Fighting games often earn the appeal of gamers who want something fast and loose - just choose a character and duke it out in matches that barely last for a few minutes. Sometimes, fighting games even have stories that share the reasons why said characters are fighting in the first place, resulting in some of the wackiest stories of revenge, pursuits of glory, and saving the world that gaming has ever seen.
And between the family feuds of Tekken, the over-the-top world-saving in Mortal Kombat, and the behind the scenes tournament conspiracies of Street Fighter, some fighting games just boast some of the longest campaigns to ever grace gaming. Just which fighting games have the longest story campaigns?
10 Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (12.5 hours)
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Fans of the Tekken franchise can take the Mishima bloodline blood feud on a portable level with Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. At its core, this game serves as a port of Tekken 6 for the platform albeit with graphical updates. On top of that, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition boasts a huge slate of 40 characters and even the film Tekken: Blood Vengeance.
Given the complexity of the Tekken plot, it makes sense for Tekken 3D: Prime Edition to boast 12.5 hours’ worth of a Story Mode to accommodate its cast of 40 characters. In the game, Jin Kazama’s victory against his grandfather Jinpachi Mishima essentially put him as the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Jin then uses his newfound resources to declare the Zaibatsu as a global superpower. At the same time, Jin’s father Kazuya Mishima manages to lead G Corporation and put a bounty on Jin. Out to get his father, Jin starts the 6th King of Iron Fist Tournament.
9 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst (13 hours)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Due to the popularity of the Naruto franchise and the length of its story, it makes sense for various games to have been released that try to retell Naruto’s journey into becoming the Hokage. Of all these games, however, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst is perhaps the longest, boasting 13 hours’ worth of story time.
Unlike other Naruto games that try to summarize the series’ story, Full Burst takes some of the most iconic moments in the anime and splices them into the story mode. These include the first attack of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and the Fourth Hokage’s sacrifice in stopping it, and then jumping to Naruto training to control the Nine-Tails, Madara Uchiha declaring the Fourth Great Ninja War, and even the great fight against Madara’s forces.
8 Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition (13 hours)
Platforms: Arcade game, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Fans of Street Fighter can get the most comprehensive Street Fighter 2 experience courtesy of Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition. In terms of technicalities, the game makes use of mechanics from the acclaimed Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and allows players to pick versions of the main characters across all Street Fighter 2 games.
Being essentially an improved version of Street Fighter 2, Hyper Street Fighter 2 does make use of all 17 characters from the franchise by then, with 13 hours’ worth of story accommodating their plotlines. At its core, the plot involves these fighters holding some grudge against M. Bison and joining the Street Fighter Tournament to finally end his reign of terror. However, other characters eventually realize that M. Bison and his Shadaloo organization are more connected to them than they thought.
7 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (15.5 hours)
Platforms: PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance
Fans of the Mortal Kombat franchise can see Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as one of the tipping points of the otherwise brutal Mortal Kombat franchise. It’s in this game that the characters in the core franchise became more involved in a universal plot rather than just their own personal grievances. And despite having only 23 characters, Deadly Alliance has got enough material to accommodate 15.5 hours’ worth of story.
At its core, Deadly Alliance talks of the surprising Deadly Alliance that was formed when Quan Chi, after his escape from the Netherrealm, formed an alliance with Shang Tsung. After seemingly defeating Shao Kahn and killing Liu Kang, it’s the plot of these two villains to build an undead army powerful enough to supposedly beat the immortal army of Onaga, the Dragon King. If the two of them succeed, they may hold power powerful enough to rule all the realms.
6 BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (17 hours)
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Arcade game, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Fight game enthusiasts who love the flashy animations of Arc System games can thank BlazBlue for a franchise with a rather complex plot. Compared to the much shorter Guilty Gear franchise from the same team, BlazBlue and its characters are far more intertwined than they could ever imagine. And BlazBlue: Continuum Shift has more than 17 hours’ worth of story to explore the interconnected nature of the lives of its 20 characters.
