The Top 5 Fighting Games of All Time

I'll always be a classic console boy. I cut my teeth on an Atari 2600 so those crappy old games still hold a special place in my heart. Some of you young pups might be put out by my list of the top 5 fighting games ever but that's a price I'll have to pay. In fifteen years when nobody remembers what a Playstation 3 was and you can't even find X-Box 360s in yard sales anymore, then you'll know where I'm coming from.

So here it is--my list of the top 5 fighting games of all time.

5) Primal Rage

I almost put soul Caliber here but didn't. How can a Super Nintendo game compete with a next-gen powerhouse you ask? Fighting dinosaurs-that's how. While Soul Caliber is all pretty and stuff and the franchise gives players the ability to fight as one of an army of iconic figures (Spawn, Yoda, Vader) it doesn't let you stomp around like Godzilla, eat villagers for power-ups, and release clouds of noxious bodily gas that paralyze your opponent. So, at least in my book, Primal Rage edges out the noob. After all, it's Mortal Kombat with dinosaurs for crying out loud!

4) Backyard Wrestling

'Round these parts we call it rastlin'. So what makes the game so cool? I lived it, that's what. My cousin was six-four and near 250 before he ever made it into high school and a huge WWF fan. (For those of you not old enough to remember when Hulk Hogan actually wrestled, the WWF became the WWE after the World Wildlife Fund sued them for copyright infringement.) Every time I went over there I was subjected to a fresh round of holds, headlocks, and half nelsons. Throw in a few conveniently placed junk cars, ladders, and explosive propane accessories and you've got Backyard Wrestling. It's like the Beavis and Butthead of wrestling games with a lot of hillbilly thrown in for good measure. Plus the soundtrack rocked!

3) Marvel VS. Capcom

I was always a huge Marvel fan so when I happened across this game tucked away in the back of my local Space Port arcade I thought I'd found nirvana. I dropped innumerable amounts of quarters in that game and unwisely spent hours of my life pounding away at buttons before I realized Spiderman sucked! No wonder I kept getting my behind handed to me. I learned something very important from this game: comic book characters should never appear in fighting games, period.

2) Street Fighter

Ryu. Chun Li. M. Bison. Need I say more? Really? Okay. I don't think there's a single fighting game out there that has influenced contemporary pop culture on such a profound level. Two movie tie-ins, an international fan base, armies of cosplayers, hundreds of hours of fan made videos on YouTube and the franchise is still going. It's simply unbelievable. You know you and your friends throw Hadouken at each other. It's okay, just admit it. There's nothing wrong with that-it's natural.

1) Mortal Kombat

You knew it had to be in here somewhere. I used to play this game at the 7-11 every day before class. I always used Raiden so I could teleport all over the place and launch sneak attacks-so what if it was the only way I could beat any of my friends! What do you mean it's not fair? Why is this game so cool? It's the first game ever to get so bloody. Cutting people in half, ripping off heads with the spines attached, shattering enemies into thousands of ice cubes (mmm Kano-cicle) all may sound pretty lame nowadays but back before SAW XXVII and Rambo remakes that stuff was unheard of. Everybody, parents, news media, and gamers alike totally wigged out! So what the franchise has gone soft (MK VS. D.C.-really?), the original was just plain awesome. The first sequel wasn't too shabby either. I mark the birth of Mortal Kombat as the beginning of the decline of western society.

So that's it. Those are my top 5 fighting games of all time. You can try to sell me on others but it won't work. I don't fall for those flashy graphics and gimmicks.