The heyday of fighting games was about twenty years ago. Most of the classic fighting games date from around this time, anyway. After a bit of a drought of top tier fighting games that lasted through the late 2000s and early 2010s, the last five years have actually been quite fruitful.
With the ever-growing popularity of the Evo Tournament, many development studios have become increasingly willing to invest more time and money to produce a top-quality fighting game. Now the market is flooded with so many excellent fighting games that many have gotten overlooked. We'll cover titles that might be obvious to most gamers, but will also have some fighting games that may not have received their fair share of the spotlight.
10 Tekken 7
It’s hard to believe the Tekken series is twenty-six years old. Tekken 7 was launched as an arcade game in 2015 and was ported to the PS4 and Xbox One in 2017. The character models in Tekken 7 are hyper-detailed and have very fluid animations. The backgrounds are very well done; although some of them are kind of minimalistic. Tekken 7 features 52 characters to choose from in total. The level of character customization in Tekken 7 is something almost unseen in a fighting game. Best of all are the guest characters that are available; the most notable of which are Negan (Walking Dead), Geese Howard (Fatal Fury), and Akuma (Street Fighter).
9 Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite
Yes, this game has its problems. Its roster of available characters is almost identical to Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and the new characters were not exactly welcomed by fans of the series. The roster is also on the short side when compared to other modern fighting games.
However, one cannot argue that the fighting action in Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite is not fun. The game also looks incredible and has great sound effects. This game isn’t for everyone though; this series has always been about tag team matches that are focused on juggling the opponent – meaning (basically) executing very long combos.
8 Dragon Ball FighterZ
There are many reading this that regard Dragon Ball FighterZ so highly they may not like it being put on the same list as Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite. This is absolutely one of the most polished fighting games ever produced. Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 3-on-3 tag-team fighting game that is also heavy on the “juggling” combo style. There are currently 41 available characters; which is about average for modern fighting games. The game does have problems with character balancing – some of the characters, like Bardock and Cell, are a little too overpowered.
7 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. is another fighting game franchise that has been around for a long time, and it seems like each version improves upon the last. Ultimate features a whopping 74 playable characters in the base version. More characters have been added over time; including DLC guest characters like Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury), and Banjo and Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie). More characters are scheduled to be added in 2021. A lot of gamers have criticized the Super Smash Bros. games as not being true fighting games, but more of a brawling focused franchise. This is mostly due to the battle arenas being large and multi-leveled. It is a fighting game though, and a fun one at that.
6 Samurai Showdown (2019)
The Samurai Showdown games were originally only available for the (very expensive) Neo Geo console. They were also among the few fighting game franchises that were good enough to compete with the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games in the late 1990s. A remake was made in 2019 – almost specifically to be used in tournaments like Evo. As it is intended for use in major competitions, it should then be no surprise that this game is extremely well made. Samurai Showdown features incredibly precise controls, large and detailed character models, and a well-balanced roster of 26 characters (including DLC).
5 Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
Street Fighter V had a very rocky launch; the most glaring problem was the lack of a one-player, or story, mode. Another common complaint was the small roster of 16 playable characters at launch. These are both very valid complaints. Capcom, knowing this franchise is its flagship, quickly remedied these problems.
The most recent version of Street Fighter V (Champion Edition) has a roster of 40 playable characters – though Capcom still needs to balance some of these characters better. It’s not as good as Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, but it is much better than any version of Street Fighter IV.
4 Injustice 2: Legendary Edition
The Injustice games are 1-on-1 fighting games featuring characters from the DC Comics universe. The series has a fighting style similar to the Mortal Kombat games – in other words, slower matches that are less frantic and more strategic. Injustice 2: Legendary Edition features a roster of 38 playable characters. Some of these are very interesting guest characters, like Hell Boy, Raiden (Mortal Kombat), and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There is still talk of characters from The Masters of The Universe franchise (He-Man) becoming guest characters in Injustice 2. The Story Mode of Injustice 2 is also a lot more developed than most of the other games on this list.
3 BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
The BlazBlue games from Arc System Works are some of the least known fighting games in the modern gaming era. This is a shame because the games in this series feature some of the best fighting game action to be found on modern systems. BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is a 2-on-2 tag-team fighting game with very large, colorful characters. The animation is top-notch, the sound effects and music are phenomenal, and fighting mechanics are easy for beginners to learn. There are 40 characters in total at present time; with many of the characters from the Persona and Under Night In-Birth franchises.
2 Mortal Kombat 11
The Mortal Kombat series is still alive and kicking after almost thirty years. The newest iteration in the series, Mortal Kombat 11, continues the tradition of giving players a ton of blood, gore, and those oh-so-disturbing fatalities. The base game had 25 playable characters, but with DLC and guest characters the total has risen to 34. Some of the guest characters, like The Terminator, Spawn, and Robocop, are very welcome additions to the franchise. Mortal Kombat 11 received some criticism from the gaming community after its launch, but most of this was due to cosmetic changes – like the costume changes made to some of the characters.
1 Granblue Fantasy Versus
Granblue Fantasy Versus is another fighting game from Arc System Works, and as such there are many similarities to the BlazBlue series. The characters in this game are very well drawn, have a unique play-styles, and have very fluid animations. There is a trade-off for these detailed playable characters though – there are only 11 to choose from. There are plans to add more characters via DLC in the next few years. The backgrounds in Granblue Fantasy Versus are another bright spot. The game’s backgrounds are highly detailed and feature some nice parallax scrolling. Fans of fighting games should definitely check out this hidden gem.