Blood is bad, but crazy hitsparks are ok?

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
1

Is blood really that awful to have in fighting games? I ask this because anytime anyone mentions blood being in a game, people freak out and start screaming about how blood is for 15 year old kids, and is immature and dumb, and ruins the games and all that. Now I get the importance of gameplay, and frankly a game can have tons of blood but if it has shit gameplay, it’ll suck bad. But I noticed even in actual good games, people tend to shy away from even the idea of blood. Remember old SF2, and how when ya hit people sometimes, or with certain attacks, they shed bled, or even puked? I doubt anyone now thinks SF2 was “an immature game appealing to 15 year olds” or sucked because of it showing that stuff. The Alpha series did away with the puking, but kept blood for some things like Vega’s claw and Blanka’s biting I think. Then SF4, I am seeing vids of Vega and Blanka, and even the attacks they had that shed blood show nothing but bright and flashy hitsparks. In KoF, Vice’s scrape you across the floor move used to show blood, now in XIII it just shows fancy hi res dust. I saw no blood from Mature’s slasher attacks either, and Im certain if Yamazaki or Oswald were in, any attack from them would look all the blood.

Now, I am not saying SF4 or KoF or any other game sucks because it has no blood, or that Capcom/SNK should remake the games and turn it into MK, but why remove that? Is it a style choice, did they feel blood with those kind of graphics would just look bad, or what? Why does every fighter now have to have tons of crazy over the top hitsparks everywhere? I heard some say it’s supposedly for hit confirmation, but I don’t buy that, I doubt anyone had problems figuring out if an attack hit or was a counter in older fighting games. It feels like ever since CvS and GG hit the scene, every fighter since has been trying to add as much screen filling sparks as possible. I saw Kensou’s NeoMax in a video, and the move itself looked awesome as hell with him punching you like a maniac, but the hitsparks were so big and flashy you literally can’t see his damn punches. No, I don’t want blood for that move, that would be stupid, but I can’t even see him punching, it obscures the damn animation:

[media=youtube]J-n3na_z-JM[/media]

I can’t even see his punches connecting, it’s just that bright ass hitspark covering everything the entire time. Do people think that actually looks good? It looks more like the stuff I see in Mugen, with people making ken but giving him ULTRA HREZ effects so you can’t even see half his body when he does an SRK. It just looks dumb, and I don’t know why companies do this. I mean even in 3d games, VF doesn’t seem to have these crazy over the top hitsparks, when the hits connect you can see them fully, and it looks fine. Then I look at Tekken and anytime a move connects it’s weird glowing Korean MMO style effects like fireworks coming off. Hell, I asked about that and someone claimed that it’s need for hit confirmation, and that without it you can’t tell the difference between counter and normal hits and stuns and such, and that this was why Tekken was “superior” to VF. Somehow I doubt that, but whatever.

2

Japanese censors or some shit.

Remember that most all fighting games are made with the intention of them being in Japanese arcades, which are open to the public and stuff. I assume they gotta be mindful of the children. And remember that outside of America it is: Blood = no-no, sex = yes-yes. It must of gotten harsher in the past 4 or 5 years, 'cause Guilty Gear used to have a lot of blood effects going on, but in the last version of the game, the blood got replaces by HUGE hit sparks.

I guess you want good ol’ American made Mortal Kombat.

3

Isn’t Japan the same country that makes gorey anime all the time? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard people say Japan doesn’t have too much hangups with stuff like sex or even kids seeing violence to some degree, hence why anime like Yugioh will have blood censored out here in America despite it being for kids.

I am not saying games need to be like MK, it’s more the fact I find it odd how design sensibilities switched over from “little bit of blood here and there is ok” to “NO BLOOD EVER JUST SHINY RAINBOWZZZ!” Plus even without blood, it’s more unusual that almost every fighter now(certainly every 2d fighter) has shiny huge hitsparks everywhere, like sometimes you can’t even see the impact of the attack because the hitspark is covering everything as it happens.

Only japanese 2d fighter I can think of now that has any blood at all and not huge hitsparks covering everything is stuff like this:
[media=youtube]H1eOZxAS3IE[/media]

4

who really cares…

5

I love me some Nightwarriors and Marvel Superheroes hitsparks. Light-based hitsparks suck ass (see everything Capcom in 2d did starting with their naomi games). Hand-drawn hitsparks are beautiful.

