What is your favorite fighting game?

[suntt123]

Sounds like you've mostly tried 3D fighters. And yeah, they are very often based on long button strings, which, as you say, can seem really arbitrary and unnecessarily difficult. Actually, scratch that: they usually are really arbitrary and unnecessarily difficult.

2D fighters are far closer to Smash bros when it comes to how attacks work, however. Each button is bound to attacks of specific strength, and often specific properties, regardless of character. Special moves are usually done with a simple stick motion followed by a button press. Most single attacks, how you time them and most importantly how you position yourself in order to use them, are far more important than being able to string several of them together, regardless of game.
If you want to actually do manage to set up a combo at some point, however, you can usually get a functional one in three button presses, depending on the game. Or, if it's Persona 4: Arena(which is a great game, by the way), you get a decent auto-combo by mashing the light attack button. Still, they dependent on you being able to set up the situation where they can do their work, so combos are merely something that's nice to have, not anything essential.

Also, for the record, I can confirm that Smash Bros has combos. It's just that most of them are a pain to do, moreso than in any other fighter I've played. D:

Smash Bros Vanilla had them. They were pretty short though, 2 or 3 buttons at most. Newer ones are pretty much just hold a button, press a button and it's the same for everyone. Also, smash balls. Not saying all fighters are like Tekken or Soul Calibur, or that they're bad. Just that I prefer how Smash Bros works.

 

[Lockling]

Tekken Tag 2, before it Tekken 6 and before that Marvel vs Capcom 1 and 2.

The games are VERY different what with the 3rd dimension removing the need for supers etc.
In Tekken i love how much proper movement can affect the outcome of the game and how knowing how to punish what can win you matches. Also the combos are much more about using the environment for maximum damage(when to wall carry, when to use your bound further from the wall, what combo your team can do at what distance from the wall, which moves balcony/wall break whether to use tag assault/tag buffer or not, etc. etc.).

In MvsC i love the pace and the variety of characters. Would play UMVC3 but i dont own a PS3, and the club i belong to(where i play Tekken) doesnt have a copy either.

Mains in Tekken Bryan/Lars, alt characters AK and Lee.

MvC i played CapAm or Sakura and the DrDoom/Strider pair(with stone assist from doom to link Ouroboros ofc).

 

[The Wykydtron]

^

Makoto has Corona Uppercut. It's a legitimate reversal with invincibility, use that lol.

(also hurray, Aigis main here too, Labrys is my sub too, what are the odds lol, as for BB, you can see my main above!)

Oi, get it right. Labrys comes first, Aigis in a firm second and Naoto can come too if she promises not to throw out her instakill when she's losing badly for a lucky win.

I don't do that by the way...

[sub][sub]Anymore[/sub][/sub]

Tell me that's Bang you play not Aracunte... If there was such a thing as being worse than Tager it would be him.

Average Arakune player:

"LOL CURSE LOL! LOL! GET REKT! I AM SO GOOD AT THIS GAME! LOL CURSE LOL!"

...

*sigh*

Fuck off you slimy twat.

 

[Naeras]

Smash Bros Vanilla had them. They were pretty short though, 2 or 3 buttons at most. Newer ones are pretty much just hold a button, press a button and it's the same for everyone. Also, smash balls. Not saying all fighters are like Tekken or Soul Calibur, or that they're bad. Just that I prefer how Smash Bros works.

The definition of a combo is really "if the first attack in this sequence hits, then the rest of the attacks in this sequence are guaranteed to hit as well". Smash bros has that. A really basic one would be to throw someone downward with Fox and then use his reflector instantly after the throw.

Anyways, I think I've made my point, so I'll stop this rambling now. I just kind of get ticked off when people say that fighters are all about combos, as I don't think that's true at all. :V
(also, for the record, I really like Smash as well :3 )

 

[Hero of Lime]

As long as anyone from the fighting game community won't go too elitist on me, my favorite fighter would be Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Melee. Having a bunch of great mascots in a brawler with a unique health system, and items is so appealing to me.

Although if I have to say my favorite traditional one on one fighter it would be Soul Caliber II on Gamecube, I don't think I need to say why. ;D It also helps that Weapon Master was about fifty times better than any of the side modes that III and IV had(I haven't played V so I don't know what that game's equivalent is.)

