Since Karate Champ made itself known to me during one family holiday in Sunny Wales when I was a nipper I've been a fan of the genre ever since. Granted I'm not as good at these games as I once was (simply don't play them enough) but I do like to fire up a good fighter every now and then.
Karate Champ (Arcade)
My first fighting game and one that, thanks to the joys of emulation, I sometimes like to fire up. I don't recall getting my ass kicked quite as much though!
Double Dragon (Arcade)
For a few years this was the only reason I would attend the local fair when it turned up at my home town. Of course there were a couple of other games I enjoyed such as Supersprint and Operation Wolf, but Double Dragon gobbled up the majority of my ten penny pieces.
Final Fight (Arcade)
First stumbled upon this in an arcade at Barry Island and was immediately blown away. Beautifully drawn and brilliant to play, Final Fight has been a firm favourite ever since.
King of Fighters 98 (Arcade/Dreamcast)
I was already a fan of the KoF series by this point, but 98 is an absolute belter. Perfectly balanced while sporting an incredibly deep fighting system KoF 98 is, for my money, one of the greatest fighting games ever made. The series has introduced some cool characters and features since then but 98 remains top of the pops.
Tekken 2 (PS1)
I'd already enjoyed time playing Tekken, but when I fired up Tekken 2 for the first time my jaw hit the floor. I literally spent hours upon hours learning all those 10 strings, counters and grapple combos until not a single one of my gaming friends could touch me. Good times.
Dead or Alive Ultimate (OG Xbox)
Bouncing boobs and saucy costumes aside DOA has always been a quality fighter. For this series DOA Ultimate remains my absolute fav. As you might imagine I was gutted when the optical drive for my Xbox gave up the ghost and I lost hours of game time as a result- yes including every costume! Thankfully I've finally managed to get a fully working emulated version via CXBX-R.
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (PC)
Beautifully drawn and animated, a whole host of awesome and bizarre fighters to choose from, great tunes and a immensely satisfying fighting system. What's not to like?
There's plenty more, but that'll do for now to get the ball rolling.