Rules: One game per franchise. Reviewing by today’s standards and trying to ignore nostalgia (aka “how good they were for the time”).
10 Breakers Revenge
Not much to say here other than this just feels like a very honest fighting game made with enthusiasm. I’m a sucker for super move cancelling. The theme of the game is generic as hell which I personally think just adds to the charm, its like Fighting Game: The Fighting Game. This is very pickup and play, you can introduce this game to anyone at all versed with fighting games and they’ll have a good time.
9 X-Men Children of the Atom
OK so controversial statement: I don’t particularly like the Marvel games. I don’t dislike them but I could take or leave their combo-centric gameplay. Capcom’s first effort with the Marvel licence is Children of the Atom. It is arguably the worst Marvel game and I absolutely love it. This game is very strange; playing it is kind of like watching Season One of The Simpsons- all the pieces are there but its just slightly -off-. This game is janky and unique because Capcom were just throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. COTA doesn’t have the crazy combos of the later games (although it does have infinites) and the main thing you’ll be doing is fishing with big normals for damage. COTA tournaments are rare but are definitely worth seeking out if you ever want to watch an unorthodox game at high level.
8 Soul Calibur II
The Soul series is one I definitely have a love/hate relationship with but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge the impact this game had on me when it was new. I have more nostalgia for Soul Blade(Edge) but I’d again be lying if I said the lack of the 8-way-run is really, really hard to go back to. I think SC2 is the peak of the series, it seemed to have excellent production values on par with sibling series Tekken and it’s a game everybody my age seemed to play at the time. The series went downhill when their idea of expansion was to just pile on new mechanics when I think the simplicity of SC2 was its biggest strength (and also probably gave it that mass market appeal).
7 Street Fighter III: Third Strike
I’m definitely not a 3rd Strike super fan but the more I think about the main SF series, this is probably the game I respect most. Not much to say really, this game’s reputation is pretty well established, and I like playing it.
6 Project Justice
Rival Schools was a favourite on the PS1 and when I played the Dreamcast sequel years after the fact, it exceeded the original in every regard. Despite being set in Japan, the school theme and pupil stereotypes are very relatable and funny. This game really came into its own for me when I had some sessions with a friend on Fightcade which encouraged me to do some research and pick up some mains.
5 Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior
OK so I’m using Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior/Vampire Savior 2 kind of interchangeably which I shouldn’t but I mostly played these games in the form of The Chaos Tower on the PSP which is why I kind of blur them together. I think this is peak Capcom 2D. DS runs the risk of having too much going on but its so frantic I really don’t care. I personally think DS1 and 2 were a tad generic in terms of presentation but with DS3 I believe the presentation standards finally matched up with the character designs with the perfect blend of goofy yet intimidatingly dark especially with new boss Jedah.
4 Mortal Kombat X
I've always described Mortal Kombat as a guilty pleasure at best but this is a game I would argue cemented MKs credibility (before making 11 but lets not go there). I was very passionate about MKX, especially during a short period where all my friends made it our go to game. Feels like 2D Tekken which I consider a major positive. The game is also a credit to modern game patching as the final result is a lot more pleasant than what was playable on day one.
3 Guilty Gear Strive
I personally burned out on this game super quickly which I think may be the cost of its simpler + hyper exaggerated takes on character archetypes. That being said when I did play this game it was fantastic and gets bonus points for its S-tier soundtrack. I think time will tell if I keep this on my list but its definitely still a “favourite”.
2 Street Fighter EX2+
I’m counting the EX series as separate from the main SF games (different dev, original characters). This is my favourite game to bare the Street Fighter name, spin off or no. This game is a joy to both play and watch and Arika’s cast of original characters are arguably better than the SF originals. The whole EX series also has a top tier soundtrack that may not be as ambitious as Guilty Gear or Killer Instinct but is definitely the best in terms of traditional ‘video game music’.
1 Tekken 7
Tekken has always been my favourite video
game franchise of all time and I personally think that this is its peak. I love
the depth and to date this is the only fighting game I've played in an actual
tournament (which was just a small local but still a memorable day for me). It
definitely has its problems with infrastructure (the system for ranked matches
is frankly bizarre) but in terms of just core gameplay, this is my favourite fighting
game. A complex and deep 3D fighting game without peer.
Special mentions (no particular order): Undernight
In-Birth, Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, Chaos Code, Killer Instinct 2013, Jackie
Chan in Fists of Fire, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, The King of Fighters XI
