What are the essential fighting games to own?

[vrikkgwj]

I was going through my collection of fighting games and realize that I may have some holes in terms of the must have quality ones. See my list below... what am I missing? Keep in mind that while I like fighting games, I am in no way good at them. I just like playing them.

BlazBlue Continuum Shift EXTEND
Capcom vs SNK EO
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Guilty Gear Isuka
KoF '99 Dream Match
Kof '99 Evolution
Marvel vs Capcom
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Project Justice: Rival Schools 2
Rival Schools Evolution 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers III

Thanks!

[BricatSegaFan]

More snk stuff.

Samurai shodown.

last blade

Matrimelee

While not snk try arcana heart on ps2 import.

KOF 13

Garou Mark of the wolves

Tech romancer

Cyberbots full metal madness

I'm probably forgetting a few

[Edmond Dantes]

You need Street Fighter II in SOME form--preferably Super Street Fighter II Turbo (I've heard HD Remix is good). This is, after all, pretty much the game that put one-on-one fighters on the map. You really don't know fighters unless you know Street Fighter II, period.

After that, I'd say all the SNK collections for the PS2 (particularly Samurai Shodown Anthology and the Fatal Fury Battle Archives) are pretty essential too. Oh, and King of Fighters--there's a collection of 94 thru 98 on the PS2. KOF98 is also available by itself in an updated version called "Ultimate Match." This is probably the one to get, as KOF98 is often considered the epitome of the series.

[kedawa]

Well, I don't see Soul Calibur, SoulBlade, Tekken Tag Tournament, Fighters Megamix, or WWF Wretlemania: The Arcade Game on that list.

edit: Super Smash Bros.?

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

Arcana hearts is really cool.

[G-Boobie]

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

Last Blade 2.

Street Fighter EX 2.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

Smash Bros. Melee

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

[G-Boobie]

Oh, yeah, King of Fighters XIII is really good, too.

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

[Tron 2.0]

Samurai Shodown 2

KOF 98

Garou MOTW

Darkstalkers 3

Pocket Fighter

Waku Waku 7

[Drixxel]

Just to add to what others have recommended...

Mortal Kombat 2 over Trilogy
World Heroes 2 Jet (the best of the campy SFII-clones, IMO)
Bloody Roar

[o.pwuaioc]

I'm not an arcade fighter buff, so this list will be drastically different from most others.

Genesis:

Ballz3D
Eternal Champions
Samurai Shodown

SNES:

Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat III/Ultimate Mortal Kombat III
Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters

Saturn:

Golden Axe: The Duel
Samurai Shodown IV
Street Fighter Alpha 3
X-Men: Children of the Atom

PS2:

Capcom vs SNK 2
Marvel vs Capcom 2
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
Samurai Shodown Anthology

GameCube:

Soul Calibur II

360:

Mortal Kombat

[SpaceHarrier]

Dead or Alive 2

[Namakubi]

The Darkstalkers series is pretty legit.

[vrikkgwj]

The Darkstalkers series is pretty legit.

I have Vampire Savior.

[sneekyweezel]

Street Fighter 2 The World Warrior(also hyper)
Kengo Legend Of The Nine for Xbox360
Killer Instinct
and tons of NeoGeo fighters, to many to list

[wiggyx]

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

Last Blade 2.

Street Fighter EX 2.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

Smash Bros. Melee

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.


Oh, yeah, King of Fighters XIII is really good, too.

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

LOL, beat me to it :P

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Ryu-hurricane-ts_zpsdfb6c2b8.gif

[Guyra]

Shaq Fu (Sega Genesis / SNES)

...

Or maybe not. :P

But in all seriousness, Tekken 3 for the PS1. So much fun to play!

And maybe Clayfighter for the Sega Genesis and SNES, though I haven't really played it that much myself.

[Sundowner]

I second Killer Instinct for SNES

[vrikkgwj]

Ok, so beyond the KoF '98 titles it seems to be the consensus that King of Fighters XIII is the next one to get. Is this true?

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

I have all the clay fighters and they are fun for aBout 15 minutes.

[123►Genei-Jin]

Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike (3s)
Super Street Fighter II X (ST)
The King of Fighters 98 (KOF98)
The King of Fighters 98 - Ultimate Match (KOF98UM)
The King of Fighters 2002 (KOF2K2)
The King of Fighters 2002 - Unlimited Match (KOF2K2UM)
The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 Regulation A (KOFMIRA)
The King of Fighters XIII (KOFXIII)
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special (RBFFS)
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 (RBFF2)
Fatal Fury Special (FFS)
Garou Mark of The Wolves (MOTW)
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (GGXXACP)
World Heroes 2 Perfect (WH2P)
Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution (VF4EVO)
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (VF5FS)
Tobal 2
Tekken Tag Tournament (TTT)

[Edmond Dantes]

Ok, so beyond the KoF '98 titles it seems to be the consensus that King of Fighters XIII is the next one to get. Is this true?

