People love to play a good fighting game with their friends. The genre has always had a foothold in the hearts of players for its drive towards competitiveness and hard-hitting action. But while a number of great fighting game series continuously release new games over time, they also try to attempt something new for their audience. These offshoot games are often viewed as spin-offs from the main series which they come from, not being fully representative of the core aspects of their franchises. Unfortunately, not all of them are winners and usually fade into obscurity.

But every now and then we get a spin-off from a fighting game series that packs a heavy punch. These games stand out to fans for their creativity and overall fun factor that makes us want to keep playing them. They may not be the mainline entries in the series we know, but they definitely carry on the torch for them to continue building a legacy that players can revere. Here are three spinoffs of fighting game series that were actually excellent for everyone.

3 Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Answers lie in the heart of puzzles

The Street Fighter series is arguably the most important fighting game ever released for the genre. Many of the characters from the series have gone on to become recognizable and iconic parts of gaming, but have also contributed to expanding awareness of the fighting genre in a variety of ways. But while Capcom was a #1 contender in arcade fighting game releases, nobody expected the company to develop a spin-off title that included many characters from both Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha, with a few extra Capcom faces included. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is a tile-matching puzzle game that implements aspects of competition into its gameplay, pitting two fighters against each other as players try to match tiles and clear space on their board. It's a fun, goofy, and clever take on the Street Fighter characters that people still love to play to this day.

What makes Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo so interesting is how deep the level of competition can get, despite it not being a fighting game. Anyone that has played games like Tetris against other people will know how tough it can be trying to stay ahead of your opponent, especially when blocks are dropping so frequently. But Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo adds an extra layer of Versus competition by allowing players to hinder others through the use of special abilities, which are gained from matching enough blocks and clearing out space. Each character on the roster has their own unique attack that can turn the tide of a match, which makes an already challenging puzzle game into a clash of blocks between players. It's a spin-off game that has found a lot more success than others have when trying to find different ways to utilize a beloved fighting game franchise.

2 Guilty Gear Judgement

Don't judge this contender by size

There are very few video game series that are as hardcore and metal as the Guilty Gear series. Combining the fast-paced action of an anime fighter with rock music is a genius idea. But how does one expand upon that when the concept is already so good as it is? You put the characters that people love into a brawler that lets them fight groups of enemies with all of their favorite special moves. This is why Guilty Gear Judgement is so much fun for fans of the Guilty Gear franchise. They not only get to explore more of the universe within the series, but get to play with their favorite characters in a way that compliments the main series in a fun and interesting way.

The game was released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable, which also includes a port of Guilty Gear X Reload, the ninth fighting game installment of the series. The main game is a side-scrolling brawler that has players battling across 18 stages with groups of enemies and boss fights. While the controls are somewhat similar to the main Guilty Gear titles, there are some differences to compensate for the change in genre, but the majority of attacks for each character on the roster remain unchanged. There are 21 playable characters that are from the Guilty Gear games, with their own styles of fighting and special moves to use against enemies. If there was ever a way to do a spin-off title that remains closely faithful to the essence of the original game, Guilty Gear Judgement would be a perfect example of it.

1 Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Epic co-op Outworld action

Arguably, Mortal Kombat is the most versatile fighting game franchise ever made. While the main series already has so many iconic and popular game releases, it also has a number of spin-off titles of varying degrees of quality. Some of the most infamously known bad games come from the Mortal Kombat series, including Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. But the series also has one of the most beloved fighting game spin-offs of all-time that fans swear by. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is a 3D action game that spin-offs the main Mortal Kombat series, while taking place during the time of Mortal Kombat II and immediately after the events of the first Mortal Kombat tournament.

The game follows Liu Kang and Kung Lao as they fight various warriors in Outworld, guided by the wisdom of Lord Raiden. Eventually, after defeating the sorcerer Shang Tsung and his allies, the two are challenged by Shao Kahn for the fate of Earthrealm. The game received a lot of praise from Mortal Kombat fans and critics alike, citing the co-op gameplay and fun adaptation of the franchise into a new genre. The signature gore and dark humor of the series were present throughout the main game, along with a number of combos and special abilities that can be gained over the course of the story. While Liu Kang and Kung Lao were the main playable characters, additional ones like Scorpion and Sub-Zero can be unlocked for the main campaign. But Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks also included a Versus mode that had a larger roster of characters to play with in 1-on-1 battles.

Many people have compared the gameplay of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks to other 3D action games of the era, including the God of War and Devil May Cry series. While many loved how the game flowed and how fast the action could get, some were a bit disappointed by the harsh difficulty spikes in some sections. Regardless, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks remains one of the fighting game spin-off titles that everybody remembers fondly. At one point, a sequel to the game was planned for consoles, which was titled Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice. The game would've had Scorpion and Sub-Zero as the main characters, but the project was canceled before development could move further ahead. Many people have also called to see an HD re-release of the game as well, which has yet to be done.

The best spin-off attacks

Some of the biggest fighting game franchises eventually get spin-off titles that try to expand the universe they create. Although not all of them are big hits or beloved classics by fans, there are occasional gems that people wish they could see more of. While the age of the spin-off games for the fighting game genre might be long gone, there is still the potential to see more game releases that try something different to the franchises that everyone loves. We'll just have to wait and see which contenders in the genre try to mix things up from what we already know.