When did your preferred fighting game franchises peak?

Taking it all into account - storyline, presentation, roster, gameplay, etc.

Not sure if there are too many fighting game enthusiasts on here, judging by the posts. I'm not exactly an aficionado myself, as I haven't really been into them since the Neo Geo and PS1 days. I'm probably only really qualified to say Samurai Shodown 4 is the best in the series, although it is remarkable how well Street Fighter 2 still holds up today. For Tekken, Soul Calibur, Marvel vs. Capcom, etc. I didn't play past the first couple entries.