Poll: Best fighting game franchise?

[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

 

[BlumiereBleck]

The Bandai-Namco ones...you know Tekken and Soul Calibur.

 

[Giantpanda602]

The Dragon Ball Z Budokai games were all awesome. Each one added a bunch of new characters and the art style and the non-fighting sections between the gameplay were all different and interesting (2 had the board game, 3 had an open world you could fly around). All of the iconic moves were included. It was just an overall awesome game.

 

[ChillzMaster]

I have Street Fighter IV (the original) and it's pretty fun, definitely a change of pace from the simplistic Brawl formula I've grown accustomed to. I recently played a bit of the new Mortal Kombat and MvC3, and it's a close race between the two. MK wins out though. FATALITY!

The best fighting game series? Mortal Kombat all the way.
The fighting game I'm best at? Brawl. Just because Meta Knight is a broken SS-tier character that I adore.

-Chillz

 

[migo]

One on N-Gage is by far the best fight game I've ever played, barring the sub-optimal physical controls.

Fight Night Champion for iOS (tried the 360 demo, controls were nowhere near as good) is also pretty wicked, but the lack of ability to customise fighting styles is something of a drawback, all you get is choosing Pac-Man to get southpaw.

Dragonball Z Burst Limit is great in terms of depending less on button mashing and more on timing and thought, and the combos are logical by fighting game standards. Also does a great job of capturing the DBZ feel.

Bushido Blade is pretty awesome for being more about one hit kills, one of the few ones that kind of feels realistic.

Capoeira Fighter was also pretty neat, and I think it has enough versions to be a franchise but it never really took off.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Marvel easily. It's way faster than the other games, it has much more intricate combos, and it's just so damn fun and flashy. Yea it's the hardest game to play by far, but I think that's what makes it so rewarding to learn.

I'm also a big fan of Smash Bros, but I haven't played it in a long time since Nintendo turned into a terrible company for us hardcore folks a few years ago.

 

[suitepee7]

I prefer the Super Smash Bros. games. Reason being: they're extremely simple to play, you aren't required to memorize 100 combos per character, and button-mashing actually loses to skilled players.

It's literally the only fighting franchise that I don't despise with every bone in my body. So it's a pretty clear answer for me.

not meaning to come off as a dick, but aren't you contradicting yourself? half of fighting game skill comes from memorizing those combos doesn't it?

OT: my favorite is probably tekken or MK. MK is fun, but requires a fair bit of dedication, which ATM i don't have time for, hence why i didn't get MK9. tekken i find to be one of the much simpler fighters, which gives the appearance of being a bit more complex and is as such, quite rewarding.

 

[elbowlick]

Tekken. I have yet to find a fighting game franchise that compares to it's quality, and not without a lack of trying. I even got Virtua Fighter 5 in hopes that maybe I'd like it just a bit more, but it just comes off as slow and extremely unpolished (and believe me, I really wanted to like it).
Tekken is just so fast-paced, smooth, and exciting. More importantly, a lot of the characters actually FEEL different rather than just slightly modded versions of the same dood (Steve Fox is an excellent example of this). Yeah, there are characters that are a little too similiar to each other, and I would like to see more diversity in the next proper sequel. Plus, the controls are just beautiful (not perfect, but the best I've seen). A button for each limb? Aswesome. Another thing is that I prefer the more down-to-earth (robots and fighting animals, not with withstanding) titles. That and it pulls off the whole "easy to learn, difficult to master" very well.
Smash Bros. is probably a distant second just because it's so unique.
I've been meaning to pick up a DoA game for the longest time but I don't own an Xbox. The only game I've played in the series was DoA2 demo for the Dreamcast yonks ago, and I really liked it. I don't remember the controls being as good as Tekkens, but it's just as fast-paced (maybe more so) anbd the levels were WAY better. If I ever get a 3DS, I'll definately pick up Dimensions (or if somehow get an xbox I'll get 4).
I've also been meaning to pick up a new Soul Calibur game, and I've been wondering if I should get 4, or just wait for 5. I have two, and it was pretty good and they did put effort in the single player which I do applaud. I just can't find a whole lot of characters I like so I just stick to Nightmare or Siegfried or whatever (which I know I shouldn't do). So if any of the fans read this, I'd love to hear your opinion.

