10 Best Fighting Games Ever Made Ranked

The fighting game genre has come a long way. There is nothing better than going over to your friend’s house or walking up to a random person at an arcade and dueling each other in a virtual fight to the death.

Not only were bragging rights on the line but dominating in the arcade also gave you control over the cabinet – until some poor soul decided to put their quarter or token in to face you. Fighting games are how legends were made back then and still are now. For our list, we only have one rule, only one entry per franchise.

10/10 Primal Rage

Vertigo and Sauron open their jaws to take a bite out of each other.Vertigo and Sauron open their jaws to take a bite out of each other.

In August of 1994, Primal Rage stomped its way onto the fighting scene and gave you the opportunity to fight to the death as one of a variety of prehistoric dinosaur gods. Each god had its own move set, special moves, and even finishers. You could even flip the gods’ human followers into the air and eat them.

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It was even voted the number one arcade game of the year – which the game proudly displayed on the boxes of its home consoles. It also used stop-motion animation which was a first for the genre. It’s just a shame that Midway decided to pull the plug on the sequel after it acquired the game’s developer Atari Games.

9/10 The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999

Shermie takes to the sky against Joe.Shermie takes to the sky against Joe.

The King Of Fighters: Dream Match ’99 is a remake and Dreamcast port of The King Of Fighters ’98. The game’s biggest improvements were cosmetic as it contained a new victory screen and other color-based improvements. Piling on extreme amounts of damage to your opponents was made powerful with two power gauges.

The Advanced Power Gauge allowed you to unleash devastating super moves as an extra power gauge allowed you to hit them with combos and chained attacks. The game also had a mode where you could pick three fighters from its cast of 38 characters and create your own three-person team to take on others if you didn’t want to just play single-player.

8/10 Power Stone 2

Falcon, Wang Tang, Gunrock, and Julia battle it out atop subsFalcon, Wang Tang, Gunrock, and Julia battle it out atop subs

What puts Power Stone 2 ahead of its predecessor was the number of new additions it brought to the table. It had a 4-player combat mode and multiple story modes – one allowed you to collect cards, items, and currency. It also added two more unlockable fighters (Pride and Mel) and added a second boss fight against a giant mechanical walker that was shaped like a multi-legged Pharoah.

The sequel also includes over 130 items that could be used in the battle against your various enemies during fights, and of course, it carries over the cool transformations and special abilities each character gets after they collect three power stones.

7/10 Soul Calibur

Sophita prepares to swing her blade at Seungmina.Sophita prepares to swing her blade at Seungmina.

Soul Calibur 2 may have included Spawn, Yoda, and Tekken’s Heihachi – depending on which console you owned – but the first Soul Calibur game introduced the ability to run around the game’s 3D stages freely which made avoiding attacks a lot easier and feel more natural than its predecessor Soul Edge.

The combat was really good, and playing as Voldo never felt any creepier. The Dreamcast port was even better than the arcade version – over 1 million copies of the port were sold – as it introduced various modes like Team Battle and Survival.

6/10 Tekken 3

Hwoarang and Jin prepare to battle each other.Hwoarang and Jin prepare to battle each other.

With touched-up gameplay features like improved graphics and faster gameplay, Tekken 3 was a vast leap forward when compared to its predecessors. It’s also notable for introducing the third-axis feature, allowing players to sidestep enemy attacks.

Jumping was more realistic in terms of height, and the AI was toned down as well, vastly improving the fights. This is especially noticeable during the game’s final fight against its main boss, True Ogre. Tekken 3 brought in a slew of brand new characters, including Hwoarang, Jin, and Mr. OP himself, Eddy Gordo. All told, this was a definitive high point for the series.

5/10 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Inkling hits Donkey Kong with a shot from her gun as Mario keeps his attention on Link.Inkling hits Donkey Kong with a shot from her gun as Mario keeps his attention on Link.

With its wide cast of characters – pour one out for Waluigi – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reigns supreme over its predecessors. The 2018 addition to the famous fighting series added two new game modes and all of its stages had battlefield forms, making the chances of dying even greater due to bigger blast zones.

The game also included a story mode filled with various challenges, allowing you to unlock more characters along the way. It also contains some of the most devastating special moves, especially King Dedede’s spinning rocket hammer attack. You can even perform ground attacks after running.

4/10 Killer Instinct

Glacious and Riptor prepare to faceoff in Riptor's chambers.Glacious and Riptor prepare to faceoff in Riptor's chambers.

From its epic 90s soundtrack filled with various techno and electric songs (its CD, Killer Cuts, is still one of the best things to listen to while working out) to its fast and iconic automatic combo system, Killer Instinct really helped set the bar for what fighting games could be. Even if you found yourself caught in the middle of an opponent’s combo, you could just perform a combo breaker to get out of their wheelhouse of pain.

The game also had one of the best sets of stages in fighting game history. Each character had their own unique stage which properly fit their look and background. There was nothing like performing an ultra combo as Orchid atop her stage, knocking someone off the building and causing them to crash land onto TJ Combo’s classic pink convertible.

3/10 Mortal Kombat II

Johnny Cage performs an aerial kick on Shao Khan as Kano and fans watch from a distance.Johnny Cage performs an aerial kick on Shao Khan as Kano and fans watch from a distance.

Mortal Kombat 2 came with an expanded roster (which included Reptile) and the character models were improved from the first game. The first game may have been the catalyst behind the ESRB’s creation, but Mortal Kombat 2 ranks third on this list and as the best game in the franchise because it introduced a variety of features that have become franchise staples.

Among these features is characters having multiple fatalities, and more stages like Dead Pool and Kombat Tomb being given their own unique fatalities. The game also introduced the ability to perform a Friendship – a kind, celebratory act – and a Babality which turns your opponent into an adorable diaper-wearing child. The game was also the first to use the DCS sound board, which all of the later arcade cabinets used as well.

2/10 Street Fighter II Turbo

Ryu gets ready to take it to M. Bison.Ryu gets ready to take it to M. Bison.

Street Fighter 2 Turbo upgraded everything about Street Fighter 2. All of the fighters in the game received new movements and animations and you could even play the game at three different speeds. The game also introduced super combos which could be used once you fill your gauge.

Street Fighter II Turbo notably marked the first appearance of Akuma, who is playable in the game by hovering over a sequence of certain characters for three seconds on the character select screen and pressing the start button. His entrance is pretty badass, as a note. Once you defeat M. Bison, Akuma comes in and disposes of him.

Iron Man calls upon his cannon to blast Strider and Ryu away.Iron Man calls upon his cannon to blast Strider and Ryu away.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has a sweet jazz-style soundtrack, a huge cast of characters, and a three-part boss battle. Unlike the first game and X-Men vs. Street Fighter, the game allowed you to create teams of three. This new feature also allowed you to stack your special meter to various levels. When you reached the ‘max’ level, all three of your teammates would join together on screen and unleash a barrage of special movies onto your opponent(s).

You can even call on your teammates to assist one of your characters during a fight, and characters who were tagged out by a teammate would sit on the bench and regain some portion of their health. Part of what makes this type of team-based combat great is that when tagging in a different partner, each would come in and automatically attack your opponent with a single move, mostly aerial. This allowed your character to get off the screen and not take any more damage as the one tagging in’s attack would push your opponent further away from the one tagging out.

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