Fighting game

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Look up Appendix:Glossary of fighting games in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A fighting game (also known as versus fighting game) is a video game genre that involve combat between pairs of fighters with game elements such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining attacks together into "combos". Games usually display on-screen fighters from a side view, even 3D fighting games play largely within a 2D plane of motion includes sidestepping. This includes close combat and long range combat.

They typically revolve around primarily brawling or combat sport, though some variations feature weaponry. The characters fight each other until they defeat their opponents or the time expires. The matches typically consist of 2 rounds, 2 rounds for player 1 and 2 rounds for CPU & player 2, in an arena, with each player character having different abilities but each is relatively viable to choose.

Concept of Special attacks were introduced in the original Street Fighter and then starting in the early 1990s, most fighting games allowed the player to execute special attacks by performing specific input combinations, first 3 special attacks were Hadouken (Wave motion fist or fist of surge), Shoryuken (Rising dragon fist) and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku (Hurricane kick). The fighting game genre is related but distinct from beat 'em ups, which involve large numbers of enemies against the protagonist.

The first video game to feature fist fighting was Heavyweight Champ in 1976,^[1] but it was Karate Champ which popularized one-on-one fighting game genre in arcades in 1984. Released in the following year, Yie Ar Kung-Fu featured antagonists with differing fighting styles and introduced health meter, while The Way of the Exploding Fist further popularized the genre on home systems. In 1987, Street Fighter introduced special attacks. In 1991, Capcom's highly successful Street Fighter II refined and popularized many of the conventions of the genre and introduced female playable characters to the genre it also introduced the combo notion. Fighting games subsequently became the preeminent genre for competitive video gaming in the early to mid-1990s, particularly in arcades. This period spawned dozens of other popular fighting games, including franchises like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Bros., Tekken, and Virtua Fighter.

Definition[]

Fighting games are a type of action game where two (one-on-one fighting games) or more than two (platform fighting games) on-screen characters fight each other.^[2][3][4][5] These games typically feature special moves that are triggered using rapid sequences of carefully timed button presses and joystick movements. Games traditionally show fighters from a side-view, even as the genre has progressed from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) graphics.^[3] Street Fighter II, though not the first fighting game, popularized and standardized the conventions of the genre but still it's the fighting game that regains the love and support for fighting games,^[6] and similar games released prior to Street Fighter II have since been more explicitly classified as fighting games.^[5][6] Fighting games typically involve hand-to-hand combat, but may also feature melee weapons which as we called as weapon-based fighting games.^[7]

This genre is related but distinct from beat 'em ups, another action genre involving combat, where the player character must fight many enemies at the same time and they don't have any rounds and like versus mode the character and the enemies just have health bars.^[5] During the 1980s to 1990s, publications used the terms "fighting game" and "beat 'em up" interchangeably, along with other terms such as "martial arts simulation" (or more specific terms such as "judo simulator")^[8][9][10] and "punch-kick" games.^[11] Fighting games were still being called "beat 'em up" games in video game magazines up until the end of the 1990s.^[12]

With hindsight, critics have argued that the two types of game gradually became dichotomous as they evolved, though the two terms may still be conflated.^[5][13] sports-based combat are games that feature boxing, mixed martial arts (MMA), or wrestling.^[7][13] Serious boxing games belong more to the sports game genre than the action game genre, as they aim for a more realistic model of boxing techniques, whereas moves in fighting games tend to be either highly exaggerated or outright fantastical models of Asian martial arts techniques.^[3] As such, boxing games, mixed martial arts games and wrestling games are often described as distinct genres, without comparison to fighting games, and belong more in the sports game genre.^[14][15]

Game design[]

Although Street Fighter II was not the first fighting game, it popularized and established the gameplay conventions of the genre

Fighting games involve combat between pairs of fighters using highly exaggerated martial arts moves.^[3] They typically revolve around primarily brawling or combat sport,^[4][7] though some variations feature weaponry.^[7] Games usually display on-screen fighters from a side view, and even 3D fighting games play largely within a 2D plane of motion.^[3] Games usually confine characters to moving left and right and jumping, although some games such as Fatal Fury: King of Fighters allow players to move between parallel planes of movement.^[3][16] Recent games tend to be rendered in three dimensions and allow side-stepping, but otherwise play like those rendered in two dimensions.^[7]

