Best Modern Anime Arena Fighters

Summary

• Most anime IPs produce arena fighters for accessibility and creative movesets.
• Different arena fighters offer various movement options and encourage environmental usage.
• My Hero One’s Justice 2 balances mechanics, plus Ultra, and interactive environments for enjoyable gameplay.

Most anime IPs are implemented in the most accessible type of fighting game: arena fighters. The movement in these titles is an excellent feat compared to traditional fighting games and platform fighters. It gives players more control within the stage, while utilizing more creative movesets for players to engage.

Different arena fighters offer various movement options rather than complex fighting inputs for broad audience appeal. Some arena fighters will stick to the grounded arena for better competitive play while others take to the skies or other environments. Others encourage environmental usage, letting players reach higher elevations or fight along the walls.

9 One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows

Heroic Entrance

One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is a 3v3 fighting game that allows both heroes and villains to bout. The roster includes fighters that range up to the Boros arc. Players can even explore the world as a custom hero who learns techniques to be the ideal savior. Depending on the custom hero’s type, players can learn different skills from either heroes or villains.

It is faithful to the anime with everyone’s power scaling and moves, especially Saitama. Choosing him as a teammate makes it very difficult for the opponent to overcome his heroic might. His main flaw is his tardy presence, forcing the user to fight without an extra teammate for a limited time. A unique addition is the dream Saitama, making his powers more nerfed and balanced as a straightforward fighter without being late to fight.

8 Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash

Cursed Teamwork

Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash challenges each combatant to battle in the cursed world. The main strategy during matches is ranking up the cursed energy to deliver powerful techniques to damage the opponent. Stages have different sizes for fighters to interact, whether to keep enemies close in smaller stages or split foes apart in larger areas.

Teamwork is essential to maintain or steal the match’s momentum. Players can utilize the given character techniques for strategic advantage, like switching player positioning, zoning from a distance, summoning cursed monsters, or using domain expansion. Players can even joint attack an opponent, trapping them in a cinematic team attack.

7 Jump Force

Anime Bash

Jump Force brought the largest roster of anime representation into a three-man tag-team battle. The characters come from such works as My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Saint Seiya, JoJo Bizarre Adventures, Yu-Gi-Oh, and many more. It’s the most competitive entry in the Jump series with its mechanics.

Its gameplay is similar to Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, but has easier accessibility with its simplified controls for a broader audience. Characters are straightforward without their unique gimmicks, like in J-Stars Victory VS, though some fighters can still transform during different awakenings like Naruto and Goku. Players can easily switch between each character, yet there’s some depth in each character’s abilities.

6 Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections

Storming The Arena

Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections revitalizes the series with updated features and balance adjustments. It provides better options for combo extensions. It even raises player engagement by including two jutsus and item cooldowns for each ninja. Newer players can even join, thanks to the simple control scheme.

The customization is the more welcoming addition to the new Ninja Storm entry. It has a wide roster of ninjas from the original Naruto to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations’s Kawaki arc, including different forms of characters like Five Kage Sasuke and Naruto The Last. Each ninja has at least three costume colors and accessory slots for different body limbs. Players can equip scrolls, weapons, masks, tails, and a lot more during intense battles.

5 One Piece: Burning Blood

The Flame Of Life

• Developer: Spike Chunsoft
• Release Date: April 21, 2016
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One

One Piece: Burning Blood gives a closer perspective on one of the most tragic arcs in One Piece. Players can choose up to three fighters with various abilities, like devil fruits, logia skills, haki, swordsman, and more. The game is designed to appear like the manga with its intense character expressions, close-up camera shots, and colorful onomatopoeias.

Burning gauge is an essential mechanic that gradually builds during a match. It gives the user more teamwork options for either combo extensions or combo breaks. Characters can even transform to use ultimate skills when the burning gauge is filled, like Luffy changing into Gear 4 Bounceman.

4 Kill La Kill IF

Thread Of Tension

• Developer: A+ Games
• Release Date: July 26, 2019
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows

Kill La Kill IF is an excellent example of how to design expressive, unique characters. The roster is limited for the short anime, though each fighter plays differently. Each fighter has a different strategy and range preference, such as hitting certain attacks, managing meters, mashing attacks, or self-damage. No character feels the same unless playing in a mirror match.

The best aspect of the game is how it brings the core of the anime into its battle arena gameplay. Characters yell insults to power up or damage each other during valor clashes. Each character even has an ultimate finisher that instakills the opponent, leaving them stripped of their clothed powers.

3 Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero

Explosive Struggle

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero brings the nostalgic Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series back to modern consoles. It plays similar to Dragon Ball Xenoverse, but focuses more on the anime’s action aspect, including the destructive environments and cinematic super moves. Several Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi staples return in the recent iteration, such as tournaments, what-if stories, DP battles, and more.

The game has a more casual appeal with its faster-paced combat and broken character prowess. Its roster stretches towards Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball movies, and Dragon Ball Super. Players can interact by clashing in an intense melee throwdown or beam struggle, rewarding the user with follow-up possibilities or better damage.

2 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles

Breath Of Art

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles is a beautiful display of the swordsman and demonic arts. It functions around the skill gauge, allowing the fighter to use special techniques for damaging combos. The game perfectly implements how the characters engage in the show by showcasing the strength gap between demons and humans.

Like in the anime, the demon slayers use teamwork to take down stronger upper-ranked demons. Demon slayers can tag and throw assists to cover more ground and provide mix-ups, though their skills are limited to close range. Demons mainly work solo, but can regenerate their health and utilize techniques that warp or zone the humans.

1 My Hero One’s Justice 2

Plus Ultra

My Hero One’s Justice 2 improves the mechanics introduced by its predecessor. It balances the roster, the rock-paper-scissor system with armored and grab attacks, and the Plus Ultra meter. These new features make the game enjoyable in both casual and competitive play.

What also makes the game very fun is interacting with the environment. The intense action between the fighters can damage the stage, leaving cracks and broken columns. Players can even launch opponents into walls to bury them for extended combos, granting rewards for environmental awareness. It’s also one of the few games that allows more than two players to fight together.