246: Fighting Games: A Tapped-Out Genre?

[Robert Bevill]

Fighting Games: A Tapped-Out Genre?

Fighting games have experienced a slow but steady decline since their arcade heyday in the mid '90s ? today's fighters are both too repetitive and too unwelcoming to newcomers. But one 2009 title offers some novel solutions to these problems. Robert Bevill takes a closer look at BlazBlue and what it can teach fighting game designers at large.

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[Onyx Oblivion]

Yay for Blazblue praise.

If I do suck at it online.


This is how you tell backstory. With humor. I hate it when fighting games take themselves seriously.

 

[Woem]

Apart from BlazBlue there were two other fighting games released in 2009 that added to the genre: Fate / Unlimited Codes and Dissidia: Final Fantasy. The only "downside" is that both games are exclusively available on the PSP.

Fate offers special missions that let you ease into the different characters. Missions go from defeating an enemy in a limited amount of time, to performing a specific combo to playing a mini-game. It has a very varried roster, ranging from a creepy girl that comes straight out of The Ring [http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/11/theringtwo_big.jpg], a halberd-wielding nurse, a Jean-of-Arc-esque knight to a magic-hurling floating oracle and a Hulk-like beast.

Dissidia revolutionised the controls by using the analog stick for movement. It also features huge arenas which are highly interactive in that they can be flown through, jumped on and that they can be demolished. On top of that you can smash your opponents against the decor for extra damage. There are added RPG elements (this is a Final Fantasy title after all) so you can upgrade your characters, equip them and personalise their abilities.

So I would definitely add these two games to 2009's success fighting games, next to BlazBlue (which will also get a PSP port this year).

 

[Mykonos]

Oh Blazblue, how I love thee.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

This article just makes me anticipate BlazBlue's UK release all the more. Although personally I think the commercial and critical success of Street Fighter 4 does show that while the genre may be the same as it was years ago, that might not necessarily be a bad thing. Personally I'm not really a fan of 3D fighters, and street fighter's position as a constant, unchanging series is what kept me loving it all this time.

I like the mention of Jump Super Stars in the article, I imported the sequel, Jump Ultimate Stars some time ago and it was indeed a very fresh concept. It was also incredibly easy to understand even for a player who speaks literally NO japanese such as myself.

 

[Raithnor]

I think the biggest limitation of fighting games is the fact you're limited to a controller and an increasingly complex set of fighting moves.

I'm not saying the future of fighting games is going to be in the WiiMote, PSMove, or Natal exactly. However there aren't a lot of people who have the talent to pull of 30 hit combos or whatever a given fighting game allows you do.

What would be cool are thought Glove-like controllers that can track specific hand movements as opposed to the failing about of current motion-control games. This would allow for more control without having to mash in a 4+ button combo.

 

[mindlesspuppet]

I think fighting games are on the decline because they are most fun when played with a room full of your friends, some pizza, and beverages. Now-a-days we lean more towards online multiplayer, which allows the faults of fighting games to really shine: they are boring without people throwing popcorn at you or laughing in your face.

I don't really think the learning curve is an issue. Let's face it the wildly popular Soul Calibur series holds up just fine for button mashers.

 

[SharPhoe]

Oooh, ooh, oooh, I just picked this game up not even a week ago! (Oddly enough, I was originally looking for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.) Quite honestly, I feel that the makers of the Guilty Gear series have yet to steer me wrong.

....Also, since no one else has said it yet, I guess I will.

BAAAANG BANG BANG BAAAAAAANG!!! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGW8L61KzAU&fmt=18]

 

[Tharticus]

Fighting games has been on the market for more than two decades, mostly from the arcades. Even with crossovers such as Capcom vs. Marvel tends to sell more.

Now, it's shrinking in size that people probably don't find fighting games fun anymore. Or maybe that online playing has shot the arcades.

I've seen people at the arcades competing who is the best fighter who mastered every fighting move and at times beaten a person who mashes buttons randomly.

I think Scott from VG cats best says about fighting games [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=130].

 

[The Great JT]

Sadly, I think fighting games have come as far as they're going to.

 

[Bors Mistral]

"And with most competitive fighting games relying on online connectivity rather than two players in the same room, why not design a first-person fighter?"

Zeno Clash

 

[Trelow]

"the women have unreasonably large cleavage"

Not possible.

