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Pokken Tournament DX & Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite out this week - Best mobile alternatives

Beat to the punch

Pokken Tournament DX & Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite out this week - Best mobile alternatives
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iOS

Like two angry, punchy buses arriving at once, both Pokken Tournament DX and Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite hit console this week.

That's two bright, frenetic one-on-one beat-'em-ups that manage to evoke that manic arcade brawler spirit - albeit in appreciably different ways.

All of which might have mobile gamers feeling a little envious. After all, this isn't a platform that's synonymous with slick one-on-one beat-'em-ups.

You might be surprised at what you can get, though. Here's a small selection of brawlers that should keep you (virtually) bloodied and battered.

Skullgirls

This is a brilliantly thoughtful mobile conversion of one of the more out-there beat-'em-ups of recent times.

Ditching the direct virtual joystick approach of earlier beat-'em-up conversions, Skullgirls opts for a much more intuitive tap and swipe-based combat system. It just works, and it rarely if ever lets you down in the heat of battle.

It helps that those battles are waged between beautifully imagined and rendered anime characters with outlandish characteristics.

Marvel Contest of Champions

It's fair to say that Marvel Contest of Champions has had its ups and its down, with developer Kabam's tinkering often unwelcome by its sizeable and dedicated fanbase.

But at heart this remains one of the slickest and most immediately gratifying brawlers on mobile. Enter uncomplicated fights involving essentially the entire Marvel universe roster.

The King of Fighters-i 2012

If we're talking faithful conversions of technical arcade fighting games, they don't get any more uncompromising than The King of Fighters-i 2012.

You get 32 fighters, all the buttons, online and local scrapping, multiple settings, and a drop dead gorgeous hand-drawn art style.

Taekwondo Game Global Tournament

Taekwondo Game Global Tournament lacks the arcade kicks of the rest of the games on this list, but it's a pretty great fighting game in its own right.

Eschewing fireballs and whirlwind kicks for a more grounded take on a real Olympic sport, it's more about poise and timing than outright aggression or whopping combos.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.