Tactics and combos[]

Aside from moving around a restricted space, fighting games limit the player's actions to different offensive and defensive maneuvers. Players must learn which attacks and defenses are effective against each other, often by trial and error.^[3] Blocking is a basic technique that allows a player to defend against basic attacks.^[17] Some games feature more advanced blocking techniques: for example, Capcom's Street Fighter III features a move termed "parrying" which causes the parried attacker to become momentarily incapacitated (a similar state is termed "just defended" in SNK's Garou: Mark of the Wolves).^[18][19]

Counterplay[]

Predicting opponents' moves and counter-attacking, known as "countering", is a common element of gameplay.^[7] Fighting games also emphasize the difference between the height of blows, ranging from low to jumping attacks.^[20][21] Thus, strategy becomes important as players attempt to predict each other's moves, similar to rock–paper–scissors.^[3]

Grappling / Takedowns[]

In addition to blows such as punches and kicks, players can utilize throwing or "grappling" to circumvent "blocks". Most fighting games give the player the ability to execute a grapple move by pressing 2 or more buttons together or simply by pressing punch or kick while being extremely close the opponent. Other fighting games like Dead Or Alive have a unique button for throws and takedowns.

Projectiles[]

Used primarily in 2D fighting games, projectiles are objects that a fighter can launch at another fighter to attack from a distance. While they can be used to simply inflict damage, projectiles are most often used to maneuver opponents into disadvantageous positions. The most notable projectile is Ryu and Ken's Hadoken from Street Fighter.

Rushdown[]

The opposite of turtling, Rushdown refers to a number of specific, aggressive strategies, philosophies and play styles across all fighting games. The general goal of a rushdown player is to overwhelm the opponent and force costly mistakes either by using fast, confusing setups or by taking advantage of an impatient opponent as they are forced to play defense for prolonged periods of time. Rushdown players often favor attacking opponents in the corner or as they get up from a knockdown; both situations severely limit the options of the opponent and often allow the attacking player to force high-risk guessing scenarios.

Spacing / Zoning[]

Zoning is footwork and whatever series of tactics a player uses to keep their opponent at a specific distance. Keeping balance, closing or furthering the distance, controlling spatial positioning, and/or creating additional momentum for strikes. What exactly that distance is depends on both who the "zoner" and the opponent are using; differing based on the tools at their disposal versus the tools that the opposing player has.

Turtling[]

Turtling refers to fighting game tactic of playing very defensively, In the world of fighting games, especially those of the 2D variety, a turtle style of play is a defensive style that focuses on patience, positioning, timing, and relatively safe attack options to slow down the pace of the game and minimize the number of punishable mistakes made during the course of the match.This style can be very useful in timed matches, as it allows a player to deal a small amount of damage to an opponent, and then win the match by running down the clock. If available, players can turn off the timer to prevent such a strategy.

Special attacks[]

An integral feature of fighting games includes the use of "special attacks", also called "secret moves",^[20] that employ complex combinations of button presses to perform a particular move beyond basic punching and kicking.^[22] Combos, in which several attacks are chained together using basic punches and kicks, are another common feature in fighting games and have been fundamental to the genre since the release of Street Fighter II.^[23] Some fighting games display a "combo meter" that displays the player's progress through a combo. The effectiveness of such moves often relate to the difficulty of execution and the degree of risk. These moves are often beyond the ability of a casual gamer and require a player to have both a strong memory and excellent timing.^[3] Taunting is another feature of some fighting games and was originally introduced by Japanese company SNK in their game Art of Fighting.^[24][25] It is used to add humor to games, but can also have an effect on gameplay such as improving the strength of other attacks.^[26] Sometimes, a character can even be noted especially for taunting (for example, Dan Hibiki from Street Fighter Alpha).^[27][28] Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduced a new special attack that is exclusive to the series known as a Final Smash.

