Anyone Else Had Trouble Getting Into Fighting Games?

[G19Doom]

I like fighting games. You just need to find the fighting game series that interest you the most, then you find a character in that series you like visually, learn their moves, and work from there. That’s really all there is to it. You’ll either “main” that character in any game they appear in and adjust to the differences from one game to the next, or you’ll move on to learn other characters for different entries in the series. 
 

It also doesn’t hurt to play with a legit fighting game fan, and not just random people that mash buttons the entire time or against the unrelenting AI. You can learn a lot from people who have true skill in these games.

 

Though, a fighter I recommend everyone is Marvel vs Capcom. The first one. I think anyone can really get into that game. 

[SealSpace]

I've never been particularly great at fighting games, but I enjoyed playing some of them like Marvel vs Capcom (1 especially, and to a lesser extent 2, but have watched people beat both games multiple times when I was young) and Tekken 3. And I enjoyed watching people play SNK vs Capcom series and KoF games (I think the former was probably a gateway for me into being familiar with SNK's fighting games in an old mall that I used to go to frequently which closed to almost a decade ago and got replaced by another bigger newer mall in the past year or two). 

 

Does Super Smash Bros count? If so, that's the only fighting game that I comparatively have the least trouble in, even when playing with friends in competitive multiplayer.

 

But at least I've always had less with trouble getting into fighting games than RPG's (turn-based ones especially). 

[banjiepixel]

15 hours ago, LexiMax said:

The idea that the older games were simpler is actually kind of misleading.  The older games had way more bullshit mechanics, stricter input demands, more oppressive top tiers, loads of unintuitive “tech”, more randomness, and even outright bugs.

 

Older games might be more broken but also because there actually less moves, mechanics and combos in them, it is easier to focus on things that actually matter. And when learning to play a fighting game, tiers do not matter because you should be playing against people close to your level and tiers literally only matter in high level play. Old fighting games are good for teaching you the core elements of playing a fighting game. I don't generally engage almost at all with most advanced stuff, nor should anyone new to playing fighting games.

 

It's possible to learn the basics with newer games but it makes also much easier get FOMO because there is so much more advanced stuff in them and things like tutorial surface all that in a way that easily gives you the wrong impression that you actually need to learn all that stuff to play casually.

[Thomased22]

1 hour ago, banjiepixel said:

 

Older games might be more broken but also because there actually less moves, mechanics and combos in them, it is easier to focus on things that actually matter. And when learning to play a fighting game, tiers do not matter because you should be playing against people close to your level and tiers literally only matter in high level play. Old fighting games are good for teaching you the core elements of playing a fighting game. I don't generally engage almost at all with most advanced stuff, nor should anyone new to playing fighting games.

 

It's possible to learn the basics with newer games but it makes also much easier get FOMO because there is so much more advanced stuff in them and things like tutorial surface all that in a way that easily gives you the wrong impression that you actually need to learn all that stuff to play casually.

There's a lot of truth to this.

[LexiMax]

9 hours ago, banjiepixel said:

Older games might be more broken but also because there actually less moves, mechanics and combos in them, it is easier to focus on things that actually matter. And when learning to play a fighting game, tiers do not matter because you should be playing against people close to your level and tiers literally only matter in high level play. Old fighting games are good for teaching you the core elements of playing a fighting game.

 

If you are just smashing buttons with mates, any fighting game will probably be fine, old or new.

 

In fact, in an absolute sense newer games will still be better.  Newer fighting games have better controls, better balance, fewer unintended mechanics to abuse (knowingly or not), more lax input requirements, fewer bugs, fewer abusable or broken characters, fewer un-telegraphed mechanics, and less unfun bullshit like zero-frame throws and inescapable fireball spam.  And there's no obligation to touch a tutorial and do combo trials in any game if you don't want to, most people just pick up and play a game.

 

Granted, the older games might be easier for you to have fun with, but if I may hazard a guess, that's because you grew up with the games when they were contemporary or just about, so there is a certain comfort to them.

 

If I was going to play a fighting game with non-fighting game friends, Street Fighter 2 would not make the cut.  My shortlist would be Street Fighter 6, Third Strike, Samurai Shodown VS or 2019, Tekken, or Dragonball FighterZ.

