Top 10 Most Underrated Fighting Games of All Time

I fancy myself a fighting game veteran. I’m definitely not one of the best players, nor would I say I’m ‘skilled.’ I have however had my fair share of experiences with the genre. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken and Virtua Fighter are all amazing games. The thing is everyone has already heard of them. Actually, they’ve been playing these all for decades now. What I wanted to focus on today are the fighters that have been forgotten in time. The games that never got their fair share of the limelight. So with that said let’s start this list. Here are the top 10 most underrated fighting games in my opinion.

#10. – Vs.

This one takes a lot of heat. Yes, it has what might just be the most generic name ever for a fighting game. Because of this it’s fair not to expect too much, and while it isn’t the best fighter of all time it still has its merits. The game also has a weird view of gangs in America so brace yourself for some serious cheese in that regard. Critics complained about the controls and fluid movement but I found that it didn’t take long at all to get used to it. There’s a decent combo system and I really like how movement in Vs feels. It’s no Tekken or Virtua Fighter but it didn’t have to be. Vs is fun in its own right and is very underrated.

#9. – Primal Rage

Yes, this is a Mortal Kombat clone. In addition they replaced human fighters with dinosaur for more violence and it’s definitely a product of the 90s. Maybe it’s nostalgia talking but I like Primal Rage a lot more than I’m willing to regularly admit. The roster of characters is great and super memorable. Yes some are palette swaps but they have such different movesets that I’m willing to forgive this aspect. How much you enjoy Primal Rage largely depends on which platform you play it. The Super Nintendo version is clunky with bad animation. The Sega Genesis edition is ugly but animates better. You really need to get it on any of the CD consoles to enjoy Primal Rage to it’s fullest.

#8. – Rabbit

This is a Japan exclusive fighting game that was only released on the Sega Saturn. It’s a hidden gem, but also, highly underrated. I’ve seen the gamut of opinions on this one. Everything from it’s a clone of Jojo’s bizarre adventure (it’s not) to it’s a standard four button fighter (again, that’s wrong). While a bit limited in terms of roster (only eight characters) they are made more versatile by the fact that they have spirit animals that they can summon. This opens up new abilities with the characters and more than makes up for the limited lineup. Sure, I would rate something like Street Fighter Alpha above this, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice by skipping on Rabbit because it’s actually fun and fairly unique.

#7. – Tobal No. 1

Tobal is more of a hidden gem than underrated, but I’ll get to that in a minute. This was Squaresoft’s first fighting game (it also marked their debut on the PS1) and made a decent splash at release. It was quickly overshadowed by Tekken and its sequels. The Tobal engine sacrifices textures for fluidity. Because of this the game animates far better than any other fighting game of this era. The trade off is that characters and environments are colored instead of textured, but that’s well worth the trade off in my opinion. So, the reason this one is underrated is because it’s most commonly compared to Tekken. As someone who has spent countless hours with both I can honestly say that Tobal No. 1 is far more technical when you really dig in. It’s a crying shame it wasn’t more popular.

#6. – Battle Arena Toshinden

I’m speaking strictly about the Game Boy version here because the console iterations of Battle Arena Toshinden are all awful. It’s a shame that those were critically acclaimed when the far superior handheld iteration wasn’t well received. This game uses the chibi designs seen in the Japan only Battle Arena Nitoshinden. The Game Boy wasn’t exactly well known for its prowess in this genre. Battle Arena Toshinden however has an amazing engine for the platform and it’s one of the few handheld games from this era where I felt I could use actual tactics instead of button mashing. I also love the art style, the movesets, combos… everything. This is an amazing fighting game regardless of platform.

#5. – Dark Legend

2D fighting games that weren’t called Street Fighter went largely ignored during the 32-bit era. This is why Dark Legend has been completely forgotten. It’s shades of both Street Fighter II and Samurai Shodown in terms of controls and combat, but with a secondary focus on weapons. The unique part of this game is that, at any time, you can cast your offensive tool aside. This changes your entire moveset and I absolutely love this aspect. The combo system isn’t as easy to grasp as most mainstream fighters but you’ll be well rewarded for putting in the time to learn recovery frames and which attacks can be streamed together. Dark Legend deserved better than it got. Underrated is an understatement in my opinion.

#4. – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

This one is actually fairly well regarded. Most fighting fans rate this one below games which aren’t nearly as technical or fun as this one. Tournament Fighters clearly gets the short end of the stick in this regard. It falls short of the Street Fighters of this era but it’s absolutely better than everything else the 16-bit consoles had to offer. I absolutely love how colorful this title is and though I’m not the biggest fan of the franchise (I used to be) it makes great use of the license. Sometimes I prefer returning to this one over all other fighters of this genre because I love its style so much.

#3. – Art of Fighting

SNK released some very focused, and therefore feature lacking games in the 90s. Art of Fighting was intended to feel like classic martial arts films, and while that’s not for everyone it spoke to me in spades. The story is the very basic rescue the damsel in distress but I’ll be darned if the atmosphere here isn’t absolutely incredible. Few other fighting games have a roster of opponents that I absolutely love. Their movesets, voice samples, and the brief story snippets before each fight add significant character and flair to every moment here. I absolutely love the inclusion of the spiritual meter which drains with each move you make. This makes the game significantly more strategic than your typical fighter. You can even charge your meter, or taunt you opponent to drain theirs. The mechanic is amazing and makes for some very technical gameplay.

#2. – Last Bronx

The problem with Last Bronx is that fighting games both before and after it made famous the elements that make this one unique. First of all it uses the Virtua Fighter engine, and control scheme from those titles. That means it’s technical and gives you a lot of options. At the time most gamers preferred Virtua Fighter though. In addition, each character has a weapon and these lean heavily into gameplay. Range and recovery time are huge elements here, but when Soul Calibur hit (and made use of these same tactics) gamers quickly forgot about Last Bronx. To add further insult to injury this game hasn’t been re-released anywhere. It’s a Sega Saturn exclusive. Many consider the games it borrows elements from (and those that steal from it as well) superior but this combination makes Last Bronx unique and a lot fun.

#1. – Fatal Fury

You can tell if someone hasn’t actually played Fatal Fury if they call it a Street Fighter II clone. Only the movesets are similar, and that’s enough for most to not give this one a fair shake. Every opponent you face in Fatal Fury has their own identiy, and feels significantly different from one another. I can’t really say that about any other fighting game (except Art of Fighting). What makes me rank Fatal Fury higher than that is the fact that it has two player co-op. Indeed, a second player can join in any fight in the story mode and assist you in battle. It’s a truly unique aspect which hasn’t been replicated anywhere else. The fighting engine itself is incredibly solid and even better than Street Fighter II in my opinion. Fatal Fury on the Neo Geo is easily the most underrated fighting game of all time.