Fighting games remain one of the most riveting genres of video games, especially in their visual displays of action scenes. The genre is perhaps the only one in the hobby that allows players to duke it out in high-octane showcases of martial arts in fast-paced techniques in highly repetitive matches that remain at all levels a visual spectacle, regardless of the game. However, there’s actually more to fighting game history prior to the arrival of Ryu and his Hadouken in Street Fighter, or even Jin Kazama and the multitude of Devil Forms in Tekken.
In fact, 2022 marks the year when quite a lot of fighting games turn 30 years old. And with the relative youth of the fighting game genre, these 30-year-old games easily become some of the oldest titles in the genre, with some even forming the foundation of what players know today as fighting games.
8 WWF Super WrestleMania
If one could consider a wrestling video game under the umbrella of fighting games, then WWF Super WrestleMania is a must-play for players. Compared to other fighting games, WWF Super Wrestlemania gives players a hands-on feel on combat featuring some of the best wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation of the time.
Boasting a roster of eight (for the Sega Genesis) to 10 (for the SNES) wrestlers, the game allows players to make classic moves such as elbow drops, hip tosses, suplexes, and scoop slams that they normally only see on television. Not only that, but the game also allows players to perform these wrestlers’ signature moves, giving them the sheer feeling of awesomeness as they pave the way to becoming WWF Champion.
7 Art Of Fighting
Serving as both a spinoff and the prequel to the Fatal Fury series, the Art of Fighting introduces Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia of the Kyokugen Karate Dojo as they explore Southtown, a prominent location in both the Fatal Fury and SNK games at large.
The game was a 1992 release and introduced quite a number of concepts that niche fighting games would eventually use. For instance, this is the first fighting game to ever allow players to perform “Super Attacks” after players complete bonus rounds. Meanwhile, the game also introduced “Desperation Attacks” that are only accessible to players at low health and with a flashing health bar.
6 Streets Of Rage 2
With Streets of Rage protagonist Adam Hunter taken hostage by the enigmatic Mr. X and the Syndicate, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding have to team up to save the streets once more in this riveting sequel. Despite its nature as a beat ‘em up platformer, Streets of Rage 2 has advanced mechanics that make it vastly superior to other games in the genre, and much closer to being a fighting game with light side-scrolling elements.
Key to the game’s advanced mechanics is additional attacks on top of the usual standard attacks found in games of the genre. Streets of Rage 2 now provides new features - such as characters having unique Blitz Attacks depending on the direction button chosen, and Special Attacks unique to characters now replace the police car special from previous games. Not only that, the game takes a step towards true fighting game territory with a total of four (4) playable characters, and a PVP Duel mode where players can fight against each other, practically transforming Streets of Rage 2 into a fighting game for this mode.
5 King Of The Monsters 2
With the popularity of giant monsters in the early 80s to 90s, it’s natural for some fans to wonder what the world would look like if these gigantic beasts duked it out in intense combat. This is something fans can see in King of the Monsters 2, where the three (3) survivors of the previous games’ “King of Monsters” massacre now have to defend the world against hordes of aliens.
Compared to the previous game, King of the Monsters 2 features active side-scrolling elements that lead to a boss fight, all of which feature monsters players have to actively fight and grapple to submission. Characters in King of Monsters 2 are popular takes on monsters at the time, with Super Geon resembling Godzilla, Cyber Woo resembling a small mecha, and Atomic Guy resembling Ultraman.
4 Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition
While touted as an “updated” version of the original Street Fighter 2 release, Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition may as well be an entirely different game on its own with the slate of improvements it gave its predecessor. While it retains much of the gameplay from the original World Warrior edition, key changes from this update vastly improved the overall experience with the game - perfect for players who want a more personalized Street Fighter 2 experience.
Aside from the original eight (8) characters, Champion Edition introduces “Shadaloo Bosses” M.Bison, Sagat, Claw, and Boxer as playable characters, with Claw and Boxer becoming Vega and Balrog, respectively. Aside from these bosses receiving balancing changes to become more playable, the fighting styles of the original fighters were further improved to add to their differentiation - something especially observed with Ryu and Ken. Additional changes include palette swaps to allow players to choose the same character and even redrawn art.
3 Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Given the sheer popularity of Street Fighter 2 around the globe, it’s natural for players to be more eagle-eyed regarding the various improvements the game could still make. This prompted the release of Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting, an arcade release that is much faster and more dynamic compared to the original releases.
Fans of fighting games would have Hyper Fighting as one of their favorite Street Fighter games, and this is majorly due to both its personalization and mechanics balancing features. Chief among the improvements in Hyper Fighting is faster and more dynamic gameplay, increasing the movement speed of all characters for flashier combat but with the active setback of having more precise movements.
On top of balancing changes, these mechanics transformed Hyper Fighting into perhaps the most popular arcade iteration of the game. Not only that Hyper Fighting also allowed players to choose between traditional Champion Edition mechanics (Normal), and faster Hyper Fighting mechanics (Turbo) - choices that paved the way to the likes of M. Bison being an overpowered character.
2 Mortal Kombat
Hailed as one of the best games of all time, Mortal Kombat by Midway was a 1992 release that bloodied the world by storm - and quite literally. While seemingly set in yet another generic martial arts tournament, the eponymous Mortal Kombat will have the likes of Liu Kang participate to protect the Earthrealm from threats from various dimensions. Unlike other tournaments, however, Mortal Kombat rounds are fights to the death.
This is easily reflected in the title’s gameplay loop. In Mortal Kombat gameplay, one-on-one matches are conducted with eight-direction joystick gameplay as well as five (5) buttons, giving players a wide range of movement. Aside from the game’s unique usage of motion capture characters is the concept of the Fatality, special finishing moves that not only defeat the opponent for the round but do so in an extremely grisly fashion. Save for the likes of Injustice (from the same devs), Mortal Kombat is perhaps the only game to consistently include gory concepts in its gameplay loop.
1 Fatal Fury 2
After the demise of Geese Howard in 1991’s Fatal Fury, the King of Fighters tournament hailed Terry Bogard as its champion. However, Fatal Fury 2 shows a new nobleman sponsors the latest iteration of the competition, implementing new rules such as a global competitive field as well as one-on-one fights. And when this new challenger began defeating the top fighters from other countries, returnees Terry and Andy Bogard and their friend Joe Higashi have to discover the identity of this mysterious fighter.
Unlike the first game, Fatal Fury 2 boasts full control over the four-button configuration of the Neo Geo system. Players are now able to move more freely around the battlefield, paving the way for dash controls and even moving around planes seamlessly. Other complex maneuvers were also added to diversify combat, such as Evasion Attacks after successful guards, or even Plane Move Attacks that come right after plane shifts.