It’s no secret, I’m a big gamer and I’d like to say I’ve played some of the best fighting games about going all the way back to the Sinclair Spectrum. Bearing in mind I’ve not played them all so if there are some games you think I must be on drugs not to include, I’ve probably never played them. This is also down to personal opinion. Let me know in the comments. So, this is the top 10 best fighting games.
10. Urban Reign – PS2
Might get some stick for this one. I’m a sucker for a scrolling beat ‘em up. Fighting Force anyone? I loved Urban Reign. Kind of like a scrolling beats ‘em up/Arena fighter. Has unlockable classic Namco characters like Tekkens Law and Paul. The main character had some great moves, performing kicks that took out 2-3 enemies at once like a little cutscene. Typically, you unlock more moves as you progress. What I liked about it is you had an AI controlled partner in each battle. As you beat the bosses, they then became available as a partner. So that boss who was kicking your arse, that was so hard to beat is now on your side kicking the enemy’s arse. Awesome right.
9. God Hand – PS2
God Hand was one of the most fun and original fighters I ever played. Has some great tongue in cheek humour too. Not going to lie it takes a bit to get into. The main character controls like a tank but as you progress, get used to it and unlock some truly awesome moves like hitting an enemy to the moon and back, you soon get adapted. With each boss, you will find yourself selecting different move sets that work best for that boss and obviously, you have the God Hand. Your ultimate weapon.
8. Double Dragon – Arcade
Back in my top 12 retro martial arts games article, Double Dragon clocked in a number 1 so it would be a tragedy for me not to include it on this list. When you think of which Double Dragons, I’m mainly talking about the first 2 arcade games. No other port could touch them. Well actually Double Dragon on Gameboy Advance was pretty dam close and awesome so go check it out if you haven’t already and love Double Dragon. The sheer violence of the game at the time blew my mind. Throwing knives at people, grabbing people by the hair. Kneeing them in the face then throwing them off a cliff. What other game could you do that? Great stuff.
7. Tenchu 2 – PS1
I loved Tenchu when it first came out. A ninja master sneaking about lopping off heads and limbs left and right centre. Jumping across rooftops, grappling hooks and using all kinds of ninja weapons. I’ve loved them all, even Fatal Shadows all but my favourite by far was Tenchu 2. It upgraded and surpassed the original in every sense. More stealth kills, more characters to choose from, more weapons. What I loved the most is each character had their own separate story that interlaced with the two other characters each playing their own levels and fighting the own specific bosses.
6. Virtual Fighter series – All formats
No top ten fighter list would be complete without mentioning virtual fighter. Whether you love it or hate it when it first arrived it revolutionised the one on one fighters. The 1st of its kind and would wide smash hit that spawned many sequels and world tournaments. Who remembers the Games Master episode where the top Virtual Fighter player in the world, a Japanese guy took on 100 of the best UK Virtual Fighter players. The top ten being the cream of the crop and number 1 being the best about. He beat them all.
Easy to play, difficult to master especially the later versions such as virtual fighter 4. My favourite was Virtual Fighter 2. PlayStations answer was Tekken. It took till Tekken 3 for them to top Virtual Fighter 2 in my opinion.
5. Soul Blade/Soul Calibur – All formats
I mainly put this so high because of Soul Blade. My favourite of the series is still Soul Blade on the PS1. Best intro ever and had a great story mode. Liked it more than even Tekken 3. Best fighter on the PS1 in my opinion. But the later Soul Calibre games were also great. Had many great battles with friends on Soul Calibur 2.
