The greatest fighting game of all time

[Gandhara]

There have been many great fighting games and series over the years but what would you say is the best of them all???

I'll go with Super Street Fighter 2, I prefer it even to the later Alpha series and beyond. I keep coming back to this one more than the rest it's got everything from perfect controls to the most memorable characters, and that nostalgic charm.

Funny thing is I actually prefer SNK's fighting games over Capcom's after 1994 but back in '92 - '94 Capcom was the king of fighters with SF2 and SSF2!

[ubersaurus]

Street Fighter 2 Turbo is the pinnacle of the genre. No game before or since has compared to the game in terms of balance, how easy it is to pick up, and the depth it holds within.

It is as good as it gets.

[Pantechnicon]

We've got lots of related threads going on already about this in Classic Discussions. Come on down and speak your piece!

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/search.php?searchid=366781

[8-bitNesMan]

Before this gets modlocked, I'll cast my vote in agreement with Ubersaurus. It doesn't get any better than SF II Turbo. Hail to the King, baby!

[SaturnFan]

Fighters Megamix

[ecresto]

street fighter 2 turbo by far . ive spent hundered and hundreds at the arcades back in the day .

[RadiantSvgun]

Samurai Showdown!

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I thought most big fighter fans always said that Street Fighter III: Third Strike was the best as far as balance and depth go. But I'm not a big fighter fan, so I don't know.

Last Blade--either 1 or 2 or the Neo Pocket version--is my favorite fighter, though. It takes the style of the earlier Samurai Shodown games that I loved and refines them into a sort of weapons-based fighter crack or something.


...word is bondage...

[CosmicMonkey]

Last Blade--either 1 or 2 or the Neo Pocket version--is my favorite fighter, though. It takes the style of the earlier Samurai Shodown games that I loved and refines them into a sort of weapons-based fighter crack or something.


...word is bondage...

I'm not sure I can put it any better. The Last Blade games are truly some of the finest fighters ever created.

I'm also feeling the Guilty Gears (X, XX Reloaded etc.) and Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper.

As for handhelds, we have Last Blade and SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium on the Neo Pocket. In fact, MotM is better than most arcade / home console fighting games.

[Trebuken]

Yie Ar Kung Fu with SF2 Turbo a close 2nd.

[MarioMania]

Street Fighter 2 Turbo HF

[8-bitNesMan]

The Soul Calibur series is my honorable mention. I was looking at the screenshots for part 4 in the new EGM and it looks awesome!

[Apollo]

Guily Gear XX The Midnight Carnival, followed by SF2 Turbo

Guilty Gear has, IMO, the perfect amount of depth to it, with a large cast of characters (including 3 different movesets for each!), and no two characters are play the same. I'm damn excited about XX Accent coming to the Wii...

[Policenaut]

SSF2T
SFIII 3rd Strike

[DefaultGen]

.....

[smork]

Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer!

...oh, I mean to chime in with Super SF II Turbo as well. Many, many hours of my life joyfully wasted.

[CosmicMonkey]

Funny how no one's mentioned the King of Fighters series......

Interesting to see the love for old skool Street Fighter 2 (anything up to Super X), I'm assuming everyone here is looking forward to SSF2XHDRMBBQROFL on the 360 then?

[Hwj_Chim]

Funny how no one's mentioned the King of Fighters series......

I will say it, The king of fighters. Good balance and great characters make for a great fighter. Another Great fighter one no one has mentioned is Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

[blissfulnoise]

3rd Strike. That is all.

[CosmicMonkey]

Yeah, Garou deserves a mention; a definite reason to get a Neo on the go.

So personal top 5 (in no real order):

Last Blades (1, 2 & Pocket)
Garou: MotW
Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper
Guilty Gears (X - XX Sharp Reloaded, not played Accent Core yet)
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium


Honourable Mentions:

Vampire / Darkstalkers Series
Powerstones
Virtual-ON: Operation Moongate & Oratorio Tangram
Capcom vs SNK 1 & 2
Marvel vs Capcom 1 & 2
King of Fighters ('94 - '03, XII and R-1 / R-2; none of this 3D shite)

[XYXZYZ]

I think MUGEN is really good if you compile your game with works of good quality.

