Fighting game cliches

[Nephinel]

whenever you get to play as a drastically weakened version of a boss character

dammit I want the power, please make the playable version just as broken as the boss version

[Keres]

• Forgotten characters: Some companies in charge of creating fighting games have a odd tendency of forgetting a certain group of characters, especially if they are fan favorites. Like Adel (others include Oswald, Geese Howard, or Yamazaki…) from KOF XIII (this might not be true yet), or Karin from Street Fighter (Then there is Elena, Alex, R. Mika…). Do I need to mention a certain blue bomber for MVC3? My avatar summarizes my thoughts quite well. And no, I don’t care about Bad Box Art Megaman.

This isn’t a “cliché,” it’s just a rant. But regardless: people who regularly make these sorts of protests will never be satisfied. Even just in the last few years, Dee Jay, T.Hawk, Dudley, Makoto, Ibuki, Guy, Cody, Rolento, Hugo, Poison (despite the fact that she’s never actually been in a Street Fighter game), Rolento, Alex, and other characters have been begged for by a small segment of the community – and then promptly forgotten and/or ignored once Capcom actually revives them for a new game. It’s never enough for these people. If Capcom were to put, say, Karin or R.Mika into SFxT, they’d immediately move on to begging for even more obscure characters. You can even see people earnestly asking for random-ass SF1 characters like Joe and Geki to be put into the game. With those, you don’t even have an argument that you like their playstyles or were a fan of them in the original game; people just want to look cool by acting passionate about a character that others may not be familiar with.

As for Mega Man, there are Mega Man-type characters (yes, Zero is close enough) in MvC1, MvC2, MvC3, TvC, SvC, SFxT, and even fucking Onimusha Blade Warriors. And yet Mega Man fans act like they’re the most persecuted fanbase in history, when in actuality everyone’s just sick of hearing “WHEERREEE’S MEGA MANNNNNN IN THIS GAME ;______;”. Most fighting games have casts of 30+ characters; find one that you like and stop complaining that since R.Mika, Star Force Mega Man, or Joe from SF1 isn’t in the game you can’t possibly play it.

[JackTenrac]

What about SNK bosses or ominous organizations behind tournaments…?

• That is hella annoying. If that’s the case, then why don’t the feds shut them down on a legit tip BEFORE the tournament starts? they could do that. Geese should be tried in a federal court WAY before Fatal Fury started. J6? really? Vanessa should have busted them, too. And don’t even get me started on Street Fighter. :S

• getting stabbed, but not actually dying and other kill moves. Breaking someone neck several times and they DON’T die. I mean, what’s up with that? People would actually SURVIVE Ibuki’s move?

[Great_Dark_Hero]

snip

I guess I said too much.

Here’s another cliche: Game play and story segregation.

[Marmalade-Beat]

I guess I said too much.

Here’s another cliche: Game play and story segregation.

That’s not even something you can avoid with certain stories without making it outright silly.
SF = Akuma wrecks everyone’s shit, the majority of Shadowloo is fodder, and most of the non-Ryu fanclub gets beaten down.
KOF = Not a single team that doesn’t have SOME mythical link doesn’t even join. Like in DB if Goku never skipped a tournament.
GG/BB = Slayer, unleashed Potemkin, Gear-State Dizzy, and Sol/Ragna, Hazama, Relius, Mu, Valkenhyn, Platinum, and Rachel don’t need to try at all except against each other.

• getting stabbed, but not actually dying and other kill moves. Breaking someone neck several times and they DON’T die. I mean, what’s up with that? People would actually SURVIVE Ibuki’s move?

Being a fighting game in the first place almost always causes this suspension of disbelief.
The only time that doesn’t happen, since even Virtua Fighter does this, is when in-universe tiers address matchups like the RPG themes of Fate/Unlimited Codes.
Everyone has mana shield on, instant death skills/weapons have evasion checks, personalities (Hercules is insane as a berserker like his myth, Gilgamesh is cocky as hell, Medusa hates herself as a monster) affects some characters’ otherwise complete dominance, and et cetera.

[Great_Dark_Hero]

That’s not even something you can avoid with certain stories without making it outright silly.
SF = Akuma wrecks everyone’s shit, the majority of Shadowloo is fodder, and most of the non-Ryu fanclub gets beaten down.
KOF = Not a single team that doesn’t have SOME mythical link doesn’t even join. Like in DB if Goku never skipped a tournament.
GG/BB = Slayer, unleashed Potemkin, Gear-State Dizzy, and Sol/Ragna, Hazama, Relius, Mu, Valkenhyn, Platinum, and Rachel don’t need to try at all except against each other.

Huh… Great. That makes me wonder if there is any point to creating a fighting game while having these sort of characters. Then again, it would not make a difference, because it is game play and story segregation - we have come here for game play as the majority of fighting game stories turn out ridiculous anyway. In my opinion, the whole power leveling thing gets on my nerves. In fact, power leveling itself might be a cliche.

[JackTenrac]

Being a fighting game in the first place almost always causes this suspension of disbelief.
The only time that doesn’t happen, since even Virtua Fighter does this, is when in-universe tiers address matchups like the RPG themes of Fate/Unlimited Codes.
Everyone has mana shield on, instant death skills/weapons have evasion checks, personalities (Hercules is insane as a berserker like his myth, Gilgamesh is cocky as hell, Medusa hates herself as a monster) affects some characters’ otherwise complete dominance, and et cetera.

• true, but to a point where even bullets don’t even affect death in an SF(EX 2)? Or getting smashed in with a pipe doesn’t do more damage? there has to be a limit.

• a community that forgets to realize that there are less people giving a damn about competitive fighting which determine most of the selections of fan-based picks today.

[ilitirit]

So what would a fighting game with no cliches look like?

[Nephinel]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this or not, but:

sequel stagnation

releasing essentially the same game over and over again with only minor changes/updates, especially when it doesn’t advance the overall plotline (omg people care about plot in a fighting game? blasphemy!)

thankfully it’s not as bad now as it was in the 90’s with Street Fighter II, or the many revisions of Guilty Gear XX

[XtraKurrikula]

Jumping H, Crouching H

[XtraKurrikula]

So what would a fighting game with no cliches look like?

Like this! [media=youtube]oeJDN_aRgts[/media]

[Marmalade-Beat]

Like this!

Disembodied Announcer, with pointless call girl…that’s a cat.
Stocky Female Viking Opera Singer
Rubber Man, with two at that (The Blob and Taffy)
Killer Clown
XTREME AND KILLER SNOWMAN
Visual Onomatopoeia
Dizzy Halo/Circling Cuckoos
Jack o’ Lantern
Muscle man named something ironic
Elvis Impersonator - Even the late age Elvis at that.
And that’s off a few videos and vague memories.

[zeech]

Healthbars. Melee attacks. Fireballs. Jumping. Damage. KO. Announcers. Timeouts. Running. Walking. Blocking. Throwing. Super attacks. Characters. Clothing.

SO CLICHED.