Mixed martial arts, namely the Ultimate Fighting Championships, is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. It blends boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and other combat sports into one refined combat sport.
Despite the fact that there are an infinite amount of fighting games on the market, adapting the sport for videogames is far more challenging for creators than it may appear. Not only must developers ensure that the stand-up works well, but the ground game, which includes transitions, submissions, and grappling, must be as near to the thrill of a large fight as possible. It’s no surprise, therefore, that there are just as many awful as good UFC and MMA videogames.
Michael Llewellyn made the following changes on January 9, 2021: MMA has evolved from a specialized fighting sport to a mainstream entertainment medium that has surpassed boxing and even the WWE in many aspects. Despite its growing popularity and other MMA organizations such as Bellator promoting themselves as legitimate competitors, there aren’t many MMA videogames for fans to pick from.
Because the UFC’s owners purchased erstwhile rivals like Strikeforce FC, World Fighting Alliance, World Extreme Cagefighting Championships, and Pride FC, there are more fighting games under the UFC brand, both good and bad, that fans must monitor.
The UFC is unrivaled. The first UFC game was released in 2009 by Yukes, who is well known for creating the WWE 2K series. It was also the first UFC game to gain critical accolades for accurately representing the complexities of mixed martial arts.
The fight gadget is elaborate and in-depth, and the floor sport takes a few to get accustomed to, however, the submission and reversal gadget is appreciably simpler to understand than the present-day EA UFC titles. There were some clipping concerns, and as a result, southpaw boxers were dropped from the lineup.
EA Sports UFC was the first game from the same studio behind the Fight Night franchise EA’s MMA for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as polished or pleasant as its boxing cousin, nor was it as accessible and feature-packed as its THQ predecessor.
The ground game is a nasty and fussy mess, and the stand-up, although great, is far too arcade-like to be termed an MMA simulator. Instead, warriors can use destructive shots in the game. The battle continues as if nothing occurred after Muay Thai knee blows that should have killed it.
Good: Pride FC: Fighting Championships
Pride FC: Fighting Championships wasn’t technically a UFC game when it was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, but the old Japanese MMA organization and all of its properties are now owned by Zuffa, LLC, which now owns the UFC.
Pride FC was a THQ-developed series that served as a forerunner to THQ’s UFC: Undisputed series. True, the game has flaws, but the gaming mechanics are still strong, and the more harsh rule set that is forbidden in American combat sports – such as foot stomps and soccer kicks – makes for a fascinating combatant when compared to the UFC.
Bad: UFC Sudden Impact
UFC Sudden Impact was published in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. It was created by Opus, the same developer that was responsible for the catastrophic Fighter’s Destiny series for the Nintendo 64. The game had an ever-evolving title mode with north of 40 soldiers to pick from, including current UFC Hall of Famers Chuck Lidell, Tito Ortiz, and Bas Rutten.
The career mode, as well as the accompanying plot, are both tedious, and players will struggle to remain awake during any of it. It might have been forgiven if the combat was any decent, but it isn’t, and it’s more of an arcade fighter than an MMA simulator.
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Good: EA’s MMA
Before signing a partnership with the UFC, EA built their own game, EA Sports MMA, to compete with THQ’s Undisputed series. The game was based on the now-defunct Strikeforce MMA company and its Pride FC equivalent, both of which were owned by the UFC.
On a technical level, EA’s MMA didn’t perform as well as UFC: Undisputed, and the use of the control sticks seemed uncomfortable, but the animations were slick and the graphics looked excellent at the time. Returning to the sport currently reveals that not solely are the movements clumsy and robotic, however, it conjointly has clipping problems and glitches.
Bad: Ultimate Fighting Championships: Tapout
Ultimate Fighting Championship: Tapout, which debuted on the original Xbox in 2002, was one of the most accurate combat sports games ever created. It seemed different from other boxing games at the time, such as Fight Night.
It wasn’t, nonetheless, as cleaned as its boxing same, and time hasn’t been thoughtful to the MMA battle game. Returning to the sport currently reveals that not solely are the movements clumsy and robotic, however, it additionally has clipping problems and glitches.
Good: UFC Undisputed 2010
UFC: Undisputed 2010 was published on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010. It was a huge development over its archetype, including upgrades to The Ultimate Fights Mode and a more point-by-point Career Mode.
Furthermore, the clinch and ground grappling systems have been overhauled, and combatants may now use the cage wall to gain an edge in the clinch. Although there were some clipping difficulties, UFC: Undisputed 2010 was one of the most sophisticated and violent fighting games of its period.
Good: EA Sports UFC 3
With the exception of too much pandering to its polarising cover star Conor McGregor and the microtransactions, EA Sports UFC 3 is a pretty accomplished mixed martial arts title.
It also has some of the best graphics and facial animations in a combat sports game. As a consequence, when the punches strike in such a realistic manner, the slow-motion replays appear and feel enjoyable to watch.
Returning to the sport currently reveals that not solely are the movements clumsy and robotic, however, it additionally has clipping problems and glitches.
Good: UFC 4
UFC 4 is the newest game in EA’s MMA series of combat sports games, set to be released in 2020. On debut, the game had a few bugs that irritated some MMA enthusiasts. It has a clinch method that players repeatedly use, and elbows have been eliminated from the dominant position.
However, UFC 4 has subsequently received multiple additional patches and upgrades to improve gameplay, and it is now a considerably more accessible game than its predecessor. Although there is always space for refinement and patches to clean up the game’s more exploitative features and combat meta, it is still one of the greatest MMA games produced.
Good: UFC Undisputed 3
UFC: Undisputed 3 was the third and last game developed by Yukes under the THQ agreement before the publisher went bankrupt. Despite its release on earlier generation platforms about a decade ago, the game remains the finest UFC game ever created.
The changes to the stand-up game and the enhanced submission technique have resulted in a lot more approachable fighter who can appeal to both fans and non-fans of the sport. MMA enthusiasts also praised the addition of the Japanese PRIDE FC league, which is equally as real as the UFC and much crueler.
Bad: UFC Personal Trainer
In 2011, UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System was launched for the PlayStation Eye and Xbox Kinect. The PS Move controllers had to be uncomfortably strapped to the player’s leg in the PlayStation 3 version, whereas the Xbox 360 version utilized the more powerful Kinect camera device to capture full-body motions. Unfortunately, neither of them worked out.
While having a fitness game on consoles isn’t a bad idea, UFC Personal Trainer was a pain to get up and running. Furthermore, it is more of a glorified and pricey fitness DVD than a personal trainer delivering meaningful feedback, and slipping in a copy of Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo is far less of a nuisance than fumbling around in menus.
