The 8 best martial arts games for PC
UFC video games present a completely mixed picture. From the incredible Undisputed series to EA offerings, here are the best and worst UFC games ever.
Mixed martial arts, and martial arts championships in particular, are one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It combines boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and karate, among others, into a well-established form of martial arts.
When it comes to adapting sports to video games, it's much more difficult for developers than it might seem, despite the fact that there are endless fighting games on the market. Developers not only have to make sure the standup works, but the ground game with transitions, submissions, and wrestling has to be as close to the thrill of a big match as possible. Not surprisingly, the number of UFC and MMA video games is equally abysmal, as are the good ones.
Updated by Michael Llewellyn on January 9, 2021: The sport of MMA has grown from a niche combat sport to a mass entertainment medium that has surpassed boxing and even WWE in many ways. However, despite its growing popularity and other MMA organizations like Bellator positioning themselves as legitimate contenders, there still aren't many MMA video games for fans to choose from.
With UFC owners acquiring former rivals like Strikeforce FC, World Fighting Alliance, World Extreme Cagefighting Championships, and Pride FC, there are more good and bad fighting games under the UFC banner for fans to watch out for.
14. Good: UFC Undisputed 2009
UFC: Undisputed 2009 was the first UFC game from developers Yukes, best known for developing the WWE 2K series. It was also the first UFC game to receive critical acclaim for truly revealing the ins and outs of mixed martial arts.
The combat system is complex and deep, and the ground game will take some getting used to, but the submission and reversal system is much easier to master than EA's newer UFC games. There were some issues with the cuts, and left-handed wrestlers were excluded as a result.
13. Bad: EA Sports UFC
EA Sports UFC for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was the first game from the same team that created EA's Fight Night MMA franchise. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as slick or enjoyable as its boxing counterpart, nor as accessible and functional as its THQ-published predecessor.
Visually it was impressive, but the ground game is an awful, awkward mess, and the stand-up game, while impressive, feels too arcadey to be considered an MMA sim. Instead, the game allows fighters to deliver crushing blows. The Thai boxing knees that should have ended the fight continue as if nothing had happened.
12. Good: Pride FC: Fighting Championships
Released in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Pride FC: Fighting Championships was not technically a UFC game at the time, but the former Japanese MMA promotion and all of its facilities are now owned by Zuffa, LLC, which also owns the UFC. .
Pride FC, developed by THQ, was kind of a precursor series to THQ's UFC: Undisputed series. Admittedly, the game has its issues, but the gameplay remains solid, and the more brutal set of rules that are prohibited in American combat sports - such as stomping and soccer kicks - compared to the UFC makes make the fight interesting.
11. Good: EA Sports UFC 2
Released in 2014, UFC 2 was the second game in EA's new combat sports franchise, and it was a vast improvement over the lackluster original. The game comes with top-notch graphics, a huge roster of fighters, and featuring female fighters like Ronda Rousey.
UFC 2 footwork is fluid and fast, and fighters can realistically move around the octagon. Kickboxing aside, the game has a steep learning curve when it comes to ground play and is still lacking in content.
10. Bad: UFC Sudden Impact
UFC Sudden Impact was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2004. It was developed by Opus, the same team responsible for the terrible Fighter's Destiny series on the Nintendo 64. The game had a progressive championship mode with about 40 fighters to choose from, as some of current UFC Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Bas Rutten.
The career mode is just as boring as the story that goes with it, and players will have a hard time staying awake in any of them. It would be somewhat forgivable if the fighting was good, but it isn't, and it feels more like an arcade game than an MMA simulator.
9. Good: EA MMA
Before EA struck a deal with the UFC, it created its own game to compete with THQ's Undisputed series on EA Sports MMA. The game focuses on the now defunct MMA organization Strikeforce and the Pride FC strain, both of which are owned by the UFC.
MMA EA, Unplayed, and UFC: Undisputed on a technical level and the implementation of the joysticks felt clunky, but the animations were smooth and the graphics looked great at the time. Despite some mechanical changes to the controls, EA MMA is in many ways the prototype for the current EA UFC video game series.
