I see notoriously great players like Justin Wong, Daigo, and a plethora of other players and I began to notice something.
They are all very good at the games they play. This could easily mean that being good at one fighting game is almost to being good at another.
Take for example, Chris G. a notoriously good MvC3 player also did very well in MK9 this EVO2011. There are many other examples of this as well, Tokido being a person who never ceases to make top 8 in multiple games.
My question is this: Is this always true? To be a better player in MvC3, would it help to be a better SSF4 player? To be a better SSF4 player would it help to be a better SF3 player? Will MvC2 and TvC help one play Blazblue?
Because in my case, I realize I’m pretty terrible at SSF4, SF3 (granted I wasn’t there during its hey-day), MvC2, and a myriad of other fighting games.
The only game where I can say I’m decent at is TvC (giants lol) and MvC3, but I feel I’m hitting at some limit point and I’m still being trumped by players who seem to be at a skill-tier that’s higher than mine, yet I do not know how to break it, and I’m beginning to think that to break it, is to expand my skillset in other games.
Becoming a top player for any game is really difficult, and once you get there you realize that almost all fighting games just come down to frame data, hitboxes, and creating situations where you know and control all of your opponent’s options. The only barrier then is time dedication, which players like Justin Wong and Tokido can afford.
to be good at multiple fighting games there are 2 things that are needed
good fundamentals (spacing game, zoning)
and a good understanding of how the game works to take advantage of the particular features of the game and how to blend them with your fundamentals
All the reasons above count, but if there’s any two games with systems that are radically different, then you have to invest time in learning how they work or you won’t make it very far. They don’t seem so bad with today’s titles, but in the past it’s been a very tough lesson for some people.
This can also work against if you get so used to one game style for too long, then it changes the feel of others to become less familiar.
I remember in an interview, Wong was saying how in the arcades if he didn’t want to wait on line for one game, he’d go play another. And with the arcade culture of getting the most of your quarter, if you went to play other games, you had to learn to be better at other people in that game as well.
Just to back up my previous post, I used to play a lot of SC/Tekken because of their easy combo strings. When Mortal Kombat came out I was able to adapt right away since strings were present with the behast of 2-in-1 specials. However… going back to Street Fighter wasn’t easy. I’m still relearning all the jab-jab combo timings before I can even think of playing any matchmaking.
It used to be the other way around when I knew some SF, then MK’s setup made it impossible.
It’s actually best you play multiple fighting games to get better at one specific fighting game.
The reason behind is, is because you might play one game that is only footies and weak zoning, and another of which is the opposite. Because your jumping back and forth from one game to the other, your force to think and adapter in situations you would’ve never thought you had trouble in without having first played the other game.
Basically, playing other fighting games opens your eyes to ideas on the current fighting game you are playing that you would’ve never thought of.
When you play multiple fighting games, you tend to realize that certain principles that they use like footsies, mixups, Okizeme, etc. can be applied to almost any fighting game, even niche ones like the Naruto fighters on the Gamecube/Wii and the PS2.
That might work for some people, but it definitely doesn’t* force* you to learn anything. Imo playing a wide selection of fighting games is detrimental more often than not. Whens the last time you saw someone with a sig on SRK listing the half dozen games they play and 3-4 characters for each game and you actually recognized their name as a top player?
It’s not so much that because a person is good at x they will have an advantage in y
I think it’s just the more you play fighting games (even if it’s only one for most of your life) you understand how to analyze and break down games better than other people who haven’t necessarily experienced high level
So being really fucking godlike at ST doesn’t mean you can walk into a Marvel 3 tournament and start the ole boop bap, but there are definitely things this person would be trying to think about that other people might not consider and that’s where this “all around experience” might shine
Normally people who list a lot of games in there sigs are normally very casual, yet attend tournament events.
You also have to consider the amount of time the players put into the game. Those people would normally touch the game, say it’s good, but never play it again (and that usually seem to always be the case). Playing from one game to another would improve your skills, because as mentioned before, it actually does help open your mind to new ideas when playing specific fighting games.
Another thing that helps with this is that when your jumping from one game to another constantly, it forces you to think.
You have to keep readjusting yourself because your so used to game X, that jumping back to game Y may throw you off because it lacks the specific elements that game X had (like feature only found in that game only). Because of this, you’re in a state of always “thinking” that it becomes a lot easier to focus on the game you are currently playing. Just know that most top players ALWAYS play multiple fighting games.
Think of it this way- By playing more games you actually get access to more strong competition because you are now a part of multiple communities.
Aris also mentioned the multiple game issue and how it helps your main game in his podcast some time ago and said some good shit. I’ll post it here soon.
Investing your time in a 3S low tier is probably a waste when you could learn a top character and hop right into the “real” game.
Compare some passionate people who main Remy, fap to Pierrot vids, then go to tournaments and lose, to someone like Justin Wong who doesn’t give a fuck, picks Chun and places high.
I think you mean “does being good at one game make you good at another?”, there is no necessity here.
To an extent yes. Most fighting games share similar fundamentals and executions, so you’d certainly walk into another game with a distinct advantage over anyone who was just starting FGs in general.
one game’s bread and butter is another game’s nuance. the fact that SF4 pretty much forces you to frametrap, safejump and option select definitely made me think more about those things in ST, where they still help but are less essential and thus less obvious to the low-level player.