The Best Fighting Games That Let You Design Your Own Moves

Summary

• Absolver offers full control over movesets in a Soulslike/martial arts blend, promoting diverse PvP strategies.
• Sonic Battle breaks tradition by allowing moveset customization on GBA, giving players unique abilities from the roster.
• Mortal Kombat Armageddon’s Kreate A Fighter mode lets players fully customize characters with fighting styles and moves.

It’s not a new phenomenon for fighting games to allow players to be creative, but usually that creation is limited in a lot of ways. Take Soulcalibur for instance; while you can create your own character in one of the most in-depth creation suites in gaming, you have no control over the character’s moveset. You just pick a weapon type and that’s the end of it.

Fortunately, for those who like to have more control over their attacks, there’s a range of fighting games out there that allow players to truly create their own movesets. Here is the best of the best.

10

Absolver

“Be Like Water…”

While Absolver might not look like a traditional fighting game, this Soulslike/martial arts blend does allow players to duel with each other, with fights somewhat playing out like Virtua Fighter or Dead Or Alive, thanks to various stage hazards. For PvP purposes specifically, Absolver is a fighting game, and you can control every aspect of your moveset.

While the process of learning moves can be a bit of a grind, players can assign various attacks to their four stances, giving them an arsenal of moves that can be useful for any situation. With fully customisable movesets, fights can be wild and unpredictable as everyone can approach the game differently, making for an interesting experience.

9

Sonic Battle

We’re Still Waiting For Sonic X Emerl Generations.

When thinking about fighting games that allow players to create their own movesets, Sonic The Hedgehog is probably the last series you’d think of. Sonic The Fighters was hardly a contender for fighting game of the decade, after all, but Sonic Battle is a different beast. A 3D arena brawler on the Game Boy Advance, of all things, Sonic Battle puts customisation front and center for one of the game’s characters.

During the game’s story, Sonic and the gang meet new character Emerl, a robot who’s able to learn and copy from the people around him. Completing levels in Story Mode can unlock Skill Cards players can equip to Emerl, giving him a range of abilities from across the full roster. Not bad for a random Sonic spin-off.

Despite only appearing getting quick mentions in the mainline Sonic series since Battle, the prequel animated short series Sonix X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings saw Emerl make a brief return. Time to start the “Emerl The Gizoid” spin-off hype train.

8

Mortal Kombat Armageddon

“Armageddon… Has Begun.”

Mortal Kombat is no stranger to customisation, with MK X and MK 11 including variations that allowed players to choose a specific character moveset that worked for them. MK 11 even offered ‘kustom’ variations, letting players create their own variation from a selection of moves and abilities, but MK 11 doesn’t hold a candle to MK Armageddon’s Kreate A Fighter mode.

In a feature that hasn’t returned to the series, MKA included a fighter creation suite that allowed players to customise pretty much every facet of their character. Compared to Soulcalibur it wasn’t groundbreaking, but you could choose to give your fighter a fighting style, a weapon, and a selection of special moves from across the whole roster, so it had an edge over Soulcalibur 3 in one aspect.

Of all the times to not do the trademark silly K spelling convention, why wasn’t the mode called “Kreate A Kombatant”? Open goal there.

7

Street Fighter EX 3

Aces High.

The Arika-developed Street Fighter games might not be as fondly remembered as the Capcom developed ones, but the EX series did introduce plenty of its own cool ideas. EX 3’s approach to Street Fighter tag fighting in particular was a joy to play, and something that should be revisited in the future, but SF EX 3 also gave players some limited moveset creation.

Street Fighter EX 3 introduced the character of Ace, a somewhat blank slate of a character who could be equipped with a range of special moves from everyone in the roster. It’s great for anyone who wanted to experiment with grapplers that could also throw projectiles, but you had to unlock the moves yourself, which made Ace a lesser used feature in EX 3.

Alongside equipping moves to Ace, you could even upgrade the moves by completing trials or using Ace in Original Mode, with the three-star versions of some moves hitting harder and even boasting new properties entirely.

6

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Combot Hive Arise.