 

[cidbahamut]

But perhaps it's time for designers to get even wilder with their ideas. How about a Pokémon-style fighting game of building a team of monsters that you can individually level up?

Pretty sure they already did something similar to this in one of the single-player modes for Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Or perhaps a rhythm-based fighting game with a non-standard input device? Guitar controller or not, fighting along to the music would be an interesting experience at the very least.

Go plug your guitar hero controllers into SF3:Third Strike and face off against a friend and let me know how that works out for you. Fighting games hinge on precision, which you're not going to get from a new gimmicky controller.

And with most competitive fighting games relying on online connectivity rather than two players in the same room, why not design a first-person fighter?

Ah ha ha ha ha ha!
Man that was great. Competitive fighting...online. Man you crack me up.

Fighting games may have strong arcade roots, but developers need to start embracing today's technology and re-examine what makes fighting games fun to play in the first place.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[tdnewton]

For me, fighting games are tough to get into because the require an incredible amount of time investment to be proficient at. Even ones that are supposed to be "pick up and play" easy need a little devotion, and I just don't have the time. Add to that that I mostly play solo, and it just compounds the problem.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

I think the real problem isn't that fighting games are overly complicated, rather it's that people aren't willing to spend the time to learn the game. If Call of Duty suddenly told a player to roll their analogue stick from down to right do you think people wouldn't be able to do it?
Even with the inputs not really being very hard most new games have still made them easier. Taking Street Fighter 4 as an example you don't even need to actually do the motions that is put down in the move-lists. Explained here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tA1rz7FxTg]
Fighting games aren't hard, compare the button presses in most bread and butter combos for any character in any fighting game to say a song on Guitar Hero in hard made; I know which looks easier.

The problem isn't hard controls or the long move-lists (Most characters only have 2-5 special moves, and the motions are usually universal), the problem lies with the players. They don't want to spend a few hours in training mode before jumping into the action, because of that they lose to the people that spent them few hours learning the game. Because they lost they will either hate the game and never buy another fighting game, or they will realise they should learn the game before trying to play with the people that really know what they're doing. Unfortunately most gamers tend to do the former.

 

[domicius]

My problem so far has been the fact that as a beginner, I keep getting thrown into the deep end as soon as I go online. Honestly, SoulCaliber had a sucky online system to start off with. And then once I could get into a game I was destroyed in 2 seconds flat.

The one fight I had with a similarly clueless player was a lot of fun, but ultimately the ship has sailed on fighting games. They belong in the genre corner over there, waiting for the bell.

 

[Crunchy English]

I disagree strongly. Not about the lifespan of fighting games, Robert has that right. But I don't think fighting games need story. Ok, now anyone whose been paying attention to my old posts (and if you have been, I'm flattered but you should really get a hobby. I'm dull as dishwater) knows I'm a story-driven guy. But since fighters are really multiplayer focused, the stories already in the game are quickly discarded anyway. The real story is how Evil Friend A has been spamming fireballs at Noble and Pure Friend B for 20 minutes and how B refuses to sink to his level. B will triumph through courage and perseverance and never surrender who and what he is. Real life is just better at telling stories.

Secondly, rhythm mechanics? Really? Gross dude. If that's the best innovation of mechanics fighting game can come up with, then don't change a thing. You want to bring in new players? Launch a New IP and hook them with the premise, not the story. Super Smash Bros. did this really well. "Hey man, what if Mario fought Link? Who wins?". Don't have an incredibly rich field of pre-existing characters? This doesn't have to be hard: "Hey man, what if 3 different groups : Robots / Pirates / Zombies / Old 70's Cartoon Characters / Over-Sexually Exploited Female Characters / etc. (pick 3) all put a few of their best champions in a pit and the prize was a new game in their genre?

Who wouldn't want to see a a giant mutant dead guy (something Tyrant-ish maybe) fight a pistol-wielding pirate to the death so that Zombocalypse 3 can get made instead of BootyShip 7?

 

[BLOONINJA 503]

Robert Bevill took my favorite new comer and my main in SSF4 and shoop'd him like that...let's just say he's not on my list of super awesome fun people. :/

I don't think there is a problem at all. Fighting games have always been a niche genre.

And skimming through this article, it seems to me Robert would like to see things happen to a genre that a lot of people that are really into it would be put off by.

 

[Hayate_GT]

innovation needed...fighting games must not die...