General Fighting Games Thread

[narpassword]

I didn't see a fighting game thread, so here's one. FWIW, I count both Smash Bros and wrasslin' games as fighting games. For maximum pedantry: You choose a character and fight against at least one (potentially) player controlled character using a variety of moves, in a series of one or more 'matches'. Discussion not limited to:

Are you a fan? How long have you been playing them? (Are you an '09er?)
I've been a big fan of fighting games for a while. How long is a while? Well, I played Street Fighter 1 in the arcade. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Firstly, it was after 2:CE was already out and, secondly, it wasn't an arcade (it was a 7/11 (but they also had Bonk's Adventure)). I do, however, remember when Championship Edition came out (I was legit impressed by the concept of mirror matches, and confused by the existential implications of two Kens existing next to each other). One of my more vivid childhood memories is the first time I saw Raiden explode Liu Kang's head like it was no thing.

Favorite game? Favorite characters? Favorite character type?
My all time favorite fighting game is Soul Calibur. (I don't really 'main' characters, but for SC1, I play Ivy, Taki, Astaroth, Yoshimitsu and Voldo the most.) I find it the most... intuitive of all the games I've played. I guess, by that I mean, that once you get the basics you can figure out the properties, relative damage, and even the commands for a given move just from watching it (with exceptions of course).
Whenever I get into a fighting game, I always go looking for the nearest shoto-clone, for obvious reasons. But once I've settled in and figured out how the system works, I always end up going for the most bizarre characters, either the joke characters (Dan, greatest World Warrior ever) or the ones who play the least like any others. I also like keep-away and/or trap characters (Dhalsim, Rolento, Testament), basically the more strategic/less tactical characters. I never really got into the tournament scene, so never really felt like it was necessary to play the 'most powerful' characters.

Any games you liked but didn't really play?
Fighting games are all about the one-on-one interaction. IOW, the game is only as good as the people you're playing with/against. There have been a bunch of games that I thought were terrible, but played just because they had the best/widest player base. *cough*MVC2*cough*
OTOH, there have been some phenomenal games, I couldn't get into because I could find people play with. The best example of this, for me, is Last Blade. It was Daisuke Ishiwatari's first major work (he's the guy behind Guilty Gear) for SNK. It's set in Bakumatsu period (through character/background and miscellaneous touches it does quite a lot with the setting) with an awesomely minimalistic soundtrack (it's the spiritual successor to Sam Sho) that plays like a hybrid of a 2d and 3d fighter.

[Sorel]

I like Marvel vs Capcom a lot

[Saturn Moriya]

I really, REALLY want to get into fighting games. But I haven't the opportunity. I did play alot of smash with friends and we got sort of competitive with each other. Ness is the best character. I initially picked him because Earthbound, and found him incredibly fun to use. Combo's with PK Fire, a shield that absorbs things and heals you, the occasional well-timed PK Crush/Crash/Flash/Ihavenoidea, learning to control PK Thunder to a degree where you can launch yourself whereever you wish...it's just fantastic. I'm not so far into the game to the point where I know priorities, frames and whatevers, so I'm not actually actual competitive actualness, but we did play it ALOT (there it is again).

Aside from Smash, friends don't wanna play anything. I haven't bothered figuring out how to play things online in emulators, because my internet can't really do anything.

I do plan to at least play through story modes when I get my hands on some games. So far I've only gone through Darkstalkers 3 on Saturn, and I'm completely in love with it. Jon Talbain and Q-Bee are great for me (I always tend to go for the fast, light, maneuverable characters).

Games I have lying around are Street Fighter 2 Turbo and DBZ Super Buto Den 2 for SNES, and King of Fighters 97 for Saturn. Also Street Fighter the Movie but that one doesn't count. I used to think SNES had the best 2D controller, but after getting a Saturn it's a pain to use.

Most notable games on my to buy list are Cyberbots, Marvel vs Street Fighter, Pocket Fighter, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Samurai Shodown 4 and Waku Waku 7 for Saturn, and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus for PS2 (also maybe the vs Capcoms). On that note, if anyone has suggestions for others I should check out that would be up my alley, please tell me about them.

[KobaBeach]

I played Darkstalkers 3 yesterday
And I sometimes play Samurai Shodown 2 and KoF '98??????????

And I've played Digimon Rumble Arena a few times too

I am also very bad at fighting games

Ness is the best character.

