25 Most Iconic Fighting Game Moves #5 – #1

The Shun Goku Satsu, AKA the Raging Demon, is the signature mode of Akuma in the Street Fighter series. When executed, Akuma teleports to the opposing character and if he gets in range, the screen goes black shielding your sight from the horrible massacre that occurs behind the scenes. It’s one of the most well-known super moves in videogame history, spawning several parody moves in multiple fighting games over the years. It also was one of the first instances of “multi-meter” super moves that expend more resources than normal. It’s this move that sets Akuma apart from Ryu and Ken as a corrupted user of the Ansatsuken, a.k.a. Shotokan fighting style.

WRYYYYYYYYY! Few people actually played the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fighting game for the original PlayStation, but even people who have no idea who JoJo is know about this move. Based on one of the most iconic scenes from the anime and manga, Road Roller Da has Dio Brando throwing a steamroller on top of you, and then punching it until it explodes shouting “MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA” the entire time. Its sheer ludicrous nature has spawned internet memes, music videos, and even fan made fighting game characters! Even M.U.G.E.N’s Homer Simpson has a version of this move, as does Ronald McDonald!

The bizarre thing about Captain Falcon’s Falcon Punch is that it isn’t that great of a move. It’s got a long wind-up that is easy to dodge, and it doesn’t kill at percentages significantly lower than more reliable moves kill at. Still, the very idea of a racecar driver punching someone so hard they light on fire has spawned numerous memes across the internet. There’s even an F-Zero anime, which shows him Falcon Punching someone so hard you can see it on the other side of the galaxy! If Captain Falcon is the pinnacle of manliness, then this move is the manliest move in his arsenal.

Does it feel a little “TOASTYYYY” in here? The Mortal Kombat Uppercut is well known, simply for it’s ludicrous nature. Landing one of these on the opponent would catapult them high into the air while making the ground shake, easily one of the hardest hitting moves of the early days of fighting games. The uppercut was also used to trigger stage fatalities and even activate secrets in the game. The only way you would ever be able to fight some of the secret ninjas was to get Dan Forden to pop up on the lower right corner of the screen and comment on your well placed uppercutting skills.

Hadoken, Shoryuken, Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku, otherwise known as Fireball, Dragon Punch, and Hurricane Kick, are easily the three most known moves in fighting game history, and as such, neither can be said to take precedence over the rest. These moves, comprising the toolset of Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter II, are what most current day fighting game move-sets are based around. They defined the projectile, the reversal, and expansion/pressure move, so much so, that the motions used to execute these moves have been codified as “Fireball” and “Dragon Punch” motions. If it weren’t for these three moves, we wouldn’t have fighting games to play in the first place.