I searched through old topics, and I'm very surprised there apparently has never been a dedicated fighting game thread on here. I figured there has to be enough fighting game enthusiasts around here to sustain a thread...right?  
So, here we can discuss your favorite games, characters, history, whatever, whether it's Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, or Tobal No 1, Bloody Roar, and Star Gladiator.

Me, I guess I'm like many others...games like Yie Ar Kung Fu and Karate Champ never really appealed to me. They had dodgy animation and hit detection. I did play SNK's Street Smart a bit, but it wasn't quite the same since it wasn't restricted to a 2D plane, and played more like a beat-em-up. I have one fleeting memory of maybe encountering a Street Fighter I machine at some point, but I didn't play it.

Then I saw my first SFII cabinet, at a rest stop on a road trip with my parents. The graphics, specifically the animation and size of the sprites, blew my mind. The attract mode was on Honda's stage, and the background was AMAZING how it actually looked 3D as it scrolled.

I was never one to pump dozens of quarters into an arcade machine just to learn it, especially when I could get my ass handed to me so fast, so I waited for the SNES version. I would stare at Nintendo Power's article about it, wishing for it...
That was basically my introduction to the genre.

Now, I'm definitely NOT an expert. I know the moves and can beat casual players, but I have trouble wrapping my head around the more complex mechanics and multi-hit combos. Defensive techniques like countering and parrying remain a mystery to me. But I've enjoyed MANY fighters through the years...SF, MK, the Soul series, Tekken series, Darkstalkers, Killer Instinct, Battle Arena Toshinden, King of Fighters, etc.
Vampire Savior on the Saturn is still my favorite fighting game ever; it's just too bad I either have to emulate it or hook my Saturn up to an older TV (since it won't work with modern TVs without a convertor).

 

Pretty much the same here. I’m a casual fighting game fan. I’ve beaten plenty of games, but I can’t pull off insane combos or time the frames of animation just perfectly or whatever.

SF & MK were my mains, but I also like the DOA series for its gameplay & the Darkstalkers too & some others.

I always end up picking the girls. Visually, most fighting game guys don’t hook me with their look or moves or anything.

My Mains:
SF series: Chun Li & Ibuki
MK series: Reptile (though the later games kinda ruined him)
DOA: Momiji (who looks eerily similar to Ibuki, so...)
Soul Calibur: Seung Mina
Darkstalkers: Hsien Ko

 

I have been hooked on street fighter games from a young age and my love for fighting games has been reinvigorated since nowadays you can play them online as these games are at their best when being multiplayer games against someone of a similar skill level and getting that back in the day was difficult as you had to know someone in real life to play against them on your home port or at the local arcade it was insanely expensive in terms of how much you needed to spend to get good.

Street fighter V still has a great player base online regardless of your skill level. I also like playing alpha 3 on anniversary collection but there isn’t too many opponents out there and the ones you encounter rarely drift away from playing either Ryu, Ken or Akuma and the matches tend to lag but occasionally I have had some great games and the alpha games are generally a joy to play. I played street fighter IV on Xbox 360 more than most people would consider healthy and also got the PS4 version that I occasionally visit.

I would give anything for a capcom vs snk rerelease or a capcom vs snk 3 announcement as I would love to play it online. Street fighter X Tekken was such a sad missed opportunity as they got the bare bones of the game working brilliantly then drowned it in terrible ideas like awful dlc practices and too many naff and overly complicated game mechanics like gems and pandora as the end result was a game that felt cluttered, confusing, unbalanced and messy with characters glowing awful colours for some reason or another most of the time. It also felt a bit scripted in that it didn’t give you the choice to play street fighter X Tekken how you would like to play it as I would have liked the option to play it as a one-on-one game rather than being forced to play it as a tag-game.

For similar reasons I also find the marvel vs capcom games a little too confusing to play though I kind of appreciate their impressive over the top style even though I haven’t got the patience to learn them personally.

I have a lot of nostalgia for mortal kombat games and considered them iconic back in the day but the old trilogy era haven’t aged well in my opinion and the newer games I’m way behind on so I’m not that knowledgeable about them but they appear to be glossy casual friendly games that netherealm studios tend to stop supporting after a few years rather than eventually becoming balanced tournament favourites that keep growing in terms of their appeal to me like street fighter games so I tend not to bother with them.

It’s great to see darkstalkers get some recognition here and joe joes bizarre adventure is an often forgotten great game from the Dreamcast/PlayStation era.

