These rankings are based on a direct vote put out to DualShockers’ 100+ contributors, writers, and editors, not our individual reviews.
The fighting and brawler genres may not have been the most heavily populated in 2023, but they have both contained some amazing contenders. Several well-established fighting game franchises have decided to square off in the ring against each other, putting a new spin on a lot of classic series. Meanwhile, the beat-‘em-up genre is still alive and well, taking brawling to new extremes.
Dean Martin called love a kick in the head, but here’s all the ways we loved literally kickin’ heads (and punching guts, and so on) over the past year, as ranked by DualShockers staff.
10Idol Showdown
Freeware To Rival The Best Fighting Games
A surprisingly successful fan game featuring sprite versions of popular real-life Vtubers, Besto Games' Idol Showdown picked up an impressive following after its release this past spring. Featuring assist characters akin to Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo fighters (and releasing four months ahead of that game), Idol Showdown provides a fun and fast-paced competition for two players.
Idol Showdown: Full Fighter Roster & Stats
Not sure who to pick in Idol Showdown? This guide will help give you a rundown of each fighter’s abilities and style.
The controls are pretty basic and easy to learn, and the downright bizarre personalities of the fighters serve up some laugh-out-loud moments. The fact that’s it’sfree to playprobably hasn’t hurt its popularity either, so if you’re a fighting game fan and haven’t tried it yet, you’ve really got nothing to lose.
Idol Showdown
9God Of Rock
We Salute You
One of these games is not like the others, andGod of Rockis it. While it certainly looks like a traditional fighting game, instead of outwitting your opponent by finding the right combination of offensive moves, you’ll be jamming buttons to the beat,Guitar Herostyle, with the more perfectly timed player landing hits. Plus, there are fun special moves that can bump up your health or change the music, making it harder for your opponent to compete.
Its innovative spirit and unique approach to knocking out opponents makes for a great time.
God of Rock is about as much a fighting game as Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was back in the ’90s, except with rhythmic precision instead of quick puzzle-based tile matching. Still, its innovative spirit and unique approach to knocking out opponents makes for a great time.
God of Rock
8The King Of Fighters XIII: Global Match
Only Slightly Different Than The Last One, But No Less Fun
A new edition of the original KoF13, which was developed by SNK Playmore and released way back in 2010, Global Match enhances the original game’s multiplayer brawling through the inclusion of Rollback Netcode.Becoming a stapleof more recent fighting games, this feature severely reduces button input delay, making fora much smootherand more fair one-on-one experience.
The improvements have really elevated it as a competitive 3-on-3 team fighter
Beyond that improvement, Global Match brings back the impressive character sprite art and simplified combat of KoF13’s original version, which were two big selling points in the initial launch. It wasn’t the most appreciated fighting game of its time, but the improvements have really elevated it as a competitive 3-on-3 team fighter, and it’s nice to see an underappreciated game getting a better reception the second time around.
The King of Fighters XIII: Global Match
7Hellboy Web of Wyrd
The Wyrdest Rescue Mission You’ll Play This Year
Few superheroes outside Marvel and DC have had as much success in modern times as Dark Horse Comics' Hellboy, and fledgling developer Upstream Games delivered this year with a Hellboy-themed brawler sure to please fans of the franchise. A beat-‘em-up with roguelike elements, Web of Wyrd takes the titular hero on an interdimensional journey to save an agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
The old-school cel-shaded style really brings out the feeling that you’re playing a comic book
With both Hellboy and his enemies protected by a toughness barrier, the action turns into a slugfest, as you chain together ranged and melee attacks to wear down your mystical enemies. The old-school cel-shaded style really elicits the feeling that you’re playing a comic book—one so jam-packed with action and great combat that it can’t be contained on the page.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd
6Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
Grab Your Ramen And Get Ready To Fight
No game on this list has a more robust roster than Connections, the seventh game in theNarutoUltimate Ninja Storm series, which retells the stories from the mega-popular shonen anime and manga series. More than 130 different playable characters are yours to control, spanning from the original Naruto series all the way to the next generation of Hidden Leaf ninja kids in Boruto.
More than 130 different playable characters are yours to control.
Building on the series’ legacy, Connections lets you play through all the story arcs featured in previous Ninja Storm games as well as featuring a brand-new story. While the voice acting has been panned for poor editing (and accusations of AI replacing actors), that faux pas is planned to be fixed in a patch, and the improved audio should just add to the adrenaline that these high-octane ninja battles stir up.
