When most players think of fighting games, big names like Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, and Mortal Kombat usually come to mind first. Considering how long they’ve been around and how popular they are, it’s no surprise.
Some anime titles have come out with fighting games, but there are only a few that fans absolutely adore. From amazing gameplay to remaining true to the source material, these anime fighting games hold a special place in the hearts of fans.
Updated January 24, 2022, by Sarah Prado: With so many popular anime available, it’s only a matter of time before some of them come out with their own games. Most tend to go with a fighting game to let fans play as their favorite characters. Some games are enjoyable, run smoothly, and make it easy for beginners. Then there are some those where gameplay is a little too rough and controlling the characters is a challenge. These games are some of the best games for anime fans thanks to their amazing gameplay, story, and remaining pretty close to their source material. Even the crossover games are great, and players will have fun putting their dream team together.
15 Dragon Ball FighterZ
The Dragon Ball series has plenty of games to choose from. Dragon Ball FighterZ is the latest fighting game to come from it.
The story, gameplay, character roster, and music were highly praised by critics and fans alike. It gave fans the chance to build their perfect team for the 3-on-3 fights, letting them have some fun trying out which characters work best together.
14 Fate/unlimited Codes
A game that came out in 2008 for the PlayStation 2 and PSP. For fans of the Fate/stay night series, this game was and is still considered one of the best of the franchise.
The gameplay was beginner-friendly and served as a good way to draw in new players. For fans of the series, this was a treat, as they got to play as their favorite characters. For anyone that wasn't familiar with the series, it did get a little confusing, but it was easy to catch on.
13 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has been around for a long time and there have been a few games based on it. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is just what fans wanted. Featuring fan-favorites of the series, this fighting game let fans reenact scenes from the series and had different game modes that kept fans hooked.
Each fighter has a different Battle Style and fans are able skills and abilities from the series. Even the little details like fighters using Vampire or the Pillar Men Battle Styles that are limited to indoor and nighttime stages until certain requirements are met helps make the game interesting.
12 One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4
A direct sequel to One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3. This game continues where it left off and expands the story a lot more. The gameplay is pretty much the same as the previous game, but Pirate Warriors 4 added four new multiplayer modes.
What made this game very unique is that it has an original ending in the Wano arc. The arc is still ongoing in the One Piece manga, and gives fans an idea of what could happen after the arc ends.
11 Pokken Tournament DX
Pokken Tournament DX is a Pokemon game that's a little different from most games in the franchise. Instead of trainers giving commands, instead players control the Pokemon itself.
There are 23 playable Pokemon that players can choose from, and the game gives players a different kind of control than what most Pokemon games offer. For any fan wanting less to do with the trainer drama, this game is excellent.
10 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
This is the final installment of the Ninja Storm series for Naruto. Though very similar to previous installments, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 brought back the wall-run feature which had been taken out after Ultimate Ninja Storm.
It has 106 characters in it and many forms that the characters can change into. Players can swap characters in battle, making it fun to put a team together. After beating story mode, the game turns into an open world that allows players to recreate fights from previous games.
9 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
This is the final installment of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and probably the best one. With 98 characters and 161 transformations (like Super Saiyan and Frieza’s stages), this game offered a lot to fans. It brought back some fan-favorite characters like Arale and King Piccolo. Even characters from the movies like Turles, Cooler, and Bojack appear in the game.
Players were able to change backgrounds to day or night, making it fun to set the scene. Plus, a lot of the characters had unique dialogue for not just those they knew, but for characters they’ve never met.
8 BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
This crossover fighting game features characters from various games and anime shows. Players will fight in 2-on-2 battles, and they have a large roster to choose from. With 40 characters (20 in the base game and 20 DLC characters), players will have plenty of fun creating their perfect duo for battle. Executing combos is pretty easy and beginner-friendly for players that are new to playing the game
It has a pretty good story mode and has training modes to help beginners get used to the controls. Overall, the game has great art styles, music, and story that made it very fun to play.
7 Sunday vs Magazine: Shuketsu! Chojo Daikessen
This fighting game features characters from popular anime shows like Inuyasha and Fairy Tail, but also titles from the early 2000s and 2010s like Kekkaishi and Hajime no Ippo. Players shouldn’t go in mashing buttons mindlessly, but should plan out attacks and combos.
Despite the need to strategize, the game is still beginner-friendly and learning combos is pretty easy. Plus, the game has a great variety of characters that players can choose from.
6 Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
A sequel to Persona 4 Arena, this game has all the characters from the previous game return, along with some new characters. Persona 4 Arena was an overall great fighting game with amazing gameplay and story. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax improved just about everything from that game, making it better without sacrificing the things that made fans love it in the first place.
The gameplay is smoother and more refined than its predecessor. Some moves for characters in the previous game were tweaked, making the experience feel more polished.
5 Bleach: Dark Souls
The second Bleach game released for the Nintendo DS. It introduces new characters and adds new moves for the returning characters. Visuals for Bankai attacks along with character sprites have improved. The card system makes it easy for players to change the condition of fighters quickly, making it easier to heal or boost stats if players have the right card.
With 44 characters to choose from, fans will have fun playing as their favorite characters and unlocking their stories. Plus, the online multiplayer was largely improved and made it easier for fans to play online.
4 Kill La Kill -IF
This fighting game matches the incredibly high energy of the anime it’s based on. Kill La Kill -IF is very fast-paced, but the gameplay is very smooth and easy to grasp for beginners. The game mostly follows Satsuki and follows the story of the anime with a few deviations. It has a rather small character roster of only six, which can feel pretty limiting at times, but the game makes sure to show off their unique personalities.
The art style matches the anime’s style perfectly, which many fans enjoyed. Pulling off combos is easy to the point that some players just button mash to do them. One mechanic that made the game fun and a little different from other fighting games was the Bloody Valor mechanic that gave players a buff if they win a rock-paper-scissors mini-game.
3 Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
This game is similar to Jump Force, in that it has various characters from different anime shows in it. Instead of big names like Luffy, Naruto, Goku, and others that are popular in shonen anime, it features characters like Kirito and Asuna from the Sword Art Online series, Taiga from Toradora!, and characters from other video games like Valkyria Chronicles and Virtua Fighter.
The game mostly had characters from light novels. While some of them might look a little out of place, the game does a great job of making them fit in perfectly.
2 My Hero One's Justice 2
It might’ve been released only in 2020, but My Hero One’s Justice 2 has already made its case for being one of the best anime fighting games out there. There’s plenty of solo content that’ll keep fans playing for hours.
The Sidekick System lets players pick another character as their Sidekick and can do combos in battle. The sidekick can also be controlled by a second player. Character costumes can be changed and customized to the player’s liking as well.
1 Jump Ultimate Stars
A game released back in 2006 and only in Japan, Jump Ultimate Stars is a pretty niche title. This game had the biggest names in shonen anime in it. From Bleach to Yu-Gi-Oh!, there was a character for just about every fan. It had 305 characters from different anime shows. There were about 56 fully playable characters, but the remaining characters could be chosen for Support or Help. This gave players an even bigger roster of characters to choose from. The backgrounds had walls and floors that players could break through if hit hard enough.
Anyone who was lucky enough to get this game outside of Japan enjoyed the vast amount of characters to choose from and the solid gameplay. Jump Force might be the latest game to have characters from various anime shows, but Jump Ultimate Stars has a special place in the hearts of fans.