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I happen to like BlazBlue. I love the style, the characters, the way it plays... Plus, I've never enjoyed playing as a fighting game character more than Lambda-11/Nu-13. I just... I dunno. I like the way it feels to be able to actually do proper, flashy-looking AND good-damage combos. Not only that, but she's effective; I can afford to play aggressively with her, because she focuses on projectiles, but has reliable long-range normals, as well, though her health and damage are a bit lacking.

 

[Naeras]

Oi, get it right. Labrys comes first, Aigis in a firm second and Naoto can come too if she promises not to throw out her instakill when she's losing badly for a lucky win.

I don't do that by the way...

[sub][sub]Anymore[/sub][/sub]

Well, you know what they say: "The difference between random shoryukens and Ume-shoryukens is that random shoryukens get blocked".

..or to put it in layman-terms: "it was only a bad idea if it didn't work" =p

(also, Mitsuru > everyone. <3 )

 

[The Wykydtron]

Oi, get it right. Labrys comes first, Aigis in a firm second and Naoto can come too if she promises not to throw out her instakill when she's losing badly for a lucky win.

I don't do that by the way...

[sub][sub]Anymore[/sub][/sub]

Well, you know what they say: "The difference between random shoryukens and Ume-shoryukens is that random shoryukens get blocked".

..or to put it in layman-terms: "it was only a bad idea if it didn't work" =p

(also, Mitsuru > everyone. <3 )

"Mitsuru starts the game at level 18 because she's Lee Sin, the Blind Monk. She excels at everything"

All her normals have crazy range and come out fast, her Persona takes care of full screen away opponents and her charge is safe for the most part and it moves her more than half the screen. Did they ever look at her kit when designing her and say "hey, Mitsuru can do everything incredibly well, let's tone that down mmmk?"

I only have real trouble with Kanji most of the time for some reason. I can sort of get by Mitsuru if i'm lucky. I loathe grapple characters in general. Thankfully Kanji has some easy to exploit weaknesses. They all like to mash the air grab... I crouch under it every single time. I get wrecked in the first round just to acclimatise to how decent the Kanji is then get into what I call *sigh* "Zoning Labrys" and win the next two with barely any health lost.

You literally sit the fuck down and spam her Persona moves to keep him away including traps. The upwards wheel thing 1. knocks him out of any air move and 2. if it misses Labrys is still crouching so you dodge the dreaded grab anyway. That wheel is also the opening for the combo that does almost half his health if you end it with a super. The medium standing Persona attack needs no explanation. It's fucking amazing in any situation

Then go in when he's real frustrated, go in with the sweep into overhead into super. I learned that stuff from Mu-12 already. People get pissed at Zoning and Keepaway so they get careless and stop blocking.

It takes time to whittle him down because all her combo pathways require you to be close and if he's in range for the grab that does half your health (you know the one) as far as i'm concerned you're doing it wrong. It's why I can't play Aigis so well vs him without maybe spamming the anti air cannon.

I HATE playing Labrys like that. She's supposed to just not give a fuck and run in... Nope, how to get yourself killed in seconds vs Kanji. :S

You haven't lived until you see an Elisabeth melt while trying to pressure you with keepaway with one Beast super. Y'know when you come out of a combo and she's on the other side of the screen? Super. She will be firing the laser the second you pop back up. It carries you full screen away and just goes through all the shit her Persona lobs at you. It also instagibs her because it's both an axe attack and is therefore improved by her stacking damage and it's a counterhit for even more damage. It works against Yukiko as well but Maagidyne is more tricky to predict since it can tag you on the way out.

I wonder who wins if you used Aigis' charge super and Labrys' charge super and they collide with each other..

 

[Zeldias]

Skullgirls, but KoF and Street Fighter: 3rd Strike are up there. And Persona 4, Arcana Heart 3, and BlazBlue, too.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Super Smash bros.
Rather than focusing on ridiculously long and arbitrary combos, the game uses simple button presses for special/smash attacks so the focus can be more on timing and positioning, rather than memorization. That's what fighting games should be like, I think. Other fighting games have focus on timing and positioning as well, but that really only matters once you master those long ass button combos that can vary so immensely between characters.