The Tekken games, and Namco fighting games in general, love throwing in characters who know every fighting style in the game, with Mokujin filling that role for most Tekken games. In Tekken 4, Namco introduced a new take on that staple with Combot, who would swap styles every round, but they changed Combot quite a bit in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Instead of swapping styles per round, TTT2’s Combot could be levelled up through the game’s Fight Lab mode, where players would be able to spend gold to unlock various moves and combos from everyone on the roster. Performing well in the game’s “boss fights” would even unlock more advanced moves, like the iconic Wind God Fist. It was an interesting inclusion, but one that’s never come back.

5

Street Fighter 6

You Must Defeat Shen Long To Stand A Chance.

Clearly, the inclusion of Ace in Street Fighter EX 3 stuck with Capcom in some way, though why it took them 20 years to develop their own take on that concept is anyone’s guess. Either way, Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode introduced one of the most robust character creation tools in mainstream fighting games, with players able to customise both looks and moves for their avatars.

After making your avatar, players are let loose into Metro City where they can interact with the game’s roster of characters as masters, who’ll teach the player their fighting style and special moves. Players can then equip a base style followed by a set number of special moves, both on the ground and in the air, to create their ultimate fighting style. The fact you can then take these utterly broken styles online is just the icing on the cake.

4

Kakuge Yaro: Fighting Game Creator

When You Want Something Done Right, Make It Yourself

It’s no big secret to say that the PS1’s collection of fighting games belongs among the best ever fighting game selection money can buy. Still, if you were somehow unsatisfied with the amazing games on offer, Kakuge Yaro: Fighting Game Creator offered something different.

Like the name implies, Kakuge Yaro gives players the power of creation, specifically the ability to completely edit the game’s admittedly paltry roster of characters.

Kakuge Yaro featured seven unique characters, with players able to customise both their attire in terms of colour palettes and the like, along with their attacks and abilities. Each character had several moves to choose from for each slot, with players able to turn one character into multiple unique variations. It’s pretty cool, and even though this game was Japan-only, there’s an English patch available online.

3

Fighter Maker 2

When You Want Something Done Right, Make It Yourself (But In 3D).

Less of a video game and more just a digital copy of ‘Making 3D Fighting Games For Dummies’, Fighter Maker 2 is exactly what you’d think it is. While Fighter Maker 2 gives you a number of pre-made characters to play with, along with plenty of arenas, the real joy in Fighter Maker 2 comes from the level of creation you’re given to create your own fighting game. Sort of, anyway.

Players are given complete control over a character’s appearance, moveset and even animations, with players even able to go frame-by-frame and edit a move’s animations so it looks completely different. Is this an easy system to use? Not really, as Fighter Maker 2 is simply a game for the purists out there, but what the game attempted to do should really be commended.

2

WWE 2K24

Create-A-Pro.

Wrestling games, or licensed wrestling games at least, have always been at the forefront of player customisation, allowing players to create not only their own wrestlers, but their own movesets, custom logos, modified entrances and more. That’s without getting into the non-wrestler related creations either, like arenas, shows and more. If you can think of it, WWE 2K24 will probably let you make it.

Naturally, the create-a-moveset menu is where those who like to tinker with their attacks will spend the most time, choosing between 20-something different clotheslines to find the one that’d be right for your creation. While WWE 2K24 doesn’t let players create their own moves like older WWE games did, being able to curate your favourite wrestling moves and finishers into one ultra moveset never gets old.

1

Smack Studio

Lay The Smack Down.

If you played Super Smash Bros. and thought that the Mii Fighter customisation was cool, Smack Studio would probably blow your mind. At its base form, Smack Studio is a platform fighting game that supports up to 8 players in one match, with the game offering 16 pre-made characters and over 20 arenas for players to scrap in across local and online play.

Sounds good so far, but the creation on offer here is next level. Using one of a kind tools that can turn 2D sprites into 3D animations, Smack Studio puts the tools in your hands to create the characters and arenas of your dreams. You can then share your creations with the Steam Workshop, or if you’re a proficient enough creator, upload character templates that newcomers can use as a basis for their characters.

Teamwork makes the fighting game work, apparently.