Get to know a Fighting Gamer better

Regional Matchmaking Northwest
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I was reading the NW Majors thread and it inspired me to create this thread.

There seems to be some confusion going on about which fighting game requires alot of technical skill or which one has the most depth. My answer to this?

All games have their own limitations in depth. It’s up to the player to make use of these limitations it might have.

Attacking:

A good game should give a player a minimum of 3 options to attack (High/Mid/Low/Throw). Without one of these elements, you get a game such as Killer Instinct (no throws). KI is a good game, but it seems like it was made by someone who hated throws.

Game with a good balance of attacks(IMO) - SF3:3s - Mid attacks, overheads, lows. 3S just might be the most complete (standard) 2d fighter.

Blocking/Guard Breaking:

A good game should have different ways to evade/block attacks as well. The less blocking options, the more turtle-friendly the game is. Killer Instinct doesn’t have throws, so you have to block low most of the time and watch out for the eventual overhead when close.

Game with a good blocking system? (IMO) - Street Fighter Alpha 3 - Guard breaks ftw!

Parrying/Sabaki/Focus Attack/Guard Impact:

Some games have a different type of block which makes it unique. SF3 series used parrying, which seemed to turn off many players from the series altogether (until 3s). Sabaki is a type of parry that dishes an attack while absorbing another (VF series). Focus attacks from SF4 is a universal type of Sabaki. Guard Impact is a type of parry that creates a 50/50 (or higher?) guessing game used in the Soul Calibur series.

Game with a good parrying system? (IMO) Cvs2 - has Parrying and Just Defend.

Throwing/Throw escaping:

A good game needs a minimum of 2 types of throws (standard but escapable, and inescapable throws) . Whiffed throws should always have some whiffed animation as well. Can’t tell you how annoying it is to have a character like Cammy in Cvs2 doing close HP repeatedly while walking towards you. Very few games allow for options to attack after an escaped throw(this needs to change, IMO). This is one of the things I enjoy about VF5.

Game with a good throwing system? (IMO) - Virtua Fighter 5. VF5 has a throwing system usually reserved for grappling titles. 2D fighters can improve if it adopts anything similar to what VF uses.

Note: Everything written above is based on my experience with various fighters.

Don’t hate on something because you don’t play it (or if you suck at it). I just say “Cool game, just isn’t for me”.

To be continued…

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reserved

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i like turtles

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I’d be interested in your opinion on mobility in fighting games, and your personal preference. 3D vs 2D, strict traditional Street Fighter 2 movements compared to something less conventional, like BlazBlue? It seems like newer games give us more and more freedom of movement, but we lose something of the finality of the decision of where to be at any given time. I’d guess it’s simply a different kind of metagame, but what do I know.

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Regardless of how a character has to get around on screen, you still have to deal with very similar setups based on what tools a character has.

BlazBlue uses a slower version of what I’ll call the “vs” style engine such as MvC2, except in a more horizontal plane rather than vertical (high ceiling).

2d fighters in general has almost maxed out how you can approach the opponent with whatever attack (high/low/throw/crossup).

I wouldn’t say Street Fighter 2 had strict movements, but rather limited movement options. It’s not a good idea to compare BlazBlue to an 18 year old game.

If you look Storm/Magneto/Sentinel in Mvc2, what do they have in common? Mobility. If all characters in Mvc2 could move around like the 3 mentioned, it’d be a very different game.

When all characters have similar mobility options, the main difference becomes their own set of moves.

Mortal Kombat adopted this style where all characters had mostly the same moves and even jumped similar distances/arcs with differences made in attack angles and special moves (eg. Liu Kang has a “flat” jump kick while Sub Zero’s is more angled).

2d vs 3d

To me, 2d and 3d games are mostly the same to me . 3d titles such as VF/Tekken/Soul Calibur are 2d games with less jumping and lack of crossups. Due to the lack of crossups/jumping, there is more active blocking (mids/lows) required in 3d titles vs the average 2d fighter (SF4).

The only titles that seem truly 3d is Virtual On, Gundam, Armored Core etc etc. Sure, these are projectile based fighters, but freedom of movement in these games is enormous.