Matches and rounds[]

The player's objective in a fighting game is to win a match by depleting their rival's health. Mortal Kombat even allows the victor to perform a gruesome finishing maneuver called a "Fatality"

Fighting game matches generally consist of several rounds (typically "best-of-three") and the match will officially begin once the in-game announcer gives the signal (typically "ROUND 1… FIGHT!"); the player who wins the set number of rounds wins the match.^[29] If the score is tied after an even number of rounds, then the winner will be decided in the final round. Round decisions can also be determined by time over (if a timer is present), which judge players based on remaining vitality to declare a winner. In the Super Smash Bros. series, the rules of the match is different. Instead of rounds, they usually have a set number of stocks for each player (usually three) and if the score is tied between two or more fighters when time expires, then a feature called "sudden death" will appear. They will have 300% damage and the winner is the person who hits the other character out of the stage first.

Fighting games widely feature life bars which were introduced in Yie Ar Kung-Fu in 1984, which are depleted as characters sustain blows.^[16][30] Each successful attack will deplete a character's health, and the round continues until a fighter's stamina reaches zero.^[3] Hence, the main goal is to completely deplete the life bar of one's opponent, thus achieving a "knockout".^[19] Games such as Virtua Fighter also allow a character to be defeated by forcing them outside of the arena, awarding a "ring-out" to the victor.^[17] The Super Smash Bros. series allows them to send the fighters off the stage when a character reached a high percentage total, however the gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighters in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.

Beginning with Midway's Mortal Kombat released in 1992, the Mortal Kombat series introduced "Fatalities", a gameplay feature in which the victor of the final round in a match inflicts a brutal and gruesome finishing move onto their defeated opponent. Prompted by the in-game announcer saying "Finish Him/Her", players have a short time window to execute a Fatality by entering a specific button and joystick combination, while positioned at a specific distance from the opponent. The Fatality and its derivations are arguably the most notable features of the Mortal Kombat series and have caused a large cultural impact and controversies.^[31]

Fighting games often include a single-player campaign or tournament, where the player must defeat a sequence of several computer-controlled opponents. Winning the tournament often reveals a special story–ending cutscene, and some games also grant access to hidden characters or special features upon victory.^[32]

Character selection[]

In most fighting games, players may select from a variety of playable characters who have unique fighting styles and special moves and personalities. This became a strong convention for the genre with the release of Street Fighter II, and these character choices have led to deeper game strategy and replay value.^[33]

Although fighting games offer female characters since the release of Street Fighter II as they feature Chun-Li in 1991, their design tends to be hypersexualized, and they have even been featured as pin-up girls in game magazines;^[34] in many games they also exhibit exaggerated "breast physics", the first video game in which breast physics were a notable feature in Fatal Fury 2 (1992), which featured the fighter Mai Shiranui, who had noticeably jiggly breasts.^[35] Male characters on the other hand in fighting games tend to have extra-broad chests and shoulders, huge muscles, and prominent jaws.^[3]

Custom creation, or "create–a–fighter", is a feature of some fighting games which allows a player to customize the appearance and move set of their own character. Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium was the first game to include such a feature.^[36]

Multiplayer modes[]

Fighting games may also offer a multiplayer mode in which players fight each other, sometimes by letting a second player challenge the first at any moment during a single-player match.^[4] A few titles allow up to four players to compete simultaneously.^[37] Uniquely, the Super Smash Bros. series has allowed eight-player local and online multiplayer matches, beginning with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and continuing with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, although many consider Super Smash Bros. to be an arena platform combat subgenre due to its deviation from traditional fighting game rules and design. Several games have also featured modes that involve teams of characters; players form "tag teams" to fight matches in which combat is one-on-one, but a character may leave the arena to be replaced by a teammate.^[38] Some fighting games have also offered the challenge of fighting against multiple opponents in succession, testing the player's endurance.^[32] Newer titles take advantage of online gaming services, although lag created by slow data transmission can disrupt the split-second timing involved in fighting games.^[32][39] The impact of lag in some fighting games has been reduced by using technology such as GGPO, which keeps the players' games in sync by quickly rolling back to the most recent accurate game state, correcting errors, and then jumping back to the current frame. Games using this technology include Skullgirls and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition.^[40][41]

History[]

Origins (1970s to early 1980s)[]