PS I have played Super Street Fighter 4, Mortal Kombat Deception and Armegeddon, and Marvel vs. Capcom game (I don't know which one) and none of them appealed to me. I tried BlazBlue and I think I might give it another shot.

 

[Manji187]

Wow...are you sure you want to lump them all together?

Not only will you be comparing apples and oranges (2D and 3D; allows side-stepping). But you'll be comparing different varieties of apples and oranges.

For instance...suppose we compare Soul Calibur with Tekken (both 3D): the former is weapons-based and everyone in it can parry. Tekken is predominantly martial arts-based (although Yoshimitsu has a sword which he can use) and not everyone has a counter/ parry move. You cannot be thrown out of the ring in Tekken...and if I am not mistaken you can't be repeatedly smashed against the wall in SC. What they both share is the absence of projectile moves (Hadouken!) and teleportation moves (think MK).


My point is...there is no way to know which one is objectively best. It'll come down to subjective preferences.

Personally I like Tekken best. Tekken 3 was great. Tekken 6 is a circus act though...losing large chunks of life in aerial juggle combos (and unable to respond in any way) is not my idea of a fun fighter. I think some fighters are too fast-paced for their own good: SC and DOA.

I also like Guilty Gear...but that doesn't prevent me from generally sucking at it. Oh and I absolutely loved Street Fighter 3rd Strike.

EDIT: Apparently few people have heard of or played Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Also: where the hell is Samurai Showdown?

 

[Rouzeki]

Favorite of the above mentioned ones is Soul Calibur, but that's because I got to see the series develop from its first game, Soul blade (or Soul edge) back on the PS1.

sometimes its definitely unfair, but using Cervantes Geo-da-ray floating-stabbing-dash is probably one of the funnest things in the fighting game world for me- namely when you hop backwards right at the beginning of a fight versus someone who's pattern recognition isn't up to par, then move from it into a turning-double sword stab on their hapless body.

Of course, i really like the ways they tried (TRIED) to give you more to the game along the sidelines as the series continued. a weapon system that changes effects for your characters, multiple cool costumes for most of the characters...

And then SCIII came around. best. fighting game. ive ever played.

people can say all they want about it not making sense, but combining a 3 dimension custom character designer (within reason) with a special game mode that plays out like a small arms strategy game combined with standard Soul calibur game play and a special challenge mode, WHILE still leaving the original modes including challenge and survival? best thing ive ever seen out of a fighting game. I'm usually mad about fighting games *glares at Tatsunoku vs Capcom* seeming a bit light on modes, but Soul Calibur never disappoints me.

granted, I haven't been able to play SC4, so who knows. well, now i gotta go find Edge of Soul on youtube now, because one thing I think SC lacked as it went on was awesome insert music, though the BGM got better.

 

[dimensional]

I used to love fighting games and I still do its just I dont devote as much time to them now or buy as many the ones I have enjoyed the most would be:-
3D:-
Soul Calibur franchise:- loved them all soul edge less so and is one of the few fighting games I actually got good at probably because its not so heavily reliant on string combos so much as timing and distance.Roll on SC5 now that Siegfried is in I just hope Tira comes back, im rubbish with her but I love her character.
Tekken 2:- Brilliant game loved all the characters and the great animation (for the time) but liked each reiteration less and less (Tekken 5 was the last one I bought).
Dead or Alive 2 (single player) or 3 (multi player):- A fun series with a solid counter system its just a shame the computer counters a little to regularly to be much fun against after 2 and the end boss in 4 is a complete joke (almost as bad as seth), 3 is much better than 2 for multi player though while in 4 again somethings missing but certainly ready for 5 now that they have had a break (hope they make a 5).
Naruto shippuuden: ultimate Ninja Storm 2:- Absolutely unbalanced as hell so why here well because its so damn fun also probably the only game I have seen which does QTE well. The simple move set allows anyone to join in and pull of any move the key is when to pull off the move rather than worrying about whether you can.
2D:-
Blazblue Continuum shift:- fast smooth deep and fun its very very good its just a shame im just very very bad at it also no arcade mode for Makoto Nanaya possibly my new favourite fighting game character of all time, pffft she better be fully included in the 3rd and final part of the trilogy.
Capcom vs SNK 2:- amazing game and only one of two on this list im any good at masses of characters with a pretty solid balance.
Guilty Gear XX:- pretty much like Blazblue (seeing as its the same people) with slightly better characters imo except ofc for Makoto and slightly worse gameplay.

