9 Best Wii Fighting Games

Punch Time Explosion started out on the 3DS, and the XL version is the upgraded port that reached the Wii less than a year later. Papaya Studio made it, and it is a crossover brawler where characters from Cartoon Network shows beat each other up. The XL version added eight new playable characters for a total of 26, plus five new stages. Fill your meter and you can fire off your character's "Punch Time Explosion", a big attack that can hit several opponents at once.

If that sounds a lot like Smash Bros. with cartoon characters, that is about right, and nobody involved seems embarrassed by it. Random items on the stage can summon assist characters to help you, and in the XL version some fighters team up with them for Synergy attacks. An in-game shop sells extra fighters and even clips from the cartoons. It is the easy pick for a house full of kids who know the shows.

Castlevania Judgment turns Konami's vampire hunters into a 3D fighting game. It has 14 playable characters, 13 heroes and bosses from across the series plus a new character called Aeon, who pulls champions from different eras of history into a time rift. You swing the Wii Remote to attack and move around with the Nunchuk. Each character has a story mode with their own cutscenes and ending.

Reviews were rough, and the game holds a 49% on Metacritic. Every character was redesigned by manga artist Takeshi Obata, and one critic said the designs looked too much like his work on Death Note. Even lead designer Koji Igarashi had complaints about the control scheme. IGN liked it far more than most, called it a "deep, fun fighter" and nominated it for Best Fighting Game of 2008 on the Wii. It is also a game where Simon finally gets to fight Alucard, and for some fans that is enough.

Clash of Ninja Revolution opened the Revolution trilogy, the Wii side of the Clash of Ninja series made for players outside Japan. Eighting developed it, the same studio that later made Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. It is an enhanced port of Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3, a game that only came out in Japan. The story covers the Chunin Exam arc up to the end of the Search for Tsunade arc.

You use the Nunchuk and the Wii Remote together for basic attacks, and some special attacks need specific movements from both. IGN called it "fun whether you're a fan of the anime or not" and named it the best Wii fighting game to date, with an 8.4. Nintendo Power was less impressed and called it a mere roster update. Players still recommend it, and it holds up as a quick, flashy fighter you can hand to a friend who has never seen the show.

Revolution 3 is the last game in the trilogy and the one that brings in Naruto: Shippuden, the part of the story where Naruto is a teenager. It came out in America on November 17, 2009. It covers the Kazekage Rescue arc and has 40 playable characters. It also added Wi-Fi multiplayer matches and an overhauled combat system.

Many of the characters were heavily redesigned for the Shippuden years, so some old favourites look quite different. You can wave the Wii Remote to fight, but the GameCube controller and the Classic Controller work too, and your wrists will thank you. One player called it "one of the best fighters of all time", which is a big claim, but it shows how much this one means to the people who grew up with it. If you only want one Naruto fighter on the Wii, this is the one to get.

Armageddon is the final chapter of the original Mortal Kombat story, and it brings back virtually every character from the earlier games. The Wii version came out in North America on May 29, 2007. It is also the only version with Khameleon, the secret character from the Nintendo 64 port of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, added because fans asked for it. That takes the roster to 63. Every fighter has two styles, one hand-to-hand and one with a weapon.

The Wii version has its own motion controls, and it also works with the Classic Controller and the GameCube controller. Kreate a Fighter lets you build your own character, and the Konquest story mode puts you in the shoes of Taven, who has to stop his evil brother Daegon. There is even Motor Kombat, a cartoon kart racer that borrows a lot from Mario Kart. On a console known for family games, this was the bloody one.

Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a fighting game made by Spike and based on Dragon Ball. It came out on both the PlayStation 2 and the Wii in 2007. Its roster has 98 characters in 161 forms, the largest roster in a fighting game at the time. The camera sits behind your character's back, and you build up your Ki gauge to pull off blasts and special moves.

Transformations count as their own fighters, with their own stats and movesets, so a Super Saiyan is a different character to pick. The story mode has cutscenes built into the battles, and there is a What If Saga for fans who want to see the story go another way. IGN reviewed both versions well and grumbled mostly about the story mode and laggy online play. Players keep naming it among the Wii games worth owning. The series finally got a new game, Sparking! Zero, in October 2024.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a tag team fighter from Eighting and Capcom, with teams of two characters from Capcom games and from Tatsunoko Production. It came out in Japan in December 2008, and the Ultimate All-Stars version reached the Wii in North America and Europe in January 2010 with more characters and online play. The game was never meant to leave Japan, and Capcom only localized it because fans reacted so well. The fights are 2D, but the characters and backgrounds are 3D models.

The game uses a simplified three-button attack system, inspired by the simple controls of the Vs. series and the Wii. Critics praised it for being easy for newcomers and deep enough for veteran players. Players put it on their lists of Wii must-plays right next to Nintendo's biggest games. It is the closest the Wii came to a proper arcade fighter, and it was worth the wait.

Punch-Out!! is a 2009 boxing game developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo. Little Mac works his way up the professional circuits against a line of colorful fictional boxers. Every boxer from the NES game is back except Mike Tyson, along with new opponents like Donkey Kong. You can box with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and you can even stand on a Balance Board to duck and dodge. Holding the remote sideways gives you the old two-button controls.

Land a punch when an opponent grins or taunts you and you earn a star for a Star Punch. Every fight plays like a puzzle you solve with your fists. Critics loved it, with an 86 out of 100 on Metacritic, and it sold 1.27 million copies, one of just 60 Wii games to pass a million. Win the belt and Title Defense starts, where you only get three knockdowns. Players name it alongside Nintendo's biggest Wii games.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third game in the series, made by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo. It came out in North America on March 9, 2008. Masahiro Sakurai, director of the first two games, came back at Iwata's request. The goal is the same as before: knock your opponents off the screen. Brawl added Final Smashes, and it was the first Smash with third-party characters, and even a stage based on Metal Gear Solid, Shadow Moses Island.

The Subspace Emissary is a side-scrolling adventure with computer-generated cutscenes, and Stage Builder lets you make your own stages, a first for the series. The music came from 38 well-known game composers working together. It has sold over thirteen million copies, which makes it the eighth best-selling Wii game. Players recommend it more than any other Wii fighting game.