I have been getting a lot of the snk rereleases off of PS4 stores like Garou Mark of the Wolves and last blade 2 as playing these games as a child was impossibly expensive back then. I recently got samurai showdown collection on the PS4 sale and I am thinking of trying to learn how to play these games and I was wondering if anyone here knows any good videos or guides to help me learn the basics of competitive play as knowing where to start with playing old games competitively is really hard as there isn’t combo trials, tutorials or rarely a payer base with some noobs of a similar skill level to practice against to learn the basics?

It’s probably just my childhood memories of them feeling a bit floaty, unresponsive and overly complicated back in the day giving me unfair prejudices against them but I don’t think I’ve ever played a 3D fighting game I’ve ever truly loved and been addicted to in the same way as 2D fighting games rather than just being impressed with the graphics at the time.

Turtles tournament fighters on the SNES was a masterpiece, change my mind.

 

I am a huge fighting game guy. Here are my favorites.

• Mortal Kombat is my childhood, and Deception and X are my favorites in the series.
• Killer Instinct 2013 was pretty dope, and I hope Microsoft continues the series.
• Skullgirls, if you enjoy fighting games and games with animated visuals, play it. It might be a little too complex though.
• The Injustice games are really fun.
• Super Smash Bros. I think Ultimate is the best one out of all of them.
• Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Good game.
• Never been a Street Figher guy, but I think it's fun.

 

Strangely, I never really had a "main" for any game, probably because I rarely played against other people. Usually the characters would fall into 3 categories: those I could kick the CPU's ass with, those that I would use for fun, and those that gave me a challenge.

For example, for SFII...
Characters I could beat the CPU's ass with - Ryu, Ken, Guile
Characters I would just have fun with - Blanka, Zangief
Characters that would give me a challenge to beat the CPU - Dhalsim, Honda
Where's Chun-Li, you ask? I would rarely pick her because I found her very boring to play.

Usually I would at least try to become good enough with every character to beat the game with them, which became harder as the games started featuring more characters. Right now I'm still experimenting with SFV to see who I'm gravitating towards; the front-runners at the moment are Cody, Necalli, Rashid, and Urien. I really wish I could learn Menat, but I've heard so many places that she's REALLY hard to get the hang of.

If you twist my arm, maybe the closest I've had to a main in any game is Bryan Fury from Tekken. His quick yet hard-hitting style really fits my natural tendencies.
In Soul Calibur I loved using Hwang, but then he hasn't appeared in the last few games. Yes, I know Xianghua and Leixia share his style, but it's just not the same.

I have watched a few videos on Youtube explaining the basics of SFV (V-Triggers, V-Skills, Reversals, etc), but the one on footsies used the new Samurai Shodown as an example:

 

I'm a product of the 80's but the first fighter that got my interest has to be the Original Street Fighter 2 (and all the other versions) then obviously MK hit my radar and I was hooked. I was that kid who wrote all the Fatalities on a paper and when it was time I would look @ the paper and the Fatality time was over LMAO.!

From then it gets a little blurry as I was hooked on any Fighting game @ the arcade. I've played tons of SNK/NeoGeo fighters such as Fatal Fury,World Heros (FAVORITE!),KOF,AOF and Samurai Showdown. Also played alot of Primal Rage, Virtual fighter,Tekken and Killer Instinct during those times.

In my adulthood years the only main fighter that stuck with me and I play still is Tekken 7. I've tried the newer MK's and SF's and I just can't hang and get really overwhelmed with all the these new V-triggers, Specials,art form etc mumbo jumbo lol. I'm old and trash and my nephews kicked my ass in MK 11 but when I have them play the original MK trilogy I kick their ass lol.

Last fighting game I tried my hardest to get into was DBZ and it's a beautiful game but I can't get into it. Air combos are cool and all but I never got the hang of it.

EDiT: Anyone remembers "Time Killers".!? Hahah just popped up in my head 

 

Fighting games have been a staple of my gaming since Street Figter II. Not competitive level, but try to stay active after a number of years of not having a current gen game system (finally built a PC recently).
In the Capcom side of things, I tend to be more of a grappler user, which tends to combine my appreciation for wrestling and bodybuilding, so in Street Fighter my mains tend to be Zangief, Rainbow Mika, and Hugo. I usually keep my Zangief Storm Collectibles figure and S.H.Figuarts Mika on display at all times (I live in a small space, so I rotate out whichever action figures I display)

I love SNK though don't have too much experience with it, though a friend is getting me to play him more often using the latest King of Fighters games online. I have a very strong nostalgia for Darkstalkers, and not as much into the Mortal Kombat side of gameplay.

