Round 1: FIGHT!

It’s been a great couple of years for fighting game fans like me. I’ve been able to gorge myself on quite a few titles. Some have been pretty awesome (Tekken 7 and Injustice 2); one has been absolute balls (Street Fighter V). On the horizon, I have Dragonball FighterZ and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition (i.e. what the original game should have been out of the gate…no, I’m not bitter!) to look forward to. Yes, it’s been a good time for me.

Inevitably, though, I’ll get into discussions where my friends and I bounce around nominees for the best fighting game ever. Since I love so many of them, I have a hard time picking just one. But I can definitely narrow it down to five. And since I tried this gimmick once – actually, twice – I figured I’d do it again.

Following are my personal favorite fighting games of all time. These are the ones I personally love. I’m positive someone will disagree; if it’s Grumpy Joe, then he’s WRONG! I have a few restrictions for this list. First, obviously, the game must be a proper fighting game, a la Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. I’m excluding series like Bushido Blade, even though I love Bushido Blade II. Also, I will list only one game per franchise. There are plenty of fighting games to evaluate, and simply throwing three games in a franchise wouldn’t be right. Third, I will highlight the system I played the game on. It doesn’t mean that other ports are inferior. That’s just where I played the game the most. Finally, these games are in no particular order. I would go positively mad if I tried to rank these games from worst to best. I’m insane enough as it is.

Before I list my five favorites, here are a couple of Honorable Mentions:

Super Smash Brothers Melee (GameCube)

When I thought this list up, I really thought this game would be a shoo-in. It’s my favorite in the Super Smash Bros. series. My son and I played it to death. As much as I love it, though, I realized that there were games I loved more. So this title was left outside looking in.

Power Stone (Dreamcast)

The Dreamcast was a snake-bitten console; SEGA couldn’t have botched the console’s marketing any more than it did. But hardcore Dreamcast fans will quickly point out that it was THE system to have for fighting games. Power Stone, a Dreamcast exclusive, was one that I particularly enjoyed. My son and I played both it and its sequel incessantly. I preferred the original over the sequel for one simple reason: my son routinely beat me on the sequel. Seriously, he always handed me my ass on Power Stone II. Since I always returned the favor on the original, he never wanted to play it. So he’s the sore loser. Not me!

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast)

Remember what I said about the Dreamcast being king of fighting games? Yea, this game is one of the really awesome ones. I left it out because I just felt the top five were better overall. But this game is certainly no slouch.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Arcade)

This game is here for one reason and one reason only: Akuma. This game was his first appearance, and unlocking him was the first real arcade-wide phenomenon I ever experienced. But Super Street Fighter II Turbo did nothing else that made it more notable than the other equally excellent entries in the series.

With those out of the way, here are my Personal Top Five. SPOILER ALERT: there are three Dreamcast games in the list. I’m telling you, Dreamcast was king!

SoulCalibur (Dreamcast)

I did a Retro Review of SoulCalibur a while back. I gave the game a 10, an honor I bestowed on one other game: Final Fantasy III. It was a 10 as a launch title for the Dreamcast, and it’s still a 10 for me now.

SoulCalibur’s main gimmick was its 3D arena combat. Other games like War Gods and Battle Arena Toshinden tried to do 3D combat; SoulCalibur perfected it. The arcade version went under the radar. The Dreamcast version blew the arcade version out of the water.

In addition to the breathtaking visuals and excellent score, Namco polished the fighting to a high sheen. Combat was butter-smooth and highly satisfying. The inclusion of weapons gave attacks extra weight. Whether it’s cleaving foes with Astaroth’s massive ax or juggling them with Maxi’s nunchaku, it all feels amazing.

This being Namco, however, the disc was chock full of extra content. From Mission Battle mode to a slew of unlockable content, there was a ton to do. Finally, VGA support rewarded players lucky enough to own a computer monitor with even better graphical fidelity.

In my opinion, SoulCalibur is one the greatest fighting games ever made.

