Sony’s PlayStation had a wide range of stellar fighting games. But according to Metacritic, there were some stinkers too! Regardless, the PS1 was an industry darling. It was home to video games that eventually established themselves as proper franchises, like Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken and Resident Evil. Publishers and developers generally put on their A-game when developing games for this platform.
However, not everyone got the memo. When it came to fighting games, there were stellar titles like Tekken 3 and Street Fighter Alpha 3. But on the flip side, there were games that simply weren’t good enough. These are the titles that have the unenviable distinction of being the PS1’s worst fighting games.
10 Capcom Vs. SNK Pro (Metascore 74)
Capcom vs. SNK Pro is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s fighting fan’s dream mashup. It has characters from both Capcom and SNK—Street Fighter and King of Fighters, respectively—duking it out. Battles are balanced and entertaining, and the characters from each franchise feel and play well.
On the other hand, though, the game was frustrating to any impatient gamers. It was plagued by incredibly long loading times that sucked the joy from any gamers who wanted a quick round. The enemy AI was also not as good as in Capcom’s other fighting games.
9 X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (Metascore 72)
X-Men games have often been a soft-spot for gamers who grew up reading the comics or watching the animations. X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 does just enough to satiate these fans. But for unattached gamers who just want a solid fighting game, there are better options out there.
Almost everything in the game is average, from the fighting mechanics to the graphics, the character abilities, the faithfulness to the source material and the roster. However, the game can be punishing for newcomers, and the fighting tends to get dull after a while.
8 Battle Arena Toshinden (Metascore 69)
Battle Arena Toshinden is one of the first true 3D fighters. It’s also the first game that allowed players to use the z-axis; basically, the sidestep. On paper, the game should be hailed as one of the best fighters on the PS1.
However, it had a myriad of small issues that cumulatively made it a forgettable experience. For one, it had the most annoying input lag, meaning that players couldn’t string together moves or time their counters perfectly. The game also lacked any real combos, which most of its rivals had.
7 Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale (Metascore 69)
Based on the manga and anime series, Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale put players into the source material’s world. There, players were tasked to fight their way through environments from the game and battle the game’s characters.
When it comes to capturing the essence of the anime, Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale succeeds. However, the game is let down by mindless gameplay, where players are rewarded just for button-mashing; no skills needed. The fights are also unbalanced, as the player can feel overpowered in one fight and weak in the next one.
6 Digimon Rumble Arena (Metascore 64)
Digimon Rumble Arena is a kids’ game based on the titular anime series. It’s a brawler in the vein of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. However, it fails to capture the magic, fun and immersion of that game.
Instead, Digimon Rumble Arena is riddled with issues like limited gameplay options, simplistic controls that encourage button mashing at the expense of skill, clunky gameplay and few arenas. Since the main market of Digimon is kids, this game feels like it was made specifically for them. So, serious fighting fans will not find much to like here.
5 Gundam: Battle Assault (Metascore 61)
Gundam: Battle Assault is a strange game. When it comes to pandering to fans of the anime, it does a serviceable job. But it does little to woo general fans of fighting games.
For one, the game’s fighting is alright, but nothing that a gamer will remember, especially if they’ve played other fighting games on the PS1. The story is also boring and sometimes unintelligible; nothing at all like the source material. Thanks to these issues, even spending a few consecutive hours on this game is not easy.
4 Ultimate Fighting Championship (Metascore 53)
Based on the combat sport, Ultimate Fighting Championship is a recreation adapted to the PS1. It has both single-player and multiplayer modes, but single-player is boring and even annoying at times. The biggest cause of this is the AI, which only fights a certain way, no matter the difficulty or the opponent. The gameplay is also inferior to the one in the Sega Dreamcast version of the game, with just one button needed for most throws and counter. As a result, grappling is not easy.
The only way to squeeze out even a little fun in this game is to go multiplayer.
3 ECW Anarchy Rulz (Metascore 43)
This game is based on Extreme Championship Wrestling, and it even has the license. However, it feels like that license is where most of the game’s budget went.
ECW Anarchy Rulz has boring controls that don’t encourage any form of improvisation or skill; even button mashing gets old after a while. The game relies on the same combos to get a win. And the AI is unbalanced; opponents fight in a way that can only be described as cheating. The game is boring, forgettable, and even ECW fans will wonder how a sport they love could turn into a game like this.
2 The Simpsons Wrestling (Metascore 32)
Based on the longest-running American sitcom, The Simpsons Wrestling tries to use the show’s humor in a fighting game. Like the Metascore shows, it failed.
Granted, the game does have moments of genuine humor. However, the rest of the package will turn that smile upside down. The controls are too simplistic, the graphics are nothing special, and there is hardly anything to do. The only strategy in fights involves getting lucky when button-mashing. Without the dedicated voice cast, The Simpsons Wrestling would have no redeeming quality. As it is, it’s just the second-worst fighting game on the PS1.
1 Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (Metascore 25)
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 tries to capture the amazing feel of the anime’s fights. Sadly, it fails in literally everything it attempts to make that happen. Graphics? Outdated, even at the time; it looked liked an SNES game that was ported to the PS1. Controls? Stiff, imprecise and unfriendly to the player. Special moves? Unresponsive. Localization? A case study of what not to do.
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 is one of those games that people who play soon erase it from their minds. It’s one of the worst examples of how to make a fighting game.
NEXT: Each Nintendo Console’s Worst Game, Ranked