I've also been using the same joystick for the past decade, an X-Box 360 MadCatz Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition stick I bought used over ebay back when it was tough tracking down one of those in stock. Thankfully my current version of Windows has the drivers, so it's serving me well 10 years later.

 

It occurred to me that I bought at least 2 consoles specifically for fighting games:
PS2 for Tekken Tag Tournament
Dreamcast for Soul Calibur, Marvel vs Capcom, and Marvel vs Capcom 2

I first played a PS2 at my cousin's house in Norway over Christmas 2000. That's when I played TTT and it was amazing. But the funny thing is, we ended up playing the Tekken Bowl minigame almost the whole time. Tekken Bowl is so f'in funny and fun. Naturally, I got my own PS2 as soon as I got back to the US, and I think TTT was the first game I bought, along with Timesplitters.

Soul Calibur was the only game I wanted for my DC at launch. MvC came later, but I knew it was coming. I still have my DC arcade stick, but the weird thing is, I only really used it for MvC, MvC2, and SFIII Third Strike. I actually found it easier to use the regular DC controller for SC.

I didn't specifically get my Saturn for fighting games, but I discovered them later. While on vacation I came across a Babbage's store that had import Saturn games. Picked up X-Men vs SF and was blown away by the arcade-perfection offered by the 4MB RAM cart. Quickly imported MSH vs SF, Vampire Savior, and King of Fighters '97. It was like heaven being able to play perfect home versions of these games, especially when the PS1 ports were so lacking.

I remember seeing World Heroes in my local arcade but I never played it since I was too caught up in SF, MK, and Killer Instinct  
I never really got into any of the more obscure titles, though for some reason I liked Clay Fighter on SNES. I bought the sequel (C2 Judgment Clay) and made sure to buy CF 63 1/3 Sculptor's Cut from Blockbuster when they were selling their old stock...pretty good investment there  

Speaking of obscure games, I remember the huge hype surrounding WeaponLord, but the game itself is really underwhelming. The graphics look amazing in still images, but the animation is soooo choppy it's hard to watch, and the gameplay is just not great.

I used to have a whole box full of SOTA Street Fighter figures but I sold them.

Sounds like you have the same stick I do, but I got the Chun-Li edition for PS3, which I think was a Fry's exclusive. Thank the gaming gods for Legacy Controller Compatibility, I've been using it to play SFV.

Now, maybe it's because I haven't used it for a few years, but I'm having a really hard time doing a Shinkuu Hadoken (double fireball) motion to the right using the stick. To the left I can do it really fast, it's only to the right I have trouble. I've been experimenting with gripping the stick in different ways to fix this problem, but the only grip I've found that works is kind of uncomfortable to use for extended periods. Hopefully someday soon I'll stumble onto a solution...

 

Feast your eyes...













Source:
Soundwave Transformer Arcade Stick

 

Same here, although I got mine new when they first came out. I can't imagine that future compatibility is ever going to be a problem for PC since they are xInput controllers and you can just rewire them with a brook board if the original one dies.

Also have a PS3 Sega Virtua Stick High Grade that still works via DirectInput and is even better built, but it's a bit small for using in the lap.

 

Guys ever heard of this Chinese Fighting game called "Dong Dong Never Die"? Hahaha games very strange/odd and actually got me wanting to play it.

This is the type of you game you wanna have a couple friends over and have some beers and enjoy lol

 

I know which one you're talking about. I've always been envious of those later, more fun designed sticks. I have the first plan red versions, mine even has the "final production run" stickers on it. I'm considering a second stick for visitors, though putting that in the backburner for now as my job situation has taken bad turns as Covid lockdown is extending way beyond what anyone could predict.

 

I still haven’t tried all the characters in SFV yet. Tried G for the first time the other day and he’s a frickin’ riot. Between his mannerisms, southern politician voice, and Lincoln stovepipe hat, he’s really unique and funny. And he’s got a pretty fun move set too.

Only character I haven’t tried yet is Ed, who honestly seems boring as hell.

And I really hope this doesn’t sound creepy coming from a 44 year old married man, but Menat is absolutely SMOKING hot. I’d love to be able to main her, but everything I’ve read is that she’s really hard to use. Well, I won’t be playing against other people anyway, so maybe I can learn to kick the CPU’s butt with her.

 

That's what Training Mode's for if you want to give maining Menat a try.

