The days of popping quarters into an arcade machine are long gone, but the fighting game genre has experienced a recent renaissance on home consoles. In 2011, we saw the return and evolution of Mortal Kombat and in 2012, we saw the return and rise of the crossover fighting game genre. Dead or Alive 5 featured characters from Sega's classic Virtual Fighters and we got to see Ryu versus Heihachi in Street Fighter X Tekken. Here is our list of the top five fighting games in 2012:
5. Soulcalibur V: the latest installment in the long-running weapon-based fighting series adds new characters and game mechanics. Although some old favorites like Talim, Yun-seong, and Zasalamel have been left to the wayside. The critical edges attacks break up the fights with flashy cinematic sequences that are both nice to look at and strategically useful. Namco does a nice job of mixing in some of the old with new additions. What makes this one of the best five fighting games of the year is that it has an awesome fighter creator that allows gamers to choose their fighter's tattoos and clothing.
4. Tekken 3D Prime Edition: the first 3D handheld iteration of the series gets the basics right; a full cast of fighters, solid fighting and great graphics. The cast of 40 fighters is a mix of classic characters and newer warriors, each one boasting a unique fighting style. The game also has 700 collectable Tekken cards and the 3D movie, "Tekken: Blood Vengeance." The game might not feature the many extra modes that are part of modern gaming, but if you enjoy the Tekken series, 3D Prime is as good as most entries in the franchise.
3. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom: is an updated version of crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The game utilizes the same tag-team feature as pervious games in the series, where a player choose three characters that can be swapped at any point during a match. The game features the original 36 fighters from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and introduces 12 new playable fighters. This is the best version of the game and fixes many of the issues of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds including its online play.
2. Dead or Alive 5: the fifth entry in Team Ninja's fighting game series features more realistic looking fighter models and some guest characters from Sega's Virtual Fighter fighting game series. It is almost a crossover fighting game, but not really. My favorite thing from the DOA series has always been the destructible environment and DOA 5 takes it to the next level. The interactive environments feature train and car crashes, tigers and even a gunship. It is an easy to grasp fighting game that chucks out the complex system of other fighting games and relies more on non-stop action.
1. Street Fighter X Tekken: Two generations of fighting games violently collide in this crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. The game features characters from both the Street Fighter franchise and Namco's Tekken series. Players select two characters and duke it out in tag team fighting matches much like other entries in the Capcom versus series. Capcom made the game so it plays like a 2D Street Fighter title with special moves. This is my pick for fighting game of the year, because it blends two of my favorite franchises in a traditional 2D fight game with a few risk. I also can't wait to see what Namco does with their 3D version of this crossover.
