Fighting Games

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

I didn't see a thread for these, and being a wannabe tourneyfag, I felt compelled to do one.

So far this year, I only tried Marvel v Capcom 3 and Mortal Kombat 9. I was anticipating both, but MvC3 was a real disappointment to me after a few hours. It tried to be both MvC2 and Tatsunoko vs Capcom, but fails to reach the appeal of either of them. It's not fast or crazy enough to be MvC2 and its not simple-but-engaging enough like TvC. I did love Mike Haggar though, hope he keeps showing up in crossovers.

As for Mortal Kombat 9, its easily the best MK game to date. I'm in the minority that didn't think 2 was all that great, but 9 really did a good job cutting the fat and dead weight from the series up to this point and delivering a real story mode that others failed to capitalize on. I really want to buy it though, since Johnny Cage is back to being awesome and Kenshi looks sweet.

I have no desire to download Arcade Edition, if only because it sounds like a huge step backwards from Super IV.

Skullgirls and Arcana Hearts 3 have been on my radar for a while, but as my PS3 only has about 18 GB of memory left, I don't think I'll be getting them anytime soon.

King of Fighters XIII is going to be awesome as shit and I hope all of you give your money to Atlus. I've been watching gameplay videos on Youtube and the game is so ridiculously fast and beautiful it totally makes up for that pile of cow shit called KoFXII. Not to mention BILLY KANE is back again.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm a total scrub who just plays to try to make combos and fights look cool. So it goes to show that I like the more accessible stuff like Mortal Kombat, Garou, and most of Capcom's output.

As for this gen, well MK9 was, and is, brilliant. I even went out of my way to buy the season pass for $15 to get the 4 DLC characters because the game is just so damn fun to play. I don't think a fighting game has kept my interest this long in a while.

Street Fighter 4 left me unimpressed. It was basically just Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo with a few enhancements. Being that I like Alpha 2 and 3 and Third Strike more than 2, it didn't really affect me much in the long run as I don't really have much nostalgia for it. Guy is the man, though.

I really enjoy the Vs. series for how insane the whole thing is, but everyone in the world knows I think MvC3 is just a fucking soulless cashgrab beta that Capcom dumped off and threw a bunch of unlock keys at their fans while ignoring them after release. In contrast, I thought Tatsunoko was great in how it simplified the system and had a well balanced cast of regulars and fan favorites. It made Marvel 3 sting harder, IMO.

SNK... Well, I only played Coliseum and Garou for the first time this gen and they were awesome. I honestly don't think there is a fighter with a better flow than Garou. I also got 2002 Ultimate Match, but it came at a bad time and I didn't really dig into it much.

I also played BlazBlue and it left me cold. Not very fun to ply, and almost every character just looks and acts lame. I respect the company a lot for their dedication to the genre, but man if I just can't dig their games. Hard Corps Uprising was a pleasant surprise, though.

Also, Capcom is missing out big time by not trying to turn Rival Schools into a big franchise. It would go over huge both in Japan and probably carve out a good audience here.

[Rynnec]

I've been playing Blazblue and Arcana Heart 3 lately (mostly the latter). Popped in Soulcalibur IV a few weeks ago mostly to create a few custom characters, but then I was reminded why I don't play that game much. Everything just feels so lacking, plus I find myself to be much more comfortable with 2D fighters rather than 3D ones.

I also played BlazBlue and it left me cold. Not very fun to ply, and almost every character just looks and acts lame. I respect the company a lot for their dedication to the genre, but man if I just can't dig their games. Hard Corps Uprising was a pleasant surprise, though.

I personally find Blazblue (and Guilty Gear-style games in general) to be much more easier to get into than Street fighter style fighters. Which reminds me that I need to play SSFIV sometime, the only reason I haven't yet is because I'm not sure to get the 3DS version when I eventually get a 3DS, or just get the console version.

I also need to pick up a Guilty Gear game sometime as well, probably Accent Core plus since that seems to be the easiest one to find. Unfortunately none of the game store's in my town seem to carry any. :/

I finally found a copy of Rival Schools at my local gameshop though, but it went at $60! I guess I shouldn't be too suprised though, but I don't wanna shell out that much money for it, so unless Capcom resolves whatever copyright issues are preventing them from releasing it on PSN, then I'm SOL.

[Eddy]

I suck at fighting games but I play them anyway.

I really like Super Street Fighter IV. Juri is awesome. Mortal Kombat is also awesome. I need to play that more.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was a major let-down and clearly could have used some more development time. No spectator mode? Really Capcom? Thank god I got the game for $10 through some crazy Amazon magic.

I'm probably going to get 3rd Strike when it hits XBLA.

Then of course there's Smash Bros., if we count that as a fighting game.

[Foggle]

I like Tekken a lot, but that's almost entirely due to nostalgia. I'm not good at it by any means, but I enjoy playing it with my friends.

I think Guilty Gear and King of Fighters are great games, but I've barely played either.

I can't get into Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, any of the Vs. Capcom games, Soul Calibur, or Dead or Alive. Don't like 'em at all.

Skullgirls looks cool, if only because of the amount of dedication and love put into it by the development team.

Mugen and Deadliest Warrior are fucking garbage.

