I’ve recently gotten into fighting games, starting with MKX, then SFIV, and other recent fighters.
I’ve tried dipping my toes into older titles like Darkstalkers 3, KOF 99, etc, and honestly they’re just not as fun to play when compared to the newer titles.
What is it exactly that I should be looking at to really appreciate those older games? Aside from nice art (I really love the designs of Darkstalkers), I don’t know what it is I should be taking into consideration that would keep me interested in an older title.
On top of my head:
- faster walkspeed;
- less floaty jumps;
- higher damage on individual hits means you pay big for every mistake you do and every single hit matters;
- relatively shorter combos mean less time spent on grinding combos and more back-and-forth with your opponent (there are still long combos, but they’re not as long as in newer games);
- normals being stronger, i.e. more range, more frame advantage, block advantage is more or less equal to hit advantage, they at least do what they’re supposed to do and won’t whiff at point-blank;
- throws being faster and having more range;
- faster projectiles with bigger hitboxes make for a stronger zoning;
- stricter inputs means you get more control over what you do i.e. you’d rarely get a super if you just mash buttons;
- everything has been figured out so you can learn faster (I said learn, not master);
- no patch means everything you learn for a game will never be obsolete;
- competition is usually tougher, because people have been playing them for a long time;
- most older games can be played online for free with rollback netcode on Fightcade, which requires zero installation setup.
Overall, they make older games more visceral. But players coming from newer games would say that’s what makes them “broken” though.
But do yourself a favor and play KOF’98 over '99, it’s the better game.
Pacing.
For me, everything is about pacing.
I usually like fighting games that didn’t try to simplify things that weren’t a problem to begin with, don’t have supers, and for 2d preference, it’s a requirement for sprites. To make this short, supers were flashy when it first was introduced, but it take’s away the fun out of old fashioned winning. It’s just a shortcut for damage, which caters more to someone that’s losing. It’s a bit rubbish and played out mechanic.
The supers in newer games do significantly less damage than normal 3-4 hit combos ni Super Turbo…
Matches last forever now, and that’s exactly what I hate about newer games. I like it so that you if you mess up, you’re losing half your life.
who cares? if you dont like em you dont like em
See I’m the opposite, I love old fighting games and I dislike newer fighting games. Older fighting games just made more sense to me.
Give it time bro, we all have a starting point. Mine was sf2, but Tekken and Kof have always been my franchises. My 2 fave fighters of all time are Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and 3rd Strike. 2 games that walk all over Sf4 and 5.
what make me appreciate a old fighting game
it doesnt have 20,000+ updates and doesnt listens to people who whine about shit being oped
the game was the fucking game and you had to deal with it
good combos didnt have to burn ex
they were tight links but you could do good damage and setups without having EX
depends on game. sf2 dope.
tekken 1-3 lacked but 4-6 had such deep movelist.
alpha 3.
Xrd over GGXX imo sep for no ZAPPA/RAOH mhm.
Heritage of the future over everything else.
mvc2 over 3, but if 3 had more mvc2 chars I’d place it above 2. That and an ost changer.
Killer instinct 3 over the first 2.
mkx and 9 over everything mk.
list goes on doa 4 and 5 over the first 3 etc
As someone who’s only been into fighting games since 2013, I love old fighting games. I may have started with new games and play mostly new games, but I respect the classics. I like seeing how they each uniquely played since they’re so different than newer ones. It’s just harder to find people to play them sometimes, especially on your own skill level when your friends have little to no interest in them and the people who’ve been playing them are all way better than you.
Not all of them are to everyone’s taste and some are even just bad, but even the bad ones can be a lot of fun. Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve had more desire to play Street Fighter Alpha 2 than Street Fighter V in the past month or so. And on the occasion I’ve played SFA2, I had a lot more fun than any I’ve had so far in SFV, even though I never win in SFA2 yet can do ok at SFV.
Plus I just like how there’s no babying in old games. No input leniency or anything like that. You actually have to do the moves right if you want them to come out.
THIS
Neutral Game is actually a thing in okder fgs