Top 10 8-bit and 16-bit Console Fighters

[the7k]

And what is this lack of mention for the SNES version of Street Fighter Alpha 2? It's perhaps one of the most impressive SNES games out there, and easily the most expensive fighter in the US on the console.

I just woke up, and it hit me: I forgot to mention SFA2! I tried to come back and mention it as fast as I could, but I see you beat me to the punch.

[Ack]

Don't feel bad about it, the SNES port of SFA2 is my baby. And you beat me to the punch on how horrid the 16-bit ports of Primal Rage are...and the awesomeness of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV.

But I mentioned it once, I'll mention it again...have you tried the Power Rangers fighting game on the SNES? Seriously, give it a shot. Just...I hope you like the Power Rangers theme.

[the7k]

Heh, I only played the SNES Power Ranger Beat 'Em Ups, so I'm afraid I haven't played it.

It's the one that is all Mechs, right? I remember seeing it, but never played it unfortunately. If I ever do find it though, I'll pick it up. Always looking for more fighting games.

Although, I did play the Genesis fighting game, but it wasn't anything special.

[Ack]

Ok, I suppose I'll have to pimp this out really quick. First, Mighty Morphing Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition was a SNES only release, based entirely around the idea of fights in the giant Zords. So what does that mean? Huge sprites. I mean HUGE sprites, and pretty too. They were fluid, brightly colored, well animated, and featured high frame rates. The level design reflected that you were fighting at enormous size. Frankly, the game's very pretty to me.



Also, it featured a regular story mode(where you can only pick the main hero Zords), a multiplayer mode that allowed you to pick any of the characters to fight with, and Trial Mode, which meant survival. The case was made of 8 playable characters, 4 Zords, 4 villains(and the final boss makes 9), each with unique special moves and super moves. The title plays similar to Capcom fighters of the time(1995), so think early Alpha series.

Also, the special move system was really nifty: instead of building up your meter by attacking, it would fill on its own and then empty. You could execute special moves at any time, but they were more powerful if the bar was more full. And if the bar was completely full, it would bump you up to the next power level. After three power levels, you could use your super moves, though only for a limited amount of time. After that, you started over again. While timing is important in any fighting game, it helped raise the bar even further, and I can't think of too many games that tried to do this again.

Frankly, my biggest complaints are the lack of stages(all the 4 Zords share the same stage), and the constant repetition of the Power Rangers theme song. Other than that, the audio's pretty good.

And in case you're wondering, the engine for this game was used in one other, New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, one of the best fighting games released on the console. It's a real shame we never got it in the states(now that I think about it, it should be on the top 10 list as well, I totally forgot about imports).

[MrPopo]

Man, I had so many good times with Endless Dual. I thought the MMPR game looked similar.

Of course, Epyon's special was insane if you could get it to land.

[AwesomeMonstar]

Man, I had so many good times with Endless Dual. I thought the MMPR game looked similar.

Of course, Epyon's special was insane if you could get it to land.

GW:endless duel was awesome, and really, the only gundam game i have ever enjoyed. Maybe i just really wanted to rock out with the deathsythe but man, did I enjoy this game. It, without a doubt, deserves a mention.

[the7k]

Ah, well if it uses the engine of Endless Duel, then I can count on it being very solid.

Endless Duel is actually a SFC game I'd like to import - never actually got around to even looking for it, as I have many other stateside games I gotta get first, but I did love to play it in my emulator days.

Thanks for the run down!

[J T]

This was truly the golden age of fighters. Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Samurai Shodown... all timeless classics. The 3D fighting generation that followed with Tekken, DOA, Soul Caliber etc. was good, but those games are all just a little bit too sloppy to allow for the degree of fighting skill perfection you could achieve in the classic 2D fighters.

[Ack]

I don't know if I fully agree with that about 3D fighters. I've seen some amazing things done in Soul Calibur, and Virtual Fighter can get so obscenely technical most people avoid it unfortunately. Beyond that though, I really couldn't say there's much else out there for 3D fighters that has impressed me. I generally avoid Tekken(yes, I'm a VF kind of guy), and DOA has always struck me as a counter-fest. I just feel the two genres are different animals that shouldn't be approached the same way.

[the7k]

DOA1 was a pretty damn good 3D fighter for its time, and DOA2 was probably the peak - but even then, DOA could never touch Tekken 3.

VF and DOA are both games that, if you come into it late, you have absolutely no chance against the seasoned vets. However, at least VF is extremely technical, and I can respect that. DOA is just having know when to use a low or high counter, and you never have to worry about getting hit. Ever. It's just frustrating.

Anyway, while I do kinda agree that the 8-bit and 16-bit eras were probably the Golden Age, it wasn't until the 32-bit era that 2D fighters were really able to function at their finest on home consoles. SNES and Genesis just couldn't handle the arcade fighters of that time. Saturn was the undisputed champ of 2D Fighters, and PSX could have been a 2D Fighter hog itself if they just released a RAM expansion like Sega did. Even still, PSX had pretty good versions of SFA3, Darkstalkers 3, Samurai Shodown IV Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind, not to mention the beautiful Guilty Gear.