[banjiepixel]

2 hours ago, LexiMax said:

In fact, in an absolute sense newer games will still be better.  Newer fighting games have better controls, better balance, fewer unintended mechanics to abuse (knowingly or not), more lax input requirements, fewer bugs, fewer abusable or broken characters, fewer un-telegraphed mechanics, and less unfun bullshit like zero-frame throws and inescapable fireball spam.  And there's no obligation to touch a tutorial and do combo trials in any game if you don't want to, most people just pick up and play a game.

 

I would pretty heavily suggest everybody to play both something newer and something older. And the older stuff should be seen more of a learning tool unless you actually really want keep playing them as your main. And the thing is that getting used to playing something like Tekken 2 these can be a real "touch grass" experience. And the truth is that worse balance, more unintended mechanics to abuse , more bugs, more abusable or broken characters and so on doesn't matter much in casual play and getting used to handicap of worse controls and stricter inputs can really upgrade your skills. It is pretty much like training with weighted clothing.

 

2 hours ago, LexiMax said:

Granted, the older games might be easier for you to have fun with, but if I may hazard a guess, that's because you grew up with the games when they were contemporary or just about, so there is a certain comfort to them.

 

I play both old and new generally pretty equally. I do play much less than I used to and have fallen back from most recent releases because of hardware limitations and generally refusing to buy games only after all their DLC is released and the complete package gets a decent discount. And if I would prefer games I grew up with, I would definitely play Street Fighter Alpha 2 over versions of Street Fighter 2, I actually went pretty heavily backwards to Street Fighter 2 once I moved beyond button mashing because of the simplicity and focused experience it comes with.

 

2 hours ago, LexiMax said:

If I was going to play a fighting game with non-fighting game friends, Street Fighter 2 would not make the cut.  My shortlist would be Street Fighter 6, Third Strike, Samurai Shodown VS or 2019, Tekken, or Dragonball FighterZ.

 

I would recommend pretty heavily Garou: Mark of the Wolves over Third Strike, more beginner friendly mechanically. Dead or Alive games are very good at introducing people to the core rock paper scissors element of fighting games so they could be a pretty decent pick. It's also pretty natural that in this context, you would pretty much always pick something like Street Fighter Alpha 3 over SF2 Hyper Fighting or Super Turbo and even I would go with Super/Ultra Street Fighter IV over Alpha 3 in this situation. Also also, optimally you would have some Capcom vs SNK 2 and Rival Schools/Project Justice play mixed in.

 

And it could be a good idea to try Divekick with non-fighting game friends.

[Thomased22]

4 hours ago, banjiepixel said:

I would recommend pretty heavily Garou: Mark of the Wolves over Third Strike, more beginner friendly mechanically.

This game's good, the community is a little, ehhhhhhhhhhhh though.

SF2 is a good time with friends. Only real problem with it IMO is the instant untechable unwhiffable grabs. And that's relatively minor. 

[banjiepixel]

15 minutes ago, Thomased22 said:

This game's good, the community is a little, ehhhhhhhhhhhh though.

 

Garou community has some issues? Did not know that. And is the just wirh Garou or include SNK fighting game community in general? But then again, there is no harm in some casual Garou with friends.

 

20 minutes ago, Thomased22 said:

SF2 is a good time with friends. Only real problem with it IMO is the instant untechable unwhiffable grabs. And that's relatively minor. 

 

I must ask, in what way is that a problem? Because it's actually a issue for the game or just about later games changing it and making SF2 feel too outdated? I am very casual player and have never really kept up with alot details about the games.

[LexiMax]

Alpha 3 and CvS2 seem like weird choices to me for "casual" play.  I think you and I have a different idea of what casual player means.

 

For a fighting game to be casual-friendly, I feel like the amount of mental overhead for casual play should be pretty low, and Third Strike is actually wound pretty tightly for a game with such a high skill ceiling.  There's only 19 characters in the roster, there's no isms/grooves, there's no teams, there's no alpha counters, there's no universal custom combo system, most characters can only access one Super Art at a time, and there's also only a single superfluous meter to worry about with a grand total of two ways to spend it.

 

Sure, if a casual player goes up against someone experienced, they'll be deleted due to the skill ceiling.  But if we're talking about two casual players, I feel like Third Strike can be good casual fun, without the jankiness of SF2.