4. Street Fighter/Tekken series – All formats
These obviously had to be in there and I really couldn’t pick between the two. So Why not both? When Street Fighter 2 came along on consoles there was nothing like it. Leaps and bounds ahead of the first one. Each character had their own style of martial arts from Karate to boxing to wrestling and even sumo. A hundred thousand sequels later it’s still great but I still prefer the old ones. Alpha 3 being my favourite. Nothing like fighting a friend then pulling off Akuma’s raging demon to end the fight and seeing the look of awe on their face. Similar to Street Fighter, Tekken also had characters that each had their own fighting style. Each button controlling a limb, i.e. Circle button is right leg etc. It meant you could string together some great 10 hit combos if you knew how. When I first got my PS1 with Tekken and watching that intro, it blew my mind. At college there were many Tekken 3 competitions, winner stays on. I notched up 15 wins at one point before losing. Tekken 3 also had Tekken Force mode which was better than most scrolling beat ‘em ups.
3. Def Jam: Fight for New York – Xbox/PS2
A lot of people are probably wondering why this is so high. But still, to this day it’s one of the best fighters I’ve ever played. I liked the first one but this surpassed it in every department. You could build your character from the ground up. Picking from 5 different fighting styles. Martial arts, kickboxing, wrestling, submission and street fighting. And then 2 more styles to supplement with. Depending on the styles of fighting you pick and in which order, by the end, your character would have completely different moves. My first character which I’ve been unable to replicate to this day by the end was performing Drunken Master punches, kicks and combos. Only thing I can remember is I pick Martial Arts as his first base fighting style. This character can then be used in the awesome story mode where you will unlock new clothes, tattoos, bling and of course finishing moves. On a side note, I’d stay away from the third instalment, Def Jam Icon. It was terrible.
2. Mortal Kombat Series – All formats
I always liked Mortal Kombat more than Street Fighter, why? Because I love a bit of blood and gore hence why I’m a massive horror fan. And you don’t get much more bloody than Mortal Kombat. As soon as it came out, I wanted it from day 1. Thank god I had a Mega Drive at the time and not a Super Nintendo. I’ve loved all the Mortal Kombat’s, even Mortal Kombat 4 and Shaolin Monks. The game needs no introduction and I’m sure I don’t have to explain it to anybody. So, one on one fighter at its finest. Later incarnations brought in combo’s and the awesome run button. In terms of pure martial arts, I thought Deadly Alliance was best for it. Not the best in the series mind. The way each character had 3 different styles of fighting was great. Wing Chun combos not working against this guy, switch to Hapkido. Naturally, the gore got ridiculous. The latest version having some truly stomach-churning detailed fatalities.
1. Shenmue 1 and 2 Dreamcast, Xbox
By far my favourite martial arts game of all time is Shenmue. I’ve been waiting over 17 years now for the 3rd instalment. Ryo Hazuki sets out to avenge his father’s death at the hands of Lan Di. Lan Di defeating and killing Ryo’s father in hand to hand combat right in front of Ryo using an unknown style of martial art. Back in the day, an unknown style was supposed to represent the top tier of martial arts. Hence Bruce Lee in Game of Death when he gets to the top floor to face Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem has an unknown style.
The amount of interactivity was mind-blowing. Could go to every room and open every drawer and cupboard in your house. In terms of fighting it was basically Virtual Fighters as a scrolling beat ‘em up but there are also many one on one battles. Learning new moves from masters and buying move scrolls throughout the game. Then you have to train your moves and home your skills. Only tedious part I thought was the Forklift race you have to do every time you start work. Was good at first but then tiresome. The 2nd one continues the story as Ryo travels to China in search of Lan Di. Meeting more people, masters and learning more fighting techniques. Shenmue was the first game to bring in quick time events. A lot of people say Yakuza on the PS2 is similar but it’s nowhere near as interactive and polished. Literally one of my favourite games of all time. If you’ve never played it and love martial arts then what are you waiting for?
Some honourable mention:
Sleeping Dogs – Xbox 360
Streets of Rage – Mega Drive
Final Fight – All Formats
Yakuza – PS2
Fatal Fury/SNK games – All formats
Kung Fu Chaos – Xbox
Die Hard Arcade – Saturn
Dragon Ball Z series – All formats
Dead or Alive series – All Formats