Never played Arcana Heart, BlazBlu, Melty Blood, etc.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Anyone here try Bushido Blade? That's one intense fighter, and there are no health bars, one wrong move or missed block/parry and you're dead. I've spent hours messing around with those games with my friends.

Oh yeah, I also hope Atlus does a better job with KoF than Ignition did. $69 for a broken and unfinished game with almost no content? What the hell?

[Foggle]

I've heard good things about Bushido Blade, but I've only played it a few times at a game store on one of their testing TVs. Can't really comment on it.

Wait, the newest KoF was seriously more than average console game price at launch? That's fucked up.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The only thing I liked about MK9 was the story, which was admittedly really well done. I thought the gameplay sucked, though (to be honest I've always thought that Mortal Kombat games sucked....IDK, they just play way too slow and despite having a lot of content none of it actually interested me very much). Sorry, but I just can't get into its combat system at all. Its really dull, IMO. Yes, even the cash-grab MvC3 shit entertained me more (though that game was also admittedly pretty half-assed).

I'm honestly not a big fighting game buff but if I had to pick a favorite it would probably by Soul Calibur II. I'm sure other fighting game experts could pick apart the game for not being technical enough or balanced enough, but I get enjoyment out of it in terms of its wealth of single-player content and I have fun playing against friends in the game.

As for Tekken, I honestly find it to be a weaker version of Soul Calibur (I know that Tekken came first, but that's just the best way for me to describe it). From what I've played, SC basically plays like Tekken except with weapons (perhaps they are different on a deeper level that I'm not aware of, but their gameplay formula honestly feels almost exactly the same to me). I still prefer SC for its unlockables and just because I like fighting with weapons more, I suppose.

I should mention that, while I would praise Team Ninja endlessly for their work on the 3D Ninja Gaiden games (excluding Sigma 2), I never cared for the Dead Or Alive game series. The controls of those games just never made the slightest bit of sense to me. They seem overly complex and convoluted and unlike Ninja Gaiden the DOA games seem to lack responsive controls. I also hate how the AI in DOA4 is overly-cheap with how you can be countered at any random moment. Its more frustrating than challenging.

Yeah, so that's my take on all of the really popular fighting game franchises that I have played (I've never played too much Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter, so I can't comment on either of those series). Sorry if it seems like I'm overly harsh or negative, but I'm just giving my own opinion. I have never been good enough at these types of games so I'm sure some of those other series are more fun for people who can master their mechanics on a deeper level, but as for me there are only a few games in the genre that I have really been able to get into.

I do want to try more stuff like King of Fighters and BlazBlue, though. I've never played those games and they look interesting enough, so I may give them a shot at some point in time.

[Spark Of Spirit]

As a shonen fan, you might get a kick out of Rival Schools or its sequel Project Justice. Too bad Capcom can't seem to re-release them, they cost a bit more than they really should.

Also, Garou: Mark Of The Wolves is on XBLA, give the fighting system a try, it's just sublime.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As a shonen fan, you might get a kick out of Rival Schools or its sequel Project Justice. Too bad Capcom can't seem to re-release them, they cost a bit more than they really should.

Yeah, I've always wanted to try Rival Schools. It seems like the type of fighting game that would be right up my alley.

I would also love if I could play Power Stone 2 again (I liked it better than the 1st game, which was alright on its own, but the sequel was far superior, IMO). That's probably my favorite fighting game/brawler from Capcom. I know its far from a serious competitive fighter, but I couldn't care less. Its just so much damn fun to play that I could play it for hours on end without ever getting bored.

Also, Garou: Mark Of The Wolves is on XBLA, give the fighting system a try, it's just sublime.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll see if I can try a demo of the game sometime tomorrow.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Thanks for reminding me about Power Stone 2. I have the collection for the PSP and the Dreamcast version of 2. I should get back to it, that game was amazing.

Talk about an underutilized franchise.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, its also a nice reminder of a time that Capcom went out of their way to put actual content in their games. I mean, I loved all of the extra stuff, especially being able to synthesize new items to appear in the middle of battles. That was awesome and was addicting enough for my brother and I to waste hours on alone.

Unfortunately now Capcom prefers to just release their fighting games with a regular arcade mode and an online mode and call it a full release. I really do miss the times when developers really packed their games to the brim with content for those who weren't too keen on spending most of their time playing games online.

I'll give MK credit for that much. Even though I personally don't have fun with its combat system at all, I do at least respect and appreciate it for packing in actual offline content in the game for fans to enjoy.

As far as fighting games go, I really wish that Soul Calibur IV had more content as well. The game wasn't bad by any means and to be fair I did get some genuine fun out of it, but online only entertained me for so long before I got bored of playing the game. I'd honestly prefer a new Weapons Master type mode than that Tower of Lost Souls shit that we got.

[gunswordfist]

To those who actually like Mortal Kombat 2, how great is the new game?

[gunswordfist]

I'll download the Garou demo.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

If you liked MK's combat, than the new game will probably be great for you. It has a really good story and a lot of single-player content so even if you're not into the whole multiplayer scene you'll get your money's worth out of all of the modes and unlockable in the game. This would be a great game for me if I didn't find the combat to be extremely dull and boring. if the combat isn't any fun, then the rest of the game (despite best efforts and tons of content) just bores me as well. That's only my opinion, though. As long as you like MK's combat system then you should love MK9.