If you all are looking for a way to remove your stress then you guys can check some of the best arcade fighting games. Fighting arcades games franchises are some of the most iconic in gaming history. And now some fighting arcades games like Street fighter, Mortal kombat or soul Calibur, etc. become so much popular and these games are still played to fun.
so we will look at the best arcade fighting games and those games will lead you to a whole different world. Which will give you even more thrill and you will have fun playing. Here’s our research.
10 Top Arcade Fighting Games
These are some of the best arcade fighting games all-time in history and some of still:
- Street Fighter
- Mortal Kombat
- Soul Calibur
- Tekken
- Marvel vs Capcom Clash of Super Heroes
- Killer Instinct
- Virtua Fighter
- The King of Fighters
- Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
- Darkstalkers
Street Fighter
Street Fighter is the most popular arcade fighting game of all time. This game serves a big role in the modern age. From 1987. Street fighter is the first game that allowed players to choose one of many unique characters and all characters possess their own unique moves and fighting style. That will give you a fair advantage in the fight.
And if you like this game after playing then you can also check out the other series of street fighter:
- Street Fighter 1987
- Street Fighter II
- Street Fighter Alpha
- Street Fighter III
- Street Fighter IV
- Street Fighter V
It has some other series too that will be discussed in the next articles.
Mortal Kombat
When you talked about popular arcade fighting franchise games in your conversation. It always ends up being about street fighters or mortal kombat. Mortal is the most violent fighting arcade game that was released in 1992. This game is one of the best 90s fighting arcade games. I love to play whenever people play these games. They can fill the passion of the game characters.
This game has some brutal and gruesome finishing moves known as “Fatalities”; these finishing moves allow the player to end the match by murdering their defeated defenceless opponents.
Well, this mortal kombat fighting arcade game has its own other amazing series like this.
- Mortal Kombat 1992
- Mortal Kombat II 1993
- Mortal Kombat III 1995
- Mortal Kombat IV 1997
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance 2002
Soul Calibur
Soul Calibur is the weapon-based fighting arcade game of the 90s originally released in 1998. It was actually a sequel to soul edge (that was an equally good game). It then became really popular and made a name. when it arrived on the Dreamcast where it sold one million copies in about four months.
It had the best graphics of any other fighting game at that time. The controls were easy to use and play with the storyline that you didn’t normally see in other arcade fighting games in the 90s.
After that this game also published his own sequence of series.
- soul Calibur-1998
- soul Calibur II-2002
- soul Calibur III-2005
- soul Calibur legends-2007
- soul Calibur IV-2008
- soul Calibur: Broken Destiny-2009
- soul Calibur V-2012
- soul Calibur Lost Swords-2014
- soul Calibur VI-2018
Tekken
When it comes to arcades fighting games there is no other game for popularities known as taken. In the realm of three-dimensional arcade fighting games, there is no other franchise as dominant or recognizable as a taken.
Realised in 1994 in a game where you can choose any one character you may like. all characters have their own super move. That is also called a finishing move. Where you can use other combo moves too.
In the game, gameplay focuses on hand to hand combat with an opponent. with characters also able to stage break arenas. Tekken is noted as being one of the first fighting games at the time to use 3D animation.
After some time other entries of this game came to like.
- Tekken 2 1995
- Tekken 3 1997
- Tekken Tag Tournament 1997
- Tekken 4 2001
- Tekken 5 2004
- Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection 2005
- Tekken 6 2007
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 2011
- Tekken 7 2015
Of course, these arcade fighting games series became so much popular every last series has evolved and became really amazing and built a reputation for itself.
Marvel vs Capcom Clash of Super Heroes
Marvel vs Capcom is a crossover arcade fighting video game of the 90s. That’s the time when two or more franchises cross over into one game. After the success of their previous two crosses over entries. Marvel vs Capcom is a game where two universes are linked by a rift with the capcom universe itself.
Because of that in the game players are allowed to choose the character from both marvel or capcom. Being managed by capcom. The game has tight control that you would expect from any best arcade fighting game. The game also allows you to form a team of players with the unpredictable cast character.
