Poll: Best fighting game franchise?

[Space Spoons]

Gotta give it to Street Fighter. It's not the flashiest franchise out there, but it might be the most balanced. In most other fighting games, it doesn't take long for the community to discover the one fighter that towers above all others, thus reducing all fights to mirror matches. In Street Fighter, there's usually a handful of characters that perform better than others, but the rest aren't so outclassed that they can't be played competitively as well.

Basically, I'd rather fight Yun and feel like I have a chance than fight Meta-Knight and know that I don't.

 

[kaioshade]

Street Fighter by a mile. The timing and strategies that are viable in the game are absolutely staggering. As soon as everyone thinks the game has hit a status quo, it is shaken up quite viciously.

And sorry guys, but Smash is a party game, Smash is NOT a fighting game. I never quite understood how that gave developed a "scene"

 

[Jake0fTrades]

I wasn't aware there were any good fighting game franchises.

 

[cubikill]

Street Fighter is the best, but i like BlazBlue more.

 

[gamefreakbsp]

I have always been a big fan of Soul Calibur. Soul Calibur 2 especially. I played so much of that game.

 

[Gaiseric]

I'm going with Killer Instinct.

They were the last fighting games I cared about.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Even when I try to look at things objectively, I still come out touting Tekken as the best. It's not the easiest game to learn (or in my case, relearn), but I can't think of a more balanced, skill-based fighting game I've played.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Other-blazblue.
Also a honorable mention to guilty gear arcana heart and melty blood. For these series to not be mentioned when ssb and mk are is sorta ludicrous btw.

 

[Zenn3k]

Mortal Kombat

Being able to rip your opponent in half after killing them > All other fighting games.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

I've always loved DoA, the fighting feels right and I think they do a really wonderful job of keeping the animation smooth and flowy without the game feeling sluggish.

Though I always feel bad voicing this preference given the main source of the series's reputation...but hey, strong women and all that! That's good, right! Right? (I'm gay, the boob physics do nothing for me, leave me alone)

 

[uzo]

Where's King of Fighters? That's my vote.

 

[Toriver]

I'd give it a tie between Soul Calibur and Smash Bros. because I like not having to memorize complicated button combinations, count the 20+ frames per second, and input that button combination on the EXACT correct frame to be able to do what the advertisements say my character can do. If you say my character can rip the limbs off his opponent, let me rip the limbs off with only 2-3 button presses. Don't force me to input the entire Contra code in three tenths of a second, on precise frames. The special moves in Soul Calibur and Smash Bros. are simpler, allowing for anyone to be able to pick it up and play with depth quickly. But I see accessibility as kind of an important point in fighting games. Not everyone will agree with me, though.

 

[Dethenger]

Super Smash Bros.
I'm not a huge fighting gamer, in fact I'm not very fond of the genre as a whole, and consequently, I have no place saying this, but I do really enjoy playing SSB. I find it infinitely more intuitive and even more skillful, probably because it's not just a matter of memorizing a bunch of needlessly convoluted combination attacks and still losing to somebody hitting a single button over and over.* Also, the maps are larger than the maps from other fighting games I've played, which makes differences in speed between characters more significant, which helps you to find which character you're most comfortable with. For example, I prefer using sword-based fighters, so, for Brawl, I'm left with Link, Ike, and Marth. However, Link is also very miscellaneous item based, making a lot of his attacks not sword attacks at all, and Ike is way too slow for me, so I use Marth.

*I guess that two fighting game buffs going at it with all their perfectly executed combos and whatnot would be fun for them, but that still requires two people who can perfectly execute combos, as opposed to, say, one guy pausing constantly to try and see what he can do while the other just throws him down and kicks him over and over because that's all he knows how to do.

 

[Johnny Impact]

I've never been big on fighters. The simple ones feel too simple, the complex ones feel a little too begin-with-Fanservice-Flash-then-air-cancel-into-Ten-Guppies-then-air-cancel-THAT-and-launch-Angry-Cricket-which-should-connect-then-chain-Ogre's-Fart-a-couple-times-for-the-combo-then-....... Yeah. Calculus is easier than that shit. No thanks.

I played Killer Instinct and Tekken 3 quite a bit, way back when they were new, mostly because I had friends who played. Good games.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I'm a big Marvel vs. Capcom fan. I'm terrible at but I love it. I did also really like Super Smash Bros. Melee. (Brawl, not so much)

 

[Grayjack]

The Guilty Gear or BlazBlue series. I'm also a fan of the Arcana Heart series.

 

[Odysseous2]

For everyone who's wondering why so many of their more obscure favorites were left out of the poll, please remember that there are only 8 possible slots. The franchises I listed are arguably the most known/renowned, so if your favorite just happens to be something else, well, there's an "Other" option for a reason.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Mortal Kombat isn't exactly perfectly balanced fighting game perfection, but damn, it's freaking fun. Besides, it has Cyber Ninjas. What could be more badass? Oh, wait, Ninja spectres with kunai on ropes and flaming skulls for heads.

 

[T1tan45]

If I'm playing a fighting game with local friends, it's Super Smash Bros.
but if I want to play over the internet, it's got to be the Marvel vs. Capcom series!

 

[SanguineScale]

Guilty Gear overall. BlazBlue this gen. Those two series have amazingly deep mechanics, great art styles (hand drawn sprites for the win), and kickass soundtracks.
EDIT: Arcana Heart deserves a mention too.

Good on ya I totally agree