[Lizardcommando]

I always struggled with 2D fighting games. The button combinations are too complicated for me. Tekken and Soul Calibur and to a lesser extent Dead or Alive are fine for me though.

[banjiepixel]

1 hour ago, LexiMax said:

There's only 19 characters in the roster, there's no isms/grooves, there's no teams, there's no alpha counters, there's no universal custom combo system, most characters can only access one Super Art at a time, and there's also only a single superfluous meter to worry about with a grand total of two ways to spend it.

 

Actually a big character roster can help. More likely to there be character for everyone and having matches with randomized characters with non fighting playing people can be fun for everybody involved, I have experience from it. Also grooves and ism are less of a problem if making even a special move on purpose isn't happening at this time.

 

And yeah, I am probably talking about couple levels lower version of casual play than you. But in general it seems to be that your idea of a casual play worries way too much about things in the game that are still unknown to the player.

 

1 hour ago, LexiMax said:

Sure, if a casual player goes up against someone experienced, they'll be deleted due to the skill ceiling.  But if we're talking about two casual players, I feel like Third Strike can be good casual fun, without the jankiness of SF2.

 

I feel like players that go all serious against lower skilled players aren't being very smart. I always adjust my play when against less experienced player to make playing more fun for them and to have some fun myself. It's great time for trying some silly stuff, showcase what can be done in the game and baiting them to figure out something new about the game. It even seems foreign to me in general that winning or losing would matter in casual play and if you are facing opponent that literally doesn't chance against you, it's best to give them hope and keep them motivated. And most of the time it isn't even letting them to win because much of it is you just playing extremely sloppily.

 

Character designs of some parts of Third Strike roster are not the greatest. SF2 roster is more normal and easier to understand. SFA3 and CVS2 have greatly expanded rosters with alot of colorful characters to explore, and most of them are nothing like the freaks of SF3.

[Thomased22]

9 hours ago, banjiepixel said:

 

Garou community has some issues? Did not know that. And is the just wirh Garou or include SNK fighting game community in general? But then again, there is no harm in some casual Garou with friends.

The general SNK community seems normal I just found the Garou community to be oddly unpleasant on their discord.

 

8 hours ago, LexiMax said:

Alpha 3 and CvS2 seem like weird choices to me for "casual" play.  I think you and I have a different idea of what casual player means.

 There's good arguments against this. CvS2 has a coked up roster that both SNK and Capcom fans can get behind. Grooves are mostly inconsequential. Teams are optional. Slugging some punches with friends on this one is pretty peak casual. Alpha 3 to a lesser extent but it's also a riot. Vism is so insane that it's just a blast to abuse with friends. Also tbh you don't need to be very good at all to get entertainment and use out of it. 

Oddly enough alpha 3 is more balanced with the high level play infinite combos though? Some ports of the game take the infinites out and it kind of breaks the game weirdly enough? I don't care for the infinites but I also don't play this game seriously compared to other SF games. And yet it's still like, in my top 5 at least. If not top 3. Shit is peak entertainment. 

[banjiepixel]

One thing that I also like about Street Fighter Alpha 3 is that it has x-ism and the classic mode that do replicate alot of the simplicity that exists in Super Turbo. Totally bottom tier stuff compared to v-ism shenanigans but with agreement for both players to use x-ism, things can get pretty fun and beginners/casuals will have much less stuff to worry about than in 3rd Strike.

[Koko Ricky]

I've played a number of diverse fighting games throughout my life--Mortal Kombat, Samurai Showdown, Street Fighter, Battle Arena Toshinden, One Must Fall, Virtual Fighter, Tekken, King of Fighters. And consistently, I've walked away admiring and enjoying the presentation, but getting very little out of the gameplay. I found that I could not commit even basic controls to memory, much less the special attacks. I have never graduated past button mashing as I retain no information about how to play. 

 

Yet for some reason, large-scale 3D games like Twisted Metal and Doom Eternal, with their complex range of controls, come naturally to me. It's effortless to master general defense maneuvers. I can look up Twisted Metal Black's Mortal Kombat-inspired combos after not having played in years and it all comes back instantly. With Doom Eternal, I can whip around acrobatically in Nightmare and kick ass. 

