Since the 90s, anime and video game adaptations or spinoffs have gone together like peanut butter and jelly. It makes sense as to why since the two activities have a lot of overlap when it comes to their fans, and anime as a whole lends itself well to games. It is especially true of shonen and fighting games since both lead to plenty of moments of two characters brawling.
Dragon Ball and its 20+ video game library is proof of that. More well-known franchises like Dragon Ball and Naruto are far from the only ones getting into the act. Plenty of anime have fighting games of their own, some of which have managed to fly under the radar.
10 Pokken Tournament Is A Pokémon Fighting Game That Got Overlooked Once Super Smash Came Out
For a video game and anime series as well known as Pokémon is, it's surprising how under the radar Pokken Tournament was when it got released on the Wii U. It, unfortunately, ran into the juggernaut that was Super Smash, the pinnacle fighter on Nintendo platforms. Even with its rerelease on Switch, it's still a game few talk about. It's a shame too, as it's a fun Tekken-style fighting game that lets you pit over 20 different Pokémon against each other.
9 Kill La Kill-If Follows In Alternate Timeline From The Anime, Giving Fans A New Take On The Story
Any time an anime gets a game, it often rehashes the same story beats as the anime. It's a formula that Dragon Ball used a number of times with the surplus of games the series has. Kill La Kill-If thankfully goes in a different direction, giving a new take on the series. It presents an alternate timeline while retaining the same art style as the anime. The fighting in the game is as fast-paced as it should be and gives players the chance to deal additional damage to others by taunting them.
8 Blazblue Cross Tag Battle Includes Characters From RWBY
Rarely does a series as popular as RWBY not get a fighting game solely based on their own anime, but the characters of the series are a welcome addition to the Blazblue fighting series.
The games are some of the most underrated in the genre, often overshadowed by the Guilty Gear series also made by Arc System Works. The game has a total of 40 characters, and more are scheduled to join the fray, including Neo from RWBY.
7 Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Features Characters From A Plethora Of Different Anime, Creating A Fun 2D Fighter
Have you ever wanted to see Taiga from Toradora square up to Mikoto from A Certain Magical Index? Or what about Asuna from Sword Art Online taking on Emi from Devil is a Part-timer? If the answer is yes to any of those, Dengeki Bunko: Fight Climax is the game for you. Not to mention the other series involved, like Accel World, The Irregular Magic High School, or Duradura!!. It's a fun 2-D series that's bound to please fans.
6 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle Captures The Craziness Of The Series Perfectly
It's no easy task to capture the pure craziness that's involved in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It's an anime that's difficult to explain in a few words as its something that needs to be watched to understand. The game covers all eight arcs and allows characters to have five fighting styles that all resemble the Stands used in the show. It doesn't create a new storyline as other games do, but it succeeds in other departments that matter.
5 Bleach Has Numerous Fighting Games From Shattered Blade To Heat The Soul
Surprisingly, a series as big as Bleach hasn't had all that many well-known fighting games under its belt. It doesn't have a series of games on console or PC like Naruto does with the Ninja Storm franchise.
It does have a few titles on the PSP called Heat The Soul and Shattered Blade that came to the Wii, though. Neither of the games is as good as the Ninja Storm games are, but they do give fans of Bleach the chance to play as their favorite characters.
4 Fairy Tail Features Two Fighting Games On The Nintendo DS That Follow The Series Up Until The Oracion Seis Arc
Fairy Tail: Fight! Wizard Battle is the first of the entries that goes from the Macao arc until The Tower of Heaven arc, offering several characters for battle once they get unlocked. Fairy Tail: Attack! Kardia Cathedral picks up after that, from the Battle of Fairy Tail until the Oracion Seis battle. Both games are decent fighting games, considering they are on a handheld rather than a console. Given the arrival of the more Atelier-based PS4 title, it's doubtful there will be a third fighting game on the 3DS.
3 Fist Of The North Star Has Had A Number Of Arcade-style Games & A Few That Were Ported To Consoles
While they aren't as popular in America, coin-operated machines still have lifeblood in Japan, and Fist of the North Star is among the anime taking advantage of that. They do have a few ported games to consoles as well, including Fist of the North Star: The Twin Blue Stars of Judgment - History of the Fist Masters. The game follows along with the anime storyline but suffers from a severe lack of characters. It's hard to sell a fighting game with only ten characters, even one from the 2000s.
2 Troublesome Ports Took The Shine Away From The Fate Fighting Games
Fate is a franchise with so many entries and timelines that newcomers have a hard time ever catching up. While that's troublesome, it fails in comparison to the port of Fate/Unlimited Codes. There were numerous mistakes in the translations and even an issue with the autosave feature that caused data to get lost without players realizing it. It's a shame since the games were pretty well made for Playstation 2 and PSP games respectively.
1 Inuyasha Made Two Lackluster Fighting Games On The Playstation Before Giving Up
While some franchises like Dragon Ball can get away with having a lackluster or awful game, Inuyasha doesn't have the same leeway. Inuyasha Feudal Fairy Tail on the Playstation was their first attempt, and average would be an understatement. Inuyasha: Feudal Combat came second, and while it introduced more characters, the combat still felt choppy and inconsistent. It was so bad that the rumored ports to the Nintendo DS and PSP were both canceled.