One of the very first fighting games I ever remember playing is Primal Rage. Since then, whenever I play a fighting game, I play it hard. Everything from Virtua Fighter to Guilty Gear. But, it wasn’t until this passed summer that I’ve started to [try to] get into fighting games technically (for example, I’ve played SSBM for hundreds of hours since the day it came out—but around June, trying to get into it technically introduced me to… a completely new game).
I’m wondering, mainly: How does one classify different fighting games?
The games I’ve played most lately are SSBM, Skullgirls, and Under Night In-Birth. I bought Injustice, but have yet to play it. When I watch Street Fighter matches, they seem… boring. The second thing I’m wondering about is: Street Fighter seems like one of the staples of the fighting game community—having not actually played it, I doubt my opinion just watching matches is accurate. What is it that SF fans like about it? What sets it apart from other fighting games?
The base understanding of Melee, even to the “advanced” level of basic game-play is nothing compared to the technical discoveries that have come to be over the years. You have come to realize that as good or bad as a game may seem at face value, a game might still hold a potential beyond our initial level of understanding. Personally, I always thought Melee was an excellent game, but watching the pros play just puts a huge smile on my face. To see how far the community has come, what walls have been broken down, and the overwhelming dedication from those who wish to be great… I’ll just say Melee is one of those games that will go down in history as one of the greatest fighting games of all time.
This would depend on whom you’re asking. Of course, everyone has their own opinion, but many gaming communities have a general perception of their game in relation to others. For example, you are able to recognize that some games may be classified as one type of fighting game while others may be classified as another type of fighting game. Due to the embarrassingly high volume of elitism dwelling within each gaming community (even regarding COD vs Halo), some people don’t even recognize what you might consider to be a fighting game… as a fighting game. AND, if it is considered to be a fighting game, then it simply isn’t “on par” with the game they have taken to heart. This response may provoke a debate or two, but I don’t need to explain further. Just Google a topic relating to [this game] vs [that game]. You’ll see what I mean.
The street fighter games have been somewhat recognized as the epitome of the traditional fighter. No matter where technology takes us in terms of new fight game constructs, SF will always have a place in the history books as a benchmark for traditional fighters and to some… all other fighters as well. The real issue with this is that many die-hard traditional fighters have a hard time recognize and embracing the wonderful change that comes with fight-game evolution. For example: Melee is not a traditional fighter. The construct is in no way similar to that of Street Fighter. A die-hard traditional fighter may have a hard time recognizing the depth and technical skill involved in pro game-play. BUT, I’m glad you are able to see what they cannot (or WILL not).
Street figter is defensive and some other games are offensive (Kof). Fans of either kind of game will bash the other saying dissmisive or derogative comments about why the game sucks (Such as you saying stret fighter is boring) but it’s just that the strategy is different, in street fighter, mistakes are costly even when subtle because the pace allows you to punish everything, even whiffed pokes, so people stick to fundamentals; in faster paced games there’s a little more room for subtle mistakes and pokes are almost unpunishable, the thing that will get you to victory is your ability to rushdown and how strong is your wake up game.
-Street Fighter is more or less its own type, with an emphasis on footsies few other 2d fighters know of, though KOF is grounded enough to be close to it when compared to other categories
-The Airdash/Anime fighter genre includes the Arc Systems games, UNIB, the Darkstalkers series (albeit primitively), and arguably games like Smash where you have quadruple jumps and shit (most consider smash and its ilk as “Party Fighters”, defined by 2+ players and stage interactions). The key to this genre is air mobility, combos, and offensive pressure; on these terms, Marvel and Skullgirls are very much a part of this since those games are heavy on air mobility
-“3d Fighters” includes Tekken, Virtua Fighter, DOA, and so on. Generally, 3d Fighters have sidesteps and possibly 8-way movement, but exceptions exist, especially from the 90’s (Soul Calibur 1)
-“Netherrealm fighters” are a type of in-between for the Street Fighter games and airdashers. Combos are much longer than in Street Fighter, but air mobility isn’t quite as fluid as in an airdasher. MK is closer to the SF series, while Injustice has much more in the way of airdasher mechanics.
Probably some games that wouldn’t fit here, but I have yet to think of them.
I posit that there are three categories of fighting games.
2D Fighters (Your Street Fighters/King of Fighters/Guilty Gears/etc…)
3D Fighters (Your Tekens/Virtua Fighters/Dear of Alives/etc…)
and
Platform Fighters (Your Smash Bros/Power Stones/J-Stars Victory/etc…)
Each of these have some variation within them. Mostly the differences between ‘J Fighters’ and more grounded games. And Platform Fighters can be broken down further with 2D (Smash Bros) and 3D (Power Stone) variations.
But for the most part, that’s how I break it down.
@Just5moreminutes How is Darkstalkers in the category of air dasher/anime fighter? I mean sure it has anime aesthetics more so than its sister series Street Fighter but it doesn’t really play like ArcSys fighters like Blazblue or Persona or Marvel vs Capcom 3.
I thought that was Guilty Gear. I mean yeah a few characters could air dash a bit in Darkstalkers, but Guilty Gear was the first game to actually make it and general air mobility a core part of the game was it not?
Well the air dash is the core or fighting styles of the 4 Airdashers (5 if you count Morrigan’s rockets) in the game. Also the rest of cast has tools to combat them (some better than others). The marvel series is similar, sense a lot of its characters can’t air dash but air movement is still central to the game
Guilty Gear is just one of the 1st games with universal air dashes. From what I’ve seen, Capcom doesn’t like to have a lot of universal movement options in their fighting games.
Well of course Morrigan counts as a Air Dasher. OK I see your point. Darkstalkers started air dashing with it being a character specific mechanic, and Guilty Gear took it further by making it the core part of the game as a universal mechanic. And yeah Capcom fighters tends to have more character specific movement mechanics than universal ones, which makes characters diverse IMO.
I never even tried to answer the OPs question, how rude of me lol. Classifing fighting games is quite the feat because most of them are so unique. Also I haven’t played enough fighters to make such a call but I’ll try.
“traditional fighters” Like the SF series, or Fatal Fury and earlier SNK fighters. Fighters more grounded with a focus on footsies and other fundamentals.
Party Brawlers. Fighters involving 4 or more players at once with unconventional ways of winning. Smash Bros series, PS All stars, Power Stone.
Arena fighters. 3D fighters that allow for lots of mobility in a large stage. Dragon Ball Z Budokai series, Naruto Ninja storm series. One Piece Grand Adventure
Air dasher/anime. Fighters with a focus on aerial mobility and combat and tend to be combo heavy with chain combos. (Also people tend to only count fighters with anime aesthetics in this category regardless of gameplay) Blazblue, GuiltyGear, UMVC3,
continued 3D fighters. Fighters that move on a 3D plane with side stepping etc. Soul Cal, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Bloody Roar. Dead or Alive.
And last but not least Other. Games that are just hard to define or just blur the lines between two or more categories. Mortal Kombat, Darkstalkers 3/Vampire Savior, Killer Instinct.