Settle it in the streets
When it comes to picking the best fighting game, there's no shortage of options--the genre has been one of the industry's most consistent since the early 1990s. Names like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken have grown into some of the biggest series in the entire industry, let alone just fighting games, and they continue to get better through additional downloadable characters--some hailing from outside of the fighting game scene. At the moment, fighters are in the midst of another renaissance era.
As such, it might be intimidating to pick out a fighting game to play. Below, we run through our picks for some of the best fighting games you can play right now, whether you're on PS5, Xbox, Switch, or PC. Every game listed here can be purchased and downloaded right to your machine without needing to dig up any old hardware, and you'll be able to get into the fight whenever you like. From pure 1v1 fighters to chaotic platform battlers, from all-time classics to modern melees, these are the best of the best in fighting games in 2025.
Street Fighter 6
- Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Developer: Capcom
- Release Date: June 2, 2023
Street Fighter has routinely blazed a trail of success for fighting games as a whole, starting with Street Fighter II in 1991. Street Fighter 6 is no different; the vast improvements over its predecessor, coupled with an ever-growing roster and a robust online offering, have made SF6 one of the top fighting games on the market today. SF6's trajectory continues to trend upward, as it recently added Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui--the first guest characters in franchise history--to the roster, and the second season of DLC will soon end with the Capoeira master Elena.