Thinking combos are important in fighters is a fairly common misconception, but I still wouldn't say it's true. There's only fighting two games I can think of where knowing your combos might be one of the most important aspects, and those would be Marvel vs Capcom and Tekken. Tekken less so than MvC, but Tekken has a learning curve from hell because it has about five thousand different moves(no exaggeration), so knowing the moves are important.

Contrast that with Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Persona, Soul Calibur, Injustice, etc. In these games, you can and should be able to win without using a single combo if you're good enough at movement, spacing, poking and mindgames, just like in Smash Bros. The only thing combos give you in these games is the ability to do more damage if you manage to set them up. In most fighters, this is actually really hard, and it doesn't matter if you can do insane combos if your opponent simply doesn't let you do them. Before you feel you're capable of setting up the situations where combos would be useful, combos are basically a non-aspect of most fighters.

While its definitely true you can win if your fundamentals are strong enough the whole point of combos is that it increases your chance of winning because of the fewer good reads you need thus reducing your risk obviously on the extreme side if you know a 100% combo you only technically have to get in once as long as you are able to execute it proficiently to finish your opponent whereas if you are doing single hits you would need multiple good reads.

3D wise I like Soul Calibur because it dosent have huge long combos its a very distance orientated game not that I dislike some combo heavy games either, but I can certainly see why some do something like Tekken and Continuum Shift go slightly to combo heavy for me same with UMVC3 but they are still fun in most environments.

 

[Dragoon]

I would have said Tekken a couple of months ago but I've been playing a lot of Street Fighter lately and I prefer it even though I'm way better at Tekken. I also really enjoy Persona 4 Arena, I play Yukiko and Chie (surprise, surprise) mainly, the amount of hate mail I get because of Yukiko is funny.

 

[krazykidd]

Tekken Tag Tournament 2. I love the game because of everything. It looks better and is way more satisfying to play. It is also a bit more down to earth unlike the keys shaking before eyes that Clapcom games tend to be, at least the more recent ones. It is also one the few fighting games that doesn't have a big BS and Random factor which ruins the game for me. I truly find it a shame, when I look at stream, that the numbers of viewers drop drastically when Tekken is on and the Marvel players start talking trash, even though they don't have any basic understanding of the game.

The game I am playing at the moment is Persona 4 Arena, which finally got its release in Europe. I really like the stuff Arc Sys does, but playing Kanji can be a massive pain in the ass, especially when I play against cheap Elizabeths.

Really Elizabeth can be cheap? I guess i'm playig her wrong . Elizabeth is low tier ( from what the experts say ) and she is also my main . Everything her persona does is unsafe , and her normals are trash . The only thing she gots going for her is her Personal action ( which is a grab that goes through everything ) and that she gains meter over time ( and MAYBE her anti-air ) . Any kind of rushdown will demolish her, and any keepaway will destroy her persona ( which stays on the screen forever and a half ).

I have a tough time against kanji because grab+ combo = 5000 damage . But my absolute bane is Labrys and Shabrys , man those characters have too much range .

 

[blackdwarf]

Tekken Tag Tournament 2. I love the game because of everything. It looks better and is way more satisfying to play. It is also a bit more down to earth unlike the keys shaking before eyes that Clapcom games tend to be, at least the more recent ones. It is also one the few fighting games that doesn't have a big BS and Random factor which ruins the game for me. I truly find it a shame, when I look at stream, that the numbers of viewers drop drastically when Tekken is on and the Marvel players start talking trash, even though they don't have any basic understanding of the game.

The game I am playing at the moment is Persona 4 Arena, which finally got its release in Europe. I really like the stuff Arc Sys does, but playing Kanji can be a massive pain in the ass, especially when I play against cheap Elizabeths.

Really Elizabeth can be cheap? I guess i'm playig her wrong . Elizabeth is low tier ( from what the experts say ) and she is also my main . Everything her persona does is unsafe , and her normals are trash . The only thing she gots going for her is her Personal action ( which is a grab that goes through everything ) and that she gains meter over time ( and MAYBE her anti-air ) . Any kind of rushdown will demolish her, and any keepaway will destroy her persona ( which stays on the screen forever and a half ).

