List of fighting games

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Fighting games are characterized by close combat between two fighters or groups of fighters of comparable strength, often broken into rounds or stocks. If multiple players are involved, players generally fight against each other.

Contents

Note: Games are listed in a "common English title/alternate title – developer" format, where applicable.

General

2D

Fighting games that use 2D sprites. Games tend to emphasize the height of attacks (high, medium or low) and jumping.

2.5D

2.5D fighting games are displayed in full 3D graphics, but the movement and gameplay is based on traditional 2D style games.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

Weapon-based

Adding melee weapons to a fighting game often makes attack range more of a factor, as opponents may wield a sword, knife, katana or other kind of weapon of drastically different sizes.

2D

Fighting games that use 2D sprites. Games tend to emphasize the height of attacks (high, medium or low) and jumping.

2.5D

2.5D fighting games are displayed in full 3D graphics, but the movement and gameplay is based on traditional 2D style games.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

Tag team-based

Fighting games that feature tag teams as the core gameplay element. Teams of players may each control a different character, or a single player may control multiple characters, but play one at a time. Other fighters feature tag-teaming as an alternate game mode.

2D

Fighting games that use 2D sprites. Games tend to emphasize the height of attacks (high, medium or low) and jumping.

2.5D

2.5D fighting games are displayed in full 3D graphics, but the movement and gameplay is based on traditional 2D style games.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

Platform fighters

While traditional 2D/3D fighting game mechanics are more or less descendants of Street Fighter II , platform fighters tend to blend fighting with elements taken from platform games. A typical match is arranged as a battle royal. Compared to traditional fighting games, attack inputs are simpler and emphasis is put on dynamic maneuvering in the arena, using the level design to gain an advantage. Another major gameplay element involves using items, which may randomly spawn anywhere in the arena. Other terms which were used to refer to this sub-genre included "Smash Clones", "Party Brawler", "Party Fighter", and "Arena Fighter" (that is also being used to define another style of 3D fighting game).

2D

Fighting games that use 2D sprites. Games tend to emphasize the height of attacks (high, medium or low) and jumping.

2.5D

2.5D fighting games are displayed in full 3D graphics, but the movement and gameplay is based on traditional 2D style games.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

Arena fighters

Arena Fighters usually focuses on more free-controlling 3D movement and camera which follows the character, unlike other traditional 3D fighting games such as the Tekken series that still maintain the sideview and side-scrolling orientation to the attacks, and normally puts emphasis on offense over defense. Games are often based on popular anime series or other IPs.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

4-way simultaneous fighting

Games in which four players face off at once. Other games may feature 4-way fighting as alternate game modes, but here it is more central to the way the game is usually played.

2D

Fighting games that use 2D sprites. Games tend to emphasize the height of attacks (high, medium or low) and jumping.

2.5D

2.5D fighting games are displayed in full 3D graphics, but the movement and gameplay is based on traditional 2D style games.

3D

3D fighting games add three-dimensional movement. These often emphasize sidestepping.

Sports (combat) subgenres

Sports-based combat (also known as sport-fighters or combat sports games) are games that fall firmly within both the Combat and Sports game genres. Such games are usually based on boxing, mixed martial arts, and wrestling, and each sport is seen as their own separate subgenres. The combat is often far more realistic than combat in fighting games (though the amount of realism can vary greatly), and many feature real-world athletes and franchises.

Boxing

Boxing games go back further than any other kind of fighting game, starting with Sega's Heavyweight Champ in 1976, the game often called the first video game to feature hand-to-hand fighting. Fighters wear boxing gloves and fight in rings, and fighters can range from actual professional boxers to aliens to Michael Jackson.

Boxing management

Boxing games where combat is not directly human-controlled in the ring. Instead, a boxer is trained via a resource management game scheme, and bouts are directed via instructions given prior to each round.

Mixed martial arts

While most versus fighting games could be considered mixed martial arts games, listed here are games that are based on actual MMA franchises or tournaments.

Kickboxing

Wrestling

Wrestling games are either based on or have elements of wrestling, such as professional wrestling, grappling, or the wrestling ring itself.

Wrestling video games based on WWE/WWF properties.

