Summary
Combat sports games like Boxing, MMA, and even wrestling fall into the fighting genre but offer something more than regular fighting games likeStreet FighterandMortal Kombat.The combat sports games offer players a chance to make a comeback and regain momentum if they are losing. Fighters can target body parts, focus on weak points, and utilize strategies.
Thanks to the rising popularity of the UFC, fight fans have boxing and MMA games to play, and wrestling fans have theWWE 2K, Fire Pro,andAEW Fight Forevergames. This list focuses primarily on combat games based on fighting rather than entertainment like wrestling. However, there’s still a wrestling title that makes the list. Combat sports fans will find something to please their thirst for in-ring action.
UFC 5is EA’s latest effort in their official UFC series. It has the best visuals of any combat sports game and is a definite improvement over its predecessors. The movement is fluid, punches and kicks land with satisfying impact, and the damage mechanics are excellent. However, fans are divided on the ground game - which has always beenEA’s UFCworst feature - and the meta hasn’t changed since the first game launched in 2014.
Stand-up fights devolve into who breaks their opponent’s block first, so their punches and kicks become unblockable. The meta favors players who land the same three or four-hit combos and pressure fighting, irrespective of guarding and head movement. As soon as one fighter gets the upper hand with head or body damage, it’s almost impossible for the opponent to make a comeback. Of course, there are some excellent players out there who learn how to counter these attacks by putting hours and hours of practice into the training mode, but for everyone else, it sucks the fun out game. Moreover, the offline and online career modes are terrible, and beyond the repetition of online and local multiplayer,UFC 5lacks replayability.
5Undisputed
A Terrific Boxing Title In Early Development
Since EA appears to have abandoned theFight Nightseries in favor of theUFCgames, there hasn’t been much to get excited about for boxing fans. Steel City Interactive looks to fill that void with the boxing titleUndisputed.
The game is still in Early Access on Steam, so it lacks a career mode and customization. However, the studio is always busy adding new fighters, arenas, and updates to the gameplay. Facial damage has improved, the AI is challenging but rarely cheap, the animation is fluid, and the graphics excellent. With a roster of current stars and legends Muhammed Ali, Rocky Marciano, Joe Calzaghe, Sugar Ray Robinson, and many more,Undisputedis on its way to becoming the best boxing game ever. Console releases are planned when the game is complete, but theUndisputedruns well on Steam Deckwith the correct settings.
TheFire Pro Wrestlingseries is often credited as being the most complete wrestling sims available for fans. They offer rewarding back-and-forth matches that punish players for trying to hit or spam big moves too early, forcing a level of strategy, reversals, and comebacksnot available in theWWE 2Kseries.
This aspect of the gameplay extends to its mixed martial arts mode, where wrestlers and MMA fighters can fight in the Dodecagon cage - similar to UFC’s Octagon - in MMA rules fights. Players can also use a standard ring and fight in Pride-style combat matches. The mechanics are nowhere near as complex as theUFCgames, but they are fun, and getting reversals upon reversals and counters in back-forth fights is what the UFC games lack.
3Greatest Heavyweights
A 16-Bit Classic With An Incredible Roster Of Boxing Legends
More than thirty years later, Sega’sGreatest Heavyweightsis still among the best boxing titles ever. Building upon the same engine that poweredEvander Holyfield’s Real Deal Boxing, Greatest Heavyweightsfeatures legends like Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, and more.
The fights inGreatest Heavyweightsare still satisfying when the big shots and land facial damage become noticeable. There are health meters for the body and head, and fights can go the distance in close back-and-forth matches.
2Fight Night: Champion
Still The Best Modern Boxing Game Available
Fight Night: Championstill reignsas the best modern boxing game available. The graphics are incredible for a game over a decade old, and it runs better than ever on the Xbox Series consoles, thanks to enhanced backward compatibility. In addition to a standard career mode,Fight Night: Championhas an outstanding cinematic story mode to keep fighting and movie fans happy from start to finish.
The combat is fluid with head movement, and combos are easy to pull off, thanks to the L-stick for attacking, defending, and countering. Online play is still supported, but it’s too easy for players to get away with landing headbutts and punches below the belt to cause massive damage. The fouling player will get warnings and stop short of being disqualified to finish their opponents off. Luckily, the offline mode is good enough to keep players interested.
Fans ofUFCfighting games still feel thatUFC Undisputed 3,from former WWE 2K developers Yukes, is the best MMA game available. It features an excellent roster of fighters and legends in their prime, like Anderson Silva and Shogun Rua. While the stand-up fighting is more robotic thanEA’s UFCseries, the ground game is much better and fairer than EA’s efforts.
Moreover, it features a Pride Mode in addition to regular UFC matches. Pride was the more brutal Japanese counterpart to the UFC. It featured now illegal moves, like stamping and kicks to the head on grounded opponents and more. All of these features are implemented intoUndisputed 3’sPride modes. The career modes are more fun, and there is enough content to keep players returning to dust off their PS3s and Xbox 360s to play it many years later.