But the best franchise would have to go to Street Fighter I just cant give it to anything else even if I arguably enjoyed Soul Caliburs games more ignoring the rubbish street fighter from 2 onwards it has been of an extremely high standard. I didnt like 3 much but it was a very solid game (actually only played 3rd strike) and 4 just wasnt for me either even if Super addressed a lot of my issues with it (havent played arcade edition) but that again is irrelevant because it is still a very high quality game.

Most of the other franchises mentioned above have had dips exc Blazblue (which I think in time could surpass Street fighter) and possibly Capcom vs SNK if that counts as a franchise but I havent played the first one so dont know and it dosent seem likely it will be continued due to licensing problems?

I would like to give the Arcana Hearts games a go as well as they look interesting and I would love to see a rejuvenation of the Darkstalkers franchise.

 

[Stammer]

not meaning to come off as a dick, but aren't you contradicting yourself? half of fighting game skill comes from memorizing those combos doesn't it?

I guess it depends on one's own definition of "skill". Some people might consider the word to include memorization. Personally I just include execution and timing (which other games still require a lot of, don't get me wrong).

What I'm trying to say is that the less memorizing you have to do in a fighting game, the more I like it. There can't exist a fighting game that doesn't require at least some memorization, be it what each button does, what signs to look for in your opponent for which attacks, how to counter every strategy, and stuff like that. But when you have to add 20-button-string combinations on top of all that for hundreds of moves, it makes it 90% about memorization instead of 50% about memorization.

 

[Odysseous2]

Wow...are you sure you want to lump them all together?

Not only will you be comparing apples and oranges (2D and 3D; allows side-stepping). But you'll be comparing different varieties of apples and oranges.

Yeah, I get that there's variety in the genre. But you have to admit, all fighting games come down to a contest of two or more people beating each other up. Sure, some fighters use weapons, others don't. Sure, some are on a 2D plane while others involve side-stepping and such. But they're still all fighters with the same general premises and goals.

Comparing Tekken and Soul Calibur is like, for example, comparing Battlefield and Bulletstorm. Sure, they're entirely different in that Battlefield is realistic while Bulletstorm is completely off-the-wall. They have completely different plots and premises and general mechanics, and yet, they both just come down to shooting people. And it wouldn't be so difficult to have a debate over which one was better.

Just because they're different doesn't mean they're not comparable.

 

[Manji187]

Wow...are you sure you want to lump them all together?

Not only will you be comparing apples and oranges (2D and 3D; allows side-stepping). But you'll be comparing different varieties of apples and oranges.

Yeah, I get that there's variety in the genre. But you have to admit, all fighting games come down to a contest of two or more people beating each other up. Sure, some fighters use weapons, others don't. Sure, some are on a 2D plane while others involve side-stepping and such. But they're still all fighters with the same general premises and goals.

Comparing Tekken and Soul Calibur is like, for example, comparing Battlefield and Bulletstorm. Sure, they're entirely different in that Battlefield is realistic while Bulletstorm is completely off-the-wall. They have completely different plots and premises and general mechanics, and yet, they both just come down to shooting people. And it wouldn't be so difficult to have a debate over which one was better.

Just because they're different doesn't mean they're not comparable.

