Classic Fighting Games

Inspired partly by this article as well as seeing some of the arcade sticks being shown off in the Pick Up thread, I’m interested in everyone’s thoughts on classic fighters. Specifically, if someone with exposure to only Street Fighter 2 is looking to give the genre another shot, what would you recommend? Are certain system ports better than others? 2d vs 3d? etc.

Having a Dreamcast, I’ve always felt like I should pay more attention to fighting games, and I like the idea of getting into one, but perhaps it’s just my 15-year-old self forgetting that I don’t have time to practice and get good at these things anymore. But then again, maybe it’s something my son and I could play together…provided we don’t get too angry at each other. :wink:

I’ve had my eye on Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC) for a while now, but any time a used game is in the $40+ range, it moves from impulse buy to “ehhhh, let me think about it for several years first” territory.

Well, looks like I struck out on interest with this topic, but here’s a quick update: I just got super lucky and scored a CIB copy of Marvel v Capcom 2 for only $27. Just need a couple of arcade sticks to go with it now. :smile:

s-l500

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I think it’s a great subject, I haven’t really had time to respond, plus there’s so much to talk about.

When 2d people ask about 3D fighting games, I always recommend Virtua Fighter. There’s just a beauty to its simplicity and depth. The only way to describe it is it puts the least amount of barriers between you and the game.

You will constantly be thinking and switching strategies and the game rewards that - if you opponent hasn’t figured out what you’re doing you will dominate them and vice versa. It’s almost like a quick turn based strategy game when you play an equally suited opponent.

It also happens to have possibly the best training mode of all time in VF4: Evolution. Please give it a try if you’re interested, you can get a copy of that for probably $10. And maybe hop online in VF5, although it’s really only experts in the game playing that now.

My favorite 3D fighting game series of all time is Tekken, but it’s waaaaay too complicated and difficult to learn at this point. DOA is good but basically a bootleg VF with boobie physics. The new Soul Calibur has apparently gone back to the basics and is friendly for newcomers, so maybe try that too. I don’t have any experience in that, but SC2 would be the high point of that series.

Checking out VF4: Evolution right now. You’re right, it’s super cheap and that training mode sounds very appealing. Thanks!

Yeah I thought it’s a great post and topic! The medium link inspired me to bring it up with a couple friends - we all also have Dreamcasts so we’re thinking Mark of the Wolves or MvC2. Would be cool to have a go-to fighting game!

Yeah it is a good topic, but it’s hard to get it down to just a few suggestions.

IMO for a long time, fighting games have become extremely refined such that they’re all at least good and what you’ll like comes down to taste. You can’t go wrong with any of the big series. Generally the further you go back, the less people are playing it now, so there’s really not a lot of pressure to invest time in the older games, other than for fun or experiencing the olden-days greats. If you want to get a bit more serious, i’d recommend a more recent game with online play.

Rather than suggest anything typical then, i’m just going to say Bloody Roar! I only played it for the first time recently myself. I think for a couple of bucks you’d have a stack of fun playing that with your son.

This is my jam right here but I’m predominantly a Capcom player.

My 3 favorite fighters of all time are third strike, cvs2 and mvc2 and DC has the best ports of all 3! Because of this my DC has steadily been hooked up for 15+ years

Secret best fighting game of all time? Match of the Millennium on the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Perfect controls, super accessible yet meaty little gem. Love it.

image

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And how. I remember there being a ton of extra mini games in it.

Oh man, you should include that gif in the “Sell me on a game with one picture” thread (if we had one).

I know almost nothing about the NGPC other than what I learned from Retronauts discussions. (Not a lot.) To be honest, I’ve never even considered handhelds as a legit platform for the genre due to the limited, and often hand-cramping, controls. Guess I was wrong about that.

Hell yes!

Re: MvC2- after 20 years of eBay use, I just got burned by a seller who wouldn’t honor the transaction. Zero communication despite my attempts, just canceled my order after relisting it at a higher price. I guess getting a whopping $15 more was worth ruining his perfect feedback history over.

Oh well, back to the drawing board on that particular game.

This kind of thing I wish eBay would super frown on. If you relist an item like they did it should take like 20% off

It’s all about sellers and the fees they generate. In this case, eBay likely gets more from the transaction so not much incentive to do something about it.

Decided to get VF4:Evo for a grand total of $6.75 (with free shipping). Sometimes this hobby is just so fricken stupid.

That’s bs, and people who do that suck.

I had that happen to me many years ago with Samba de Amigo and the maracas. I won an auction for about $30 below the going rate. The guy just disappeared. That was back when Buy It Now was a lot less popular than it is today as a listing option and people thought they’d always make good bank with auctions. I still don’t own the game and maracas on Dreamcast because I was so pissed at the whole thing.

eBay is truly a necessary evil. There’s so much about it that sucks, but it also comes through in ways you simply can’t succeed elsewhere. Sigh.

That looks amazing! I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to play it with the slider pad.

I still need to pick up a NGPC, this might be the game I try and grab with it.

If you haven’t used a NGPC before, it’s actually a digital clicky 8 way control stick. Not so much a slide pad like the 3DS.

And it feels great.

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I was lucky enough to when a colleague brought his in so I could try it - though the unit had some issue with the battery (I think) as it wouldn’t load games properly. Felt so good though! It’s amazing how bad the PSP’s analogue nub feels under the thumb by comparison, despite Sony’s relative engineering prowess at the time

I almost want to laugh at the folks who are part of this current Mortal Kombat community (mainly the FGC end). When MK9 was out, everyone was going gangbusters playing it at EVO and everything, then Injustice comes out, they jump ship completely to the point where they just ignore the fact the previous game exists (not even getting online matches as much). This has gone back and forth for awhile, so asking anybody to play one of the older titles will probably get you an eye roll or two. Well here comes MK11, so let’s see that cycle continue. :joy:

They ain’t never had any MK blood in them to begin with and the old timers just stick to the classics.

To this day, the clicky control stick on the NGPC is the only way I can consistently pull off Zangief spinning piledrivers :laughing: