Fighting video game
A fighting video game is one which focuses on martial arts in a limited area where typically two combatants fight against each other. These games are similar to the beat 'em up, but they don't involve lengthy maps or exploration. Games in the genre rely on fast defensive reflexive and offensive strategies and the memorization of complex controller input for special moves. Fighting games are typically differentiated between 2D fighting games, and 3D fighting games.
Contents
Personal
The first fighting video game I saw was Karate Champ on the NES around 1987 at my babysitter's house. I later saw the original arcade game at the Lakeland Ice Arena and watched as the player abused the AI and got a massive score. However, the first fighting game I ever got a chance to play was Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on the SNES. My brother had borrowed the game from a friend of his around 1993, and, even though he kept beating me, I loved the different characters and the great graphics and music. Some of my friends also got the game, and I would later buy myself Street Fighter II: Turbo - Hyper Fighting. However, after becoming so frustrated with the cheating AI, I eventually threw the cartridge on the ground hard enough to break it. I remember being interested in the series again when the four new characters were added for Super Street Fighter II, but the countless revisions and ports of the game made me tired of it. In arcades, I would often see other fighting games like Samurai Shodown and Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, and, while I thought they were all cool and interesting looking, they didn't really bring anything new. However, when I first saw Mortal Kombat II I was once again impressed by the actual photorealistic graphics. I never bought any of the games from the series at the time, but several of my friends owned it, and I played theirs. Of course, the AI in Mortal Kombat games cheated even more, and I was seriously frustrated by them. Around 1996 or so, I got a used copy of World Heroes for the SNES. I played it a lot too, but discovered that, like all the others, the AI doesn't have to abide by the same rules and began to loathe the genre entirely. I remember seeing Virtua Fighter in an arcade and thought the ugly low polygon count and floaty jumps looked ridiculous. In the mid-2000s, my arcade buddies were talking about Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and I emulated it on MAME. I found it to look gorgeous, but, like all the others, playing the AI was painfully frustrating. In my life, I was very interested in fighting games from around 1993-1998.
History
The genre got its start in the 1970s with games like Heavyweight Champ, but really hit it big with Karate Champ in 1984. In 1985 Yie Ar Kung-Fu added the health meter and mixed martial arts, and, in 1987, Street Fighter, really helped cement the genre, but the game that really kicked off a fighting craze was Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991. After this game became insanely popular, many different companies began creating fighting games, although most were cheap imitations. In 1993, the genre expanded into 3D space with Virtua Fighter, and has settled on this format for the majority of new games coming out.
Games
This is a list of fighting video games that are important to me. For all games in this genre, see the fighting category.
| Title | Released | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors | 1994-07-?? | Capcom |
| Garou: Mark of the Wolves | 1999-??-?? | SNK |
| Karate Champ | 1984-??-?? | Technos |
| Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! | 1987-09-18 | Nintendo |
| Mortal Kombat II | 1993-04-?? | Midway |
| Mortal Kombat 3 | 1995-03-?? | Midway |
| Mortal Kombat Trilogy | 1996-10-10 | Midway |
| Samurai Shodown | 1993-08-?? | SNK |
| Street Fighter II Turbo | 1992-12-?? | Capcom |
| Street Fighter II: The World Warrior | 1991-02-?? | Capcom |
| Super Street Fighter II | 1993-09-10 | Capcom |
| World Heroes | 1992-07-28 | Alpha Denshi Kogyo |
Media
Videos
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