Personally I would want all the KOF games as long as they're for systems I own, but that's just me. I have a crush on Kyo Kusanagi.

[ubersaurus]

I'm a huge fighting game fan, and former competitive player, and there are definitely some standouts from the genre all over the place.

Street Fighter II is a must. SF2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting is generally considered one of the high points in the series and the "purest" one, in that there are no super meters or throw breaks out anything. Just spacing, zoning, combos, throw traps, all that fun stuff. Super SF2 Turbo or HD Remix are both great; which one is better is a matter of opinion, but the HD Remix release does have both (though it lacks the original ST backgrounds). Those are both on 360 and I think PS3?

KOF is generally pretty good, but the high points are 98, 2k2, and XIII. Check out the 98 Ultimate Match and 2k2 Unlimited Match releases, as they are effectively the older games but with some balance tweaks and more characters. Pretty sure they both include the older versions, too. Some other good KOFs include 95, 99, 2k, and XI. 98UM and 2k2UM are both on 360 and PS3, as is XIII. The rest you'll need to track down discs on PS2, Dreamcast, Saturn, or straight up the Neo Geo carts.

You'll want Guilty Gear XX, ideally the Accent Core revision. I hear Arcsys is coming out with a new revision of the game, though, so if you're willing to wait and see what's going on there, it may be worth it. Also out on PS3 and 360, and on disc on the Wii.

As far as MK goes, Mortal Kombat II is fun, but Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is easily the most competitive game in the series (and probably the least broken). The newest one, "Mortal Kombat," is also really solid. Once again, all available on the 360 and PS3 consoles.

I'm also a HUGE fan of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on the Wii, both the original JP version and the US revision. I think it's one of the best fighters of this new revival era.

Some older Neo Geo fighters that are really sweet: Matrimelee, Samurai Shodown II (and III, which is pretty but fights tend to be over in like 10 seconds), Last Blade 1 and 2, World Heroes Perfect, Fatal Fury Special. Samurai Shodown V Special is a Neo Geo exclusive, and arguably one of the absolute finest fighting games in the history of the genre. It's just a joy to play, and beautiful to look at. You can find a lot of these on PS2 game compilations too.

Here's a few other old gems: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters for SNES (But only the SNES version!), Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side (Sega CD), Fighters Megamix (Saturn), Fighting Vipers 1(Saturn/360/PS3) and 2(Dreamcast), Virtua Fighter II (saturn/360/ps3), NeoGeo Battle Coliseum (PS2/360), Capcom vs SNK(Dreamcast).

[Rickstilwell1]

I had Dark Legend for Sega Saturn which was devloped by Data East and thought it was up there with the SNK fighters when it came to graphics and playability.

Most of the Playstation 2 era Dragon Ball fighting games and newer were really fun and are much much better than any of the older ones. The only ones I haven't paid much attention to are the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS ones because they never interested me as much graphically.

I recently got a free copy of Bloody Roar: Primal Fury for Gamecube. I haven't played any of the older ones but it seems a lot like Tekken which is also another very good series (especially from 4 and on as it keeps improving). The only Tekken I wouldn't recommend until you've become a pro at the series is the first one because there is no easy mode in it.

Oh yeah, also every Game Boy/Game Boy Color and Sega Game Gear fighting game I have played yet has been kind of crappy when it comes to controls. They're just too simplistic and you can't really "feel" the action. But Neo Geo Pocket games which have pretty much the same graphics are much more playable and "feel" more like best console fighters. So if you are going retro with handheld fighters get the NGPC above anything else.

[The 1 2 P]

You have to have:

Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Team Tournament
Guilty Gear
Mortal Kombat 2, 4
Soul Calibur 1, 2, 4
Dead of Alive 3 and 4
Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi(just making sure yall are still paying attention)
WWE Smackdown 1 and 2
Touken Retsuden 1, 2, 3

Definitely need to play those atleast once.....except for the Star Wars game.

[sloan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgYDniNn-_I

[Edmond Dantes]

Most of the Playstation 2 era Dragon Ball fighting games and newer were really fun and are much much better than any of the older ones.

... Arguably.

I haven't played the majority of them, but I remember not liking the first Budokai (and I assume 2 and 3 play in a similar style). Just... Tekken-style dial-a-combos are a poor fit for the DBZ universe. The Super Butoden games had it right. Flying all over the place, throwing fireballs from a distance, being able to beam duel (and even a command to phase-out-dodge like they do in the anime), and so on and so forth.

If there's any PS2 games that play like Super Butoden, they're must-haves. But I doubt there are, since they're all made by Namco and Namco can apparently only make one kind of fighter.

[FrankSerpico]

If you like Marvel vs Capcom there's no reason you shouldn't pick up the sequel. It's got a 56 character roster and all kinds of zaniness. I'd also highly recommend Neo Geo Battle Coliseum for PS2

[G-Boobie]

Also, remember Third Strike.