There are tons of fighting games on Switch, and I believe Nintendo is focusing more on competitive gameplay by allowing co-op accessibility and online multiplayer.
Best Fighting Games on Switch
Hand over your second Joy-Con to friends and get ready for an intense brawl in these 20 best fighting games on Switch.
Mortal Kombat 11
You don’t need to be a doctor to perform a brutal dissection of your opponent. Mortal Kombat will have you rip your opponent’s spins or explode heads with all sorts of a brutal execution. Mortal Kombat is known for its controversial gore and carnage, but those sweet fatalities make Mortal Kombat stand out from other typical games. With thirty seven iconic characters to perform an anatomical autopsy, Use your Iconic fatalities and friendship on Rambo, Terminator, RoboCop, The Joker, and many more. Relieve every bone-crushing and blood-spilling moment in ultra details with all newly updated graphics.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Dragon Ball FighterZ is everything a hardcore Dragon BallZ fan wanted in a game. Its stylized, highly polished graphics are not only sweet to look at but also satisfying to play, and executing power moves is simply delightful. It’s fast-paced, thrilling 2D combat that takes typical fighting games to the next level. The chaotic visual effects are perfectly balanced with vibrant action, and the execution is top-notch. With its growing number of fans, the gameplay is accessible to every player for its easy-to-learn button-smashing combos, especially when you are handling three players simultaneously. Dragon Ball FighterZ welcomes new players as well as old fans to indulge in a visually powerful and awesome fighting game with its beginner-purpose gameplay designs.
Street Fighter V
The latest addition to the Street Fighter franchise, Street Fighter V, smoothly combines the old school combat with new artistic visuals with graceful acts. The game takes the fundamentals of old games fans know and love and adds new features to spice up the battle with a more modern style. The introduction to V skill changes the gameplay drastically and in all new ways. Players’ actions and abilities differ vastly according to their use of the V gauge. Some players may have extended combos, while others can use temporary powers or super moves. The gameplay is completely overhauled with the inclusion of new V mechanics, from careful combo execution to new visuals for old characters. A fresh new take on an old game that blends perfectly with sixteen different characters’ gameplay.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Grab some friends and start brawling in all new eight players, complete mayhem. Super Smash Bros Ultimate brings back some iconic Nintendo characters from the NES era. Its dynamic platform that changes during fights makes chaotic fighting more unpredictable. It’s easy to pick up and play but extremely challenging to master its intricate battle mechanics as every iconic player has a unique play style that keeps the game interesting and fun to play. Unlike Health bars on typical fighting games, Super Smash Bros Ultimate uses the percentage mechanics that go up with each hit you receive. Higher the percentage, the farther you get knocked back, making it the opponent easy to knock you out from the platform.
Guilty Gear -Strive-
Immerse into the intense anime-style fights in Guilty Gear Strive with incredible animation and smooth gameplay combat. The gameplay here is simplified for new players, but long-time veterans will also have new over-the-top combat actions to master. With its shell-shaded visual style that incorporates the 2D visual aesthetic with 3D character designs, the game delivers high action and with an intense, upbeat soundtrack. Choose up to fifteen playable characters with their own unique gameplay style and dominate the battlegrounds with combos and wall breaks.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Choose from fourteen playable female characters with their own original moves and combos in an enhanced version of the critically acclaimed fighting game, Skullgirls. Second Encore is more of a DLC to Skullgirls that adds eight new characters totaling up to fourteen. A 2D fighting game with a unique character design is spewing out their personality all over the fighting arena. Button combos have been simplified from medium to heavy attacks, but the deeper you play with its fighting mechanics, the more you will learn about their authentic powers.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
Capcom adds an exhaustive roster of street fighter collections comprising thirteen awesome retro fighting games. From every game between 1987 classic Street Fighter and 1999 Street Fighter third strike. While every game can be played as a couch co-op, four games support online multiplayer. Tubo: Hyper Fighting, Super Turbo, Alpha 3, and 3rd strike. Bring back the arcade style of a fighting game in the comfort of your own portable Switch console in Street Fighter’s 30th Anniversary Collection.
Brawlhalla
Brawlhalla is the freemium version of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and the game shows its basic foundation in its fighting style, 2D cartoon characters, and simple background. The game also focuses less on high graphics visuals and more on fluent combat. Brawlhalla knows people come to play fighting games for its intense combat system, and the game delivers such aspects excellently. Although the game takes inspiration from Nintendo’s well-known fighting phenomenon, Brawlahalla adds its own unique character styles and gameplay mechanics that are easy to learn and fun to play.
