The Best Fighting Games for 2026

Capcom continues resurrecting its classic titles for modern audiences with Capcom Fighting Collection 2. This compilation features cool deep cuts not found in previous entries, including Power Stone and Project Justice. Along with the nostalgia, you’ll enjoy new upgrades like online multiplayer (but no crossplay) and revamped display options. If you’ve had your fill of Street Fighter, this is a great way to broaden your fighting game horizons.

Dead or Alive 6, much like its immediate predecessor, is one part fighting game, one part fashion show, and one part schlocky action movie. Individually, each of the game’s widely differing elements might not stand up to scrutiny. After all, DOA 6 isn’t the best fighter, doesn’t offer the deepest character customization, and doesn’t quite reach the Tekken series’ level of story insanity. Still, Dead or Alive 6 is a fun and surprisingly strategic PC game that offers enough freshness to warrant playing with its new Break Blow and Break Hold tools. Plus, the series’s familiar Triangle System and Danger Zones are highly entertaining, too.

Iron Galaxy Studios’ Divekick is the most hipster fighting game ever created. It’s the product of the indie scene that mercilessly parodies fighting games and their die-hard community, yet demands that you be part of the underground circle to fully get all of the references and in-jokes. It’s an odd game, but an interesting one if you open your mind to the insane concept of a two-button fighter based entirely on the idea of jumping and kicking. And 20-second rounds. And one-hit kills. And a line of scrimmage. Yes, Divekick is a fighting game freak show, but one worth checking out.

Besides Fist of the Northstar and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, there are a few anime properties that are as intrinsically suited to the fighting-game treatment as the Dragon Ball series. With Dragon Ball FighterZ, the anime ditches the Xenoverse games’ arena-brawling model in favor of 3-vs.-3, tag-team fighting on a 2D plane. Its beautiful design, intense combat, and accessible control scheme add up to a game that anyone can jump into for Super Saiyan thrills.

The King of Fighters series is great, but Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves resurrects the SNK fighter that started it all. Familiar faces like Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui battle real-life guest characters like DJ Salavatore Gannaci and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in this excellent take on fundamental, 2D fisticuffs. Rich mechanics add depth to both offensive and defensive play, while comic book-inspired graphics give brawls a distinct visual identity. Crossplay multiplayer shines with rollback netcode.

Upon its 1999 release, Garou: Mark of the Wolves—a surprisingly deep and visually stunning entry in the long-running Fatal Fury series—was hailed as SNK’s wondrous response to Capcom’s Street Fighter III. Years later, SNK has finally given the fighting game the proper PC treatment by releasing it with numerous additional graphics options, leaderboards, and rollback, online versus play. The excellent game also features the returning beautiful animation, Just Defend parries, and the strategic T.O.P. system that delivers increased attack damage, limited health regeneration, faster super-meter build up, and an exclusive special attack when you activate the mode.

The Guilty Gear series reigns as the king of anime-style fighting games due to its gorgeous art style and a rich, demanding, and lightning-quick combat system. Unfortunately, its oceanic depth and mountainous skill ceiling proved inaccessible to casuals—until now. With Strive, developer Arc System Works streamlines the series’ unique combat mechanics to make them more accessible to newcomers, while retaining the creative richness of the older games. Strive comes with fewer extra modes than its predecessors, but there is a lot to love in this PC game, including astounding visuals and snappy, lag-free online play courtesy of top-tier, rollback netcode.

Guilty Gear is a niche series within a niche genre, one that has enjoyed a cult following since its debut in 1998. With Xrd -SIGN-, developer Arc System Works ditches the series’ 2D sprites in favor of 3D cel-shaded graphics in an attempt to expand its audience. Likewise, series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari sought a more approachable play style that maintains the depth and high skill ceiling beloved by longtime Guilty Gear fans. Still, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- keeps the series familiar fighting action (Roman Cancels, Bursts, and Dusts) that enables creative offensive and defensive play.

Like over-the-top action? Killer Instinct is your game. It has a wild, combo-heavy engine that registers hits in the hundreds, incredibly detailed graphics that boast ridiculous particle effects (everything explodes!), and an over-the-top, NBA Jam-like announcer who screams your accomplishments (“C-c-c-combo Breaker!”) at the top of his lungs. Killer Instinct is part of Microsoft’s Play Anywhere initiative. So, if you buy Killer Instinct from the Microsoft Store, you’ll also be able to play it on Xbox One at no additional cost. It also supports cross-platform play with Xbox One, thereby expanding the online player base. There is also a Steam version.

The King of Fighters ’98—with its hops, rolls, blowback attacks, and meter-filling Advance and Extra modes—is one of the best fighting games ever made, so it’s no surprise that developer SNK has returned to the title many times since the game’s original release. In 2008, SNK celebrated the game’s tenth anniversary by porting the team-based fighter to the PlayStation 2 as The King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match, a game loaded with extra characters (including the almighty ’96 Boss Team!), stages, moves, and gameplay modes. Now, a tweaked Ultimate Match is available for purchase under the title The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition. This version adds numerous graphics options and excellent netcode.

