11 Best Fighting Games Of The Decade (So Far)
8. Pokkén Tournament
The most obviously compatible genre-splicing spin-off ever; it's mind-boggling to think it took Game Freak two decades to realize a fighting game based on Pokemon would be a marriage made in heaven.
Born in Japanese arcades and subsequently ported to Nintendo's ill-fated Wii U in 2015, Pokken Tournament trims the RPG elements of the mainline games and focuses on the most deliciously addictive part of the series after Catching 'Em All: battling. Except here, there are no staring contests between trainers or issuing of attack commands, each combatant bursts forth from its Poke Ball and goes to town on their opponent under the direct control of the player.
That Bandai Namco - specifically, the same folks responsible for Tekken - managed to retain the spirit of the series while introducing a layered and surprisingly deep combat system deserves praise in itself, but there's so, so much more room to improve.
It's a tad irksome, given the source material, that Pokken's roster is so light, but new characters continue to be added over time.
If you made the wise choice of not picking up a Wii U and subsequently missed out on Pokken, there's a Switch version out now. Go get it!