As a game franchise goes on, it’s not unusual for its genre to shift and change a bit over time in order to keep a series fresh or modern. At the same time, game companies will often use spin-offs as an excuse to take an existing IP and try wild new things with it, from puttingMario in a go kartto putting Crash Bandicoot… in a go kart.
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In all seriousness, there are a lot of different and unexpected genres that franchises have been spun off into, including fighting games.Super Smash Bros.isn’t the only instance of non-fighting-game characters being forced to engage in one-on-one fisticuffs with each other. Here are ten other franchises that took a stab at the fighting game genre that you might not be aware of– in most cases, because the results were best left forgotten.
10Castlevania
The once-prolificCastlevaniafranchise feels all but officially retired at this point, not having seen a brand new installment in seven years and counting. Part of that is no doubt due to a fewextremely misguided and poorly-received entriesthat tainted the brand, including Wii-exclusive fighting gameCastlevania Judgement.
The idea wasn’t a terrible one, but the shoddy execution, terrible storylines (especially Maria’s), and the atrocious art style completely ruined an otherwise promising concept.
9Sonic The Hedgehog
While Sega was busynotdelivering a traditionalSonicgame to the Saturn, the company seemed to put their mascot character into just about every other genre imaginable to make up for it. Unfortunately, most of these games weren’t very good, so that approach didn’t achieved its desired effect– if anything, the opposite happened.
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Obviously,Super Smash Bros.proved that putting a company’s characters into a fighting game can be a really fun thing. But the bizarreSonic The Fightersopted for a slower, moreVirtua Fighter-esque approach, which didn’t fit with Sonic’s vibe and looked as awkward as it played.
8Onimusha
Capcom used to go all-in on their franchises, sometimes to their detriment. That was definitely the case for samurai action/adventure seriesOnimusha, at its core a tight trilogy of great games that was unfortunately diluted by too many spin-offs and side games in a short amount of time.
To be fair, the idea of a samurai-based fighting game is a great one. But, again, it’s the execution that spoiled things forOnimusha: Blade Warriors. Instead of a deep, slow-paced fighter in the style ofBushido Blade, Capcom made the baffling decision to turn the game into a frenetic, over-the-top four-player romp.
7Double Dragon
The fighting game and beat-em-up genres are very similar to each other, but franchises only occasionally try their hand at both– and when they do, the results are almost always disappointing. Such was the case withDouble Dragon’smultiple attempts to stray from its traditional formula and go the tournament fighting route.
Rather than modernizing its beat-em-up formula to stay relevant with changing tastes,Double Dragoninstead entered the world of fighting games with two different titles:Double Dragonfor Neo-Geo, andDouble Dragon V: The Shadow Falls. Both titles were pretty dreadful and all but killed the franchise for over a decade.
6Final Fantasy
Sure, theFinal Fantasyfighting game spin-off seriesDissidiais popular enough to be its own multi-part series at this point, but given that the first two games were for PSP and the third hit PS4 in 2018 with little fanfare, you’d be forgiven if it flew under your radar. Plus, who can keep up with all 350Final Fantasygames that have come out?
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Unfortunately, the most easily-accessibleDissidia– the one for PS4 and PC– is the worst. The PSP installments are definitely the ones to check out and are worth doing so, provided you still have a PSP lying around somewhere.
5Dungeons & Dragons
There might not be any oneDungeons & Dragons"franchise" in terms of video games, just a bunch of different titles that relate to the source material in some way. But most of them, not surprisingly, are RPGs, which makes the PS1 and PC titleIron & Bloodpretty unique.
Of course, unique isn’t always good, and despite being technically impressive for its time in terms of graphics, number of characters, and depth of gameplay,Iron & Bloodjust wasn’t very fun or intuitive to play. For those that care, the game was set in Ravenloft, aD&Dcampaign setting that was only just retired last year.
4Golden Axe
Another example of a pioneering beat-em-up that ventured into the fighting game arena,Golden Axe: The Duelfared much better than any ofDouble Dragon’s attempts at the genre. In fact, you’re able to tell just from comparing screenshots of the two games that some actual care and effort was put intoThe Duel, rather than looking like it was thrown together in a weekend.
The Dueldefinitely tried a little too hard to beSamurai Shodown, and never really reaches the heights of that iconic weapons-based series. Maybe with a sequel or two,The Duelmight’ve had a real shot at evolving into a legitimate fighting game contender.
3Viewtiful Joe
One of the great tragedies in video game history is the fact thatViewtiful Joenever reached the popularity that it deserved, and after just two core entries and a few spin-offs, the series faded into obscurity. At least the character showed up in a recentMarvel vs Capcomgame, which is better than nothing.
What didn’t help is misguided efforts likeRed Hot Rumble, which shoehorns theViewtiful Joeworld into a generic take onSuper Smash Bros. We were thankful for all theVJwe could get, but this game definitely could’ve used a few more months in the development oven to be something special.
2Digimon
It might seem like a no brainer to take franchises likePokémon,Digimon, and the like and turn them into traditional fighting games, but it almost never happens. At least, not outside of multi-franchise crossovers likeSuper Smash Bros. It’s a shame, becauseDigimon Rumble Arenaproves just how fun such a game could be.
For aSmash Bros.“clone,“Rumble Arenais actually quite fun and well-made, and even spawned a sequel. But given how poorly therecentDigimongamesold despite how good it is, it seems this franchise as a whole will remain sadly largely forgotten, including its fighting games.
1Star Wars
Like withDungeons & Dragons, games based onStar Warsaren’t part of a single franchise, but it still feels like a spin-off when aStar Warsgame goes in an unorthodox direction. And few directions are more unorthodox than takingStar Warscharacters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Boba Fett and having them punch and kick each other in a fighting game.
There were a few years there whenStar Warsgames weren’t known for being very good, and that was thanks in large part to garbage likeMasters of Teras Kasi. How this trainwreck of a game ever saw the light of day is anyone’s guess.
