Fighting game
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- This article describes competitive fighting games in which opponents face off in a battle. Scrolling fighting games in which players face off against groups of opponents are described at Beat 'em up.
In competitive fighting games, players face off against each other or against computer-controlled characters in close combat. The main distinction between this genre and the beat 'em up genre is that players are of roughly equal power to their opponents, and fights are self-contained matches involving a small number of characters (usually between two and four). While not defining traits of the genre, the vast majority of fighting games involve life bars, fights that last an odd number of rounds, and are viewed in profile.
In contrast to side-scrolling fighting games, most fighting games are competitive rather than co-operative. Some offer players the chance to battle as teams (two-on-two or three-on-three being most common) instead of one-on-one. The characters can be alternated in either a tag team (characters can be switched out in the middle of the round) or elimination mode (team whose members lose the individual rounds loses the match). In a few of these team-based games, players can opt to play on the same team, usually in a tag team fashion. Because of their competitive nature, fighting games are conducive to tournament play.
Fighting games also usually include a single-player mode.
One of the main attractions of this game type is the large number of characters each game has, all of whom usually have a distinct appearance and fighting style. For example, the characters of the Street Fighter series come from around the world; characters of The King of Fighters series have very well defined personalities and backstories, as well as distinct and differing abilities; those of Eternal Champions were taken from distinct historical periods; the cast of the Guilty Gear series simply seem to differ wildly from one another; and characters from the Mortal Kombat series range from criminals to Shaolin monks to gods. Depending on their discipline, characters may be unarmed or armed with mêlée weapons (swords, sticks, nunchaku, etc.).
Due to the fall in popularity of scrolling fighting games, the terms fighting game and fighter are generally taken to refer to competitive fighting games.
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[edit] The 2D/3D difference
The first recognized fighting game was the 1979 arcade game, Warrior. This game used simple monochrome vector graphics projected over the top of printed backgrounds. It was over a decade later that fighting games would establish themselves as a major genre and player versus player combat would become popular.[1]
Modern fighting games can either be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D). Characters in 2D fighting games (Street Fighter, The King of Fighters, early Mortal Kombat) are hand-drawn/digitized and animated sprites, and can move left and right and duck and jump, but in many games they can't sidestep or move closer to the screen. Games where the player can slightly take advantage of depth of the fighting arena include many of those in the Fatal Fury series. The player's viewpoint scrolls in various directions but stays at a fixed angle. The 2D fighter's characteristic gameplay mechanics are exaggerated jumps, projectile attacks, and an "air/ground/low" attack/block system. Since there is a lack of depth, two-dimensional titles usually involve extensive moves that take advantage of the height of the screen, as jump attacks are essential moves. Two dimensional games stem from long-established fighting systems that have been greatly refined over the years, resulting in most modern 2D fighters having more possible standard techniques than 3D fighters.
Two-dimensional fighters also have a greater number of crossovers: games where several characters from various other games are merged into one title. These games typically have a very large amount of playable characters, sometimes numbering over 64. Mashup fighters tend to be tag matches; the player chooses several characters, can switch between them during rounds, and utilize team-up attacks. Additionally, these games tend to have several different fighting systems to choose from, incorporating the fighting system from each originating game. Crossovers include Capcom's "Vs" series, SNK's King of Fighters series, and Sega's Fighters Megamix.
In 3D titles (Virtua Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Dead or Alive, later Mortal Kombat games), the characters and stages are 3D polygon-based models. The camera's viewpoint is not fixed and can rotate and move in any direction, and the characters can sidestep as well as duck and jump. In contrast with the gameplay of 2D titles, jumping and projectile attacks are typically minor elements. Often blocking and attacking are more complex, featuring high, mid, and low attacks and blocks. Thus, the gameplay in 3D fighters is generally two-dimensional as well, although in the XY dimensions instead of XZ; however, there are exceptions such as Power Stone and Tobal No. 1. 3D fighting games usually have slower attack speeds than their 2D counterparts, because instead of a punch being represented by a two-frame animation, a 3D game usually has a longer sequence (often created using motion capture) which is allowed to play fully, causing the overall attack to be slower but more realistic.
Three-dimensional games usually have much larger fighting arenas, which can have multiple sub-sections/paths (most notably in the Dead or Alive series). There is a tendency for a number of environmental hazards that can be utilized against the opponent, such as knocking a player off a cliff or into an electric fence. Many three-dimensional fighters have two win conditions; standard health depletion or ring-out. A ring-out is accomplished by forcing the player out of the fighting arena either with an attack or just pressure. In some games, such as the Super Smash Brothers series, Ring Out is the primary (sometimes only) method of victory. Some 3D fighting games have gameplay that closely mimics 2D fighters, incorporating three-dimensional depth as a method of escaping attacks rather than an essential part of the fighting system. Notable examples of this include Capcom's Rival Schools and Star Gladiator series and Midway's Biofreaks.
[edit] Concepts
Various concepts and vocabulary have developed in the genre over the past decades. Examples include a 'Perfect', where the player manages to defeat an enemy without losing any health; or a 'one hit K.O.', where a player defeats an enemy with only one action and more. Examples like these are often accompanied by a voiceover declaring the event and a bonus for the player. Especially famous for this is the "Flawless Victory" of Mortal Kombat.
[edit] Criticism
Some less serious players of the genre often resort to extremely simple strategies that can be effective in most fighting games either to undermine them or because they have not yet learned more advanced strategies for the game. These strategies could include button mashing (or simply mashing), where a player simply randomly presses buttons or keys quickly, and spamming, where a player uses one move (usually a simple one) over and over. Proponents of the genre however, point out that truly skilled players can usually overcome these amateurish strategies with minimal effort.
Also, being competition-oriented, fighting games often either lack any storyline, or include only a very vague or simplistic one (often a martial arts tournament organized by an evil boss character). This turns off many video game players who prefer games which engage the player with an ability to progress through a plot.
[edit] See also
- List of fighting games
- List of fighting game developers
- List of video games by genre
- Fighting game terms on Wiktionary