[fillo300zx]

while i have respect for a lot of fighting games....

im gonna have to give this title to super smash bro's melee

while its a cartoony party game on the outside the meta-game is incredibly technical and fast paced that requires impeccable timing.

8-)

[diskoboy]

I loved SF2, back in the day. But Killer Instinct is my personal prefrence.

[mailman187666]

I've got a bunch of favorites (no particular order)

Samurai Shodown series
MK 2+deadly Alliance
I prefer Street Fighter Alpha series over 2+3
I actually liked Way of the Warrior on 3DO (although I am aware it isn't perfect).
Eternal Champions: Sega CD (goriest fighting game of all time)

[Alison DeMeyer]

Budokan The Martial Spirit (EA for C-64)

[Ed Oscuro]

Fighters Megamix
on Game.com

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Honourable Mentions:
...
Powerstones
You know, I'm sort of surprised that Capcom didn't continue that series beyond the Dreamcast. They were really onto something. I think the scramble for powerstones sort blows the pacing of the game and sometimes it seems like it would just be better without them, but they're still totally fun games. Heavy Metal GeoMatrix is cool, too, and very underrated. The Japanese version of that was online and I bet that would have been a hell of a lot of fun. It would have been a great choice to support the system link cable, too.


Eternal Champions: Sega CD (goriest fighting game of all time)
What about Time Killers? "Armless Victory!"


...word is bondage...

[MarkMan]

I have quite a few favorite fighting games... it is hard for me to pick just one...

Super Street Fighter II TURBO sticks out as a big one for me...

I also love Tekken Tag Tournament and the newer T5DR.... :(

[DreamTR]

There are some garbage games I am noticing getting mentioned.


I think Super Street Fighter II with a SPEED upgrade would be a great game, but alas, the arcade version did not allow it. It ended up being much better on Genesis and SNES.

Street Fighter II Turbo Hyper Fighting and Super Street Fighter II Turbo are two completely different games. Hyper Fighting has a lot of balance, yes, but Ken/Ryu are incredibly overpowered, and Blanka is pretty brutal as well against everyone else. This marks the first time they really nerfed Guile as well.

SSF2Turbo is an everyman's game, anyone can get into it. COunter characters all over the place. Probably the easiest Street Fighter game to get good at quickly believe it or not. ANd this is supposed to be old school!

3rd Strike is pretty good, but balance in that game? That's pure comedy. CHun Li/Ken/Yun/Urien/Makoto rule the cast, and Chun's easy mode of play makes this tiresome. Fun game, but balance wise? Not so sure about that one.

Every single fighting game has its issues. What constitutes a great, balanced game (like any of the Virtua Fighter series) does not actually equate to being a great game in the eyes of fighting game fanatics.

I would say Street Fighter Alpha 2 minus a few minor issues (Chun, Rolento customs) is probably the most balanced of the fighters IMO, as well as the most fun.

[ubersaurus]

Too bad ST has the easy mode that is O. Sagat, or the win button that is Akuma :P

[CosmicMonkey]

You know, I'm sort of surprised that Capcom didn't continue that series beyond the Dreamcast. They were really onto something......

...word is bondage...

I wish for the day Capcom release an online capable version of Power Stone. 2 - 8 (or even 16) player brawlfest with multi-level arenas scaled up to match. Imagine what they could do.....

I'd actually buy a 360 if Capcom did that.

[bangtango]

Street Fighter II Turbo Hyper Fighting has a lot of balance, yes, but Ken/Ryu are incredibly overpowered, and Blanka is pretty brutal as well against everyone else. This marks the first time they really nerfed Guile as well.

Good points. With Ken/Ryu, would you be referring to their fierce roundhouse kick that can counter just about any attack from any character in the game? I wish I had a dollar for every time I hung back as Ken or Ryu waiting for someone to attack, only to counter with the fierce roundhouse kick. I stole a lot of victories against human and computer opponents that I didn't deserve using that cheap tactic. Then wasn't it World Warrior in which both Ken and Ryu could cheap their way to victory with nonstop, button-mashing short foot sweeps?