Fighting games find their origins in martial arts films, especially Bruce Lee's Hong Kong martial arts films which featured concepts that would be foundational to fighting games, such as Game of Death (1972) which had Lee fighting a series of boss battles and Enter the Dragon (1973) which was about an international martial arts tournament.^[42] The earliest video games which involved fist-fighting were boxing games, before martial arts fighting games later emerged featuring battles between characters with fantastic abilities and complex special maneuvers.^[43] Sega's black-and-white boxing game Heavyweight Champ, released for arcades in 1976, is considered the first video game to feature fist fighting.^[44] Vectorbeam's arcade video game. Warrior (1979) is another title sometimes credited as one of the first fighting games;^[45] in contrast to Heavyweight Champ and most later titles, Warrior was based on sword fighting duels and used a bird's eye view.^[5] Sega's jidaigeki-themed arcade action game Samurai, released in March 1980, featured a boss battle where the player samurai confronts a boss samurai in one-on-one sword-fighting combat.^[46][47]

One-on-one boxing games appeared on consoles with Activision's Atari VCS game Boxing,^[48] released in July 1980,^[49] and Sega's SG-1000 game Champion Boxing (1983),^[50] which was Yu Suzuki's debut title at Sega.^[51][52] Nintendo's arcade game Punch-Out, developed in 1983 and released in February 1984,^[53] was a boxing game that featured a behind-the-character perspective, maneuvers such as blocking and dodging, and stamina meters that deplete when getting hit and replenish with successful strikes.^[54]

Emergence of fighting game genre (mid-to-late 1980s)[]

Karate Champ, developed by Technōs Japan and released by Data East in May 1984,^[55] is credited with establishing and popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre.^[56] A variety of moves could be performed using the dual-joystick controls, it used a best-of-three matches format like later fighting games, and it featured training bonus stages.^[56] The Player vs Player edition of Karate Champ released later the same year was also the first fighting game to allow two players to fight each other.^[57] It went on to influence Konami's Yie Ar Kung Fu,^[56] released in October 1984.^[58] The game drew heavily from Bruce Lee films, with the main player character Oolong modelled after Lee (like Bruceploitation films). In contrast to the grounded realism of Karate Champ, Yie Ar Kung-Fu moved the genre towards more fantastical, fast-paced action, with a variety of special moves and high jumps, establishing the template for subsequent fighting games.^[59] It expanded on Karate Champ by pitting the player against a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style.^[56][60] The player could also perform up to sixteen different moves,^[61] including projectile attacks,^[62] and it replaced the point-scoring system of Karate Champ with a health meter system, becoming the standard for the genre.^[63]

Irem's Kung-Fu Master, designed by Takashi Nishiyama^[64] and released in November 1984,^[65] was a side-scrolling beat 'em up that, at the end of each level, featured one-on-one boss battles that resemble fighting games.^[66] It was based on Hong Kong martial arts films, specifically Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals (1984) and Bruce Lee's Game of Death.^[67][5] Nishiyama later used its one-on-one boss battles as the basis for his fighting game Street Figher.^[64] Nintendo's boxing sequel Super Punch-Out, released for arcades in late 1984 and ported by Elite to home computers as Frank Bruno's Boxing in 1985,^[68] featured martial arts elements,^[69] high and low guard, ducking, lateral dodging, and a KO meter that is built up with successful attacks, and when full enables a special, more powerful punch to be thrown.^[70] Broderbund's Karateka, designed by Jordan Mechner and released at the end of 1984,^[71] was a one-on-one fighting game for home computers that successfully experimented with adding plot to its fighting action,^[5] like the beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master.^[66]

By early 1985, martial arts games had become popular in arcades.^[72] On home computers, the Japanese MSX version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu was released in January 1985,^[73] and Beam Software's The Way of the Exploding Fist was released for PAL regions in May 1985;^[74] The Way of the Exploding Fist borrowed heavily from Karate Champ,^[75] but nevertheless achieved critical success and afforded the burgeoning genre further popularity on home computers in PAL regions,^[10][76] becoming the UK's best-selling computer game of 1985.^[77] In North America, Data East ported Karate Champ to home computers in October 1985,^[78] becoming one of the best-selling computer games of the late 1980s.^[79][80] Other game developers also imitated Karate Champ, notably System 3's computer game International Karate, released in Europe in November 1985; after Epyx released it in North America in April 1986, Data East took unsuccessful legal action against Epyx over the game.^[78] Yie Ar Kung-Fu went on to become the UK's best-selling computer game of 1986, the second year in a row for fighting games.^[81] The same year, Martech's Brian Jacks Uchi Mata for home computers featured novel controller motions for grappling maneuvers, but they were deemed too difficult.^[10]