6

Worst hit sparks ever: CvS2.

It took me months to realize that Ken’s elbow and knee were almost horizontal due to the centrifugal force during his Shinryuken. I thought that was a very cool detail, but it was always obscured by those ridiculously large hitsparks that had to be in front of everything.

7

Gore is something that pumps adrenaline and makes you want to kick more ass.

Seizures distract the person from crappy game play and makes them not care so much, like watching fireworks.

8

hitsparks add to the visual appeal of the game. they also deliver a sense of contact with your opponent. lack of hitsparks makes the game look primitive. even sf1 had hitsparks.

9

I’d say the arcade argument is correct but due to different reasons. It’s easier to catch someone eye with huge flashy hitsparks.

10

I am in agreement with this, as well as Hasashi’s points. When used in moderation and for appropriate attacks (IMO pre-XII KOF would be the best example), blood is not only acceptable, but desirable. Samurai Spirits and even Guilty Gear without any arterial spraying is just wrong.

For some reason, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 saw the removal of the (admittedly overly voluminous) blood that was introduced in Real Bout 1 and kept for Real Bout Special. As a (presumed) consequence, Laurence Blood (heh) lost most of his moves which involved his sword (Matador Slash standard throw, Bloody Shooter sword throw, Final Death Bloody P.Power), and his Bloody Saber three-part hit-to-stab sequence was changed to a long-range stab with the sword hidden in his cape!

As for overblown hitsparks obscuring the action, am I the only one annoyed at huge-fonted “WARNING! HARAHARA ATTACK MOTION START!”, “FINAL IMPACT”, “SUPER CANCEL”, “DREAM CANCEL” and (as of KOF XIII) “MAX CANCEL” messages popping up mid-screen as discreetly as the “HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!” message? If the combo counter doesn’t have to take up half the screen, why do these?

11

I’d like to see more Japanese developers add blood and get creative with it. I’m sure they could do some amazing shit. The whole sparks and fireworks thing is pretty played out. Where as gore is always going to get more and more creative with each new generation of console tech. Who wasn’t blown away by Gears of War at first? And it’s just going to keep getting better. It really adds to the atmosphere as well as the fight now that wear and tear is happening throughout the rounds. Plus blood is just a more realistic approach. You’re gonna bleed if you fight more than likely. Not shoot out roman candles when you get punched in the face.

12

Hitsparks are fine. But back then hitsparks were a bit more subdued, or in the least, had a sort of comic book type flare to them, that let you know the move impacted and hurt, and that was it. Nowadays practically every new fighter adds these crazy Mugenesque hitsparks that obscure most of the character’s body or limbs when attacking, so you’re punching someone and seeing some huge rainbow colored light effect covering the entire area being hit. It would be like if they drew a Batman comic, but anytime Batman hit someone, instead of maybe a small reasonable effect added for impact, it instead shows some HUGE brightly drawn fireworks looking display covering the action. With that said, I think too much blood can do the same thing, if a game had so much blood that it literally covered the character’s bodies anytime they got hit, that would look bad and just plain suck.

Kensou’s neomax is ruined due to this, you can’t see shit, it just looks like he’s standing there with his elbows moving and huge fireworks covering the whole thing.

13

I agree, but don’t tell me you’ve never heard of…

[media=youtube]k7_7semtxI0&feature=related[/media]

:=)

14

Blood doesn’t get the same mileage with the Japanese audience compared to the west. Worst case, they see something bloody and think of it as “gaijin trash.”

15

KOF has some of the worst presentations and graphics designs ever. gameplay is good, but… totally unappealing esthetics

16

I think a lot of you guys are flip flopped when it comes to Japanese seeing blood in games. It’s no different than here. Also I miss a little bit of blood here and there in fighting games. I don’t miss the SF2 instant puke though.

17

The way they did it Art of Fighting was the best to me. Characters faces actually show damage as they lose health. Blood, bruises and swelling.

18

who gives a shit so long as it doesnt look like [media=youtube]t8ANjltTJkY[/media]

19

I hate S/SF4 hit sparks. They’re biiiiiiiiiig.

20

‘’’’’