Summary
Fighting games have seen a resurgence in the past decade or so. Even if fans looked past the big three ofStreet Fighter 6,Mortal Kombat 1, andTekken 8, there are still plenty of options for them to dabble in. They could giveKing of Fighters 15a go, orSkullgirls, orGuilty Gear Strive. The really keen could even seek out more underrated games likeUnder Night in Birth 2 Sys: Celes,Pocket Bravery, andYour Only Move is HUSTLE.
The genre has been around ever since the mid-1970s, but fighting games didn’t come into their own until the 1990s. Older gamers may look back atKarate Champ,Way of the Exploding Fist,International Karate, andYie-Ar Kung Fufondly. However, when players think of the genre, they’re going to think of the best fighting games from each year of the 90s.
There’s a reason fighting games took off in the 90s, and it didn’t arrive until 1991. So, 1990 was a rather anemic year by comparison with little to no fighters reaching arcades or consoles. So,Pit-Fightergets the position of the year’s best fighting game by default. It was a rough game to play, even back then. But it was a big seller for Atari at the time and got ported to the SNES, Genesis, and the ZX Spectrum,among other consoles.
It used the grungy, underground fighting tournament setting years beforeMortal Kombat, but with an urban, action movie-like theme. While it lackedMK’s fatalities, players still had to watch out for weapon-wielding bosses and NPCs. If Atari were able to capitalize on its fame at the time, it might’ve outdone Midway’s future franchise and put them on the proverbial forklift above a mountain of cash. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
For some,Street Fighter 2: The World Warriormay as well have invented the genre, despite that big Arabic numeral in its title. In a way it did, as it raised the bar way higher than its predecessors. It was no longer enough to offer 1-3 characters to fight against each other and some CPU-only characters. Now they had 8 on offer, whose attacks could chain into each other if players timed them right, creating combos as a concept.
The cast became iconic in their own right too, offering diverse designs that let people know at a glance what they were about. The giant wrestler Zangief could be dangerous if he got up close, but the nimbler Chun-Li, the first playable woman in fighting games, could skip over him and jab him from a distance. As aged as it is now,SF2: TWWcreated the template every subsequent fighter would build from.
SF2’s improvements came quickly, withSF2: Championship Editionmaking the 4 bosses playable, andSF2: Hyper Fightingspeeding up the proceedings. Yet some fans wanted to see something new, andMortal Kombatprovided just that. It tookPit Fighter’s digitization and gave it a mystical kung fu spin, as mortals, monsters and gods fought each other to the death.
While it’s more (in)famous for its gore, the game also offered tightly designed characters, where even the palette-swapped ninjas Sub-Zero and Scorpion became iconic as individuals. It’s this attention to detail that made it stand out over the host of imitators it would inspire.Bloodstorm,Time Killers, and even the solidKiller Instinctweren’t enough to finishMKoff, as it still stands today as gaming’s bloodiest fighter.
With fighting games established, the following years would only get more competitive. 1993 sawSuper Street Fighter 2boost the old classic with new moves and introduced fan-favorite characters like Cammy.Mortal Kombat 2tightened up the controls, threw in more blood, and brought inthe likes of Mileena, Kitana, and Jax. However,Virtua Fighteroffered more than mere gameplay tweaks and character designs.
Its blocky protagonists and texture-less stages seem quaint today, but its impact went beyond fighting games. The game’s realistic animations and 3D models would inspire Core Design and id Software to makeTomb RaiderandQuake,respectively. Its success in the arcades would convince Sony to make their upcoming PlayStation console 3D-capable. It was a new path that led into a (literal) new dimension in gaming.
By 1994,Street Fighter 2was looking long in the tooth. Capcom had alternatives, likeX-Men: Children of the Atomand the firstDarkstalkersgame, but they were still releasing different versions ofSF2.Fans were left wondering when they’d finally count beyond two and makeStreet Fighter 3. They would do that eventually (though not before making prequels in theAlphagames), but they had one more release in mind.
