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The versatility of the Nintendo Switch has been the driving force behind its huge demand and increasing sales. Switch, being a hybrid game controller offers far better flexibility for gaming while on the move. While the gaming consoles from Xbox and Sony are outstanding, Nintendo Switch makes its way to the top because of its portability.
You can play on Switch directly or dock into your smart tv for gaming on a big screen. The combination of a portable and docking gaming device gives Switch a competitive edge over other gaming consoles. A new game is released for Switch every month, keeping you engaged with a lot of different gaming verses.
While you can play all kinds of games on Nintendo Switch, playing a fighting game on Switch offers a unique gaming experience given its controller-like design.
Here are the best fighting games on Switch you should play now!
Our Top Picks
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Nintendo Switch Fighting Games
1. Undernight in-Birth Exe: Late (cl – r)
Undernight in-birth focuses on interdimensional battles. The story begins with the hollow night, a strange phenomenon happening in some areas of Japan. This phenomenon bridges our dimension with one inhabited by invisible malicious creatures called voids.
Most people attacked by voids turn into a void themselves. But a select few people can resist the void’s control and awaken their special hidden abilities previously unknown to them. Such individuals are called In-Births.
The story follows many different in-births, fighting one another all night. Some fight to gain control of the city while other in-births fight to save the civilians from the voids.
Every character in this game has a personal story arc. You get more than 12 unique characters to select from. This game follows the typical player vs player battle. It also has an extensive tutorial about every aspect of this game.
The mission mode will teach you combos and fighting strategies. Once you get to terms with the gameplay, you can start off with the arcade mode.
The Chronicles mode alone will take up to 30 hours to complete. Arcade, Network, and other modes have equally lengthy gameplay.
- Developers: Arc System Works, French Bread
- Publisher: Aksys Games
- Release Date: February 20, 2020
- Game size: 3 GB
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2. Blazblue Central Fiction Special Edition
The storyline in this edition is an extension of the previous version of Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma. The world is under threat by a strange orb and everyone is being teleported to a different world.
Ragna, the protagonist, sets out on a quest to put an end to everything he started in the previous versions. The story series of this game is very deep and complex. For new players, the game could get confusing which is why you will find a 30-minute flashback of the past. Be vigilant though, the recap is still flashed by too fast to catch necessary details.
The gameplay is an entertaining 2D combat with astonishing anime visuals. The game will provide you with 3 modes, tutorial, practice, and challenge mode to teach you the basic fighting techniques.
On the gaming front, you get the Story mode for 12 different story arcs, 5 different battle modes, and a network mode for online multiplayer gaming.
- Developer: Arc System Works Co., Ltd
- Publisher: Arc System Works Co., Ltd
- Release Date: February 7, 2019
- Game size: 11.7 GB
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3. Naruto – Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Ninja Storm is the 6th and final edition of the Naruto game series with probably the largest number of characters to choose from. The plot begins amid the fourth great ninja war and follows two narratives of leading characters, Naruto and Sasuke.
The story progresses as Allied Shinobi forces fight with the terrorist outfit Akatsuki. The storyline focuses on how Naruto and Sasuke unite their strengths to fight the opponents.
The game offers stylish battles and free-roaming arenas. For the first time, this game series has allowed players to choose 3 characters and swap between them while fighting but with only one life bar.
The game has outstanding visual effects and action sequences with eye to minute details such as the shattering of armor and clothes getting damaged because of fire.
It is a great game for gamers looking forward to experiencing the powers of their favorite cartoon martial art characters to powerful abilities. Rewards earned from completing the story and adventure modes can be used to purchase cosmetic items for your characters in your online profile.
This game will provide you with a large number of fighting modes both online and offline. But for anyone who isn’t a Naruto fan, the gameplay can get boring at some points.
- Developer: CyberConnect2
- Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
- Release Date: April 4, 2020
- Game size: 13.2 GB
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4. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
The story progresses 2 years after the events of DragonBall Xenoverse, the protagonist, a warrior from the future is tasked by Elder kai to travel back into time and correct the history after it was changed in Xenoverse.
The Elder kai orders them to fix the first iconic battle of Dragonball Z between Goku and Raditz after Raditz enhances by dark magic and protects himself from special beam cannon. The time traveler has the task of correcting many such histories along with the game.
This game explores the same audio and funny comments of each character as in the original DBZ series. The gameplay follows a simple trajectory of finding events that have been changed and recharge it to the original. In the meantime, Tora and Mowa who changed this history have created allies Turles, Lord Slug, and a masked Saiyan, who is apparently Goku’s father Bardock.
The game explores the original DBZ events and fans of this series will have a great time experiencing the events they watched in the cartoon. Before each fight, the customizable future warrior will have to learn how to fight by guidance from Supreme kai of Time and Elder kai.