Ball/Disc sports

Games involving flying objects that can include balls and discs, where the players can only interact with each other through the object, and may or may not feature goalposts.

By theme

Anime-based fighting games

Games based on popular anime series and 3D variants often feature cell shading. "Anime fighters" also usually have very fast-paced action and put emphasis on offense over defense. Another common feature is that they typically have fighting systems built around doing long combos of dozens of attacks. Overall they appear in a variety of fighting game sub-genres.

2D

2.5D

3D

Crossover

Fighting games featuring characters from more than one franchise. Typically, these consist of characters across multiple game and/or comic franchises. Others are initially singular franchises featuring guest characters, often via DLC.

Eroge

Fighting eroge (erotic games). Fighting games with pornographic elements.

Mech

Fighters with a mecha or robot theme.

Monster/Kaiju

These games feature monsters as playable characters, usually set in destructible city environments.

RPG

Fighting games with RPG elements, like character building or variable storylines.

Super deformed

Super deformed refers to a popular type of Japanese caricature where the subject is made to have exaggerated toddler-like features, such as an oversized head and short chubby limbs. Their movements and expressions while super deformed also tend to be exaggerated.

Music

Fighting Games with Music elements.

See also

Related Research Articles

The fighting game genre of video games involves combat between multiple characters, often one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining attacks together into "combos". Characters generally engage hand-to-hand combat, often with martial arts, but some may include weaponry. Battles are usually set in a fixed-size arena along a two-dimensional plane, where characters navigate the plane horizontally by walking or dashing, and vertically by jumping. Some games allow limited movement in 3D space, such as Tekken and Soulblade while some are set in fully three-dimensional environments without restricting characters' movement, such as Power Stone and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm; these are sometimes referred to as "3D arena" fighting games.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">CyberConnect2</span> Japanese video game developer

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<i>Naruto: Ultimate Ninja</i> Video game franchise

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, known in Japan as the Naruto: Narutimate Series, is a series of fighting video games, based on the popular manga and anime series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. It was developed by CyberConnect2, and published by Bandai and later Bandai Namco Games. The first game was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, and was followed by four more titles for the system, as well as five spinoffs for the PlayStation Portable. A follow-up for the PlayStation 3, titled Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, was the first to feature three-dimensional battles, and began the long-running Storm sub-series. While starting out as a series exclusive to the PlayStation family of systems, the series has also been present on Xbox and PC platforms since the release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 for the Xbox 360 and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst for Windows, respectively. Latest releases were also ported to the Nintendo Switch. The Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series sold over 20 million copies worldwide as of December 2019.

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<i>Naruto: The Broken Bond</i> 2008 video game

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lars Alexandersson</span> Fictional character in the Tekken series

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<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2</i> 2010 video game

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, known in Japan as Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 2, is a 2010 fighting video game developed by CyberConnect2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the second installment in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, and the sequel to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, published by Namco Bandai Games. It is based on the anime and manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. The story and cast are based on their Part II manga appearances, known in the anime as Naruto Shippuden. The game mainly stars title character Naruto Uzumaki, a teenage ninja, and his fights against the Akatsuki terrorist organization.

<i>Tekken X Street Fighter</i> Video game

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<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations</i> 2012 video game

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<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3</i> 2013 video game

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<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution</i> 2014 video game

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, known in Japan as Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Storm Revolution, is a fighting video game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Games as part of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja video game series, based on the manga Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. The game was released in September 2014 in Japan, North America, and Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This is the last Naruto video games released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4</i> 2016 video game

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, known in Japan as Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Storm 4, is a fighting game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in February 2016. It is the sixth installment and the final main installment of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series inspired by Masashi Kishimoto's manga Naruto, and the sequel to the 2013 game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst. It was also the first Naruto video games released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as the first to include Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese voices in the Western release.

<i>Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing</i> 2016 mobile video game

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing was the first mobile platform game in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja game series published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was a turn-based action role-playing game, and it was available on iOS and Android. The game had a Japanese and English versions.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ILCA (company)</span> Japanese video game developer

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References

  1. ↑ "The King of Fighters '94". IGN . Retrieved 2 February 2024.
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