11 Best Fighting Games Of The Decade (So Far)

The first rule of fight club is: Anything goes.

Mortal Kombat X Scorpion
NetherRealm

There's no avoiding it, by their very nature fighting games ignite the fires of competition in the bellies of all who play them.

Like a switch being flipped, it matters not what temperament you may associate with most - the second a controller is clasped in-hand, self-restraint and reservedness disappear. You're here to perform some aggressive dental surgery on any opponent foolish enough to cross your path.

The genre's been helping to facilitate consequence-free violence for almost as long as the games industry's had legs, constantly evolving at the hands of veteran studios like Capcom, Namco and NetherRealm, as well as newcomers who add an always-welcome fresh perspective into the mix.

Perfection is too much of an absolute to be used here, but so far this decade we've seen some of the goriest, accessible and technical examples of all time make their mark on the gaming calendar. From Mortal Kombat X to Super Smash Bros. and everything in between on the variety spectrum, never before has the fighting game scene been so spoilt with top-tier quality.

The bell has been rung; it's time to rumble.

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Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.