There are a lot of video games out there and in this day and age of mobile and home-based gaming, the choices have never been greater. So how do you cut through the noise and find the “Best of” for any chosen topic? Well, we’re here to help celebrate and shine a spotlight on some of the latest, greatest and unforgettable games through the years.

For our ongoing series of articles depicting the best video games, our attention this time turns to the best fighting games of all time. These titles offer addictive gameplay and a unique style that allows them to stand out from each other. They’ve also garnered a massive fan base who enjoy playing the titles from a casual and competitive end.

Of course, if we’ve missed any of your favorites, feel free to comment below, and we’ll get them added on!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a phenomenally large character roster, enticing gameplay, and beautiful visuals. It always garners worldwide attention whenever Nintendo promotes it via Nintendo Directs or social media.

While its DLC development has ceased, many fans can’t deny the amazing memories they’ve made thanks to this game. Whether those memories are small or large depends on the person you ask. Yet, the amount of raw excitement and hype surrounding its character reveals needs no explanation.

As for the game itself, it offers a lot of fun modes. You can even play the game with 8 other friends locally. The music also captures the game’s grandness and tone wonderfully.

If you haven’t played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you’re missing out on a lot!

Tekken 7 is a step above its previous entries in many ways. This title included unbelievable crossovers, enhanced visuals, and a powerful soundtrack. Furthermore, it offered fans a compelling final chapter to the Mishima storyline.

The gameplay offered in this title feels exhilarating and intense. As you play, you’ll feel the power behind a kick, punch, or grab manoeuvre. The ability to move around each stage’s 3D space also feels improved upon in the title, allowing you to dodge nearby attacks and grabs with ease. It also adds a layer of strategy to the fights.

The Rage Arts also make a fine addition to the game. They allow matches to feel more like a spectacle than ever before. Essentially, Tekken 7 does a lot to build upon its previous entries and includes just enough refinement to warrant a session.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 2D anime fighting game that broke fans’ perception of anime fighting games. Typical anime fighting games often feature over-the-top graphics and animation but never held the competitive viability of games like Street Fighter or Tekken because of their broken and unfair mechanics.

Dragon Ball FighterZ changed all that by giving anime fans what they desired, and this was a well-balanced, tuned, and fair fighting game. Dragon Ball FighterZ offers more than that. Not only did it manage to appeal to competitive fighting game fans, but it also generated hype from the initial anime audience that grew up playing its older more-broken action games.

It achieved this with its incredible cell-shaded visuals and approach to making the game feel like anime. Every punch a character throws is backed-up with incredible sound effects that echo the days of Dragon Ball Z. The game features cinematic finishing moves that copy the anime’s most incredible moments perfectly.

It’s a game full of love and passion. Considering the many DLC packs that have come out for the title, Dragon Ball FighterZ will remain an instant classic to all anime and fighting game fans alike.

Street Fighter II was an incredibly addictive and well-designed fighting game at its time. Any restaurant, amusement park, or diner that had a Street Fighter II arcade cabinet was met with much traction.

Fans loved its new depictions of characters like Ryu and adored its newcomers like Guile and Chun-Li. Both of which ended up becoming iconic characters in the fighting scene.

Speaking of fighting scenes, Street Fighter II also challenged the norm by introducing more complex controls and mechanics. Players had to practice to master the character’s different techniques and attacks. The sounds for each punch, kick, or super move felt right and captured the impact well.

For its time, the game pumped out incredible visuals. It was nice seeing colorful fireballs fly across the screen or to see a player make a comeback during an intense bout.

When it comes to long-standing franchises, it’s hard not to play homage to Dead or Alive. The series is mechanically easier to get into than Tekken but it features the same level of depth and colorful characters to boot. The combos are well done and it’s a very accessible series.

Dead or Alive 6 features great graphics and multi-tiered stages that come together to create an entertaining and competitive experience.

There’s also the story mode too, which focuses on 2 separate main narratives; the battle between Ninja and DOATEC VS M.I.S.T lead by Donovan.

Marvel Vs Capcom is one of Capcom’s most precious and impressive crossover fighting game franchises of all time. This game sought gaming icons like Mega Man and Ryu fighting some of Marvel’s finest like Wolverine and Iron Man. Its second entry, Marvel Vs Capcom 2 aimed to shatter fans’ expectations. It did so with elegance.

Marvel Vs Capcom 2 sought its popularity to skyrocket during the age of arcade fighters. This was the era where fans would frolic in arcades to challenge their friends and meet new people. Marvel Vs Capcom 2 featured an ensemble cast of up to 50+ beloved characters, more technical gameplay, better visuals and stages, and sharp and exhilarating music tracks.

