighter
- Killer Instinct
- Dragon Ball Z
- Rival Schools
- Samurai Shodown
- Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2
Michael Kwan is a freelance writer for Futurelooks and is also the brains behind Haduken Online, a site all about fighting games, all the time. If you loved this article, then you’ll love what Michael has to say at Haduken Online!