Every Capcom Fighting Game Franchise, Ranked

Capcom is releasing Capcom Fighting Collection, a compilation of ten fighters from its back catalog. It’s great news, and it marks the first time some of these games are being released on consoles. However, ten games is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to the number of fighters Capcom has made. There are enough games to fill at least four collections.

That’s only counting the original IP. The studio is known for their bombastic licensed games, which allowed them to work with properties like X-Men and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. With one exception, those do not count for these rankings. The franchise must’ve started as a fighter, and a franchise is included in its entirety, so Street Fighter II will not be counted separately from Street Fighter.

13 Capcom Fighting Evolution

Capcom Fighting Evolution is a sorry story from Capcom, but it didn’t start out that way. The game was supposed to be Capcom’s version of a King of Fighters-like game, with staff from those games involved. Unfortunately, budget cuts kept changing the scope.

Like King of Fighters was for SNK, CFE was to be a crossover of many Capcom franchises. However, as no new resources could be created, the game has an awful art style clash. An effort was made to make every character faithful to their previous playstyles, which resulted in some poor quality. Fans hope that Capcom will return to the idea, but this was a miss.

12 Tech Romancer

Tech Romancer was released in 1998. It’s most famous for its Dreamcast port rather than the arcade. The game features giant robots fighting on a future Earth, and the character designs were done by Studio Nue, who are mecha anime alumni.

The game is similar to Capcom’s other mech fighter, Cyberbots. The main difference is that the game takes place in a 3D environment. Each fighter has two life bars and attacks that can only be used in desperate situations. The game was styled like an anime, with each fight in the story mode having a title card.

11 Gotcha Force

Gotcha Force is a robot fighter, but it has an odder premise. Instead of titans, these robots are small. That’s because all of the characters are tiny gachapon toys picked at random. Before every match, the robots are spawned randomly.

The match continues with the robots constantly locked onto each other. Through third-person shooting, they must deplete life bars. But that’s not the end; the match truly ends when each player no longer has enough points to buy robots. The game was not reviewed well but is remembered for its concept.

10 Saturday Night Slam Masters

Saturday Night Slam Masters is technically in the Street Fighter universe. However, it instead takes a brawling approach. That makes sense, considering this game is a spin-off of the Final Fight beat-em-up games, but this wrestling game does a lot to set itself apart.

The game features four characters in a match instead of two. This helps emphasize the game’s wrestling focus, but the biggest appeal is the character designs. They were done by Tetsuo Hara, creator of the Fist of the North Star manga.

9 Star Gladiator

There’s a rumor that Star Gladiator began life as a Star Wars licensed game. Star Wars had its own fighter that was not well received, so if this rumor was true, it’s a shame. Star Gladiator is an excellent early 3D fighter with an aesthetic that games like Soul Calibur lack.

The game stars Hayato, who wields a laser sword like a lightsaber, and there’s an evil overlord to fight like Darth Vader. That’s where the similarities end, as the plot is actually about human colonization of space. The first game reviewed well, but the second lagged behind comparatively.

8 Red Earth

Red Earth is one of Capcom’s most ambitious fighters, as it mixed aspects of fighters and Dungeons and Dragons. Most of the game’s roster was boss monsters, with only four playable characters, but these characters could gain experience and level up.

These characters resemble classic fantasy archetypes. There’s a warrior, a spellcaster, a ninja, and a fighter. The game is often referenced in Capcom games, and it’s receiving its first port in Capcom Fighting Collection.

7 Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness is getting ported in America for the first time. This must be one of Capcom’s favorites as it gets referenced often. The game’s villain, Princess Devilotte, is the company’s unofficial mascot. The game has gigantic robots on a 2D plane like traditional fighters.

There are unique things about it, like how it includes supers. The biggest feature is customization, and legs, arms, and weapons can be switched out to create tons of unique combinations. This modular gameplay is still rare in fighting games.

6 Rival Schools

Rival Schools is Capcom’s adolescent 3D fighter. AKA Project Justice, the game centers around school cliques facing off against each other. These cliques are formed with three-person teams, and these teams theme around high school tropes.

The protagonists are the well-meaning sometimes-delinquents, but there are rival teams that are real delinquents. There are also sports teams and foreign exchange teams, and the vibrant nature of these characters makes it a franchise people want to return.

5 Gem Fighter

This game has had a few names. Most common are Gem and Pocket Fighter, but they both come from Puzzle Fighter 2. The identity crisis worsens as there is no Puzzle Fighter 1, which came from Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, but if one ignores that, they’ll have a cute and plucky fighter.

This game features chibi versions of characters from other Capcom fighters. Attacking enemies causes them to drop gems, which can be used to power up moves. There are also goofy attacks that change character costumes. It is re-releasing soon in Fighting Collection, alongside Puzzle Fighter.

4 Street Fighter

Street Fighter is the original GOAT. Despite a mediocre first entry, the sequel set a benchmark for the genre and became a juggernaut. The fighting is fun, the tunes are funky, and the designs are some of the best. Street Fighter‘s had some great villains and greatest heroes.

It wasn’t all unambiguously great, though, even with II. It also introduced the genre’s fatigues, like the infinite versions. The original II lacks some features of fighters nowadays, like super moves. And it’s been a rocky road with Street Fighter V, which fans are hoping won’t repeat with 6.

3 Darkstalkers

Darkstalkers is the underdog to Capcom’s Street Fighter. The series is constantly denied new installments in favor of continuing the Street Fighter brand, whereas Darkstalkers is just as important with its fast fighting, big supers, and wacky cast. This game was responsible for some of the most iconic fighting game characters of the 1990s, and that’s probably due to its horror theme.

Darkstalkers deals with a world of demons called Makai. From it, characters inspired by classic horror archetypes like zombies, vampires, and other monsters appear. The series mascot, Morrigan, still appears in Capcom’s titles today. The series might have seemed edgy, but it was actually quite goofy, often exaggerating its characters in its sprite art.

2 Power Stone

Power Stone is a 3D fighter that helped codify party fighters. While Smash Bros is the template for 2D, this was 3D. Four characters run around an arena while power-ups drop that can power them up and use special moves. The goal is simply to be the last fighter standing.

The series was a big hit, even getting an anime adaptation. The series’ globetrotting aesthetic gave it a fresh feel, and fans love the warm colors. The original was called one of the best games on the Dreamcast, but, unfortunately, this series has not received any modern ports, making playing it difficult.

1 Versus Capcom

Capcom’s franchises are legendary in gaming. Everyone wants a slice of crossover pie. The Versus Capcom series started with Marvel, but the lightning-fast brawling has extended to many others. The company has crossed with Marvel, SNK, and Tatsunoko.

There are also crossovers with Namco, Sega, and Nintendo in non-Versus titles. Additionally, there was Street Fighter x Tekken. These games tend to be some of the company’s most popular because of the sheer number of iconic characters. Unfortunately, with the recent failure of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, the franchise’s future seems uncertain, but fans are hopeful to see another game in this style someday.

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