Underplayed Gems

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2000)

Ultimate Fighting Championship cover
Platforms
PlayStation, Dreamcast
Genres
Fighting, Sport
Rating
4.7 of 5, 5 player ratings
The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More games like this

How it feels

A grounded, deliberate MMA simulation where fights feel like chess matches of grapples and submissions rather than flashy arcade brawls.

simulation-focusedgroundedmethodicalcompetitivephysicaltechnicalslow-pacedrealistic

About

The Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments started in the 1990s, giving martial artists of the world a chance to distinguish themselves in a fighting environment with very few rules. Fighters could be matched up against fighters of any style, and the match ended only when one fighter submitted. The popularity of the sport resulted in the creation of other mixed martial arts tournaments and the evolution and merging of fighting styles for greater effectiveness. Ultimate Fighting Championship is a 3D fighting game that tries to simulate the experience of a real mixed martial arts fight. Players can choose from a selection of established UFC fighters, or create their own fighter through the Career Mode. While in Career Mode, players start the character creation process by selecting from several style templates, then using points earned through fighting and beating a series of progressively more difficult fighters to buy attribute upgrades in stamina, endurance, punching ability, kicking ability, or to learn certain techniques.

What players say

The PS1 version of this early MMA fighter is remembered poorly, a stiff and clunky downgrade from the better Dreamcast release that even earned worst-game nominations. Its deep reversal system gets buried under awkward, dated presentation.

Screenshots

Ultimate Fighting Championship screenshot 1Ultimate Fighting Championship screenshot 2Ultimate Fighting Championship screenshot 3

More games like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.