Best Fighting Game of 2023 - Article

by Chinh Tran , posted on 12 January 2024 / 3,410 Views

Fighting games came back in 2023 in a big way. Whether you were perfecting your combos, working on your Fatalities, living your professional wrestling dream, or brawling with familiar characters from your childhood, gamers had no shortage of options of where they could dedicate their training hours. Thanks to these finalists, gamers will continue to sink many more hours improving in order to gain an edge over their competitors.

NetherRealm Studios unleashed Mortal Kombat 1, bringing with it all the gory fighting action fans have come to love. Fair Play Labs released Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, along with a wide assortment of Nickelodeon favourite characters. Capcom's legendary fighting franchise returned through Street Fighter VI. Finally, 2K brought back intense professional wrestling action in WWE 2K3.

The Shortlist:

Mortal Kombat 1

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Street Fighter 6

WWE 2K23

The Runner-Up:

Mortal Kombat 1

Mortal Kombat was rebooted once again in 2023. However, it was still distinctly Mortal Kombat, bringing with it all the gore, brutality, and intensity fans are familiar with. Featuring a brand new Kameo system that added new depth to the gameplay, returning favourites showing up in surprising ways, and higher fidelity Fatalities than ever, Mortal Kombat 1 earned its spot near the top of the fighting game category.

The Winner:

Street Fighter 6

Fittingly, it was a bout between Mortal Kombat 1 and Street Fighter 6 for the title of Best Fighting Game of 2023. Capcom's seminal fighting series took the round this year, thanks to its deep and exciting mechanics, a new Drive Gauge system that helped players explore their fighting creativity, and numerous online and offline modes that kept gamers coming back for more. Capcom has proven once again that it's the fighting game developer to beat, with Street Fighter 6 taking the title of Best Fighting Game of 2023.

5 Comments

firebush03 (on 12 January 2024)

Not a bad year for fighting games. Three solid titles, with a new Tekken coming only a month later.

Garrus firebush03 (on 12 January 2024)

well another way to look at it is that there wasn't a single new fighting game to come out this year that wasn't just a sequel to a previous one

i play smash bros gamecube or wii, not the Wii u or switch versions
i play soul calibur 2, not the later versions

etc.

The Fury Garrus (on 15 January 2024)

Is that a bad thing? Sometimes it happens in all genres. Look at the best Action Adventure. Not a single one of those was from a new franchise. The winner was basically a direct sequel which just made use of the last games gameplay/loop and added a new set of mechanics. Of course when they are adding a new set of mechanics to one of the best received games of all time, all you are doing is improving on already great. :P

SF6 and MK1 from what I've heard from players is that they are both a improvement on the last.

With T8 on the horizon, it's a busy financial year for fighting games for sure, even if those are only the big hitters.

I would however like to see something new breaking on the scene, it's been a while.

Garrus The Fury (on 15 January 2024)

i just mean a good year is when we get a Soul Calibur 2 game that is actually better than the old one :)

I did not like the latest SC game

as for Smash Brothers, the INPUT LAG is horrific with the Switch game compared to the Gamecube game, they really messed that up