 

I would be interested in reading similar anecdotes, because I'm finding fighting games more interesting these days, but I have never moved beyond novice and still can't teach myself basic moves. 

 

 

[mrthejoshmon]

Aye, I am so god damn bad at fighting games.

 

However I still play them, what usually happened is me and the boys used to get together and play vs matches against eachother.

 

My preference was Tekken, I can sort of play that one actually, not competitively online but I'd always come out mostly on top at our casual matches. Problem mainly was that I couldn't pick a character so I always just hit random then played in response to my opponents moves (I was more defensive, got pretty good at Jack because of that and learnt a couple of 6 to 7ish hit combos, my true secret main was Anna/Lili for counters).

 

Fucking sucked at Mortal Kombat, game is too reliant on good knowledge of characters and memorised combos for me to be any good, best I ever did was with Skarlet (had like a 7 hits combo juggle figured out but actually getting it done was another story).

 

Same for Street Fighter, never got the hang of half/quarter circles, was more used to directional inputs like Tekken or Soul Calibur, I could survive as Guile or... Fang, apparently.

 

As for the one I was best at, shamefully it was Dead or Alive, that just clicked with me, super easy to pickup but very hard to perfect.

Edited August 27, 2023 by mrthejoshmon : I spelt MK with a C, I deserve a ban

[DSC]

On 8/23/2023 at 8:47 PM, Lila Feuer said:

They also have super friendly communities that will help you out with anything you need to know, it's actually frowned upon to gatekeep unlike some other MP games.

I'm very surprised: I've always had the idea that the fighting game community was extremely toxic and unfriendly. Well, guess I can't judge an entire group of people based on a few idiots from Reddit and YT.

On 8/24/2023 at 12:50 AM, enigma101 said:

Although, I would say that if you're struggling to get into fighting games, maybe try out practice/arcade mode where you can learn the game without playing against an actual person. At least then you might feel more confident in your skills and enjoy the game more as a result.

The training modes were indeed were I had the most fun playing those kinds of games. Just screwing around, trying to get a feel of the game and seeing if I could pull off any special moves, it was pretty entertaining. Still though, wouldn't having another person try and teach you the basics be the better option? There is only so much you can do in those modes when you're just starting out. It seems you get the most out of them when you are already quite experienced yourself.

 

On 8/24/2023 at 8:34 AM, SirPootis said:

I personally never really got into fighting games. I always played them at my friends' houses when offered to and then i'd just button mash my way to victory (or defeat, most of the time, haha). Never really wanted to get into trying to figure out movesets and counters and whatnot, especially since I never played them at home. However, recently I did find a fighting game I actually enjoy, called "Your Only Move is HUSTLE". It's an interesting take on fighting games, where instead of a fast-paced fight where you need to think on your feet, yomiHUSTLE (for short) is a fighting game with the pace of a chess match (if you remember ToriBash from a decade or so ago it's a similar idea). The fight plays itself for 30 frames, but then freezes. During the freeze, each player picks a move for their character to do: attacks, defends, specials, movement, etc. Once each player picks a move, the fight plays for another 30 frames or so, now with the chosen moves, and then freezes again for each player to decide what to do next. It's such a fun balance of fast-paced fighting game style with slow, methodical planning. Plus, seeing the full fight play out in normal-speed at the end is always fun. Would recommend anyone not really into fighting games to at least take a look at, it's pretty cheap on steam.

Dude, no freaking way... I once saw a comment on YT describing an hypothetical game that could be used to teach fighting game skills to newbies, and what they described was exactly like what you are talking about. Talk about predicting the future! About the game itself: it sounds very interesting, I might check it out later.

 

On 8/24/2023 at 10:45 AM, banjiepixel said:

I would give more specific advice if I knew better at what specific parts you are actually struggling with. But generally this sound like a case of being just overwhelmed by what skills and information you assume being needed to play and enjoy fighting games. There is literally no wrong way to play fighting games, some ways to play just work better or worse against certain opponents. And most important skill is always being able to adapt to your own limitations as a player and to whatever your opponent is doing.

 

And in what ways you feel like that Smash Bros games are different from traditional fighting games?

