It might be a bit early to call it, but the 2020s has already been one of the best decades for the FGC (fighting game community) and it’s only about to get better!

Recently, Capcom revived two of their most legendary franchises, marking the triumphant return of several iconic games once thought to be lost to licensing hell; Marvel VS. Capcom, AND Capcom VS. SNK! 2XKO, the questionably titled League of Legends fighting game, AND Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves both had extremely successful beta tests, which will bring heaps of (friendly) League fans to the FGC, plus Supa-Star alum Robert Patrick’s T-1000 from T2: Judgment Day is coming to Mortal Kombat 1 as DLC!

It’s a great time to be a fighting game player, is what we’re saying. With the MVC Collection and Capcom Fighting Collection 2 out now and dropping in May respectively, new entries in classic series and expansions for existing titles coming, and an anime series thrown in too, there is literally a game for every person and playstyle, so let’s go through which ones might be right for you!

Street Fighter 6

Daigo and Justin Wong at the birth of Evo Moment #37, the most viral ‘Street Fighter’ clip of all time

You want straight fundamentals, and (mostly) honest, fun neutral. You reckon the winner shouldn’t be dictated by who can pull off the longest combo, but who makes the right read at the right time. Thanks to Modern Controls, execution won’t present a huge barrier to entry, the scrubbiest day one fighter has the chance to take a game off a veteran, if they give it their all, or play Modern Zangief.

Mechanics like Drive Impact and Drive Reversal give you simple, one-button strategies to turn the tide of a fight, so play this if you have an itchy trigger finger and don’t mind being liberal with your best buttons! If you get really crazy into this one, you can go back and experience Ultra Street Fighter IV, and the series’ darling; Third Strike!

Samurai Shodown

Play this if you like Akira Kurosawa films. SamSho is a different beast to anything else, it’s got insanely tense neutral standoffs, where the combos are short but one teeny-tiny movement, one millimetre, one pixel, can mean the difference between life and death, where all it takes is one absurdly strong attack to end the game! This is a classic samurai film come to life, where the hero and villain stand there completely still for thirty seconds, and the whole fight is decided by one decisive slash! 

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Play this if you like Dragon Ball Z. Here’s the thing a lot of people won’t tell you about fighting games: liking the series, or even liking the look of a character or artstyle is literally the only reason you need to get into one, and it’s a great reason! Aesthetics matter, they aren’t window dressing, they are pivotal to the character of the game. You don’t need to pretend to care about mechanics, or a thriving tournament scene, or anything, you can just like Goku!

Finding a character or aesthetic that you can truly connect with is so hard, and sometimes, you might drop a perfectly amazing game mechanically simply because the vibe wasn’t there. If you find that vibe or character, treasure it, hold on to it, and if that means playing Vegeta, Super Vegeta, and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta on a team, do it!

DBFZ is also simple enough that new players can pick it up quickly (it only has quarter-circle inputs), but deep enough that there’s plenty of meat on the bone to dig into once you get good. You’ll also need the eyes of a Saiyan, because things that can get hectic on screen!

TEKKEN 8

“What the hell is a Devil Gene?” – Brian Cox

Play this if you like a challenge, or you want a fun game to play at parties. That’s confusing, but it really is a fun button-masher at low levels, and an extremely complicated fighter at the higher levels. If you play ranked, you don’t just want to dip your toe in and casually learn a fighting game, you want to dive into the deep end from the Olympic level board. Contending with TEKKEN’S intricate 3D combat, where you can shimmy off into the Z-axis, adds another layer of depth to fights, but it is as rewarding to master as it is difficult. Choose this one if you are toxic and can handle the toxicity being dished back. On the casual side though, you can just pick King and body your friends, so if you turn this on, you’re gonna have a good time either way! Another deep cut 2.5/3D experience that might interest you is Virtua Fighter, which recently had a new instalment announced too!

Guilty Gear Strive

If you’re ‘guilty’ of choosing this next title, get yourself in ‘gear’ because you’re entering the world of anime fighters! Strive may not be as fast and flashy as its predecessors, but it’s an excellent introduction to this particular flavour of FG, known as “Airdashers.” Airdashers usually have an anime aesthetic and universal airdash, so tick and tick. Guilty Gear’s appeal is definitely in how weirdly confusing and crazy director Daisuke Ishiwatari’s world is, he is unimaginably creative, and if you allow yourself, you can fall down a very odd rabbit hole of GG lore and characters to get attached to.

Will you play as the U.S Senator whose main attack is swinging a coffin with an alien corpse in it? The Homunculus who’s married to a giant sentient key? Samurai vampire? Pop star? A killer bedframe? Give this colourful cast a chance and they’ll surprise you! Plus, it gives you time to brush up on your knowledge before the anime; Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers, drops! For more Airdashers, try Melty Blood or Blazblue. 

King of Fighters XV

You’re playing this because you want to get ready for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and you wanna know why Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui are all over your timeline. Otherwise, you are a connoisseur, a historian, a completionist. KOF is a franchise with a great legacy, entwined with arcades and gaming itself. Your favourite game director played on KOF machines when they were a wean. With an absolutely gigantic roster and seemingly infinite mechanics, you don’t even have time to be reading this, you have combos to lab! Go! (Can you tell I haven’t played too much of this one? I am practicing for CotW though.)

Marvel VS. Capcom

This is Marvel, baby! If you play this, and I hope you do, you court chaos in every game you play; you’re a showboater and you know it, you don’t just want to win, you want to flex and have a good time doing it. MvC is the home for the flashiest, longest combos, insane neutral scrambles, and the hypest moments you will find. Trying to follow the action sometimes can be dizzying, but once you enter the flow state, it’s quite the rush.

MAXIMUM VERGIL

Play this if you are a lab monster, practicing a combo for every fringe situation, a blockstring for every character and scenario, and a pop-off for your big victory. If you want a game that’s fun to play and fun to watch, look no further. Well, look a bit further, looking up highlights on YouTube will bring you to some of the greatest moments in gaming history; IHeartJustice’s insane Turnabout as Phoenix Wright, the FChamp vs. KaneBlueRiver grudge match, Zak Bennett’s Firebrand shell, the hilariously iconic commentary highlights, and, how to do an infinite!

With Terry Bogard and Mai recently joining Street Fighter, a new Fatal Fury and Virtua Fighter on the horizon, Capcom VS. SNK coming back, 2KXO coming soon, more characters for Tekken, another season of DLC for Guilty Gear Strive featuring LUCY FROM CYBERPUNK EDGERUNNERS, plus an anime and who knows what else in the works, there has literally never been a better time to get into fighting games!