Best Classic Fighting Games

Konami's 1993 SNES fighting game spinoff for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Tournament Fighters gives TMNT the Street Fighter II treatment with all four turtles plus Shredder, April, Armageddon, Wingnut, and Rat King as playable characters in one-on-one fighting across a well-received 16-bit TMNT fighting game.

The Neo-Geo fighter that introduced the spirit gauge, zoom camera, and desperation moves to the genre. Art of Fighting's distinctive power-dependent gameplay created a different strategic rhythm from Street Fighter II, and its characters would later cross over into King of Fighters.

The arcade fighting game that launched one of gaming's most enduring fighting franchises, Tekken brought 3D movement, eight distinct fighters, and the fluid four-limb control system to the PlayStation in 1994, helping establish Sony's console as the new home of arcade fighters.

Bandai and TOSE's 1993 SNES fighting game based on the Dragon Ball Z Android and Cell arcs — Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 features 13 playable characters including Future Trunks, Android 18, Android 17, Piccolo, and Cell, with the series' signature energy-based combat and Super Saiyan transformations.

Sega's ambitious Sega CD fighting game sequel — Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side expands the original Genesis game's warrior-from-history concept with over 20 characters, stage-specific interactive hazards, elaborate fatality systems (Overkills, Vendetta moves, Sudden Death), and CD audio. A technically impressive fighter that pushed what a 2D fighting game could contain.

Atari Games' 1995 Genesis port of the 1994 arcade fighting game — Primal Rage pits prehistoric gods (giant dinosaurs and apes) against each other over post-apocalyptic Earth, using digitized stop-motion creature models, a unique combo system requiring directional inputs, and fatalities that include devour moves and acid vomit attacks.

Midway's 1998 N64 fighting game and Mortal Kombat's transition to 3D — Mortal Kombat 4 keeps the series' signature fatalities and two-plane fighting while adopting polygon character models, introducing weapon combat, and returning fan favorites alongside new combatants in a post-Trilogy roster.

The SNES port of Midway's blood-soaked arcade sensation sparked a cultural firestorm and directly triggered the creation of the ESRB ratings system — Nintendo's decision to replace blood with sweat and alter fatalities made this version the censored alternative to the Genesis port, but the underlying fighting game is a tense, strategic one-on-one brawler with a roster of digitized fighters that remains iconic. The controversy only amplified public fascination, and the game became one of the best-selling SNES titles of its era.