At its core, Continuum Shift happens after BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, when the attack by Ragna the Bloodedge had the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi skip celebrating New Years and instead talk about mysterious events associated with Ragna, such as mysterious pentacles and bombings in the area. And while Ragna is pursuing his unknown objective, his Azure Grimoire has begun acting up against him.
5 BlazBlue: Chronophantasma (18.5 hours)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Arcade game, PlayStation Vita, Arcade video game, PlayStation 3
Given the long story mode of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift it makes sense for its official sequel, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, to be of the same caliber. Now with 26 characters in its slate, the game has more to reveal regarding the true nature of the mysterious time loops of the past title and expand on the mythos of the franchise as a whole.
In the game, while Ragna has finally ended the time loops in Continuum Shift, this resulted in the revival of his nemesis, the mysterious and malevolent Terumi. Unfortunately for Ragna and his comrades, Terumi’s plans lead to something more catastrophic that would take all of their might to eventually stop. Thanks to its fast-paced gameplay and gripping narrative, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma easily sets the bar as one of the best ArcSys games out there.
4 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (19.5 hours)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia
Fans of Dragon Ball will appreciate the first Dragon Ball Xenoverse game for giving the entire mythos a spin. After all, villains Towa and Mira will be manipulating time itself, and it’s up to the players, with their own custom character, to save the day. In Xenoverse sequel Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, the duo are back, and their schemes are more diabolical than ever.
According to the Supreme Kai of Time, players need to stop the schemes of Towa and Mira as they gather new allies in the form of villains as they try to manipulate the entire story of Dragon Ball. This complex plot involving a roster of a whopping 68 characters makes this perhaps one of the largest and most expansive casts of a Dragon Ball game yet.
3 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (23.5 hours)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Despite the rather wacky crossover nature of the Super Smash Bros. Series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate perhaps boasts one of the most extensive storylines for a fighting game. At its core, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes place in the crossover world of the game, where a massive war is being waged between Nintendo’s mightiest heroes and Galeem, the Lord of Light. Armed with an army of Master Hands, Galeem easily bests Nintendo’s heroes and devastates the realm. Kirby, the sole survivor, will need to find a way to resurrect the heroes and strike a counter-attack against Galeem.
Simple as it may seem, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has quite the extended approach to its plot. All of its 89 playable characters have a task to do in regard to saving the world, which makes the game all the more interesting considering the vastly different nature of the games where the heroes have come from.
2 UFC Undisputed 2010 (25.5 hours)
Platforms: iOS, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Unlike other fighting games where players explore the story of its roster of many characters, martial arts games like UFC Undisputed 2010 give players the ability to make their own fighters. In fact, its story mode - called the Career Mode - allows players to make their own UFC fighter in the hopes of being inducted into the UFC Hall-of-Fame.
However, what makes UFC Undisputed 2010 have such a long story mode is the fact that players have to start literally at the bottom of the ladder. Players fight first in amateur arenas until they become eligible for the World Fighting Alliance. Succeeding there allows them to be inducted in the UFC, where players can have their fighter progress through acquiring and defending title shots and even change weight classes. With the end goal being player fighters being inducted into the Hall-of-Fame, it’s bound to be a tough and worthwhile journey.
1 WWE 2K20 (28.5 hours)
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Despite its rather negative reception, WWE 2K20 does have one of the longest story modes out there for a fighting game. Considering the surprising and theatrical nature of the WWE as a whole, it makes sense for this game to clock in at 28.5 hours for its story mode to take place. This is also the first WWE 2K story to have a female MyCareer story separate from a male counterpart.
Either way, the plot of WWE 2k20 largely remains the same. It is 2029, and Tre and Red were just inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame after Wrestlemania 2029. This is set 11 years after WWE 2K19. In this timeline, The Rock has also become the President of the United States. Players create their characters and work their way up the WWE ladder, with the goal of being inducted into the Hall of Fame themselves.