In the late 1980s, side-scrolling beat 'em ups became considerably more popular than one-on-one fighting games,^[82] with many arcade game developers focused more on producing beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups.^[83] Takashi Nishiyama used the one-on-one boss battles of his earlier beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master as the template for Capcom's fighting game Street Fighter,^[64] combined with elements of Karate Champ and Yie Ar Kung Fu.^[6] Street Fighter found its own niche in the gaming world, which was dominated by beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups at the time.^[6] Part of the game's appeal was the use of special moves that could only be discovered by experimenting with the game controls, which created a sense of mystique and invited players to practice the game.^[84] Following Street Fighter's lead, the use of command-based hidden moves began to pervade other games in the rising fighting game genre.^[84] Street Fighter also introduced other staples of the genre, including the blocking technique as well as the ability for a challenger to jump in and initiate a match against a player at any time. The game also introduced pressure-sensitive controls that determine the strength of an attack, though due to causing damaged arcade cabinets, Capcom replaced it soon after with a six-button control scheme offering light, medium and hard punches and kicks, which became another staple of the genre.^[85]

In 1988, Home Data released Reikai Dōshi: Chinese Exorcist, also known as Last Apostle Puppet Show, the first fighting game to use digitized sprites and motion capture animation.^[86] Meanwhile, home game consoles largely ignored the genre. Budokan: The Martial Spirit was one of few releases for the Sega Genesis but was not as popular as games in other genres.^[83] Technical challenges limited the popularity of early fighting games. Programmers had difficulty producing a game that could recognize the fast motions of a joystick, and so players had difficulty executing special moves with any accuracy.^[6][83]

Mainstream success (early 1990s)[]

The release of Street Fighter II in 1991 is considered a revolutionary moment in the fighting game genre. Yoshiki Okamoto's team developed the most accurate joystick and button scanning routine in the genre thus far. This allowed players to reliably execute multi-button special moves, which had previously required an element of luck. The graphics took advantage of Capcom's CPS arcade chipset, with highly detailed characters and stages. Whereas previous games allowed players to combat a variety of computer-controlled fighters, Street Fighter II allowed players to play against each other. The popularity of Street Fighter II surprised the gaming industry, as arcade owners bought more machines to keep up with demand.^[6] Street Fighter II was also responsible for popularizing the combo mechanic, which came about when skilled players learned that they could combine several attacks that left no time for the opponent to recover if they timed them correctly.^[87][88][89] Its success led to fighting games becoming the dominant genre in the arcade game industry of the early 1990s,^[90] which led to a resurgence of the arcade game industry.^[91] The popularity of Street Fighter II led it to be released for home game consoles and becoming the defining template for fighting games.^[6][83]

SNK released Fatal Fury shortly after Street Fighter II in 1991. It was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the creator of the original Street Fighter, which it was envisioned as a spiritual successor to.^[92] Fatal Fury placed more emphasis on storytelling and the timing of special moves,^[92] and added a two-plane system where characters could step into the foreground or background. Meanwhile, Sega experimented with Dark Edge, an early attempt at a 3D fighting game where characters could move in all directions. Sega however, never released the game outside Japan because it felt that "unrestrained" 3D fighting games were unenjoyable.^[83] Sega also attempted to introduced 3-D holographic technology to the genre with Holosseum in 1992, though it was unsuccessful.^[93] Several fighting games achieved commercial success, including SNK's Art of Fighting and Samurai Shodown as well as Sega's Eternal Champions. Nevertheless, Street Fighter II remained the most popular,^[83] spawning a Champion Edition that improved game balance and allowed players to use characters that were unselectable in the previous version.^[6]