 

Also, do you like (japanese) character action games (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden etc.)?

Yeah, it indeed is the huge amount of options you have that screws with me. Like, take a look at Street Fighter. In that one there's six different buttons for attacking, and the attacks themselves also change if you're crouching or jumping. Add the specials on top of that and to me it just becomes too much to track. What attacks should I use in what situations? Even in games with fewer buttons I'm still left not knowing what to do.

 

Smash is very different from traditional games because of its focus on platforming and knocking away opponents off stage, giving you much more freedom to move around as much as you want. Not to mention, the controls are simplified too.

 

Sorry, but I can't say I've ever had much interest in hack 'n slash games myself.

[Mr. Freeze]

If you're wondering what to open with, in MK at least I use either my safest neutral or special to bait a reaction out of the opponent. Baraka in MK11 is safe with his F4 so you can use that to gap close and get in your enemies face for instance. 

[Master O]

1 hour ago, DSC said:

I'm very surprised: I've always had the idea that the fighting game community was extremely toxic and unfriendly. Well, guess I can't judge an entire group of people based on a few idiots from Reddit and YT.

The training modes were indeed were I had the most fun playing those kinds of games. Just screwing around, trying to get a feel of the game and seeing if I could pull off any special moves, it was pretty entertaining. Still though, wouldn't having another person try and teach you the basics be the better option? There is only so much you can do in those modes when you're just starting out. It seems you get the most out of them when you are already quite experienced yourself.

 

Dude, no freaking way... I once saw a comment on YT describing an hypothetical game that could be used to teach fighting game skills to newbies, and what they described was exactly like what you are talking about. Talk about predicting the future! About the game itself: it sounds very interesting, I might check it out later.

 

Yeah, it indeed is the huge amount of options you have that screws with me. Like, take a look at Street Fighter. In that one there's six different buttons for attacking, and the attacks themselves also change if you're crouching or jumping. Add the specials on top of that and to me it just becomes too much to track. What attacks should I use in what situations? Even in games with fewer buttons I'm still left not knowing what to do.

 

Smash is very different from traditional games because of its focus on platforming and knocking away opponents off stage, giving you much more freedom to move around as much as you want. Not to mention, the controls are simplified too.

 

Sorry, but I can't say I've ever had much interest in hack 'n slash games myself.

 

SNK's fighting games use four buttons, instead of six, but if you intend to play against the CPU, know that CPU characters in all SNK-developed fighting games read all your inputs, so you have to find holes in their programming to beat them.

 

What Is SNK Syndrome?

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/SNK/comments/yaniwu/beating_snk_syndrome_in_art_of_fighting_1_and_2/

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/SNK/comments/y4q2w2/beating_snk_syndrome_in_fatal_fury_1_2_and_special/

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/SamuraiShodown/comments/yhozk0/beating_snk_syndrome_in_samurai_shodown_1_2_3_4_5/

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/SNK/comments/112f9cs/beating_snk_syndrome_in_world_heroes_1_2_2_jet/

 

I also recommend starting with a game like Samurai Shodown 2 that is not combo-oriented. Just be aware that the CPU in SS2 is cheap.

[DSC]

Just now, Master O said:

I also recommend starting with a game like Samurai Shodown 2 that is not combo-oriented. Just be aware that the CPU is cheap.

Yeah, I've heard SS is a good place to start for beginners because it focus more on spacing and execution. I guess its a good place to start.

[Master O]

1 minute ago, DSC said:

Yeah, I've heard SS is a good place to start for beginners because it focus more on spacing and execution. I guess its a good place to start.

 

Again, because you are dealing with SNK games, beware of SNK Syndrome.  Make absolutely sure that you cheese all SNK boss characters as soon as you encounter them, or you will lose badly.  Sear this into your brain.

[banjiepixel]

16 minutes ago, DSC said:

Yeah, it indeed is the huge amount of options you have that screws with me. Like, take a look at Street Fighter. In that one there's six different buttons for attacking, and the attacks themselves also change if you're crouching or jumping.

 

Experimentation and simply spending tons of time playing the game are your best friends. With some patience, things are actually pretty easy to figure out, it just takes time. And attacks in Street Fighter come in three different levels of strenght and often using the correct level is more important than the specific attacks themselves. And just focus on couple of attacks you're familiar and expand you movelist as you start to feel more comfortable with new stuff.

