What Fighting Games do you guys think play better when the amount of rounds for the match is changed to a specific amount?
I think we’ve rarely ever examined this kind of thing as a community, probably because of our arcade roots (where game options are usually just left on their default settings).
This is very intimately tied to what (if anything) a game carries over between rounds. Also keep in mind that longer formats generally mean that it’s harder to win bad matchups.
I’ve never experimented with anything other than default, but off the top of my head I think a game like Vampire Savior (which keeps lifebar, super, and stage position) might be a lot of fun as first-to-3 rounds (best 3 out of 5). I mean, games in that are already so short as it is.
I’m sure you all remember the final event of the Gamestop Nationals for vanilla SF4 in 2009 (USA top 16 plus the international exhibition), where each game was ft4 rounds (best 4/7). (Each match was one game only; the top 16 was single-elim and the exhibition was a round robin.) I’ve never been much of a SF4 player so any of that game’s subtleties go right over my head, but I’ve always wondered: did any of you notice the finalists managing their meter in a significantly different manner than usual?
Does anyone else remember what HDR did with its online ranked games (where the settings are fixed)? If I recall correctly: 360’s ranked games have always been always ft3 rounds (best 3/5), whereas PS3’s ranked games started off as ft2 rounds (best 2/3) when the game was released but then were later changed in a patch to be ft3 (best 3/5) as well. I don’t remember what the default setting (modifiable anyway) was for unranked matches online, but the default setting for offline matches was definitely the SF2 standard ft2 rounds (best 2/3).
Spoiler
The SF2 series transfers nothing between rounds, but we do know that for the normal (ft2 rounds) setting, the game always gives the disadvantaged player a secret microscopic damage boost in the 2nd round; I have no clue how this is handled on other settings.
I didn’t really follow DOA4 while it went through its e-sports phase, but I think that the various events/leagues/organizations were seemingly all using different formats. Some of them were extra weird, like ft5 games (best 5/9) of only one round each. I do remember reading an interview where Perfect Legend complained about one of the formats in particular–I think one game only, ft5 rounds (best 5/9)–because of the way that the game deals with stage transitions across rounds. I wish I could find the link now.
This makes me curious about Injustice.
I remember reading an HnK player saying that he thought HnK would be even more exciting if landing a Fatal KO immediately won you the whole game. Hahaha. Awesome.
I’ve seen Tekken 6 run as ft7 (BO9) and it was boring as shit.
2D: FT2
3D: FT3
I think that’s just about universal.
TimeZone arcade here runs AE (2011!!!) as FT3.
The Philippines are all weird though… Damage 1 MvC2? No thanks.
And who needs AE2k11 when there’s Vanilla SF4? DAT SAGAT SON
UMVC3 uses 3/5 now, which makes total sense, considering the severity of how one hit can easily lead to dead characters .
Nothing wrong with the current formats. Single elim tournaments are just dumb and lead to randomized top8-16 results that’s largely dependent on ease of brackets and favorable matchups. 2/3 has that delicious and juicy mix of being able to run in an efficient manner, while usually allowing the superior player to win the match, or at least take it down to the wire. 3/5 finals matches are used for consistency to help net more accurate results for top5 placers, plus gives spectators more chances to view high-level players do their thing in longer sets.
I always toy with the round settings in my fighting games, on games like GG/BB/HnK/P4A, etc having first 3 of 5 works wonderfully, every time that we played in a setting of first 2 of 3 everyone felt that something was missing.
This is specially true for GG and HnK for me, specially HnK 
, otherwise it always seems to be the person who wins the 1st round usually wins the 2nd via combo to fatal K.O. .
Now games like SF (Any SF) and BF are usually better (for us) on a setting of 1st 2 of 3.
3d games are usually ran on a 1st 3 of 5.
We talking about different things, mang…
Marvel doesn’t really have rounds… Unless you count each character dying as a round.
I didn’t think the OP was talking about rounds in a tournament elimination style, but the rounds you change via options in the game.
Actually I would also include that as well. For games like UMvC3, the whole match is 1 round and often ends quickly (and can’t change the settings in this regard). So in tournaments, having UMvC3 a best 3 out of 5 is better.
Any fighter that has heavy usage of a energy meter(s) I think works better as best 3 out of 5, like GG and BB. Games that don’t vary.
I can’t really think of a game that was fundamentally better, on more rounds. But, I guess it depends on who you play with, alotta folks seem to not like more than 1st to 2, but I almost ALWAYS play on max rounds and to be honest, some of the most ridiculous shit would happen with the homies on max. We would do shit that would have niggas breakin controllers and throwin tantrums, just cuz of all the meter.
Now, Vsav, GG:MC, The Sam Shos, and GG:AC were games we left the rounds alone and just played. Everything else was 1st to 5/7. We just had so much fun, back in those days, that goin back to the character select screen was a hype killer.
We’re talking about rounds in game and not sets.
Best of 3
FT2
Grand finals or even semi should be FT3
FT7 for grand finals at SEAM2013 was dumb. No way was Xian gonna be able to reset the bracket out of losers.
Best 7 out of 9 rounds? Holy cow. What games were using FT7 at SEAM2013?
7/13, not 9.
SF4 was using it at the least…
Marvel 3 having a 3/5 set makes a lot of sense.
Unlike Marvel 2, where the matches generally take longer. Wasn’t it at the first Evo that MvC3 was, the finals for it happened so quickly, people were like… “uhh, what now?” Could be a different tournament, IDK, but I do recall that happening. We had a local around here where the entire Marvel 3 tournament took less time than the SFxT Top 8. 17 entries for SFxT, 26 for Marvel… Yeah, that much longer… smh
GG would take too long for a 3/5. I’ve watched matches that are set to 3/5, and they seem to just take way too long.
I think the entire match should average to 2-3 minutes. If it’s averaging less than that, increase it. 3D games do too much damage, and if you had a FT2 in Tekken Tag for example, each match would take about 1:30 or so. ST matches can go super quick too, depending, but not always. Typically they approach 2 minutes. Very rarely do I see someone get 2 TODs in a row, but it does happen. Those 50 second matches… lol
Ah, sorry about that. Read it wrong. Still 7 out of 13, that is really long. For SF4 and updates, 7/13 is too long.
AE grand finals only. While I don’t want to take away from Gamerbee’s win (set ended at 7-4). Xian would be hard pressed to win 14 games (coming from losers).
14 wins from losers…
That’s fucking bananas.
I don’t like extending grand finals to more games. If I only had to lose two games to go to losers I should only have to win two to reset the bracket.
On topic 3s 3/5 is cool. A lot of kuroda matches are set that way.