8 Best Game Boy Fighting Games

The King of Fighters '95 was the first game in the series ported beyond SNK's own Neo Geo machines, and the Game Boy got one of those ports. It is also the game that introduced Iori Yagami, who became Kyo's rival for the rest of the series. The Game Boy cartridge works with the Super Game Boy, so you could play it on your TV through a Super NES. It also hides a secret fighter: Nakoruru, borrowed from Samurai Shodown.

Players who know the handheld fighters list it with the Game Boy games worth owning, usually in the same breath as its sequel. It sits at the bottom of this list for one reason, and that reason is the next entry. The '96 game is the same idea with more polish, so think of this one as the warm-up round.

In the arcade, The King of Fighters '96 was the first game to break the technical limits of SNK's MVS board. SNK developer Yasuyuki Oda later called it the most important game in the franchise, because it served as the basis for most of their later work. It brought in a Boss Team made of villains from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. Reviews of the arcade game were mixed, and some critics felt the new moves left it unbalanced.

None of that stopped the Game Boy version from winning fans. Players who know the system's fighters hold it up as the one to play instead of the famous ports, and they say it with feeling. If you only know King of Fighters from the big Neo Geo cabinets, it is strange and kind of wonderful to see it this small.

Takara released this port in Japan on February 24, 1995 as Nettō World Heroes 2 Jet, as part of its Nettō Dead Heat Fighters line. Playmates Interactive brought it to North America that August and dropped the "Nettō" from the title. The "Jet" stands for speed: fighters move faster and can dash forward and back. The tournament mode puts you against four groups of three opponents, and you only need to beat two of the three in each group to move on.

Players who dig past the famous names put it next to Samurai Shodown and The King of Fighters '96 as the Game Boy fighters worth tracking down. It never had the name of a Street Fighter or a Mortal Kombat, which is exactly why so few people played it back then.

The Game Boy Street Fighter II keeps the one-on-one fights and the special moves of Capcom's arcade game. Three fighters stayed home, Dhalsim among them, which leaves nine on the roster. Everything runs on two buttons, with punches and kicks reworked to fit. The game had sold more than 6.3 million cartridges on the Super NES alone, so a pocket version was never really in doubt.

This is where players split. Its fans still list it with the must-have Game Boy games. Its critics call it choppy and janky, and they do not hold back. Both sides have a point. If you want the famous name on your Game Boy, this is the one, and if you want the best fighter on the system, there are still four entries to go.

Samurai Shodown was SNK's first arcade fighting game built around weapons, set in feudal Japan when most fighters of the time were modern-day fistfights. It was Japan's sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1993, and Takara published the Game Boy version in 1994. The port keeps every character and stage and most of the special moves, and the whole soundtrack comes along in scaled-down form. Combos and voices did not make the trip. In exchange it adds two characters of its own, Kuroko and Hikyaku.

Players call it one of the best fighting games on the system, and they praise how balanced it feels. That is high praise for a sword fight on a screen the size of a cracker.

Takara made the Game Boy Battle Arena Toshinden as part of its Nettō Dead Heat Fighters line, which was mostly Neo Geo games, so this one is the odd guest at the party. Critics could not agree on it. A reviewer at Mega Fun liked the controls and was impressed that a fighting game worked on Game Boy hardware at all. Famicom Tsūshin found it an ordinary fighting game. Nintendo Power thought its tone was laughably ridiculous next to the serious original. The arena has ropes, and each fighter can lean on them three times before they give way and let you fall out.

Players have made up their minds, though. They call it a fun fighter that works well on the Game Boy, and some of them rank it the best one on the system.

Mortal Kombat II is the sequel to 1992's Mortal Kombat. The tournament moves to Outworld, where the emperor Shao Kahn wants Earthrealm for himself. Acclaim published the home versions, and the Game Boy got one along with nearly every machine of the day. The game has since been called one of the best in the series and one of the greatest video games ever made. In the home ports, Raiden's name is spelled Rayden.

On the Game Boy, players agree this sequel is the Mortal Kombat that works. They say it is the best of the Game Boy Mortal Kombat games and a port that is nice to play, even with only two buttons to work with. It is the one to pick if you want blood, or at least the memory of it.

Killer Instinct was Rare's fighter, released in arcades by Midway in October 1994 and ported to both the Super NES and the Game Boy the following year. It was announced at a time when Nintendo was still known for its stance against violent video games. The game borrows its attacks from Street Fighter and takes inspiration for its finishing moves from Mortal Kombat. Rounds work differently too: you do not win two out of three, you win by emptying both of your opponent's life bars.

More players named it than any other game on this list. They say it plays well and feels great, and that it is one of the best fighters on the original Game Boy. For a pocket version of an arcade bruiser, it holds up better than anyone expected.