While it adopted the 3 versus 3 formats of King of Fighters, Marvel Vs Capcom 2 introduced the assist and call-out mechanic fans still love today. This allows players to call upon another character to take their character’s place or for said character to utilize a devastating attack. This made matches feel tenser and more unique than ever before.

Marvel Vs Capcom 2 may be a relic of the past, but it left an incredible impact on the fighting game community. Here’s hoping we’ll see Capcom acknowledge it’s legacy more.

Mortal Kombat 11 is the latest instalment in the Mortal Kombat franchise. It features returning icons like Scorpion and Liu Kang, some newcomers, and many unexpected collaborations with famous film and comic franchises like Robo-Cop and the Terminator.

The action in this game is more brutal than in its predecessors. This is thanks to the game’s incredibly realistic visuals and graphics. The controls also feel great alongside the impact of your attacks. The characters also look better and feel more grounded in realism compared to past games.

The stages are also beautifully rendered and harness the brutal and dark tone fans love about the franchise. The game opts for quality over quantity with its modes. This is apparent in its story mode, which receives a massive overhaul in this title.

The story offers some incredible themes, sub-plots, and several emotional bits that are sure to keep you invested. Furthermore, the story’s climax is undoubtedly one of its best highlights.

If you haven’t played a Mortal Kombat game in a long time, I highly recommend giving its eleventh entry a shot.

Guilty Gear Strive is the latest instalment of the Guilty Gear franchise. This game offers engrossing gameplay, jaw-dropping visuals, and an empowering soundtrack. It’s developed by Arc System Works the same developers responsible for bringing fans Dragon Ball FighterZ.

Guilty Gear Strive leaps through unprecedented hurdles. It does so by featuring more simple controls that are far more accessible than previous entries. In this game, there’s less emphasis on performing complex combos through specific inputs and movements.

It chooses to implement more flashier attacks for players to utilize alongside easier-to-perform combos. That’s not to say that the game lacks depth. Each character still plays differently from one another.

The implementation of the Roman Cancel mechanic also allows players to create different set-ups for mild combos. Outside of mechanics, the game’s environment looks polished and mesmerizing. You’ll find yourself drooling at the amount of detail put into their landscapes and architecture.

Overall, Guilty Gear Strive chose to break down walls that separated casual and competitive players, thus uniting them all under one large roof.

Bloody Roar is a fighting game full of excitement. While a new game hasn’t been released yet, fans still adore and play the entries that are available. Some fans have even started incredible campaigns and tournament scenes surrounding its most beloved entry, Bloody Roar: Extreme.

Bloody Roar: Extreme offers incredibly technical gameplay, great visuals, and a superb soundtrack. This title contains the same “Beast Change” gimmicks fans love, but polished everything else from its gameplay to visuals. This game also adds more characters, each with their own personality and powers to tamper with.

The gameplay is technical and easy to learn. There is a button for everything from punching to blocking. You can even move within the terrain you’re given. This allows players to develop excellent sneak attacks to catch their opponent off guard. The stages are also well-designed. Some even include ways to ring out your opponent. In turn, this brings more strategy to the already great fighting system.

Soul Calibur VI was a “dream come true” when it was announced. It was many years since the Soul Calibur V came out. The poor reception Soul Calibur V received tarnished the series’s reputation in some fans’ eyes. Soul Calibur VI aimed to fix what it had ruined. Thankfully, it succeeded.

Soul Calibur VI offers incredible visuals, remarkable gameplay, and an irresistible soundtrack. The gameplay features the same one-versus-one matches but offers two new mechanics to change things up. These two aspects were the Reversal Edge and Soul Charge.

The former allows fans to block opponents’ attacks and deliver a counterattack. The latter gives players a timely power-up that grants them additional attacks. These two options helped redefine fans’ approach to the title, allowing the game to flourish and feel fresh. The game also features a well-written story mode, a robust character customization system, and a stellar online mode.

Hailed as the combo-king of fighters, Killer Instinct is a title drenched in excitement. This game offers spectacular visuals, unique characters, simple controls, and astounding voiceovers and music. It’s a game that glued many people to their computer screens and televisions.

This remake was developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Microsoft. It served as a reboot of the classic 2D Rareware fighting game and delivered on so many angles. The gameplay is simple and technical. You can dish out light and heavy attacks and a variety of specials.

The game also offers many different modes. These range from classic modes like Arcade, Story, Versus, Online, and Training. The Training mode is robust and offers you incredible tutorials that’ll allow you to practice multiple different combos. There’s also a ranking and leaderboard system that allows you to compare your wins and losses to players worldwide.

So, there we have it, our picks for the best fighting video games of all time.

What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!

Hey Zuhaib, that is a great shout! I used to play DOA2 way back in the day. I’ll add it to the list! Thanks for the heads up.

You forgot dead or alive 6…I got it recently and it was a hidden gem….I would say it is mechanically mich better than tekken…

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