With heavy visual attacks sequences and flight battles, Xenoverse is a must-have in your switch fighting games collection.
- Developer: Dimps
- Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO entertainment
- Game size: 6.4 GB
- Release Date: September 22, 2017
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5. Pokken Tournament DX
There is no storyline, players get to choose Pokémon and fight to win much like in the original cartoon series where Pokémon masters used to battle to receive tokens for event entries.
Here, the game provides a large number of Pokémon to choose from as well as avatars. Each Pokémon has its original attack and combos from the anime.
Pokken Tournament for Switch has more characters, a daily challenge mode, a new 3 versus 3 modes for ranked online battles. The new 5 avatars and originally unlockable Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo are playable from the start.
The graphics of this game are incredibly detailed with in-depth action sequences and excellent audio. This is yet another game that allows the manga and cartoon fans to get involved with an immersive gaming experience with their favorite Pokémon.
- Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment, The Pokémon Company, Nintendo
- Game size: 4.0 GB
- Release Date: September 22, 2017
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6. Brawlout
Brawlout is a 2.5D fighter game with 3D characters on a 2D plane. Here, you get to brawl with each other to come out victorious by knocking your opponent off the stage. This game features 25 different players, including 4 guest fighters.
The game has only one goal, which is to kick your opponent out of the fighting arena. The USPs of this game is the action during damage and the gameplay. Opponents get kicked to longer distances as their damage percentage increases.
There is no blocking in its gameplay which incapacitates players from using grappling moves. But with continuous damage, the rage meter starts to fill up which can be used for special attacks.
Coupled with some excellent graphics and intelligent combat scenarios, Brawlout is a new take on fighting games for Switch and adds a lot of freshness to the gaming cohort.
- Developer: Angry Mob Games
- Publisher: Angry Mob Games, Merge Games (UK)
- Game size: 3.1 GB
- Release Date: December 19, 2017
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7. Nidhogg 2
Nidhogg 2 is a fun-to-play fighting game focusing on a tug of war-themed duel scenario. The players have just one goal – to reach the opponent’s end first. You can employ a variety of tactics such as sliding and leaping to attack while being shielded from your opponent’s attacks.
The emerging chaos, thrilling close calls dominates the gameplay. It preserves the frantic fun and unpredictability of what happens next. This new edition comes loaded with a barrage of weapons to choose from. There are a lot of new stages that add more variety to Nidhogg 2.
The broadsword is an excellent weapon to disarm your opponent. Using daggers can quickly damage your opponent but have a smaller range and cannot be thrown to long distances.
The most awkward weapon is the bow, a bad weapon for close combat, as opponents can trace the trajectory of arrows and block them. Anyways you can throw your bows to disarm the opponent.
Apart from weapons, you can trust the dive kicks and unarmed combat techniques to execute your opponent. In short, this is an enjoyable Switch fighting game to pass the hours.
- Developer: Messhof
- Publisher: Messhof
- Game size: 634 MB
- Release Date: November 22, 2018
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8. Fantasy Strike
Considering the already established rules of fight games, Fantasy Strike mixes things up to provide some added fun and high-octane action. Every fighting game has a health bar, right but here the health bar is separated into smaller chunks. A good combination attack can do up to 3 chunk damage while simple attacks can deplete one chunk of energy.
Instead of the best of 3 bouts, to win at Fantasy games you will have to secure 4 wins meaning the matches can extend up to 7 rounds. It feels like you are competing in a martial arts competition itself!
The best part of Fantasy Strike is the character videos where you are shown all the moves of each character, giving hints on their effective use. These videos are much more helpful in improving your fighting skills than tutorials and practice modes. It will allow you to explore Arcade, Daily Challenges, Survival, Boss Russ, and Single Match.
- Developer: Sirlin Games
- Publisher: Sirlin Games
- Game size: 7.8 GB
- Release Date: July 25, 2019
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9. Super Smash Bros: Ultimate
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the 5th crossover title of the Super Bros series, created by 2 different game developers. This edition is often considered the Super Bros game done right. This is the largest iteration so far, with over 74 fighters, 108 stages, and 1300 avatars to collect. Only the Adventure mode can take over 20 hours to complete for a serious gamer.
Matching up to 8 players for an ultimate fighting showdown, you get utterly enjoyable combat and gameplay. Combine these features with recognizable characters from all the previous iterations and this game will turn out as the perfect digital action figure toy box.
It has rare accessibility because of the game’s signature damage system which replaces the health bar with a damage percentage. This percentage decides your vulnerability to be launched off the stage. Overall, this game’s popularity and huge content make it one of the best fighting games for Switch in 2022.
