The earliest game to feature hand-to-hand fighting was Heavyweight Champ, released to arcades in 1976— but what would eventually become the fighting game genre arguably started in earnest with 1984's Karate Champ. However, the genre's iconic special attacks wouldn't debut until 1987's Street Fighter, fittingly enough. The next major evolution, combo attacks, didn't debut until Street Fighter II and even then were actually an unintended bug that was later adopted as a mechanic.
Today, fighting games have developed some of the most passionate and competitive communities across numerous series whether fully original or based on recognizable brands such as Dragon Ball. The genre has also become one of the premier competitive genres with hundreds of events, leagues, and tournaments each year. In a genre that's produced some of the most recognizable characters, attacks, and quotes in all of gaming, which fighting games stand high above the rest?
Note: This list only considers games with a Metacritic ranking, which leaves off most titles released prior to the late-1990s.
10 Super Smash Bros. For Wii U: A Generic Name For A Far-From-Generic Fighter (92 Metacritic Score)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was released in 2014 and was immediately praised for speeding up the gameplay after the slow-moving Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The fourth entry in the Super Smash Bros. series didn't just release on the Nintendo Wii U, however, as a Nintendo 3DS version was also released marking the series' first fully portable entry.
There's certainly a lot of debate within the fighting game community about whether or not the Super Smash Bros. series even belongs in the fighting genre, but Metacritic does list the series within the fighting category.
9 Super Smash Bros. Melee: Still The Favorite Of The Franchise's Most Hardcore Fans (92 Metacritic Score)
Most competitive franchises tend to have that one game that the fandom gravitates to as the most complete competitive experience. The game with the right amount of balance, speed, aesthetic, and difficulty curve. For Street Fighter, that game would be Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. And for Super Smash Bros., that game would be Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Melee, the second game in the series, would release in 2001 for the Nintendo Gamecube. Melee is also credited for helping revive and popularize the Fire Emblem series as the game introduced Fire Emblem characters. Previously, no Fire Emblem game had been released outside of Japan.
8 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Truly Lives Up To Its Subheading (93 Metacritic Score)
The most recent Super Smash Bros. release is 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the game lives up to its name and then some. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate boasts a massive roster that includes every single character from previous Super Smash Bros. titles as well as new characters, such as King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong series and Ridley from the Metroid series.
The game also had two Fighter Passes that added 11 additional fighters for a final roster total of 82 characters. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would go on to become the highest-selling fighting game of all time.
7 Soulcalibur II: Doesn't Really Reinvent Its Franchise, But It Didn't Have To (93 Metacritic Score)
The first non-Super Smash Bros. game on this list is 2002's Soulcalibur II. Hot off the heels of the universally received previous entry, Soulcalibur II built upon that foundation by not changing too much, focusing instead on refining what worked well in the previous game.
Soulcalibur II may be most known for its guest characters, each of the three guests being exclusive to each of the three main consoles. Link from The Legend of Zelda series would guest star in the GameCube version. Heihachi from the Tekken series would guest star in the PlayStation 2 version. Lastly, Spawn from the Image Comics series of the same name would guest star on the Xbox version. Heihachi and Spawn would both be available in the HD remaster of the game, which was released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
6 Street Fighter Alpha 3: Brought The Alpha Series & The Mainline SF Series Together (93 Metacritic Score)
In 1995, Capcom followed up their widely successful Street Fighter II series not with Street Fighter III, but rather with a sub-series titled Street Fighter Alpha. The Alpha series would serve as something of a prequel to the main series, while introducing a trove of new characters and building out established characters and the narrative that surrounds them. It also introduced Final Fight characters to the roster, creating a trend most subsequent Street Fighter games would follow.
The third release in this series, Street Fighter Alpha 3, was released in 1998, which was actually after the Street Fighter III series had begun releasing. Street Fighter Alpha 3 introduced the "-isms" mechanic that allows players to pre-set their character's fighting style giving players numerous different ways to approach each character.
5 Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Finally Introduced A Single-Player Mode As Fleshed Out As The Multiplayer Modes (93 Metacritic Score)
The placement, and review score, of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is almost certainly a controversial one within the Super Smash Bros. community. Despite being the highest-rated Super Smash Bros. game on Metacritic, the series' Wii release is considered by many fans of the series low point. Criticism for the game mostly centers around the game's speed to the point where fans would create the "Project M" mod designed solely for the purpose of getting Super Smash Bros. Brawl to play more closely to Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is notable for being the first game to introduce third-party characters like Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, and also featuring the delightfully wacky Subspace Emissary story mode.
4 Virtua Fighter 4: One Of The Last Great Hardcore 3D Fighters (94 Metacritic Score)
The Virtua Fighter series is often credited for fully bringing the genre to the third dimension. The series introduced 3D movement, particularly going side-to-side as well as front-to-back. The series would go on to influence other 3D fighting series such as Tekken and Dead or Alive. Virtua Fighter 4, released in 2001 for arcades and 2002 for PlayStation 2, is the highest-rated in the series with praises eared toward its gorgeous visuals and more accessible gameplay.
An updated version of the game, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, would score a 93 on Metacritic. The latest release in the series, Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, was released on PlayStation 4 in June 2021.
3 Street Fighter IV: Successfully Made The SF Series Relevant Again (92 Metacritic Score)
No fighting game in recent times has made more of an impact on the genre than the release of Street Fighter IV. Prior to its release, the genre was at a low point in terms of popularity spanning throughout the late 1990s and most of the 2000s. While there certainly were great games released during that period, there wasn't as much excitement and energy toward the genre, especially from the casual side of the fandom. That changed with the release of Street Fighter IV. With its stylized 2.5D visuals and its deep gameplay, Street Fighter IV would create a renaissance within the genre, and its impact is still felt to this day.
Street Fighter IV would spawn multiple versions with the most recent being 2014's Ultra Street Fighter IV. A sequel, Street Fighter V, was released in 2016 and was also a financial success, receiving support through 2021.
2 Tekken 3: A Popular But Somewhat Niche Series Finally Hits The Mainstream In A Major Way (96 Metacritic Score)
The Tekken series debuted in 1994 as Namco's answer to the Virtua Fighter series. Namco even brought on former Sega developers who had previously worked on the original Virtua Fighter. The Tekken series would go on to become one of the most successful series in the genre and is considered to be the premier series among 3D fighting games. The highest-rated game in the series is Tekken 3, which bumped up the visuals from Tekken 2 as well as the maneuverability. The framework of the game was utilized in the extremely popular follow-up Tekken Tag Tournament.
Tekken 3 is often considered by fans as being the best game in the series. That debate primarily centers around Tekken 3, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, and Tekken 7.
1 Soulcalibur: Still Considered By Many To Be The Best 3D Fighter Of All Time (98 Metacritic Score)
With a staggering 98 score, Soulcalibur is one of only five games (of any genre) to receive a 98 score or higher on Metacritic, giving it a rightful place in the discussion of the greatest video game of all time. Soulcalibur centers around the continued pursuit of the powerful Soul Edge weapon where each character intends to use the weapon for good or bad. The game, created by Namco, features 3D fighting mechanics similar to their Tekken series with the implementation of bladed combat and other mechanics such as Virtua Fighter's ring-outs.
Contrary to popular belief, Soulcalibur is not the original game in the series. That honor goes to 1995's Soul Edge (Soul Blade outside of Japan), though all subsequent games in the series would stick with the Soulcalibur name.