The King of Fighters XV
The game stays true to its predecessor, and fights are similarly executed by two light and heavy attacks, including auto combos for beginners. Continue the story of KOF 14 and fight your way to the end performing and mastering combos. Although the game welcomes new players with auto combos, the game excels in pulling off intricate combos that reward players with skillful tactics to finish off opponents. And with the introduction of Shatter Strikes, masterful players can extend their skills to new heights. Unleash the guard-crushing strength with all new shatter Strikes.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
The turn-based JRPG franchise is back again, but this time, they are in a fast-paced combat style of fighting game with visuals blending anime art style to ints 2D fighting mechanics. The fight is filled with a chaotic cluster of beautiful visuals popping left and right, keeping fighting vibrantly interesting, never breaking the flow of players’ concentration on combat. Select from twenty-two stylish characters and dwell into the deep fighting mechanics of P4 Arena Ultimax. The game also has narrative storytelling portrayed in interactive visual novels and excellent voice-over characters.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
Power Rangers Battle for the Grid has its unique charm though it plays and feels like any other fighting game. An old and beloved franchise has given a completely new look in a 2D fighting genre with visual performance bringing back the action-packed combat faithful to their characters. Players can easily learn the fighting mechanics as the game emphasizes easier pick and play. Although the playable characters are limited to only nine, they all makeup by giving a unique experience with precise combat that provides a pleasurable experience. The balanced gameplay mechanics that can turn the tides of an intense battle with summons and tag battle makes the game exciting and unpredictable. Developer nWay has done a great job by introducing a fun Power Ranger fighting game for fans out there.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle’s glorious visuals and an intricate battle of button combos with tag players keep the gameplay engaging to the very last second. BB Cross Tag Battle introduces its 2v2 battle mechanics that are unlike anything compared to its previous predecessors. The artistic flare is similar to any action anime fighting game, but the game adds its unique twist in simplifying gameplay that is easy to learn but difficult to master. Every character has the same types of simplified commands, from light and medium combos to reversal that can be chained together with three assist attacks. Executing a unique set of combos and integrating assist attacks for continuous flow makes Cross Tag Battle shine.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Within the game’s cinematic cutscenes and epic story of the fourth great ninja war lies an awesome 3D fighting style true to the anime franchise. Ultimate Ninja Strome 4 takes the best fighting mechanics of its previous predecessor and perfectly executes breathtaking fight scenes crisp to its core. The fourth installment not only surpasses the original anime but evolves the shell shade art style into a new dimension. The game is every bit amazing, pushing the limit of visuals into every detail. Long-time Naruto fans will enjoy what Ninja Strom 4 has to offer, but new players might get lost in the lore of Ninja Strom. Executing ultimates that implement the idea and also recreate the moves of anime action, including outrageous moves and powerful Jutsu, is always a pleasure for fans of Naruto.
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Indulge into the anime franchise of BlazBlue and learn the fighting technique among a huge roster of thirty-six characters to rank the highest in online competitive play. The game’s steep learning curve pushes players to become better and rise amongst masters in multiplayer. But if you’re not into competitive mode, you can always enjoy the game’s single-player campaign for casual gaming. The single-player feature also has a ton of content conveyed by visual novel gameplay. Understanding the world of BlazBlue can be a daunting task for newcomers but once you learn the premise of BlazBlue, playing through story mode gets pretty interesting as there are multiple endings for each character that shapes the overall settings of the world.
Pokkén Tournament DX
Get ready for the intense battle between Pokémon! It’s not a traditional turn-based battle we know from the Pokémon franchise but a different one. An actual battle between Pokémon incorporating Tekken gameplay mechanics but with Pokémon. Select among twenty battle pokemon from ranged to melee and battle in the nineteen total battle arenas. With more emphasis on fighting with no type mechanics, Pokken Tournament DX is considered more of a fighting game than a Pokemon game. Bandai Namco has perfectly executed the feel of a real pokemon battle of anime style into the game, and that is more than enough reason to play Pokken Tournament Deluxe.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Heavily inspired by Super Smash Bro, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl brings back old cartoons of the pop cultural era and gives players twenty three cartoon characters to brawl against each other. Visual-wise, the game feels like it tries hard to imitate the cartoonist’s aesthetic into the game resulting in graphics that look unpolished. It’s the super-speed smash action that keeps players engaging in fast-paced battles. While most of the gameplay mechanics are the direct inspiration of Smash Bros, its speed action, from the dash to dive, picking up players, and other small combat details separates the game to its unique heights.
Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R
Guilty Gear XX ACPR is a combat-heavy fighting game with its intricate button-smashing combos, but the gameplay is now optimized for newcomers also. With its rapid combos that can be executed by pressing an attack button precisely, players can launch opponent air. All the twenty-five characters are now tweaked for the player’s optimum experience. Although every character is unique in their abilities, every character is now balanced to the same level for equal gameplay amongst players. Test your Guilty Gear skills against veterans worldwide in Ranked Match and Player Match Online Mode. You can elevate your ranking on Ranked match to become the ultimate fighting machine, or you can just enjoy fighting with random players on Player Match online mode.
Arms
Arms is a unique type of boxing video game created by Nintendo and exclusive to Switch. Its fight mechanics might look like another gimmick brought for fun gameplay, but underneath the 3D arena, battle lies execution of a fighting game that can only be pulled off by Nintendo company. Arms game takes full advantage of detachable switch control and puts it into the player’s hand using a gyro and motion sensor for an immersive experience. It might take time to get used to playing in such a manner, but once you get the hang of it, the game gets absorbing and exciting. A wide range of customization for the arms changes the gameplay for ten different players because the new set of gloves allows the execution of unique abilities. Unlock more arms for specific characters as you fight your way to victory.
Pocket Rumble
Pocket Rumble is a retro-style fighting game developed by Neo Geo. A 2D pixel art game for casual gamers who want to have a quick battle on the go. Its simple gameplay requires only two buttons for fighting, but players can pull off serious combos with the simplicity of attacks too. There are eight characters you can select for battle, each with its own special moves. These players’ combat systems are also balanced, equalizing all eight players evenly. The game is known for its simple retro-style pixel art and for reminding players of the simple age of traditional 2D fighting games.
Injustice 2
All your favorite superheroes are fighting against one another in an all-new DC fighting game. Choose among twenty-eight superhero characters. The mix of martial art mechanics from Mortal Kombat with superhero powers is a sweet blend in the fighting genre. The story begins when the Justice League team forms two separate alliances. One with Batman and one with Superman. Customize your favorite characters and personalize your gameplay in this epic game of Injustice 2
