One of the industry's significant genres, , was one of the original arcade staples that continue to be popular today. The fighting genre has gone through several generations while still sticking to classic formulas and cutting-edge mechanics to keep it nostalgic, fresh, and engaging.
Arguably, the golden era for fighters was the 2000s. Furthermore, some of the best, most legendary fighters launched on the PlayStation 2. Unfortunately, despite a game's great success and popularity, as time goes on, some titles become forgotten. Here are some of our favorite underrated fighters from the PlayStation 2.
Updated July 29, 2022, by Chris Sanfilippo: The Playstation 2 generation ushered in several highs and lows for the fighting game genre. On the one hand, classics like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and Soul Calibur 2, were launched during this period. But on the other hand, the market suffered from oversaturation, mismanagement, and transitional periods for significant contributors to the genre, like SNK. Recently, Capcom Fighting Collection reminded us of one severely overlooked PS2 fighter, Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition. So we decided to revisit this underrated classic and several other titles we added to this list.
14 ♛ King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact
Starting with the titular entry, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The King of Fighters has been one of the longest-lived fighting franchises in gaming. While the series' popularity dropped during SNK's transitional years, it has made a strong comeback.
The franchise's most overlooked and underrated entry came out in 2004. Unfortunately, maximum Impact received lackluster reviews since it launched around the same time as the acclaimed . The English version was also poorly translated𒐪 from its original Japanese.
13 ꦫ Bloody Roar 3 🌠
This game had great mechanics, characters, and a potent fun factor. Unfortunately, this third entry suffered due to✤ a rocky switch in focus to home consoles from arcade cabinet releases. The transition was less than ideal.
While still a blast, Bloody Roar 3 lacked some of the more stand-out features found in other console fighters at𒐪 the time.
12 SNK Vs. Capcom SVC C🐲haos
SNK Vs. Capcom SVC Chaos pitted each developer's gaming catalog characters against each other. In turn, SVC Chaos created some of the strangest and most unique matchups in fighter history.
The game ran under the radar because of a North American licensing dispute regarding Sony. In turn, SNK Playmore only launched the PS2 version in Japan and the PAL region. While Americans could have played the game on Xbox, the PlayStation's mechanics were much smoother regarding this title.
11 UFC: Sꦐudden ꦕImpact
Today the UFC games are consistent and quality fighting hits. Unfortunately, this was not always the case. Beginning in the early 2000s, the first couple of titles had issues. While receiving less than stellar reviews, UFC: Sudden Impact made the sඣeries more popular and set the franchise in the right direction.
Again, the reviews aren't the best, but this title is a must-play for those yearning to experience the start of modern UFC gaming.
10 ⛄ 🍒 Guilty Gear Isuka
Upon its console release, faced minor graphical issues that negatively affected the reviews during launch. However, players who﷽ overlooked this minor issu🐟e experienced a unique fighting game with refreshing mechanics and interesting design choices.
Guilty Gear had several acclaimed launches on PS2, including Guilty Gear X and several versions of Guilty Gear XX. However, Isuka was unique due to its 4-player fighting system, allowing players toও switch planeꦕs.
9 🎃The Las🀅t Blade & The Last Blade 2
This game offered not one but two excellent games sold in one package. Critics praised both 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Last Blade entries for their unique gameplay dynamics, character 🔴selection options, special move🅷s, and mesmerizing graphics.
Unfortunately, The Last Blade series never had the same brand recognition as its fellow SNK-sword-fighting peer, Samurai Shodown. Still, The Last Blade's legacy lives on. For instance, Last Blade 2's Hibiki Takane appeared as a guest character in the recent Samurai Shodown (2019).
8 ♒ NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
An SNK crossover fighting game that is not KOF seems redundant. However, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum expanded the realm of crossover possibilities by including characters from Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade, and more! Furthermore, NGBC had a unique tag-team battle format, mirroring games like Tekken 🎃Tag T𝐆ournament.
NGBC likely suffered from the market saturation of fighting games during its launch. Furthermore, SNK Playmore was recovering from the fallout of the original SNK's acquisition, having just won back their IP in 2004, a year before NGBC's arcade launch.
7 𒐪 ꧂ Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition
Capcom commemorated Street Fighter's 15th anniversary with an exquisite new entry in its classic Street Fighter 2 series. allowed players to make dream matches between every version of the game's roster, from World Warriors to Super Turbo. Furthermore, North American players could buy this unique title in a bundle with the acclaimed Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.
Unfortunately, Hyper Street Fighter 2 launched during a period when Capcom's fighting games, and fighting games as a genre, declined. The ill-fated Capcom Fighting Evolution launched soon after, dealing a significant blow to the Street Fighter franchise.
6 Fist Of The N🦂orth Star
Fist Of The North Star had great mechanics, a riveting story, excellent animation, and the IP of a popular manga. All of these factors should h🅘ave made Fist Of The North Star more popular than it was during its launch. And the game was popu🐼lar, just not in the United States.
Considering the game drew from one of Japan's most popular manga, Sega focused most of its marketing resources domestically. Nonetheless, this is still a great title to experience for Americans if they can get their hands on it.
5 🦄 Onimusha Blade Warriors
Onimusha Blade Warriors was an excellent PlayStation 2 experience. Containing a large number of characters, with many guest characters, special abilities, and multi-level 2D battle arenas, this title has been called the PlayStation 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Super Smash Bros by many.
Of course, comparing Blade Warriors to one of Nintendo's most successful arena fighters is a highly subjective opinion. However, this game is a must-play for fans of classic fighters.