Boy, have video games changed over the years. Today’s video game technology has made it seem as if the player has been transported into the actual game, in real-time, no less. It’s completely insane.
Therefore, the video game experience has gone on to new levels never imagined before. Think back to the first incarnation of mixed martial arts (MMA) modes in professional wrestling games in 1996. Yes, they look so child-like now.
Thankfully, MMA video games have been fortunate enough to take advantage of the improvement of gaming technology and use it to make the best fighting games possible, all for your vicious bloodlust.
If it was anymore realistic, you would find yourself wiping sweat, slavia, and blood off your own body in real life.
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Top Five Best MMA Video Games
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Here is my list of the top five best MMA video games:
1. UFC Undisputed 3
UFC Undisputed 3 is a mixed martial arts video game featuring Ultimate Fighting Championship properties and fighters developed by Yuke’s and published by THQ in 2012.
While true MMA video game fans have loved this genre, it has experienced various degrees of success, mainly due to the sports’ loyal fan base.
But many video game reviewers and fans alike consider UFC Undisputed 3 to be the best in the franchise, and arguably in history, saying it’s the closest any game has ever come to capturing the intricacies of MMA.
It does, however, deliver a terrific MMA experience from top to bottom, and everywhere in between. But not all MMA video gamers have been fans of this game. Some have said it turns it back on the unpredictability and the brutal fluidity of the sport.
However, I feel it’s more for the blood thirsty MMA fans, delivering a significant amped up version of UFC Undisputed 2010. The biggest alteration being the addition of the PRIDE mode that allows you to ruthlessly knee, stomp, kick and bash in the head of a helplessly grounded opponent. Nice touch, indeed.
Another sweet thing about this video game is that it has comprehensive tutorials that is useful for novice players or people who haven’t touched a UFC game in a long time, or at all. You can peruse through the guided tutorial mode’s 62 quick exercises to get yourself accustomed to game.
What I really like about it is that you have to, in Career Mode, startout in the World Fighting Alliance (WFA), a no-defunct MMA organization that lasted five years,to crack the UFC roster. So no freebies there.
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2. EA Sports UFC 3
EA Sports UFC 3 is the best game in the series to date, revolutionizing fighting movement with Real Player Motion Technology, delivering quality fluidity and responsive fighter motion.
Adding realism, in the new G.O.A.T. Career Mode, your choices outside the Octagon now matter as much as your performance inside the Octagon as you hype fights, create high-octane rivalries and more en route to becoming the brutal sports’ Greatest of All Time.
Pretty cool if you ask me.
In addition, Its fundamental commands are responsive and permit the player to rely on their creativity in order to outsmart and send their opponents crawling to the canvas with a lethal blow time and time again.
Hey, no one ever send being the best would be easy, did they?
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3. UFC 2010 Undisputed (PS3 and Xbox 360)
UFC 2010 Undisputed was the second game in the series that Yuke’s developed and THQ published in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable.
This game features over 100 dynamic UFC fighters and is an improvement over UFC 2009 Undisputed, by making it a bit easier to play.
But the game’s Career Mode is a pretty cool, real-world feature. It requires you to balance training and fighting to better your stats and help elevate yourself to relevant and popular status, by taking part in promotional activities to keep the public and your sponsors happy. So, you get video game education on brand building while kicking butt on your way to the UFC’s top of the mountain.
The game’s graphics make the fighters look even better than the UFC 2009 Undisputed, down to improving the visible damage to the combatants in the form of red gashes on their bodies.
One valed complaint is that you don’t get to see an actual referee in the octagon, so it’s a little strange to have both fighters separated by an invisible force. But I digress.
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4. UFC 2009 Undisputed
UFC 2009 Undisputed was the first in the series of three UFC games produced by THQ, and was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.
At the time, It was a game-changer, featuring a larger field of UFC fighters, disciplines, and weight classes from which to choose.
It was the first time that MMA gamers had the chance to play with the real complexies of the sport that had never seen in the past.
Moreover, gone were the cheesy gunshot sound effects, which were trying to mimic hard landing punches to your foe. UFC 2009 Undisputed also added nice touches, as it displayed damage to the combatants in the form of small, cut and bruises on their bodies. And it’s Career Mode, enabled you to spar, attend training camps, and relive famous, classic matchups.
It helped set the stage for things to come in the MMA video fight game.
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5. Pride Fighting Championship (PS2)
Pride Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company that was founded in 1997 and ceased operation in 2007.
Developed by Anchor Inc. and released by THQ for the PlayStation 2 in 2003, this video game was groundbreaking at the time. But it’s still considered to be pretty cool by many die-hard MMA gamer fans. This is a sentimental favorite of mine.
It’s striking realistic fight-game features will provide hours of fun for the true gamer. Pride FC delivered deeper, more fluid gameplay than any mixed-martial-arts game at the time, but it still makes for an especially exciting two-player game.
Pride sports 25 real fighters, including Kazushi Sakuraba, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, Wanderlei Silva, Renzo and Royce Gracie, Gary Goodridge, Carlos Newton, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Pride has a special mode in which you get to create your own fighter, with the ability to add facial hair, tattoos, ring gear, among other cool, detailed options.
Furthermore, the mode lets you configure all your fighter’s moves and combos for each of the game’s different fighting positions.
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EA MMA
EA MMA is a fighting video game which EA Tiburon developed and EASports published from 2008 to 2010. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 19, 2010 in North America and October 22, 2010 everywhere else.
It was the company’s first entry into MMA video game world. The awesomeness of the EA is that video game experts recommend that you jump right into the career mode, where the animated Bas Rutten gradually navigates you through the three aspects of MMA – standing, clinching and grappling.
It’s never too much for your video game acumen, testing you on each area of understanding before moving to the next level. After a short time, you’re fighting strong and ready to get into the octagon.