Best Fighting Game of 2019: Mortal Kombat 11

Loading

More Game of the Year Awards

Best Fighting Game Nominees 6 IMAGES

Samurai Shodown

Loading

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Loading

Loading

People's Choice: Fantasy Strike

Loading

No fighting game of 2019 can even come close to touching the sheer breadth of content offered in Mortal Kombat 11. From its excellent story mode to the constantly changing challenges of the Towers of Time, to the ever-evolving cast of characters that is regularly updated via patches or DLC.But beyond just being packed with features, Mortal Kombat 11 is just simply a blast to play. Netherrealm did a great job of making smart changes to their already-solid formula -- the new two-meter system, replacing x-rays with fatal blows, and slowing the game down to be less rushdown heavy -- all of which make MK11 feel fresh and exciting while still holding true to everything that makes a Mortal Kombat game, a Mortal Kombat game.For more, check out our Mortal Kombat 11 review These are our picks for the best fighting game of 2019.Click through the gallery above or scroll down the page for the full list!Samurai Shodown is a breath of fresh air in a genre that is typically dominated by lengthy and complex combos and tricky techniques. It’s a fighting game all about yelling at the top of your lungs: “THE DAMAGE!” as single heavy strikes can deal as much as 30% to your opponent.The magic of Samurai Shodown though is that despite the simplicity, there’s still a ton of depth in the mental aspect of the game, with baits and mind games being extra important due to single hits making so much of a difference.For more, check out our Samurai Shodown review Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has come a long way since its initial release, filling in many of the many gaping holes that anchored down what was otherwise a surprisingly solid 3 on 3 tag fighter aimed squarely at Power Rangers fans.It’s nearly doubled its roster from 9 characters to 17 through DLC, there’s now a story mode, crossplay, voice acting, regular balance patches and more. It’s production values are still on the low side, but for a $20 fighting game, Battle for the Grid packs a pretty solid punch.For more, check out our Power Ranger: Battle for the Grid review Dead or Alive’s skimpy outfits often get all the attention, but the series generally has really strong and unique fighting mechanics. That strength is on full display in Dead or Alive 6. The 23-year old franchise learned a few new tricks and has never looked better.True, the online component was lacking and the costume unlock system baffling. But robust tutorial and story modes ensured the latest Japanese fighting game was brought in alive.For more, check out our Dead or Alive 6 review According to our readers, Fantasy Strike was the best fighting game of 2019, beating out the competition with 50% of the vote in our People's Choice polling.Lots of fighting games claim to be accessible, but perhaps none with a more valid claim than Fantasy Strike, which manages to expertly blend accessibility and depth as though they were part of a smoothie. Beyond its accessibility though, Fantasy Strike’s biggest success is how it communicates things to the player.You can immediately tell whether you’ve got advantage on a block by the color of the hit sparks, it tells you in big bold letters when you could have jumped to avoid a throw, and it communicates things via flashes of color to inform the player of unique properties. Fantasy Strike is chock full of easy quality of life improvements that should be standard in bigger budget titles.

What was your favorite fighter this year? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check out all of our other Game of the Year award winners as well as our picks for the best movies, TV shows, comics, and anime of 2019

Art for IGN’s Best of 2019 is by Julia Rago Angela Nguyen , and Nicole Cagampan