Super Street Fighter 2 Turboremains the definitive version ofSF2. It provided the basis behind Capcom’s futureSF2tweaks, like its HD Remix andUltra Street Fighter 2. It’s the game that introduced its uber-secret boss Akuma, one of the franchise’s most iconic characters who’s rarely missed a game since. It’s also still played in tournaments today 30+ years later, holding its own next to its souped-up successors.
Virtua Fighterwas so hot in Japan that Sega made it a launch game for the Sega Saturn. Unfortunately, while it was profitable, the initial SaturnVF1port was buggy due to its rushed development. Luckily, if any Saturn owners had any buyer’s remorse,Virtua Fighter 2would cure it almost instantly. Arriving in arcades and on the Saturn in 1995, the game became the best reason to own Sega’s console.
It vastly improved onVF1with its smooth graphics and smoother gameplay, alongside some lavish stages that used real landmarks like the Coliseum and the Great Wall of China. The characters gained more dynamic moves too, with new characters Shun Di and Lion being particularly fluid with theirkung fu styles. Whether it’s the original arcade version or the stellar Saturn port,VF2is a joy to play.
By 1996, things were picking up.Tekken 2became one of many reasons to buy a PlayStation.King of Fighters ’96gave the series a graphical and gameplay overhaul with its new sprites and short-hop tactics.Street FighterEXeven saw the classic series take its first step into 3D, though it wasn’t a patch onDead or AliveorVirtua Fighter 3, which both hit the arcades this year.
So, what doesX-Men Vs Street Fighteroffer to beat that? It lets Marvel’s famous line-up of mutants join forces with Capcom’s classic fighters, swapping in and out of combat to defeat their opponents and build bigger combos with even flashier moves than before. With these team-based tactics and controls that were easy to use but tricky to master, the game would lay the foundations for thefutureMarvel Vs Capcomseries.
Tekken, the biggest name in 3D fighting games today, was originally aVirtua Fighterclone made by most of the originalVF1team for Namco in 1994. Both it and its sequel had more flavor than its rivals at Sega, with more characters, extra modes, and more, but their gameplay wasn’t quite as quick or smooth as the likes ofVF2orVF3in the arcades. This changed when Namco gave the series a soft reboot withTekken 3.
It stepped out ofVF’s shadow by catching up to the series in speed and animation, while having more intuitive controls thanks to its new sidestep functions. In addition to most of its old guard getting booted in favor of new, more exciting characters like Jin, Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, and Eddy,Tekkennow had the meat to go with its flavoring. Its 1998 PS1 port just topped it off with more modes and characters to play with.
1998 was perhaps the busiest year for the genre, where nearly any game released that year was a hot contender for this spot.Street Fighter Alpha 3,Marvel Vs Capcom,King of Fighters ’98, andJojo’s Bizarre Adventureare all solid choices for multiple reasons. But only one would become Metacritic’s best-rated fighting game of all time.SoulCaliburearned that accolade with some key improvements.
Players could now run in eight directions to control the area, escaping danger or forcing the opponent into corners or pits. Its characters could use more fanciful weapons like chain-swords and the giant Soul Edge alongside the usual katanas, daggers, and staffs. Its Dreamcast port the following year would further improve the character models, and introduce extra modes that brought its historical fantasy settings to life.
It’s tempting to go with a lesser-known fighter from 1999, likePower StoneorSNK Vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium. Even contenders likeDead or Alive 2andSuper Smash Brosare worth consideration. Yet it’s hard to argue their case againstStreet Fighter 3: Third Strike. Even if players put aside its gameplay, which drastically improved on its predecessors, they couldn’t deny its beautiful graphics and animations.
Or at least they can’t do so now. They couldn’t save it back on its 1999 release, where anything less than 3D was considered a backward step. Even fans at the time considered it to be the franchise’s tombstone. However, its gameplay gradually won over players, where masters could snatch victory from defeatwith some deft parrying. It’s why, unlike its old 3D rivals, it still pops up at big-name tournaments like Evo today.