Like The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match is a dream match that eschews a storyline so that developer SNK could include as many characters as possible—even some that are canonically dead, like crime boss Geese Howard. As a result, Unlimited Match boasts one of the largest fighting game rosters of all time, with a 66-character strong lineup. Although it lacks KOF ’98 UMFE’s three radically different fight mechanics (Advanced, Extra, and Ultimate), Unlimited Match has a lone system that resembles Advanced Mode. This fighting style gives you plenty of offensive (Dash, Run, Hops, Super Jumps) and defensive (Guard Cancel Strike, Guard Cancel Roll Throw) options for setting up or evading traps. Excellent rollback netcode lets you play people around the world without a hiccup.

The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition brings SNK’s incredibly dense, 3-vs.-3, team-based fighter to the PC via Valve’s video game marketplace. It’s one of the best in SNK’s rich catalog. If you’ve rumbled with friends and foes in the version that appeared on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, you’ll feel right at home here: The intricate combat mechanics, meter management, and the best sprite-based graphics ever seen in a fighting game are brought over successfully in this Steam port. Even better, The King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition contains all the console DLC and the King of Fighters XIII: Climax arcade features.

Developer SNK took KOF XIV’s core, revamped the MAX meter, added the Shatterstrike counter system, and gave the character models an eye-catching redesign to create one of the best fighting games in recent history. KOF XV features an updated fighting engine that facilitates fast-paced, creative combat, and near-flawless rollback netcode that will keep you knuckling up with online rivals for hours on end. In a community-fostering move, SNK included an esports-friendly tournament mode tailor-made for locals and majors like Evo. You can save 15 custom teams, set up brackets and rulesets, and register up to 32 entrants. It’s a great touch. In addition, KOF XV lets you join online lobbies to play against others or simply spectate.

SNK put weapons-based, 2D fighting on the map with 1993’s delightful Samurai Shodown, but the developer went on to refine the idea of sword-based combat four years later in a somewhat lesser-known Neo Geo title: The Last Blade. Released to PC with several contemporary bells and whistles, The Last Blade features fun swordplay, a dozen exquisitely designed characters, and a gorgeous anime- and manga-style presentation that makes its 19th-century Japanese setting one of the most beautiful in fighting-game history.

Mortal Kombat 11 is far more than the guts and gore titles on which the series built its fame. The narrative sequel to Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11 uses time travel to pit characters against their rivals in the past in order to alter the present. Whatever. It continues the series’ tradition of gory action and otherworldly mysticism, laying the groundwork for military operatives, ninjas, gods, and monsters to clash head-on. With its character customization, HDR10 support, smooth animations, and new offensive and defensive meters, MK11 is a terrific Mortal Kombat entry.

When NetherRealm Studios released the blood-drenched Mortal Kombat X to consoles in 2015, the one-on-one fighting game continued to evolve via free and paid updates that added characters, balanced the roster, and improved online play. However, the High Voltage Studios-ported PC version of the game received zero post-launch support, much to the dismay of hard-core Mortal Kombat fans. Thankfully, that changed with the Mortal Kombat XL update, a version of MKX that finally gives PC gamers all the extras that console-based fight fans have enjoyed for some time now. Paid DLC adds plenty of guest fighters, including the Predator and Friday the 13th‘s Jason Vorhees.

Clashing swords, blood spurts, and tense, measured play define Samurai Shodown, SNK’s beloved weapons-based fighting game series. This series refresh, the simply named Samurai Shodown, carries those elements to PC. Samurai Shodown’s unique, defense-oriented gameplay makes it a fighting game to check out for strategic, sword-swinging, blood-letting action. Prep for lengthy load times, though.

Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection, SNK and Digital Eclipse’s follow-up to the delightful SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, contains all the SamSho games that appeared on the original Neo Geo, plus production art, SNK staff interviews, and a true surprise—an unreleased title that only briefly saw a location test. Overall, Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection is a wonderful piece of playable history, with the only blight against the PC game being its mediocre online components.

Skullgirls 2nd Encore, the update to Reverge Labs’s critically acclaimed original game, takes cues from many highly regarded fighting titles and blends them with the series’ unique, cartoony, art deco-influenced visual style. However, Skullgirls 2nd Encore’s graphics aren’t what set it apart from the competition. The indie fighter features a Capcom vs. SNK-style ratio system, allowing you to select up to three characters to battle against up to three rival characters, as well as a Marvel vs. Capcom-style assist system. The fighter also has a built-in system that automatically stops infinites, those annoying and abusive combos that never end.

With Match of the Millennium, the secret best fighting game in the SNK vs. Capcom crossover series finds a new audience. Featuring an 18-character default roster and three deep groove systems that replicate the beloved companies’ beloved fighting game engines, SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium sees two fighting game universes collide in marvelous fashion. That would be more than enough variety, but Olympics is the most intriguing mode, as it lets you indulge in several non-fighting game minigames. For example, you can blast Metal Slug’s Mars People in a first-person shooting mode or guide Ghost ‘N Goblins’ Arthur across pits to snatch up treasure. Match of the Millennium is a genuinely entertaining and rich fighting game that combines challenge and strategy with a hefty helping of lighthearted humor.