Kirby > shit >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> every other Smash character

[narpassword]

Darkstalkers 3 is the best game in one of my favorite franchises (here's hoping Capcom puts out a new one). My favorite characters from each of the games: Lord Raptor- heavy metal zombie with inexplicable chainsaws FTW; Hsien-Ko - for both character design and play style one of my favorite fighting game characters ever; BB Hood & Q-Bee (tied)- BB Hood 'cause she's a little girl with LOTS of guns and Q-Bee because I've always loved bee people (and all of her moves are named in mathematical notation).

I really, REALLY want to get into fighting games. But I haven't the opportunity. I did play alot of smash with friends and we got sort of competitive with each other. Ness is the best character. ... I'm not so far into the game to the point where I know priorities, frames and whatevers...

I never really got into Smash. When I did play it, I always went with Jigglypuff because she(?) struck me as the most ridiculous. But Ness was always top of my list of characters to learn, if I ever got around to that.

Re: Priorities and the such. Fighting game players tend to make this a lot ('cause it's one lot) more of a thing than it really is. Like I said, I never got into the tourney scene but I have played a bunch with tourney level players. Frames are almost always important to learn, but since nobody can see that fast, counting frames comes down to rhythm as much as anything (see a visual cue and either hit the button immediately, or delay 'a little bit'). Priority is a lot (still, just one lot) more important Smash bros than many games (because of the nature of the system). The stuff that people go on about on the internet is 9 out of 10 times about the 'strategy' side of things (pre-planning) and rapidly goes out the window in the heat of things.

Most notable games on my to buy list are Cyberbots, Marvel vs Street Fighter, Pocket Fighter, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Samurai Shodown 4 and Waku Waku 7 for Saturn, and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus for PS2 (also maybe the vs Capcoms). On that note, if anyone has suggestions for others I should check out that would be up my alley, please tell me about them.

For now, so that this post doesn't get more out of hand, I'll just say that Waku Waku 7 is a hidden classic.

If you've got a PS3 or a 360, I'd recommend Persona 4 Arena. As it's (a) designed for people who are new to fighting games; (b) has a solid and increasingly complex system; (c) has both a good story mode and is a visual novel.

If your computer can handle it, Injustice: Gods Amongst Us has all the perks of P4 (except the visual novel).

[Sorel]

My favourite characters in fighting games are:

Marvel vs Capcom: Doctor Doom, Strider Hiryu, Hayato and Sentinel

Street Fighter: Ken. Period.

Smash Bros: Mario, Mr Game and Watch, R.O.B., Lucas and Marth.

Guess that sums up every fighting game I have played. So far.

[raocow]

oh shit I just realised that evo is next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[devil†zukin]

oh shit I just realised that evo is next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hype

[devil†zukin]

i cant believe i missed out on that limited run sanrio stick last year :<<<<< i dont think tthey had it in the eu store

[raocow]

that's a pretty rad honda in the back

[Ashan]

Part of my job is playing Mortal Kombat several times a day.

I work at a pawn shop and when people bring their PS3s/360s in we have to test them first so we hook them up to a TV and put a copy of Mortal Kombat in and play a round to make sure the system works, controller works, etc.
I haven't gotten much better at Mortal Kombat in the time I've worked there but luckily you can easily win by mashing random buttons.

[Bean]

I'm not too into fighters, but I did have a recent Street Fighter kick and enjoyed using Chun-Li and Sagat as my main characters in the four I did. Played a few of the DBZ ones back in the day as well as any and all Smash games. Melee's my favorite fighter, no doubt about that, but Brawl was pretty sweet as well.

[raocow]

Schedule for evo '14 has been released! And there are holes just big enough of stuff I'm less interested in to my videos and stuff I guess.

[Davybot]

Other then Smash the only fighter I currently have is Skullgirls which I absolutely love. I'd like to say I rock a pretty good Ms. Fortune. I also can't wait for evo it sounding super hype.

[devil†zukin]

st is the only game i care about and thatll probably be a side event

[raocow]

finals are scheduled on sunday, the rest will be streamed by... not evo, but another crew, so if you want some high quality super turbo the weekend got you covered!

[devil†zukin]

ohhh so there's actually an st event?

i do looove seeing the super turbo USA greats face off with people from other parts of the world (& afro vs daigo is always entertaining)

there's only so many japanese tournament videos i can watch

[raocow]

get hype rena!!!

[devil†zukin]

orf!!! UK REPRESENT

[Davybot]

Ahhhhhh, I'm freakin' out over these Robo Fortune colors that were revealed, they're so great.
http://imgur.com/a/MaaDY

[Bwarch]

Oh gosh, Metal Sonic, Dorothy and Gundam palettes. That's pretty cool.