 

32 minutes ago, DSC said:

Add the specials on top of that and to me it just becomes too much to track.

 

Don't worry about specials if you feel that you're not ready for them yet. In general, I think the classic Bruce Lee quote "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." fits here pretty well. It's best to split your leaning process into more manageable chunks. And probably most important skill can be actually being to also enjoy losing.

 

48 minutes ago, DSC said:

What attacks should I use in what situations? Even in games with fewer buttons I'm still left not knowing what to do.

 

One method is to watch matches of competitive players for some pointers of how gameplay with a character generally should look like.There will be alot of advanced stuff that will be beyond your current abilities but there will be also plenty of more basic stuff you can start trying to imitate. Or you could literally do just what seems to be working based on you personal experimentation. There are always patterns to doing things and it is simply matter of figuring out those patterns.

 

59 minutes ago, DSC said:

Smash is very different from traditional games because of its focus on platforming and knocking away opponents off stage, giving you much more freedom to move around as much as you want. Not to mention, the controls are simplified too.

 

Traditional fighting games are of those types of games relies alot on limitations and requiring more precice gameplay. This comes with also bigger reward and satisfaction for success than many other types of games. And it's not like Smash would be that much simpler that most fighting games, it's just that it puts more focus on things are generally more accessible and easier to understand. There are tons of advanced stuff in Smash too that are pretty hard to execute but at the lower levels, it's much easier to feel like you're in control compared to traditional fighting games. And Smash is less claustrophobic experience in general.

 

Something like Dead or Alive series or Soul Calibur series do have simple controls that aren't too far from Smash and also make movement more free allowing you to step any direction of the 8 directions as you want. Most of that attacking is done by just pressing direction and pressing attack buttons in pretty freeform sequences. Both series are technically dead currently but could be worth trying as something that is easier to get into than Street Fighter. Also not as combo focused as something like Tekken.

 

4 minutes ago, DSC said:

Yeah, I've heard SS is a good place to start for beginners because it focus more on spacing and execution. I guess its a good place to start.

 

I agree absolutely with this. Discovering the way SS1 plays did help me personally to focus more in the basics of the genre. And if possible, it could worth trying out a game called Bushido Blade, but more to have fun than it being actually helpful with playing fighting games in general.

[DSC]

2 minutes ago, banjiepixel said:

Bushido Blade

Oh, I remember that one! Very original and creative premise even in this day and age, more than 20 years after its release. You see, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way, but to many new players fighting games are a bit stale, in the sense nearly all of them have their mechanics originating in Street Fighter 2 (obviously each one has its nuances, but to newbies they are imperceptible). But games like BB (or that turn based TAS-like one I mentioned in a previous comment) bring a lot of freshness and innovation into the scene, and for attracting new blood I think they could be incredibly beneficial for the community at large.

[banjiepixel]

7 minutes ago, DSC said:

You see, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way, but to many new players fighting games are a bit stale, in the sense nearly all of them have their mechanics originating in Street Fighter 2 (obviously each one has its nuances, but to newbies they are imperceptible).

 

While the second game is more of a party game, it's important to remember that first Power Stone plays much more like a fighting game and it's a shame that it doesn't have modern port. And then there are the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games that are definitely worth trying even if you are not a Naruto/anime fan. Not to mention all the more or less direct Smash clones.

 

SF2 defined the genre so the same basic template is still pretty popular. Smash does have a great hook of combining platforming and fighting gameplay, not to mention all the popular characters but the SF2 formula is popular for a reason and it can be hard to find a gimmick that works in more untraditional gameplay context. And even puzzle games have copied things from the SF2 template.

[QuaketallicA]

On 8/23/2023 at 12:34 PM, DSC said:

Fighting games have interested me for a long time now. I find the idea very appealing, in theory they should be a great deal of fun, especially with friends. I've tried them out again and again, but every time I end up just not quite "getting" it. They just don't feel right or natural to me... Its hard to explain. When I played Doom or Mega Man for the first time I obviously struggled, but I don't ever remember being out of sync with the game. Is it because fighting games just naturally require a giant amount of effort before they get fun to play? Or is it just a "me" thing and they just aren't my thing?