 

Fighting Games didn't catch my attention at first. My parents rarely gave me money for arcades, and what little I did have usually went to TMNT or X-Men beat'em ups. I didn't get a SNES until a few years after launch, so I didn't have a home alternative for a long time either. My first real taste of fighting games came from my friends getting Mortal Kombat. My parents wouldn't buy it for me and my brother, but you know how little that means. If one kid in the neighborhood had it, everyone was playing it. I eventually got pretty good a number 2, but looking back I don't think I ever really liked Mortal Kombat. The hype was just inescapable at the time. My brother loved it though, and that pattern pretty much held for years. Tekken 3 was the next big thing, and my friends and brother loved it, I just kind of liked it.

The first fighting game that I really liked was Super Smash Bros. for the N64. This time everyone I knew was in agreement, it was awesome. As a result no other fighting game got so much play from me. The matches got epic, most of us got really good at it. Melee on the Gamecube was even better. This was the height of my experience with fighting games. These games are all about having a good pool of skilled humans to play against, and Smash had it.

The fighting game that really sunk it's hooks into me was Virtua Fighter 3 on the Dreamcast. God I love Virtua Fighter. It's a very technical fighter, but instead of having to imput ridiculous stick movements to pull off moves, almost every move in Virtua Fighter is tap once on the stick + some combination of punch, kick, and guard. This leaves you completely clear to only think about using the right move at the right time, and you need to be on top of your game because the game is deep. One wrong move can really cost you a match, and your timing has to be precise. I love this series. I even went back and bought Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighter's Megamix on the Saturn. Got both versions of 4 on the PS2 as well. Sadly, this was the inverse of my experience with other fighting games. I loved it, my friends and brother only played it because I liked it. My brother had some fun with Jacky initially, but when I got good no one I knew could touch me. That pretty much killed everyone else's interest in it. Leaving me to forever play against the computer. Eventually that gets old, so I barely played 4. I stopped buying new games for a while (except for a Wii and Switch, love my Nintendo games), so most of the PS3 and 4 era's are lost to me. On top of that the Virtua Fighter series has disappeared after 5, which fills me with real sadness. This series deserves to live on.

I don't have access to an internet connection suitable for gaming, so streaming and online play are something I've yet to experience in my life. Without anyone to play against I'm not in any hurry to play the latest fighters. I'd like to get into it, the stars just rarely aligned in my life.

 

Yup, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve spent more time in training mode than any other mode, and I’ve also been doing the Trials. I’m trying to familiarize myself with the game; it’s actually a lot different than any other entry in the series. SFIV felt like a natural progression from the previous entries and was easy to pick up, while SFV has many new bells and whistles to shove into my brain, like 2 V-Triggers and V-Skills per character, and moves that now have different properties depending on the strength of the button (like the Dragon Punch). Using V-Trigger to extend combos is something I’m having trouble wrapping my head around. Even some classic characters feel different.

I’m liking it so far, but I really wish the Trials focused more on teaching useful bread-and-butter combos than ones that are needlessly difficult to pull off and only useful in limited situations.

BTW, your post in the What Are You Playing thread reminded me I need to get Soul Calibur 6 at some point. I own every game in the series so far and enjoyed all of them, though I wish they’d bring back my boy Hwang.

Virtua Fighter is one of those I just couldn’t get into, though that may be because I never played against actual people. Fighting the AI in VF is maddening, since as the difficulty rises the AI counters literally everything you do. It just wasn’t much fun, but I just suck at that style of gameplay anyway. Dead Or Alive was much the same for me.

 

I used to play competitively in the late 90s and early 2000s. Mainly sfIII:3S and guilty gear xx when those were popular, some mvc2 as well but I was never very good at it, just enjoyed watching.

The modern stuff just doesnt interest me as much, there seems to be more focus on getting newer players attention instead of providing depth or learning with a time investment. Imo the newer stuff is just built so there is less of a gap between skill levels, and almost anyone can compete.

my favorite fg by far is sfa2 because I am a rose whore and she is ridiculously fun in that game. ken and chun are pretty broke too but rose is just so much fun in that game its hard not to love it.

 

Weapon Lord was a good one that I sucked at back on the 16-bit consoles. I think I only ever beat it a couple of times, but I liked that it was trying to be a skill heavy game.

 

Yah know, I really tried to get into Street Fighter, I bought the collection they dropped on Switch and it just didn't jive with me. SFII is fun, I've had plenty of rounds with friends where we just button mash to victory, but I have better party games (That's why I bought an N64 after all...).

Mortal Kombat on the other hand is my shit! I've got almost all of the games and I absolutely adore the story, characters, and overall gameplay, which I find to be much superior. I also like Injustice.

Obviously, Smash Bros in a mainstay.