Good points. But I respectfully disagree. Yes...on a very general level fighting games are about 2 players beating each other up. There is an arena, there are life bars, there's always attacking and blocking involved.

But then the specifics come in...a lot of em. Is the arena breakable or not? Can you get thrown out of a ring or not? Can you block forever with impunity or is there chip damage or some kind of bar. Is there stun damage? Are there super combos? How much can I juggle? What's the longest combo-string possible? Are moves cancelable into other moves? Can throws be escaped? Are there unblockable moves? Tech rolls (how to get up after being knocked to the ground)? Cross-up possibility? How is the priority on moves? How do dashes work? Do you get slammed into a wall...or do you bounce of off it? Projectiles? Teleport moves?

Allow me to put it in a metaphor: a striped cat is not a tiger. They are both mammals, both belong to the same biological family (Felidae). They both have claws, a tail, whiskers, fur...you get the point. That's on the general level. But the specifics make them two very distinct creatures.

Comparison would then prolly go by trait (like physical size)....but then comes the million dollar question. What the hell does "better" mean? When I say that a cat makes for a better pet than a tiger....I go for the domestication trait and make a statement that can be objectively tested/ proven.

When I say (just for the sake of argument) that Street Fighter's projectile mechanics (trait) suck in comparison to those of Garou: Mark of the Wolves...I'll have a hell of a time to objectively prove that statement. Because what would be "better" in this case and why? If I say that it's better because the speed at which it travels is slower by 0.1s (I'm making this shit up for the sake of argument)...you could legitimately say "why the fuck would that matter?" How does that point make it "better"?

Basically everyone can use different criteria to argue why something is better...but in the end they're all relative if they are not absolute (like in the domestication example). That means that everyone can legitimately hold their own "better" views in the face of others cuz there is no final judgment that can definitively prove a side right/ wrong.

Did ya catch all that? Good....XD.

 

[TheTim]

Tie for me

Super smash bros for pure unfrustrating fun
mortal kombat when you play against people as good as you are that aren't projectile spammers

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Primal Rage: the one in which you reenact The Lost World and King Kong at the same time. Also there's farting and vomiting. I really don't see why that series hasn't been brought back to life in this day and age. I mean if Mortal Kombat is allowed 9 games and a ton of spin-offs, why not the monkey/ dinosaur-fighting game?

 

[Odysseous2]

Comparison would then prolly go by trait (like physical size)....but then comes the million dollar question. What the hell does "better" mean? When I say that a cat makes for a better pet than a tiger....I go for the domestication trait and make a statement that can be objectively tested/ proven.

When I say (just for the sake of argument) that Street Fighter's projectile mechanics (trait) suck in comparison to those of Garou: Mark of the Wolves...I'll have a hell of a time to objectively prove that statement. Because what would be "better" in this case and why? If I say that it's better because the speed at which it travels is slower by 0.1s (I'm making this shit up for the sake of argument)...you could legitimately say "why the fuck would that matter?" How does that point make it "better"?

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but I think we're on two different pages here lol. Of course it would be impossible to objectively prove that one thing is better than another if they are different things -- Again, Tekken and Soul Calibur, or Battlefield and Bulletstorm. But the fact of the matter is, when someone asks you what the "best" of something is, you're likely never going to actually prove your choice objectively. It all comes down to opinion in the end, and that's why it's possible to compare largely different franchises of the same genre.

If you ask me which is better, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe or the MK 2011 release, I might say the 2011 release because it's on a 2-dimensional plane. But that's not to say a 2D plane is a better gameplay style than a 3D plane... It all comes down to what appeals to me personally. If you venture out to prove that 2D is better than 3D, you'll never do it objectively because both have their pros and cons. It all comes down to which of those pros and cons mean the most to us as individuals.

*takes a deep breath*

So yeah, if this thread was about finding the definitive "right answer" to the best fighting franchise, then these comparisons would be impossible. But it's not, and that's why the votes are spread so evenly. Because everyone has their personal favorite, regardless of how difficult they all are to objectively compare.