- Developer: Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Game size: 16 GB
- Release Date: December 7, 2018
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10. Dragon Ball Fighter Z
In the single-player campaign, the base story starts with the clone invasion and the sudden appearance of Android 21.
One of the most amazing Nintendo Switch fighting games, especially for the DBZ fans, is rated as the best game conversion of the iconic characters and anime series. Dragon Ball Fighter Z successfully adapts high-octane rapid combat of DBZ into exhilarating 2D 3-v-3 fight scenarios.
The game mechanics are deceptively innocent. Each player gets to select from 24 characters. There are no special move input commands and simple 4-button combos at best. Each character has two damaging auto combination attacks which can be executed by either launching the light or medium attacks.
In addition to the different attack sequences, safe blocking can quickly close the distance between you and your opponent. The developers have balanced between making each character akin to their anime versions while keeping the gameplay easy.
DBZ fans will surely enjoy character conversations before matches!
- Developer: Arc System Works
- Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
- Game size: 9.4 GB
- Release Date: Worldwide: September 28, 2018, Japan: September 27, 2018
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11. Kill La kill – IF
Based on the 2013 anime series of the same name ‘Kill la Kill’, this game seems to have everything that you can wish for in a fighting game – sharp shading, anime-like animations, and exciting gameplay.
The game takes its inspiration from the famous Naruto series in certain aspects such as flight attacks. In single-player mode, each player has a set of 3 basic attacks, a close-range strike, a chargeable long-distance attack, and a slow-moving guard break. The game also provides a flashy meter-limited attack called the Death Blow which does some extra damage.
Each character’s fighting style has some unique tweaks which provide players with some advantage during a fight. You will also the free perspective camera, a positive feature to move on from the typical first-person and third-person combat cams.
- Developer: APLUS Co, A+ Games
- Publisher: Arc system works
- Game size: 6.9 GB
- Release Date: July 26, 2019
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12. My Hero One’s Justice 2
The fights in One’s Justice two follows the simple rock, paper, scissor triangle. Players need to outsmart their opponent by guessing their moves, whether they will perform a normal attack, counterattack, or un-blockable attacks.
Fights tend to focus on this triangle a little too much, which once mastered, can give you the edge to defeat any opponent. You can put together your flashy combo moves to make things look more animated. The combat changes such as dodges and the new stamina system are an improvement.
There is also an arcade mode to play against the computer. The game provides you with 18 new characters to choose from. Graphics are more than enjoyable considering the FPS limitation of Nintendo Switch, but the simplistic gameplay is what this one of the best Switch fighting games worth playing.
- Developer: Byking
- Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
- Game size: 9.7 GB
- Release Date: March 13, 2020
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13. Mortal Kombat 11
Mortal Kombat was originally introduced 28 years ago in 1992. This iteration shows how far gaming tech and gameplay norms have progressed from the original 2D fighting game. Mortal Kombat 11 retains all the unique mechanics that give this 2D fighting series its identity. Visual gore, beheading, in-depth attack damages – this game is not meant for the faint-hearted and perhaps just why it still has a cult fanbase.
Mortal Kombat 11 takes some bold steps to keep it fresh. Running has been removed and walking speed slowed down. It helps in taking a tactical approach while fighting. There is a substantial focus on careful positioning and punishing as opposed to the all-out rush.
The meter management in this game has also been re-tuned – it now features a defensive and an offensive meter. The defensive meter deals with wakeup options, environmental interactives and combo moves called breakaway. The offensive meter is used for amplifying special moves, blocking safely, increasing damage, and opening new combo opportunities.
The best thing about this split metering is Mortal Kombat 11’s X-ray super move and fatal blows. These extremely fast and lethal attacks are available when your character is at 30% health or lower. It creates an expectation from the threat of a fatal blow at the end of a round making the end moments of each fight extraordinarily tense.
Crushing critical hits are awarded on certain moves and the graphical depictions are fantastic, showing the impact on bones and muscles. In short, Mortal Kombat 11 is undoubtedly one of the best fighting games on Switch you can play today.
- Developer: NetherRealm Studios
- Publisher: W B Games
- Game size: 6.5 GB
- Release Date: North America: April 23, 2019; European Union: May 10, 2019; Worldwide: November 19, 2019
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Conclusion
Nintendo Switch still retains its cult crowd, gamers who prefer the personal hand-held or small-screen easy gaming experience. Switch and arcade-styled (or mixed) fighting games are a match made in heaven, perfect for kids and teenagers alike. Far away from 360 Hz, G Sync/FreeSync, 4K resolutions, and the new console-killer NVIDIA RTX 3080, Nintendo Switch persists in its own minimalism, where gaming is a personal affair. Either way, these are the best fighting games on Switch you can play in 2022. Just make sure to buy from top retailers and sellers (We have already done that for you with our buy links!)