In February 2016, Street Fighter V arrived on PC with many flaws that detracted from the stellar gameplay, including awful server instability, no true single-player mode, and a surprisingly limited multiplayer Battle Lounge. However, over the course of its run, developer Capcom released several updates that addressed (most of) those issues while also adding new stages and playable characters. The final version, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, with its fresh and returning characters, new fight systems (like the cool V-Skills and V-Triggers mechanics), interactive stages, Cinematic Story Mode, and cross-platform play with PlayStation 4 owners, finally makes the one-on-one fighting game a title to pick up even for gamers who don’t have Evo dreams.

The weapons-based combat series has seen its ups and downs over the years, but with SoulCalibur VI, developer Bandai Namco has taken what’s worked in the past—swift, strategic combat and robust character customization—and paired it with the new Reversal Edge and Soul Charge battle mechanics to create an engaging PC fighting game that’ll shine in all sorts of battles, whether they’re between buddies or on big esports stages like Evo. Combat is crisp and rewarding, with a universal control scheme that makes it a breeze to pick up a new character.

The games preservation experts at Digital Eclipse have taken up the Street Fighter task, blessing gamers with titles that celebrate the series via accurate emulation and a bounty of production-related extras and modern touches. The lineup includes Street Fighter (1987), Street Fighter II (1991), Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1992), Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (1992), Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993) Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994), Street Fighter Alpha (1995), Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996), Street Fighter III: New Generation (1997), Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact Giant Attack (1997), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998), and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight For The Future (1999). This collection also includes a sprite/animation view, design documents, a historical timeline, and a jukebox. In short, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a love letter to one of the most important video game franchises of all time.

Following Street Fighter V’s lukewarm reception, Capcom had much to prove with Street Fighter 6. Thankfully, the developer not only righted the previous title’s wrongs, but exceeded expectations by including nearly everything that fans would want in a contemporary fighting game.

The title’s powered by the new Drive Gauge, a meter that’s full and ready for action at the beginning of each round. With the Drive Gauge, you can unleash the Drive Impact, Drive Parry, Drive Reversal, Drive Rush, and Overdrive moves (read our review for a breakdown of each one). It, along with the Dynamic and Modern control schemes, gives you more combat flexibility than any previous Street Fighter game. The result is one of the best fighters ever crafted, one that enables hype-fueled moments in casual and competitive play.

Tekken 7, like the main-line Tekken games that came before it, is a tale of fathers and sons attempting to murder each other to purge the Mishima clan of the Devil Gene, a magical bit of DNA that transforms certain people into hell spawn.

The excellent combat accentuates the narrative ridiculousness. Like its predecessors, Tekken 7 is a fighting game that features simple, limb-mapped controls, massive character move sets, and numerous juggles that let you keep a combo flowing, if you’re skilled enough to input the correct move at the right moment. With Tekken 7, the series receives super moves (Rage Arts) and enhanced, special attacks that can blow through an opponent’s attack (Power Crush).

Tekken 7 is an incredibly tense game of jabs, feints, and sidesteps, because any hit may lead to a long combo sting. Factor in characters with move sets that emulate real martial arts, interactive stages that let you knock people through floors and walls, and terrific slowdown effects that happen when both fighters’ health bars are in the red and they perform close-quarter melee attacks, and you have a fighting game that’s essentially an interactive martial arts flick.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 pits Marvel’s superheroes against Capcom’s video game characters in a frantic 3-vs.-3, tag team brawl. The 48-character headcount is impressive, but it’s the individual characters and visual aesthetic that truly make the game shine. Marvel’s side has several popular and obscure characters, including Captain America, Iron Man, Iron Fist, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man. Capcom’s side mainly comprises characters from the company’s fighting and action games, including Final Fight’s Mike Haggar and Street Fighter’s Ryu. The comic book-style graphics, with their bright colors and heavy black lines, give Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 an eye-popping look. In terms of gameplay, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 builds upon its Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds predecessor by including a three-button control scheme, the momentum-changing X-Factor mechanic, and retooled aerial combat.

Ultra Street Fighter IV marks the final form for Capcom’s exciting fighting game. Like vanilla Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV, Ultra’s combat is centered on Focus Attacks, a move that lets your character tank a blow and unleash a counterattack. This final iteration adds five new characters (Decapre, Elena, Hugo, Poison, and Rolento), six new stages, a YouTube upload option, Edition Select (which lets you pick different versions of characters, based on their past Street Fighter IV iterations), and Double Ultra (which makes a character’s Ultra Combos available simultaneously, in exchange for reduced damage). It’s Street Fighter IV’s best and meatiest update, though some balance issues prove a bit irritating in play. Still, Ultra Street Fighter IV is an excellent, competitive one-on-one fighting game.