Chicago's Midway Games achieved unprecedented notoriety when they released Mortal Kombat in 1992. The game featured digital characters drawn from real actors, numerous secrets,^[83][94] and a "Fatality" system of finishing maneuvers with which the player's character kills their opponent. The game earned a reputation for its gratuitous violence,^[94] and was adapted for home game consoles.^[83] The home version of Mortal Kombat was released on September 13, 1993, a day promoted as "Mortal Monday". The advertising resulted in line-ups to purchase the game and a subsequent backlash from politicians concerned about the game's violence.^[94] The Mortal Kombat franchise would achieve iconic status similar to that of Street Fighter with several sequels as well as movies, television series, and extensive merchandising.^[31][95] Numerous other game developers tried to imitate Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat's financial success with similar games; Capcom USA took unsuccessful legal action against Data East over the 1993 arcade game Fighter's History.^[20] Data East's largest objection in court was that their 1984 arcade game Karate Champ was the true originator of the competitive fighting game genre, which predated the original Street Fighter by three years,^[96] but the reason the case was decided against Capcom was that the copied elements were scenes a faire and thus excluded from copyright.^[97]

Emergence of 3D fighting games (mid-to-late 1990s)[]

Virtua Fighter (1993) was the first 3D fighting game. It is typical of most fighting games in that action takes place in a two-dimensional plane of motion. Here, one player ducks the other's attack.

Sega AM2's first attempt in the genre was the 1993 arcade game Burning Rival,^[98] but gained renown with the release of Virtua Fighter for the same platform the same year. It was the first fighting game with 3D polygon graphics and a viewpoint that zoomed and rotated with the action. Despite the graphics, players were confined to back and forth motion as seen in other fighting games. With only three buttons, it was easier to learn than Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, having six and five buttons respectively. By the time the game was released for the Sega Saturn in Japan, the game and system were selling at almost a one-to-one ratio.^[83]

The 1995 PlayStation title Battle Arena Toshinden is credited for taking the genre into "true 3-D" due to its introduction of the sidestep maneuver, which IGN described as "one little move" that "changed the fighter forever."^[99] The same year, SNK released The King of Fighters '94 in arcades, where players choose from teams of three characters to eliminate each other one by one.^[100] Eventually, Capcom released further updates to Street Fighter II, including Super Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. These games featured more characters and new moves, some of which were a response to people who had hacked the original Street Fighter II game to add new features themselves. However, criticism of these updates grew as players demanded a true sequel. By 1995, the dominant franchises were the Mortal Kombat series in America and Virtua Fighter series in Japan, with Street Fighter Alpha unable to match the popularity of Street Fighter II.^[6] Throughout this period, the fighting game was the dominant genre in competitive video gaming, with enthusiasts popularly attending arcades in order to find human opponents.^[31] The genre was also very popular on home consoles. At the beginning of 1996, GamePro (a magazine devoted chiefly to home console and handheld gaming) reported that for the last several years, their reader surveys had consistently seen 4 out of 5 respondents name fighting games as their favorite genre.^[101]

In the latter part of the 1990s, traditional 2D fighting games began to decline in popularity, with specific franchises falling into difficulty. Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded the excess of fighting games the "Most Appalling Trend" award of 1995.^[102] Although the release of Street Fighter EX introduced 3D graphics to the series,^{[103][104][105]} both it and Street Fighter: The Movie flopped in arcades.^[6] While a home video game also titled Street Fighter: The Movie was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, it is not a port but a separately produced game based on the same premise.^[106] Capcom released Street Fighter III in 1997 which featured improved 2D visuals, but was also unable to match the impact of earlier games.^[6] Excitement stirred in Japan over Virtua Fighter 3 in arcades,^[83] and Sega eventually ported the game to its Dreamcast console.^[107] Meanwhile, SNK released several fighting games on their Neo-Geo platform, including Samurai Shodown II in 1994, Real Bout Fatal Fury in 1995, The Last Blade in 1997, and annual updates to their The King of Fighters franchise.^[108] Garou: Mark of the Wolves from 1999 (part of the Fatal Fury series) was considered one of SNK's last great games;^[109] the company announced that it would close its doors in 2001.^[110] Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that in 1996, U.S. gamers spent nearly $150 million on current generation fighting games, and in Japan, fighting games accounted for over 80% of video game sales.^[111]

