The Fighting Game genre is one of gaming's oldest and most reliable staples. It's so simple - two people duking it out, mostly with punches, kicks, and special moves. Occasionally weapons might figure into the equation, but the point is that everyone knows what to expect with these titles, generally.

Related: Ranked: Top 10 Fighting Games of the 2010s

There have been a ton of great fighting games, but there aren't a great many that one can say have had such a lasting impact on the genre that they can be labeled "iconic." On the other hand, some come across as bland and less than innovative, generally just preserving the status quo (if they don't fall flat or fail outright). Today, we'll be checking out a few titles from both ends of the spectrum.

10 Ahead Of Their Time: Virtua Fighter

Virtua Fighter is among the very first 3D fighting games. Even if it's the first, a case can be made in calling it the first successful one. In addition to its innovations in gameplay, having a polygon-based graphics system inspired several other games to take on a similar art style and has helped lead us to the near photo-realistic graphics that we have today. Introducing the third dimension to fighting games allowed for many other 3D fighting games like Tekken to truly grow and innovate.

9 Too Generic: Street Fighter X Tekken

Speaking of Tekken, the one time that series tried swapping 3D for 2D didn't work out too well. Street Fighter X Tekken was supposed to be the first in what would be two crossover games between the legendary fighting game franchises.

Related: Tekken: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Alternate Skins Of All Time

The first was Street Fight X Tekken, which was Street Fighter developer Capcom's attempt, was seen as not only very lazy but also really cheap, considering it cashed in on such frowned-upon practices like on-disk DLC.

8 Ahead Of Their Time: Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat basically blew the minds of everyone who first saw it when it landed in arcades in the early 90s. This game's penchant for in-your-face violence and unprecedented levels of gore wowed gamers of the time the world over. The game's fatality mechanics literally started the whole "video games cause violence" bent that dominated industry-related news for most of the 90s. It also helped pave the way for not only more visceral fighting games, but more mature themes in gaming as a whole.

7 Too Generic:  Primal Rage

In an attempt to cash in on the hype surrounding violence in video games that followed Mortal Kombat, Atari and Acclaim came out with Primal Rage in 1994. The game had everything that the developers thought made people like Mortal Kombat - blood and fatalities - but with giant dinosaurs and apes. The game also had little cavemen that the players could eat to regain health. It was a decent game with a unique angle in some respects, but was clearly a cash grab and proved less than memorable in the coming years.

6 Ahead Of Their Time: Super Smash Brothers

The original Super Smash Brothers was set to be a game with entirely original characters, but that definitely wouldn't have caught on nearly as well as the final product did. In order to really make the game marketable, the developers pitched the game as a way to have the most iconic characters in Nintendo's lineup go head-to-head and duke it out.

Related: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 10 Spirits that Should be Playable

And the rest, as they say, is history. The wildly successful concept ended up spawning one of gaming's most iconic fighting titles, blossoming into a massive franchise with a rabid esports scene that's going strong to this very day.

5 Too Generic: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Having seen the runaway success of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Sony decided to try and throw their hat into the ring with their own version, and thus PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale came to beThe game had a decent amount of hype, as Sony has a lot of cool characters to work with. But the end result was pretty forgettable, especially when you compare it to the game it was meant to compete with.

4 Ahead Of Their Time: Bloody Roar

Bloody Roar was a game that, while not remembered too well today and very unlikely to get a sequel, had a significant impact during its time and even paved the way for some other fighting games to make their way to the west. Bloody Roar's premise was pretty simple, each fighter has a normal form, as well as a beast form that they can transform into mid-fight that provides more power. This game was what paved the way for more anime-style fighting games to make their way from Japan to western audiences.

3 Too Generic: Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct was a franchise that was really popular back in its hey-day, and when it was finally announced that it was going to make a return as a launch title for the Xbox One, fans were ecstatic. The game itself was well met by most gamers and especially by players that were looking to get into the fighting game genre. The problem is that it didn't have a lot of staying power with the community and it failed to build a strong professional scene.

2 Ahead Of Their Time: Street Fighter II

This is the fighting game that basically every modern fighting game owes some degree of respect to. The original Street Fighter II and its many, many different versions created many of the mechanics and characteristics that would go on to become staples of the genre and must-haves for any fighting game that wants to be taken seriously. This game coincidentally created the basis for what would become combo and juggling systems in fighting games, two of the most recognized and widely adapted mechanics in the genre.

1 Too Generic: Shaq-Fu

To be fair, generic isn't the right word for Shaq-Fu, as it's certainly... unique. However, absolutely terrible is definitely apt. This game was universally panned by critics and players alike, and for a multitude of entirely justified reasons - unresponsive controls, terrible graphics, and latency issues form the tip of the iceberg here. Even the box art indicates that good times do not lie ahead for prospective players.

Next: Street Fighter: 10 Things Fans Need To Know About Sheng Long