8. Evil: Ultimate Fighting Championships: Tapout
Released on the original Xbox in 2002, Ultimate Fighting Championships: Tapout was one of the most authentic combat sports games ever released. It seemed unique compared to boxing games like Fight Night at the time.
However, it wasn't nearly as polished as its boxing counterpart, and time hasn't spared the MMA fighting game. A return to the current game reveals that the animation is not only clunky and robotic, but also plagued with clipping and bug issues.
7. Good: UFC Undisputed 2010
UFC: Undisputed 2010 was released in 2010 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a huge improvement over its predecessor, as well as improvements to the Ultimate Fights mode and a deeper career mode.
Additionally, the clinch and ground grappling system has been reworked, and wrestlers can now use the cage wall to gain an advantage in the clinch. Some chopping issues remained, but UFC: Undisputed 2010 was one of the most technical and brutal fighting games of its generation.
6. Bad: UFC Throwdown
UFC Throwdown was released for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube in 2002. It was released by Crave Entertainment and was the sequel to Ultimate Fighting Championship on the Sega Dreamcast.
It only had 28 fighters and the game's combat system lacked any real depth. The counter attack system was useless and no strategy could make it work, and the limited fighting system simply meant players stood in front of each other and hit each other. However, instead of being an exciting stand-up war, it was dull and clunky.
5. Good: EA Sports UFC 3
Apart from too much complicity with its controversial cover star, Conor McGregor, and microtransactions, EA Sports UFC 3 is a very accomplished mixed martial arts game.
It also features some of the most impressive visual effects and facial animations in combat sports. The resulting slow-mo replays look and feel good when the punches come together so realistically.
UFC 3's stand-up combat is second to none, but the baseline game can take some work, and the overly clunky and often unfair submission system prevents it from being the best combat sport available.
4. Evil: UFC: Tapout 2
UFC: Tapout 2 was released exclusively for Xbox in 2003. At the time it was the most attractive UFC game on the market, but that didn't stop it from becoming another bland player in the MMA franchise. Also, the visual enhancements only served to highlight the robotic animation.
While he was simplistic enough for any gamer, it was that simplicity that kept him from being the technical fighter fans wanted. Also, the single player modes were boring and too simple due to the game's terrible AI.
3. Good: UFC 4
Released in 2020, UFC 4 is the latest game in EA's MMA combat sports series. At its launch, the game was released with some issues that bothered some MMA fans. It has a clinch system that players repeat over and over again, and the game removed elbows from the dominant position.
However, since then, UFC 4 has released various patches and updates to improve gameplay, and is a much more accessible game than its predecessor. There's still room for improvements and fixes to clean up the game's more exploitative mechanics and combat metrics, but it's still one of the best MMA games released.
2. Good: UFC Undisputed 3
UFC: Undisputed 3 was the third final game from developers Yukes under a deal with THQ before the publisher's liquidation. Despite being released almost a decade ago on older generation systems, the game is still the best UFC game ever made.
The adjustments made to the stand-up game and the improvement of the submission system have made the fighter much more accessible, capable of attracting fans and non-fans alike. Also, MMA fans liked the inclusion of Japan's PRIDE FC league, which feels as authentic and even more violent than the UFC.
1. Bad: UFC personal trainer
UFC Personal Trainer: Ultimate Fitness System is a fitness game for the PlayStation Eye and Xbox Kinect released in 2011. The PlayStation 3 version required the player to strap the PS Move controllers uncomfortably to their leg, but the Xbox 360 version used a most advanced Kinect camera to follow the movements of the whole body. Unfortunately, neither of them worked particularly well.
Although the idea of having a fitness game on consoles is not a bad idea, the UFC Personal Trainer was quite difficult to set up. Plus, it's not so much a personal trainer giving real information as a gloriously expensive exercise DVD, since putting on a copy of Te Bo Billy Blanks is much less of a hassle than fiddling with the menu.