Samurai Shodown II (Arcade)

SNK’s Neo-Geo MVS was an arcade powerhouse back in the day. There were a ton of great games made for the hardware, including the Metal Slug series, the Aero Fighter shoot-‘em-ups, and my personal guilty pleasure, Neo Drift Out. Some of the best games on the Neo-Geo, however, were fighting games. And for me, the absolute best has to be Samurai Shodown II.

First, let’s get this out of the way. Haohmaru fights with a jug of booze at his side. AND HE HITS PEOPLE WITH IT! That’s it! Best fighter ever! I call it!

Humor aside, Samurai Shodown II is one of my favorite fighting games ever, and its roster is one of the reasons. The original game’s roster was packed full of crazy characters like Nakoruru, Earthquake, and Ukyo. The sequel brought most of them back, added insane new characters, and introduced a new boss in Mizuki, the only boss in the Samurai Shodown series to have assistance from a pet.

When I say the fighters are crazy, I mean it. Haohmaru, the series’ Ryu character, has his sensei join the fray in part two. He is an old man, similar in vein to Dragon Ball’s Master Roshi and Ranma ½’s Happosai. His name? Caffeine Nicotine. The name originated from the game’s director, Yaushi Adachi, being addicted to coffee and cigarettes. The character’s fighting style? Koka-In, a play on “cocaine.” I hope that wasn’t another of Adachi-san’s vices.

Having a roster of insane characters is all well and good, but it’s the combat that rules the roost in fighting games. Here, Samurai Shodown II also excels. This is the first fighting game series that featured proper weapon combat. That remains here and gets upgraded. The POW system was introduced here, giving players access to an ultra-super attack. Performing the attack was hard as hell, but landing it would cause the opponent’s weapon to shatter. Other attacks could cause the opponent to drop his or her weapon. The result was a very deep system that rewarded skilled players but gave novices a fighting chance. Throw in the extreme variety in character styles – GALFORD HAS A DOG! – and move sets, and you have one of the most technical fighting games ever. I absolutely love it.

Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (Dreamcast)

Back in the day, fans of SNK’s series frequented got into heated discussions with fans of Capcom’s Street Fighter series over which series was best. When Capcom and SNK announced that they were working on a collaborative fighting game, fans of both camps nearly wet their pants. I sure as hell did. The result of their cooperation, Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, was easily the most anticipated fighting game in eons. The game did not disappoint.

Just the sight of Capcom and SNK characters co-existing in one game is awesome enough. But the developers didn’t just settle for a straight-up fighting game with Capcom vs SNK. They devised a “ratio” system for the game. Fighters are assigned a Ratio, or strength, number from 1 to 4. Players can assemble whichever team they want, so long as the total Ratio of the team does not exceed 4. That makes the simple task of selecting your characters a strategic decision. Do you go with a team of four Ratio 1 characters? Or do you choose Evil Ryu, who is Ratio 4 (and unlockable), and take on all comers?

Your choices don’t end there. In fact, they don’t even start there. Before even picking a team, players must select a “groove.” This is the style of attack meter that players want. Picking the Capcom groove uses the attack meter from Street Fighter Alpha. Meanwhile, picking the SNK groove employs the attack meter used King of Fighters 98’s Extra Mode. That gives players extra customization.

After grooves, characters, and fight order are set, it’s time to fight. Sadly, Capcom vs. SNK doesn’t have the tag mechanic that the Marvel vs Capcom series enjoys. The fight order determines who fights first. The other team members are on standby until the first fighter is defeated. Also, the game sticks to the four-button configuration of King of Fighters games. It’s not a knock on the game, just an initial concern. Despite that, this game is beyond reproach.

For me, the presentation takes center stage. The stages have the more cinematic presentation the King of Fighters series uses. The fighters are also dynamic. They react when certain rivals or antagonists appear across from them. Ryo, for example, talks up some extra smack when he’s facing Iori. Those touches always get to me. The stages are also the absolute pinnacle of perfection. There is a mix of stages from both companies’ series, and there are tons of little details in them. To top it all off, there are scores of unlockables in the game.

My only real beef with the game was that Haohmaru wasn’t on the original roster. He wasn’t added until Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001. But the original game is still one of my favorite fighting games of all time.