 

I just want to ask everybody, did you struggle like me trying to play those games too? And, if you're a regular player of this genre, how hard was it to learn how to enjoy it, and how should I approach them to get the same out of them?

 

PS: I did fare better with Smash, but its so different from the "regular" kind of fighting games that I don't really think it matters.

 

If you're cool with older games like Doom, I highly recommend checking out the original Mortal Kombats on GOG. You can get the first 3 games for like $1.50, combined. I have all 3 of the newest MK's as well and both Injustices, yet the fighting game I've always spent the most time in and find most satisfying is the original MK's. Why? Well for one, it's easy to learn all the moves. You don't have to worry about kombos, just 1 or 2 specials per character in the first two, and there's only 7 characters in the first one or 9-12 in the second, so there's less things to memorize. Furthermore, the returning characters keep all their same moves so you don't have to re-learn Scorpion's spear or Sub-Zero's freeze with a different button combination every new game (which is the case in the modern NRS ones for some reason). 

 

(And as a beginner, you don't even need to know any specials to still play the game. The uppercut was the most powerful attack any character can do, up until MK 4 I think.)

 

Once you've practiced the moves long enough to write them into muscle memory, then the real game begins. It is one of getting a feel for the flow of combat, how the enemy a.i. reacts. This is why a lower barrier to entry (not having to worry about too many things to memorize) is useful. You can focus on the actual fighting and learning when to attack, how to counter, etc. instead of pulling off complex combos.

 

The way it works in the home ports of the arcade games, is you get 5 continues or lives with which to reach the top of the ladder, and if you die too many times, game over, start again. Don't expect to actually make it most of the time, but when you do, it feels so much more satisfying than in games with infinite continues where it's just a slow slog till you inevitably reach the end, where it's impossible to lose, unless you just get bored and quit.

 

The a.i. in these games was often very bullshit with their counters (especially the throws), but they are also quite predictable with their bullshit. With time, I get a sense of when and how the a.i. will usually respond, and therefore I know how to counter their counter. If I mess it up, often I will know why I did. The game feels much more intentional as opposed to the usual spamming of buttons or kombos in the newer MK's. The a.i. in those games doesn't feel as fun to go against, imo.

 

It also feels so much faster and quicker. No waiting for loading screens, no waiting for characters to have a dialogue before matches, and even the very quick intermissions screens are themselves skippable. Health bars are much lower, compared to the modern games, so fights end more quickly and also it keeps you on your toes. You can never be at such a great advantage as to not have to worry, because even if your enemy is at one hit away from death while you are near full health, you can still very easily lose the round.

 

As a bonus, these original titles also had awesome secrets. Not only were the Fatalities and later Friendships themselves secret moves when they debuted, but also there were secret characters and cryptic messages to decipher to figure out how to reach and duel those secret characters.

 

____________

 

Of course, if you're just casually interested, then of course the newest modern games are well-suited to the casual audience, if you just want to appreciate the movie/story and the cool fatalities. They let you pin up the character's moves during the fight, which is nice, and they have training modes. But if you want to properly get into the fighting game aspect of it, it's actually easier to start with the old games because you can get to the fighting faster with less up-front memorization.

[SyntherAugustus]

 

Prepare for your brain to be melted.

 

Jokes aside, yall need to play some Guilty Gear.

[Master O]

For anyone who might be interested in Samurai Shodown 5 Special:

 

 

Wiki is at https://wiki.gbl.gg/w/Samurai_Shodown_V_Special

 

[MrFroz]

I remember I used to like them a lot for the PSX, mostly as single-player affairs. It was nice playing Tekken 3 or Mortal Kombat 4 (which I always thought was underrated) to get a nice FMV at the end. Mortal Kombat Trilogy is probably my favorite of the 2D ones, and I wish Thrill Kill hadn't been cancelled.

 

Out of the 32-bit era tho, I remember making weird experiments with MUGEN and I have a soft spot for Melty Blood. I remember I had this friend who would invite me to play fighting games like Waku Waku 7 online, but I always got my arse kicked. So that's why fighting games remain single-player affairs for me, I'm just not willing to spend time to get good at playing them like I might with real time strategy games or MOBAs.