Best free games like Street Fighter

Few games have made two people sitting next to each other on an arcade cabinet suddenly become sworn enemies quite like Street Fighter II. Its appeal was wonderfully straightforward: pick a fighter, learn a handful of moves and beat the living daylights out of whoever was standing on the other side of the screen. The free fighting games collected here take inspiration from that classic formula, offering one-on-one battles, colorful characters, special attacks and plenty of opportunities to discover that button-mashing is not, in fact, a legitimate fighting technique. Some are faithful to the arcade tradition, while others add unusual characters, weapons or stranger ideas. Whether you're after quick matches or something that demands a little more practice, there's plenty here to try. Just don't get too confident after winning the first round. Your opponent may already be preparing the inevitable comeback.