Mortal Kombat (PlayStation 3)

Back in my arcade days, my feet were firmly planted in the Street Fighter camp. I had played the first three entries in the Mortal Kombat series but never got used to their control scheme. I always respected what the series brought to the table, but I deemed it unsuitable for me. It wasn’t until Cousin Jose dropped Mortal Kombat for PS3 – the ninth entry in the series – where I finally started to get it. Soon, I was curb stomping him in his own game. And I was loving it.

I spent a ludicrous amount of time playing this game, looking to improve my gameplay. Between Arcade Mode, Story Mode, the Krypt, the Tower, and Online, I consumed everything that the game offered up. The last game that had completely engrossed me to that degree was Final Fantasy III.  For a period of almost a year, I was absolutely in love with the game.

More importantly, playing Mortal Kombat made me appreciate the series’ fighting mechanics. Understanding it opened up the ability to play Mortal Kombat X and the Injustice series. That alone makes the game notable.

It also helps that the fighting is very satisfying. Fighting in SoulCalibur and Samurai Shodown II is full of heft, but nothing on the level of Mortal Kombat. Landing long combo strings feel immensely satisfying, partly because each attack has real pain attached to it. Those punches and kicks look like they seriously hurt, and dropping eleven of them at a time on someone’s noggin feels brutal. The fatalities are inventive, but they lose their novelty quickly. The Babalities, though, are an absolute work of art!

It feels strange to me that I put a Mortal Kombat game on this list and not a Street Fighter game. But the only game from Capcom’s series that would approach my love for Mortal Kombat is Ultra Street Fighter IV. And I was so tired of Capcom’s incremental versioning shit by then that I think I omitted that game out of General Principle! Still, Mortal Kombat is an excellent game.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Dreamcast)

THIS is the go-to fighting game. THIS is the game every fighting game should aspire to become. Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is, in my opinion, the single greatest fighting game ever. You can argue the merits of any other game in the series. And you might have some good points. But you’re still wrong. THIS is perfection!

And I initially scoffed at its soundtrack!

Never, ever forget that I am an idiot.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 took everything that I loved from X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom and took it to 11. It added tons of extra over-the-top gameplay, threw in just the right amount of steroids, and unleashed it on the arcades. I played the hell out of it there, but it was the Dreamcast version that made me an addict.

It was the first fighting game to do over-the-top 3v3 tag gameplay. The roster was unbelievable, sporting 24 initial characters and a mind-boggling 32 unlockable characters! All of the big characters from both universes were on display. The iconic characters like Ryu and Captain America were present. The X-Men were very well represented, with everyone from Wolverine to Spiral. The Capcom side had more expected characters like Morrigan and Felicia, as well as oddball characters like Tron Bonne and Ruby Heart. When filled out, the roster encompassed just about every style of gameplay you could imagine.

Combat is the game’s bailiwick, and it can be summed up in two words: purposeful chaos. When two seasoned players are fighting, bodies and projectiles are flying everywhere. The pace is absolutely relentless. And the Level 5 combos are screen-clearing attacks that dump an even hundred hits on unprepared foes. The arcade and, later, the Dreamcast kept pace, with all the frantic gameplay running as smooth as silk.

Then we get to the game’s soundtrack. Most fighting games feature pulse-pounding tracks that are energetic. Marvel vs Capcom 2 decided to trot out a funky jazz score. I love jazz and all, but it’s not what I envision myself hearing while I have Akuma rain fireballs from above. Though it was initially jarring, though, I learned to love it. It has actually become one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Hearing a couple of riffs puts a smile on my face every time.

Then one day I fucked around and downloaded and burned an ISO that promised a more “appropriate” soundtrack for Marvel vs Capcom 2. And I discovered that hearing DMX or System of a Down while pummeling fools is about as awesome as gaming can get. Now I would never encourage anyone to download an ISO and play it. But, seriously, go out and find it. Destroy it later, because piracy and stuff, but it has to be experienced at least once.

Digital Crack mate Punisher is about to lend me his copy of Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite. When he does, I’ll enjoy playing the game’s admittedly fun combat mechanics. But the entire time, I will be uttering the same phrase over and over: it’s not as good as Marvel vs Capcom 2. Because that’s impossible.