Fighting games used to be the genre that kept the arcades going in the 1990s. Then, outside Tekken or Mortal Kombat, the genre went quiet in the 2000s. Now thanks to the rise of eSports, Street Fighter 4, and other high-profile releases, the genre is back in action.
King of Fighters recently came back in style with its 14th and 15th installments. Guilty Gear Strive has become the most successful entry in the series. Even hidden gems like Cyberbots and Breakers’ Revenge made comebacks. So, it’s surely time for these cult fighting games to get a re-release, and hopefully get the recognition they deserve.
8 Rival Schools
This 3D brawler got some attention when Street Fighter 5's last DLC season brought back its biker fighter Akira Kazama. She even retained some of Rival Schools’ mechanics like air combos and the Team Up Techniques via her V-Trigger and Critical Art. Akira fit into SF5 because the original Rival Schools played close enough to Street Fighter. The difference was that the player could pick partners to do team-up attacks with, or use them to boost their health or super meter.
The Dreamcast sequel, Project Justice, went one step further with 3-on-3 assaults. Now players could call in their partners to pull off a devastating Party-Up Attack, or help break it up if they're on the defensive. The exciting gameplay, quirky character designs, and unique settings are dying for a revival. It would be the perfect series to lead a second Capcom Fighting Collection with.
7 Star Gladiator
If there’s another series that would benefit from a CFC2, it would be Star Gladiator and its sequel Plasma Sword. The series has been referenced on and off in other Capcom projects, be it Chun Li dressing up as SG’s own kung fu fighter June, or its lead Hayato making cameos here and there. Yet neither game has seen a fresh release since the PS1 and Dreamcast days.
It’s a shame, as the series combined Soulcalibur-like gameplay with special Plasma attacks for counters and combo damage. If Namco's tale of souls and swords got old, Capcom's kooky sci-fi fighters could have been nice alternatives. The game's look and designs felt like Star Wars if it was done by Moebius, and could've been a Star Wars game if ex-Capcom community manager Seth Killian was right. That would have been an interesting world to live in.
6 Real Bout Fatal Fury
SNK like to re-release their back catalog on new consoles, yet they all peter out after a while. It’s easy enough for players to get the start of the Fatal Fury games and play its ending in Garou: Mark of the Wolves. But the middle entries get little to no attention. Even so, players shouldn't snooze on the Real Bout Fatal Fury games. They refined Fatal Fury 3's formula, then redid it with bold, cartoon graphics that are spectacular to see in action.
It helps that the games have aged well in the gameplay department too, moving much more smoothly compared to the original Fatal Fury. Players can technically pick the series up on PS4 via the Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2 compilation. The problem is that it's an emulation of a PS2 collection, which suffers from bad input lag. It deserves a more dedicated release, like the Samurai Shodown Anthology.
5 Kizuna Encounter
The same emulation issue plagues Kizuna Encounter and its predecessor Savage Reign in the Fu’un Super Combo pack. There are separate ACA releases for both games which play better, but they'd be more cost-effective if they were in a compilation with other Neo Geo gems like Aggressors of Dark Kombat and the World Heroes series. While they were standard hand-to-hand brawlers, Savage Reign and Kizuna Encounter were weapon fighters with a twist.
They used a 4-button layout where, on top of the usual punching, kicking, and striking with a weapon, players could leap from the stage's upper and lower levels like in a platform fighter. Kizuna Encounter boosted things further with tag gameplay, where players had to go to their side of the screen to switch to their partner. While it wasn't as snappy as Capcom's efforts, it made for inventive and intriguing gameplay.
4 Bushido Blade
Squaresoft are better known for their RPGs, but when they published Lightweight’s unique fighting game, they made history in a low-key but respectable way. Bushido Blade did away with the health bar, time limit, and super meters in favor of a variety of selectable weapons and a more realistic approach to armed combat. It used a Body Damage System where a character can be slowed down, crippled, or even killed if the right attacks struck the right spots.
The game also encouraged free-roaming around the stage to get the environmental advantage. It's a friendly game for newcomers, since they don't need to master long combos or tricky techniques. They just have to keep their wits about them. However, unless they track the game and its sequel down, the closest equivalent to a modern re-release is its upcoming spiritual successor Die By the Blade.
3 Tobal No. 1 & 2
If Bushido Blade wasn’t enough, Squaresoft’s first foray into fighting games was critically acclaimed at the time of its release. Made by DreamFactory for Square, Tobal N.o 1 combined a free-roaming approach with an interesting grapple and block mechanic that gave each of its quirky characters a rich set of throws and counters. That’s not to mention the fun Quest mode, where fighters could explore and battle it out in dungeons.
Tobal 2 improved on the formula with better models, more moves, fireball attacks, and an expanded Quest mode that felt more like a mini action RPG. Sadly, while the first game made it to the West, it didn't sell well enough for Square to bring it out of Japan. Ironically, it would probably do better in sales today than back in 1996, given that character designer Akira Toriyama has become a bigger name worldwide since then, thanks to the Dragon Ball franchise.
2 Fighters' Destiny
The PlayStation and Sega Saturn were full of fighters, but the selection was much thinner for Nintendo 64 owners. Sure, Super Smash Bros would break new ground and produce ever more popular sequels. But otherwise, there was little beyond Mortal Kombat 4, Killer Instinct Gold, and ClayFighter 63 1/3. But eagle-eyed players would be able to find this hidden gem by Opus Corp and Anchor Inc.
On the surface, Fighters' Destiny looks pretty standard with its so-so characters. However, it spiced up its gameplay with a unique points system. Players could earn points for knocking their opponents down, off the stage, or taking them out with special attacks. The first player to earn 7 points, or have more when the time runs out, wins. The characters could also learn new moves in the Master Challenge mode. While it didn’t become a household name, Fighters' Destiny was a fresh take on the genre that could do with more attention.
1 Buriki One
If Breakers’ Revenge felt like an odd game to bring back from the Neo Geo, then Buriki One would be outright bizarre. Originally designed as a Grappler Baki game, Buriki One was SNK’s attempt at an arcade MMA game. Made only for their Hyper Neo Geo 64 hardware, it was a 3D fighter where players used the buttons to move their character, then used the stick to do their moves. They could win by knocking their opponent out, making them submit, or winning the judges’ decision.
The game never made it out of the arcades, and hasn’t been emulated either due to the Hyper NG64’s complicated architecture and lackluster lineup. That said, Buriki One was perhaps the best game made for the hardware. It had neat presentation, and has received some love from SNK. Its version of Ryo Sakazaki, Mr. Karate II, was a character in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, while its lead Gai Tendo and secret boss Silber made it into King of Fighters XI. If there was one Hyper NG64 game that deserves a comeback, it’s Buriki One.