Top 7 PlayStation Plus Premium Fighting Games

Get ready for battle in Tekken 2, @StreetFighter 2, and Injustice 2 with a PlayStation Plus Premium.

Published: June 29, 2022 12:30 PM /

PlayStation Plus Premium is filled with all sorts of video games, from platformers to shooters, and fighters are a part of the party as well. There are some major titles like Mortal Kombat 11 and Soul Calibur VI that will test your might, and a more obscure title Fighting EX Layer you can check out right now. Here are the best PlayStation Plus Premium fighting games at the time of writing.

7 - Fighting EX Layer

Fighting EX Layer PlayStation Plus Premium — Image via Akira

From the developers that brought us the popular Street Fighter EX series comes the appropriately named Fighting EX Layer, a spiritual successor. It has the developer Arika's original characters such as Skullamania, Kairi, Blaire, Sharon, and many more battling it out to be the very best. It's even added The King of Fighters' famous Terry Bogard into the mix.

For a lower budget game, Fighting EX Layer has some surprisingly well-animated attacks to help keep the stakes high. It plays well on either the controller or on arcade stick set up. It also has a Very Positive rating on Steam, so fans of the genre recommend this fighting experience, especially now that it has rollback netcode.

6 - Tekken 2

Tekken 2 PlayStation Plus Premium Fighting Games

It's a strange decision that Tekken 2 was one of the first PS1 fighting games to be put on the PlayStation Plus Premium service instead of its more impressive successor Tekken 3. Despite the character roster being smaller and the game featuring less optimal physics, Tekken 2 is still a riot in 2022. You can't go wrong with the fast-paced combat of this series, and most of the attacks you expect from Tekken 7's Heihachi are still present in this second game.

While it's not the best installment we can get in the series, we'll take it. Hopefully, Tekken 7 is just around the corner for PlayStation Plus Premium members as it's not currently available on the service.

5 - Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator PlayStation Plus Premium Fighting — Image via Arc System Works

The Guilty Gear series has such renown within the fighting game community and for good reason. It has inventive characters with genre-defying mechanics to be aware of in battle. The anime art style is absolutely beautiful with stunning stages and a charismatic cast to pick from. The music is also rad as hell with a heavy rock soundtrack that will keep you energized through each fight.

Revelator is the second expansion of Guilty Gear Xrd, including 23 characters and an expansive training mode system to get you up to speed. It doesn't have rollback netcode, but if you have a good connection online, you'll likely have a lot of fun. You can play with others on the couch as well. We hope Guilty Gear Strive makes it into the PlayStation Plus Premium list at some point, however. Strive has even better graphics with more of a 3D perspective and further detailed characters.

4 - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition

Street Fighter 3 Third Strike PlayStation Plus Premium — Image via Capcom

Street Fighter is the most legendary fighting game series, and arguably one of the best titles in the franchise is the third game's 3rd Strike Online Edition. It includes the exciting parry system that when input multiple times can deflect special attacks from opponents. Take a glance at the EVO Moment #37 between Daigo and Justin Wong to see how sick it can get.

The 2D sprites are wonderfully animated with some stellar animation for move sequences and combos. The music is glorious with tracks like "Jazzy NYC" being one of the most notable. It's an absolutely stellar fighting game that is slightly plagued by being streamed on PlayStation Plus Premium rather than having a native PS4 version. Popular fighting game streamer Maximillian Dood swears by Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, calling it the "Greatest Fighting Game Ever Made" in a video.

3 - Soulcalibur VI

Soul Calibur VI PlayStation Plus Premium Fighting — Image via Bandai Namco

Soulcalibur VI is the best Japanese fighting game on this list. With a weapon-based focus, this game has an intense combat system that will keep you playing round after round. The graphics are spectacular with vibrant stages and well-animated special moves that will take your breath away. If you're a fan of The Witcher, you'll be happy to know that Geralt starred as a guest character in Soulcalibur VI, continuing a tradition to have guest characters since Link brandished his Master Sword against Siegfried and others in the second game.

This Bandai Namco-published game also provides a character creation mode that lets you pick the fighter you want to become in-game. Some have been very creative on bringing characters from other series into the world of Soulcalibur VI, and different sorts of players have formed some awesome original battlers as well.

2 - Injustice series

Injustice 2 Best Fighting Games PlayStation Plus Premium — Image via WB Games

If you're a DC fan, you're in for a treat with Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2. These games have a phenomenal story mode that has an original script and narrative where Superman is the big bad after The Joker kills Lois Lane. The production value of these games are high with some stellar animation and fantastic voice acting you believe in. Injustice even brought in the iconic voice of Kevin Conroy onto the project alongside the talented Tara Strong (Fairly Odd Parents) as Harley Quinn and Nolan North (Uncharted) as General Zod among the cast.

The combat is also worth getting into with outstanding special moves and unique move sets that each character possesses. You can also interact with the environment; for example, Harley can jump off a car's hood to get to the other side of the stage while a stronger fighter can pick up the car and throw it at his enemy. Oh, and don't worry about Superman being overpowered. The developer NetherRealm Studios was able to find a suitable lore reason for it.

1 - Mortal Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat 11 PlayStation Plus Premium Fighting Game — Image via WB Games

Mortal Kombat 11 is the most gratifying, yet violent fighting game you'll find on PlayStation Plus Premium. Crushing someone's skull or electrifying your foe's weak body is alarming to many, but Mortal Kombat players find this exciting. Mortal Kombat 11 is an absolutely entertaining for those who want to test their might. Figuring out strings of combos and performing them online is a thrilling feeling. Once you've beaten your opponent, the fatalities are exceptionally animated, guts and all.

Just like the Injustice series, Mortal Kombat 11 has a well-rounded campaign with good quality cutscenes and epic encounters against the grand cast of characters on offer. The voice acting is also superb, making an absurd concept into something you can believe in while playing it. If you're willing to spend some money on the game, there are many cool cameo characters in Mortal Kombat 11. You can expect to see Robocop, The Terminator, The Joker, and Spawn all fighting each other.

Mortal Kombat 11 is filled with content from the wide variety of characters to learn to the nuanced Krypts mode. It's time for you to butt heads online and show who's boss in Mortal Kombat 11.