Street Fighter II was king of the mountain. In the wake to make some money, dozens upon dozens of knock-offs, imitators, and pretenders to the throne sprang up almost overnight. Some became huge successes, such as Mortal Kombat, while others dwindled away into nothingness.

The fighting genre remains on the decline. The genre itself is thriving only on the backbone of solid, popular fighters such as Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and Dead or Alive.

But there used to be a healthy dose of alternative, and inventive, fighters on the market.

So, without further adieu, here's my list of a few forgotten fighting gems that kicked some serious ass and deserve perhaps a second chance at life.

BLOODY ROAR 2 - Playstation
The entire Bloody Roar franchise is a very solid fighting game, but Bloody Roar 2 was the pinnacle, easily. Unlike the other games on the market, or the sequels that followed this installment, it was a dark, violent, vastly story-driven game with some amazing characters, visuals, music, cutscenes, and a surprisingly fun, deep combat engine. The fact that you could transform into massive, lethal animals, such as a veritable werewolf, a lion, a bat, a tiger, etc. may have been the main draw, but it was only the icing on the cake. Even without the beast forms, it was a great fighter, but that unique feature really helped make this a memorable experience.

BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN - Playstation, Saturn
Soul Calibur is the premiere weapon-to-weapon fighter on the market today. But it wouldn't even exist without this game. The game may not hold up quite as well, but given its age, and the fact that it was the FIRST weapon-to-weapon 3D fighter ever conceived, it was a landmark title that, at its time, was an admirable rival to Sega's Virtua FIghter franchise. It got healthy review scores upon release, but time was not kind to this trend-setter, and after some mediocre sequels, coupled with Soul Edge/Blade refining BAT's formula, Toshinden fell into obscurity. But I'm sure there was more than a few fighting fans who fondly remember taking leather-clad, whip-wielding Sophia into battle... Ivy owes this busty blonde alot.

CLAY FIGHTERS 63 1/3 - N64
This game was hardly a great fighting game. It wasn't even a good one. Alright, it was a terrible fighting game. It was, however, a fun one, worth a rental at the very least, if in part because it had a truly original and dark sense of humor. Between such fighters a Bad Mr. Frosty and "guest" characters Earthworm Jim and Boogerman (before Soul Calibur II did its own guest character renditions), the cast is at least memorable. Hardly a good game by any stretch of the imagination, but one that was at least different.

SAMURAI SHODOWN - various
If Battle Arena Toshinden was the father of the weapon-to-weapon fighter, Samurai Shodown is the grandfather. The game had its problems and flaws, to be fair, mainly suffering from some out-right hilarious English translation problems (yay Engrish), a fairly homogenous cast, and some balancing issues. It did have a very unique period themed backdrop, characters with weapons, slick animation, and even Fatalities of its own. It was hardly an original product, but its weapon combat, setting, and gameplay quirks made it unique enough.

X-MEN: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM - Playstation, Saturn
It was best in the Arcade, but Capcom's X-men fighting game was still pretty good on the Saturn (bad Playstion port though). And Capcom had the brains to do a good liscenced fighting game based off of a comic franchise BEFORE deciding to have their two respective universes clash (*cough* MK vs. DCU *cough*). But the original game, especially the arcade version, was almost like playing an intense episode of the TV series. With even the TV show's voice actors, such as Wolverine's Carl Dodd, voicing their respective characters, it made it all the sweeter, fun, and believable. Between great animation, great use of special movies, some good game balance, and the typical Capcom flair for over-the-top specials, the game was definitely a hit.

DARKSTALKERS - various
There was various Darkstalker games, but the first was easily the most influential. Featuring a cast of fighters derived from modern movie monsters, such as vampires, werewolves, succubi, and mummies, the game had an immediate sense of style, darkness, and appeal that easily seperated it from another Capcom standby, Street Fighter. The game was pretty good, very well animated, slick animations, good special moves, and a great cast of characters. When fighters made the jump to 3D, a lot of Capcom fighters, like this one, failed to make the jump and were ultimately forgotten about as the era of Tekken and Virtua Fighter began to dominate. Which is a shame, considering just how dark, original, and unique this game franchise was. Who wouldn't want a next-gen game with sexy Morrigan and Felicia in some hi-def, fully polygonal glory?