The fighting game genre continued to evolve, with several strong 3D fighting games emerging in the late 1990s. Namco's Tekken (released in arcades in 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995) proved critical to the PlayStation's early success, with its sequels also becoming some of the console's most important titles.^[112] The Soul series of weapon-based fighting games also achieved considerable critical success, beginning with 1995's Soul Edge (known as Soul Blade outside Japan) to Soulcalibur VI in 2018.^[113][114] Tecmo released Dead or Alive in the arcades in 1996, porting it for the PlayStation in 1998. It spawned a long running franchise, known for its fast-paced control system, innovative counterattacks, and environmental hazards. The series again included titles important to the success of their respective consoles, such as Dead or Alive 3 for the Xbox and Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360.^{[32][115][116]} In 1998, Bushido Blade, published by Square, introduced a realistic fighting engine that featured three-dimensional environments while abandoning time limits and health bars in favour of an innovative Body Damage System, where a sword strike to a certain body part can amputate a limb or decapitate the head.^[117]

Video game enthusiasts took an interest in fictional crossovers which feature characters from multiple franchises in a particular game.^[118] An early example of this type of fighting game was the 1996 arcade release X-Men vs. Street Fighter (Marvel vs. Capcom), featuring comic book superheroes as well as characters from other Capcom games.^{[citation needed]} In 1999, Nintendo released the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series, which allowed match-ups such as Pikachu vs. Mario.^[118]

Decline (early 2000s)[]

Gekido features a beat 'em up system with a 3D side scrolling gameplay.

In the early 2000s, fighting games declined in popularity. In retrospect, multiple developers attribute the decline of the fighting genre to its increasing complexity and specialization. This complexity shut out casual players, and the market for fighting games became smaller and more specialized.^[119][120] Even as far back as 1997, many in the industry said that the fighting game market's growing inaccessibility to newcomers was bringing an end to the genre's dominance.^[121] Furthermore, arcades gradually became less profitable throughout the late 1990s to early 2000s due to the increased technical power and popularity of home consoles.^[20][108] The early 2000s is considered to be the "Dark Age" of fighting games.^[122]

In 2000, Italian studio NAPS team released Gekido for the PlayStation console, which uses a fast-paced beat 'em up system, with many bosses and a colorful design in terms of graphics. Several more fighting game crossovers were released in the new millennium. The two most prolific developers of 2D fighting games, Capcom and SNK, combined intellectual property to produce SNK vs. Capcom games. SNK released the first game of this type, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, for its Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld at the end of 1999. GameSpot regarded the game as "perhaps the most highly anticipated fighter ever" and called it the best fighting game ever to be released for a handheld console.^[123][124] Capcom released Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 for arcades and the Dreamcast in 2000, followed by sequels in subsequent years. Though none matched the critical success of the handheld version, Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO was noted as the first game of the genre to successfully utilize internet competition.^[124][125] Other crossovers from 2008 included Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.^[126][127] The most successful crossover, however, was Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Featuring characters from Nintendo and third-party franchises, the game was a runaway commercial success in addition to being lavished with critical praise.^{[37][128][129]}

In the new millennium, fighting games became less popular and plentiful than in the mid-1990s, with multiplayer competition shifting towards other genres.^[31][130] However, SNK reappeared in 2003 as SNK Playmore and continued to release games.^[108] Arc System Works received critical acclaim for releasing Guilty Gear X in 2001, as well as its sequel Guilty Gear XX, as both were 2D fighting games featuring striking anime inspired graphics.^[131] The fighting game is beacme a popular genre for amateur and doujin developers in Japan. The 2002 title Melty Blood was developed by then amateur developer French-Bread and achieved cult success on the PC. It became highly popular in arcades following its 2005 release, and a version was released for the PlayStation 2 the following year.^[132] While the genre became generally far less popular than it once was,^[31] arcades and their attendant fighting games remained reasonably popular in Japan in this time period, and still remain so even today. Virtua Fighter 5 lacked an online mode but still achieved success both on home consoles and in arcades; players practiced at home and went to arcades to compete face-to-face with opponents.^[133] In addition to Virtua Fighter, the Tekken, Soul and Dead or Alive franchises continued to release installments.^[32][114] Classic Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games were re-released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, allowing internet play, and in some cases, HD graphics.^{[31][134][135]}

