Plus, before the decade, you’d see only a handful of fighters released in any given year.
Here are some of the best cover art of that era!
Here is the best effort each of those years had to offer.
As such, there weren’t a lot of fighters that came out that year.
In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find three of them.
However, a wrestling title called WWF WrestleMania Challenge was released in 1990.
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So, it’s one of the most important fighting games ever.
Plus, it has an iconic roster of fighters.
8Mortal Kombat
1992
In 1992, the fighting game genre really started to take off.
Among the bunch was the first game in the iconic Mortal Kombat series.
These helped MK gain a reputation for being a gorier and more violent series than other fighters.
7Virtua Fighter
1993
In 1993, fighting game fans were treated to several big sequels.
Yet, what caught the eye the most was an original game by the name of Virtua Fighter.
Despite this, the developers still managed to make some significant upgrades for the sequel.
One of the biggest was in the visuals.
This fighting game terminology might seem strange from the outside, but it’s how things work.
Plus, the fighting feels a lot smoother and more satisfying.
This is why it deserves the reputation of being 1994’s best fighting game.
The narrative is one area in which the game excels compared to its peers.
At this point in time, story wasn’t a huge priority for fighting game developers.
Yet, the tales told in Tekken tended to be compelling, which was the case for Tekken 2.
4Dead Or Alive
1996
In 1996, another famous fighting series was born.
This one is called Dead Or Alive.
It’s a series that has always differed from others because of how provocative it is.
That said, it’s still a serious fighting game.
This is because, at the time of release, it was seen as an almost perfect Tekken game.
It takes the core of what made Tekken 2 so great and builds upon it.
The result is a very polished fighting game with a great roster of characters and a solid soundtrack.
It means there had already been four games in the series prior to ‘98.
Therefore, it had one of the most impressive rosters seen in any fighting game.
That said, it isn’t a complete departure from the other main instalments.
There have been great fighting games through the ages, with these 90s titles among the very best.