MVC was the ultimate attraction for any arcade game with loud sound and fast action. And attractive to hardcore fans. And it has some other sequence like.
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter 1996
- Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter 1997
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes 1998
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes 2000
- Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds 2011
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 2011
- Marvel vs. Capcom Origins 2012
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite 2017
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct is one of the series of arcade fighting games developed by Rare and published by Midway in 1994. Killer Instinct has all the features to be one of the powerhouse best arcade games.
If you played this game then you may realize it’s just as violent as a Mortal kombat. The graphics and sounds in this game were impressive in the 90s. And up until now, the game has evolved and it has 3 series.
- Killer Instinct 1994
- Killer Instinct 2 and Killer Instinct gold 1996
- Killer Instinct 2013
These are good arcade fighting games but i believe if killer instinct had reached other consoles like PS1 or Sega Dreamcast then we may have seen more sequels.
Virtua Fighter
Virtua fighter is an arcade fighting game originally released in 1993 and recognized as the first 3D arcade fighting game in the 90s, similar to most other arcade fighting games. The gameplay of Virtua fighter involves two players needing two wins two or three rounds and each round has a 30-sec time limit.
Players use various moves to deplete the other fighter’s stamina and deal with the knockout (K.O) and win the game. It has a simplistic game design. But the fighting style is heavily based on real life.
This game received four many sequels and spin-offs.
- Virtua Fighter 1993
- Virtua Fighter 2 1994
- Virtua Fighter Remix 1995
- Virtua Fighter 3 1996
- Virtua Fighter 4 2001
- Virtua Fighter 5 2006
The King of Fighters
The kings of fighters is an arcade fighting game by SNK released in 1994 as well known as The King of Fighters ’94. The game starts when the title tournament is held and multiple fighters take part. The game has original characters from each of their story arcs, to serve as a protagonist.
After some time The King of Fighters ’94 is becoming is the first instalment of a long-running and successful series of The King of Fighters ’94.
- The King of Fighters 1994
- The King of Fighters 1995
- The King of Fighters 1996
- The King of Fighters 1997
- The King of Fighters 1998
- King of Fighters 1998
- The King of Fighters 1999
- King of Fighters 1999
- The King of Fighters 2000
- The King of Fighters 2001
- The King of Fighters 2002
- The King of Fighters 2003
- The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2004
- The King of Fighters ’94 Re-Bout 2004
- The King of Fighters Neowave 2004
- The King of Fighters XI 2005
- The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2006
- The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation-A 2007
- The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match 2008
- The King of Fighters XII 2009
- The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match 2009
- The King of Fighters XIII 2010
- The King of Fighters XIV 2016
- The King of Fighters XV 2022
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
Fatal Fury is an arcade fighting game developed by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade system and released in 1991. The game known for its feature was the two-plane system. In the game, characters would fight from two different planes and it has to dodge and blocking features.
After some time this game experimented with the other gimmicks like ring-out. Where a player can lose if the character is thrown into the edge of the fighting ring. And little after time the game added some serious extensive cast of characters.
Later on, in 1992 this game started launching new sequels.
- Fatal Fury: King of Fighters 1991
- Fatal Fury 2 1992
- Fatal Fury Special 1993
- Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory 1995
- Real Bout Fatal Fury 1995
- Real Bout Fatal Fury Special 1997
- Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers 1998
- Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition 1999
Darkstalkers
Darkstalkers is the 2D arcade fighting game by Capcom that was released in 1994. And also known as Darkstalkers: the night warriors, it’s a horror game that has very stylized features and a cartoonish graphic style. And has 16-bit colour animation sprites and gameplay.
The character of the game was various kinds of monsters and hunters who are all engaging in war against each other.
The game has evolved from 1994 until 2013.
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors 1994
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge 1995
- Vampire Savior: World of Darkness 1997
- Darkstalkers 3 1998
- Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower 2000
- Darkstalkers Resurrection 2013