I have a tough time against kanji because grab+ combo = 5000 damage . But my absolute bane is Labrys and Shabrys , man those characters have too much range .

I know Elizabeth is the low tier and I don't disagree with that, but she, along with the other keep away focused characters, is hell for kanji. Most Elizabeths are not really an issue, because I do have the advantage of playing with one of the lesser known characters, but playing against one who knows my weaknesses, terrible Normals, 3/4 of the screen is Kanji's blindspot and ducking my dive, is one of the most frustrating matches to play.

Yeah, Lab and Shab are also annoying, Their range is amazing, and her reach on certain moves is ridiculous.

 

[Strelok]

Mortal Kombat series for sure, I am terrible at them, but I still love them, bought the Kollector's edition of 9 on the PS3, and it was just released on Steam today.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237110/

Will probably pick that up, well just because.

Captcha: play it again, sam, how appropriate captcha.

Edit: Also my very first fighting game Barbarians on the Commodore 64 or Nukem Dukem Robots (yes it really was called Nukem Dukem Robots, weird)in Space Quest 3.

 

[the_great_cessation]

Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is one of the few games that I have played for literally years after getting it (I still play it on a semi-consitent basis to this day).

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Blazblue for sure... Probably because it's the only fighting game I'm good at XD I love its style and gameplay though, the universe is pretty interesting as well

 

[Dfskelleton]

The Mortal Kombat games. There's not really a single installment I can call out as my favorite, but they're all great fun. It's a bit less brutal (in terms of difficulty, not gore) than some other fighting games, and thus is a bit more accessible for someone of limited ability with fighting games, such as myself. Not to say that it's not challenging, but I can at least play it and feel that I'm doing decent, whereas in Street Fighter I consistently had my ass handed to me. Plus, if you get stuck on a fight for a while in Mortal Kombat, once you beat it, you get the satisfaction of slaughtering your (ex)tormentor in a delightfully brutal manner.
On top of it all, they're fun.

Oh, and the fact that you can play as Freddy Krueger in MK9 is even more of a reason, seeing as how I am quite the Nightmare on Elm Street nerd.

 

[Nazulu]

It will most likely always be Super Smash Brothers Melee for me. It's so quick and all the moves are easy to pull off so it's always intense, and with items it's probably one of the most chaotic games out there. The movement in this game is so fluent and sharp, and with such free game play there's a whole of moves to learn. It's my most re-playable game ever since I'm still playing every now and again since it's release.

I also loved Powerstone 2 and Spawn: In The Demon's Hand for pretty much the same reason. They really need to bring these two back to consoles.

I also love games like Tekken, KOF and Street Fighter but I keep forgetting the combos after some time and I can't be bothered learning them again so I usually just watch tournaments.

 

[Bayman]

3D fighters I like are Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Dead or Alive.

In VF I use Eileen, I really like her Monkey style. For Tekken I like to use: Leo, Kazuya, Jun/Asuka, and Baek/Hwaorang. I also really like the animations in Tekken. Soul Calibur I generally stick with Taki/Natsu, kinda peeved that Namco removed Seoung Mi-na, Talim, and Yun Sung even getting rid of their weapon styles. For Dead or Alive I use Bayman and Mila, looking forward to the changes they made for Leon once DoA5 Ultimate comes out.


2D fighters I like are Street Fighter IV, and Mortal Kombat.

for SF IV I use Juri, Sagat, and Sakura. Mortal Kombat I like to use Skarlet, Sonya, and Kano.

 

[Razentsu]

Melty Blood, because it's a beautifully crafted cornucopia of fighting game mechanics. One would think Melty's gameplay would be messy and convoluted because of all its mechanics, but instead, these game mechanics harmonize well enough with one another to create a game that feels fresh and original. Melty Blood just flows.

Unfortunately, I'm not as strong at Melty Blood as I am at other fighting games. :S

Anyway, if there are any Melty players here who are having trouble finding matches, or if anyone is interested in playing MB, you should check out this group [http://steamcommunity.com/groups/korewamelty]. #shamelessplug #mbnotdead

As much as I complain about Super Street Fighter IV, that game would be my runner up favourite fighting game. It's probably my most played game ever.