Joel Couture
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has visuals and characters that draw in your attention and plenty of systems in play to make every fight feel interesting moment-to-moment.
Bleach Rebirth of Souls is fun once you get over the jargon-y names of its mechanics and some nuisance elements.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. takes the gameplay of Virtua Fighter 5 and raises it to new levels! Rollback Netcode support, gorgeous 4K visuals and additional content make it the best version of this legendary game ever.
Awaria is a short game about working in haunted maintenance tunnels. Awaria is just a tight, punchy package crammed with demanding stages, sharp storytelling, and cute kissable ghosts.
I was pleasantly surprised with Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. It looks spectacular in motion and really captures the scope of the franchise’s wild fights. With its many counters, fast movements, explosive field effects, and incredible blast moves, it makes you feel like you’re fighting for your life against relentless enemies.
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash is a tiresome game that is only good for some completely mindless action for diehard fans of the anime.
Under Night in Birth II SYS: Celes looks similar to its predecessors, but visual cleanups, new mechanics, and improved online make it stand on its own.
There's a wealth of wonderful fighting to be had in Tekken 8, and it's a fantastic place to take your first steps into Tekken.
Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is good mindless fun, but folks looking for depth (in story & combat) should look elsewhere.
Mega Man X Dive Offline offers fun bite-sized Mega Man action that you can tackle with a near-endless wealth of unlockable characters.
Mortal Kombat 1 looks incredible, has several fun play types depending on what you want to do, constantly rewards you for the time you spend on it, and offers so much customization to the combat through the Kameo system.
Pocket Bravery is an impressive fighter with a great roster of complex characters and a suite of fun modes and helpful tools. If only the characters looked as good as the flowing moves and strikes.
Double Dragon Gaiden tries to make itself interesting with roguelite mechanics, but these sabotage its chances to be great.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 continues to make its lovable child cast endure its (satisfyingly) challenging combat and the harrowing emotional challenges of war.
Street Fighter 6 offers fantastic new characters and systems to create exciting matches for long-time fighting game fans while also opening the game up for newcomers to play and have a blast in their own way.
The Switch version of DNF Duel is a wild, ridiculous fighter with some neat systems to keep you invested in each battle. It's still the weakest release among all platforms, though.
The Breakers Collection is a pair of highly entertaining fighters with a roster of varied characters with wild, funny, and impressive moves.
The Rumble Fish 2 is a fun fighter with a slew of interesting mechanics that give you many options to use on defense or offense. Mixing these mechanics with some compelling characters makes for a solid fighter, although not one that will likely stand against the giants of the genre.
Bloodrayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites features fast, bloody battles that are unfortunately hamstrung by some annoying design elements.
Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster may initially butt up against your nostalgia if you have fond memories of the original, but over time, I really began to appreciate seeing its visuals and sound explored in creative ways.