The early part of the decade had seen the rise of major international fighting game tournaments such as Tougeki – Super Battle Opera and Evolution Championship Series, and famous players such as Daigo Umehara.^[136][137] An important fighting game at the time was Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, originally released in 1999. The game gained significant attention with "Evo Moment 37", also known as the "Daigo Parry", which refers to a portion of a 3rd Strike semi-final match held at Evolution Championship Series 2004 (Evo 2004) between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong. During this match, Umehara made an unexpected comeback by parrying 15 consecutive hits of Wong's "Super Art" move while having only one pixel of vitality. Umehara subsequently won the match. "Evo Moment #37" is frequently described as the most iconic and memorable moment in the history of competitive video gaming, compared to sports moments such as Babe Ruth's called shot and the Miracle on Ice.^[138] It inspired many to start playing 3rd Strike which brought new life into the fighting game community during a time when the community was in a state of stagnancy.^[139][122]

Resurgence (late 2000s to present)[]

Street Fighter IV, the series' first mainline title since Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in 1999, was released in early 2009 to critical acclaim,^[140] having garnered praise since its release at Japanese arcades in 2008.^[141] The console versions of the game as well as Super Street Fighter IV^[142] sold more than 6 million copies over the next few years.^[143] Street Fighter's successful revival sparked a renaissance for the genre,^[142][144] introducing new players to the genre and with the increased audience allowing other fighting game franchises to achieve successful revivals of their own, as well as increasing tournament participance.^[145] Tekken 6 was positively received, selling more than 3 million copies worldwide as of August 6, 2010.^[146] Other successful titles that followed include Mortal Kombat,^[142][147] Marvel vs. Capcom 3,^[142][144] The King of Fighters XIII,^[147] Dead or Alive 5,^[147] Tekken Tag Tournament 2,^[147] SoulCalibur V,^[148] and Guilty Gear Xrd. Despite the critically acclaimed Virtua Fighter 5 releasing to very little fanfare in 2007,^[145] its update Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown received much more attention due to the renewed interest in the genre.^[145][147] Numerous indie fighting games have also been crowdfunded on websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the most notable success being Skullgirls in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ubisoft reported that the free-to-play platform fighting game Brawlhalla reached 20 million players.^[149] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch in 2018 is the best-selling fighting game of all time, topping its Wii predecessor Super Smash Bros. Brawl,^[150] having sold 25.71 million copies worldwide.^[151]

Financial performance[]

Highest-grossing franchises[]

The following are the highest-grossing fighting game franchises, in terms of total gross revenue generated by arcade games, console games and computer games.

Best-selling franchises[]

Arcade[]

The following are the best-selling fighting arcade video game franchises that have sold least 10,000 arcade units. The prices of fighting game arcade units ranged from $1,300 (equivalent to $2,400 in 2020) for Street Fighter II Dash (Champion Edition) in 1992,^[155] up to $21,000 (equivalent to $38,000 in 2020) for Virtua Fighter (1993).^[156] In addition to unit sales, arcade games typically earned the majority of their gross revenue from coin drop earnings.

Home[]

The following are the best-selling fighting game franchises for home systems, having sold at least 10 million software units sold for game consoles and personal computers.

Best-selling fighting games[]

Arcade[]

The following titles are the top ten best-selling fighting arcade video games, in terms of arcade units sold. The prices of fighting game arcade units ranged from $1,300 (equivalent to $2,400 in 2020) for Street Fighter II Dash (Champion Edition) in 1992,^[155] up to $21,000 (equivalent to $38,000 in 2020) for Virtua Fighter (1993).^[156] In addition to unit sales, arcade games typically earned the majority of their gross revenue from coin drop earnings, which are unknown for most games. Arcade revenue figures, from unit sales and/or coin drop earnings, are listed if known.

Home[]

The following titles are the top ten best-selling fighting games for home systems, in terms of software units sold for game consoles and personal computers.

See also[]

• Fighting game community
• List of fighting games
• M.U.G.E.N.

Notes[]

References[]