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
5Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
The ‘Toons Are Back In Town
No list of great fighting games would be complete without a Smash Bros.-style platform brawler, and lucky for us, 2023 gave usNickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. Following up on the success of the first game in the series, Brawl 2 includes some fun new mechanics like dodge-rolling, which makes the battles all the more intense.
Ren & Stimpy Are Way Too Cursed For Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
Take your “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy” elsewhere, guys
It’s not just a great platform brawler either, but a trip down memory lane. Featuring 25 different characters from 17 Nickelodeon animated series—including classic Nicktooms like Rocko’s Modern Life and Rugrats and more recent smash successes like The Loud House and Avatar: The Last Airbender — this game has something to bring out anyone’s inner child. Their violent, violent inner child.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
4Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
A Stunning Anime Adventure
It seems like a lot of people have missed out onGranblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, which is a shame, because it’s really a hidden gem among 2023’s fighting games. Based on the Granblue gatcha-based RPG, Rising comes at you with a nice mix of different game modes, including a richly detailed story mode, a chibi platforming adventure mode, and some really stunning cinematic boss fights.
In A Great Year For Fighting Games, Don’t Sleep On Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
There’s a lot here that should be done more often.
But this is a fighting game list, and fortunately, that aspect is where Rising shines the brightest. The 2.5D anime-style graphics are breathtaking, it’s got rollback netcode and crossplay for an improved online experience, and the addition of Dash Attacks and Triple Attacks add some more weapons to your arsenal compared to the previous entry in the series.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
3TMNT Shredders Revenge: Dimension Shellshock
Heroes In A DLC! Turtle Power!
A follow-up toShredder’s Revengefrom 2022, Dimension Shellshock is far and away the top brawler in this year’s mixed-genre category, earning the seal of approval of a hefty 25% of our voting staff. Starring the four titular turtles and their family of friends, Dimension Shellshock adds in a unique story about stopping Shredder from taking over the multiverse.
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge’s New DLC Brings Back An Old Favorite
Here comes a new challenger, Channel 6 News!
Speaking of friends, this game introduces a couple of new ones in the form of Karai, the daughter of Hamato Yoshi (but the adopted daughter of Shredder), andMiyamoto Usagi, the samurai rabbitand star of the longstanding Usagi Yojimbo comics. With two new characters you’re able to use to kick butt and snarf pizza, this throwback to old-timey arcade action is sure to please any beat-‘em-up fan.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
2Mortal Kombat 1
So Close To A Flawless Victory
And so we arrive at the final two—a pair of one-on-one fighting games that have been battling it out since the mid ’90s, and the rest ofMortal Kombat 1’s competition didn’t even come close. Capturing the silver medal, as well as votes of 65% of our staff, it was a pretty tight matchup for the top spot, but there’s no shame in second place here.
Rebooting the series for the second time yet also somehow being a sequel to Mortal Kombat 11 was a bold move, butit’s one that paid off big time. Even bigger is its impressive roster, bolstered by the addition of Kameo fighters, meaning even those beloved Kombatants from the past who weren’t called up to the main roster still get to stop by and say hello to longtime players before shredding their opponents to bits in gruesome fashion.
Mortal Kombat 1
1Street Fighter 6
The World Warriors Rule The Fighting World
If it wasn’t going to be Mortal Kombat 1, then of course it was going to beStreet Fighter 6at the top of the charts. The neon-soaked fighting game full of new and familiar faces is tops this year, with 71% of our staff casting votes for it. Between its original story in World Tour mode and its classic 2D action in Fighting Ground and Battle Hub, it offers a wide variety of ways to knock opponents around in the flashiest fashion imaginable.
Most refreshingly, Street Fighter 6 is accessible for players of all skill and experience levels, letting hardcore veterans take on the classic 6-button controls, giving newbies a single button that picks the best special move for their situation, and including a third option for those in the middle. Plus, with customizable commentary teams with names likeThea Trinadad(aka WWE superstar Zelina Vega) and TastySteve cheering you on, it’s hard not to feel like the real champion of the fighting world.
Our dearly departedAudrey Martino loved it in her review, giving it a 9.2 and calling it a “bombastic revival for Capcom’s beloved fighting series.”