Anyway, my favorite fighting games from a gameplay standpoint would be the 16-bit Street Fighter II games. Doesn't matter if they are on Super NES or the Genesis. The fighting game that has the characters I like the best would be Fatal Fury II. As for my surprise pick, I always liked the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat. I wasn't playing it for the blood. I don't care what anyone says nowadays about how well it has aged, I think the gameplay, music and stages are awesome.

[RadiantSvgun]

Actually, Fist of the North Star for PS2 is one of my all-time favorites. Its one of the few games where people can't turtle. I feel that Arc System Works did a much better job on it than the GGXX series.

[leicamaster]

Actually, Fist of the North Star for PS2 is one of my all-time favorites. Its one of the few games where people can't turtle. I feel that Arc System Works did a much better job on it than the GGXX series.


I love Fist of The North Star on the PS2! Its awesome!


But no doubt about it Street Fighter II is the best around! Guilty Gear is awesome too!!

[2Dskillz]

Street Fighter Alpha 3 for me will always be the best

But I think Bushido Blade needs a mention on here as well. Few games have captured real sword fighting like Bushido Blade.

[petewhitley]

But I think Bushido Blade needs a mention on here as well. Few games have captured real sword fighting like Bushido Blade.

Bushido Blade I/II are way overlooked as great fighters, probably simply because they break the mold of what we traditionally consider fighting games. Unquestionably my two favorites.

[PSerge]

Having grown up in the late 80s early 90s, I would have to say the original Street Fighter 2, is to me the best fighting game ever.. I remember being 12 and saving up for 3 months to order that game from Japan because it came out a few weeks earlier there..

I don't think any other fighting game has had the influence it did and still to some degree does.

[ubersaurus]

Good points. With Ken/Ryu, would you be referring to their fierce roundhouse kick that can counter just about any attack from any character in the game? I wish I had a dollar for every time I hung back as Ken or Ryu waiting for someone to attack, only to counter with the fierce roundhouse kick. I stole a lot of victories against human and computer opponents that I didn't deserve using that cheap tactic. Then wasn't it World Warrior in which both Ken and Ryu could cheap their way to victory with nonstop, button-mashing short foot sweeps?



I think he's referring to the fact that they have fewer bad matchups than most of the rest of the cast. Ryu's fireball is crazy fast in HF, both of them have invincibility on their shoryuken and(as I can recall) partially on their hurricane kicks, allowing them safe ways to move and attack. To top that off, they have some devastating combos, and are prime characters to abuse the CPS chain combo with. Not that they need it-I've been killed by Ken's redizzy many a time. They're not impossible to beat, but against a few characters like E. Honda, they're pretty brutal. He doesn't even have a prayer against them-using fireballs to force him to jump, and then sweeping him as he comes down because there's no tripguard in the game, equals a dead Honda.

As for Blanka, he's just plain good.

I still prefer it to Super Turbo however. I hate how tacked on supers feel in the game, and feel the character balance in HF was better(no thanks to Akuma, and other vicious characters like Ryu and O. Sagat).

[hbkprm]

capcom vs snk

[Flack]

01. Karate Champ
02. Yie-Ar Kung Fu
03. Way of the Exploding Fist
04. Mortal Kombat
05. Soul Calibur

[DreamTR]

RYu Hurricane Kick invincibility and insane throw priority (even mashing) when he ends up behind you. Ken has this same issue as well. A very poor Ryu player can Hurricane Kick all day and give pro players many issues in Hyper Fighting.

OG Sagat in Super Turbo is easy mode, but he has matchup issues with Dhalsim and Balrog, so he can be beat.

[KingCobra]

The greatest fighting game of all time?

Ohh my GOD! Is it possible to pick one or two only? I'll go with what I still play on regular basis, and I own about 40 Fighters across many systems.

2D:
Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
KoF 2003
Mark of the Wolves
Capcom vs SNK Pro

3D:
Tekken 5(kinda new, but stll)
VF4 Evo

[SMB]

no no no you'r all wrong!

Mortal Kombat Trilogy is fantastic

[blissfulnoise]

I'd be curious to hear some more discourse on Chun-Li's "easy mode" on Third Strike. Her most viable super art (Houyoku Sen) is a wiffers dream with a SUPER easy parry in the last attack that easily sets up a counter super combo.

She doesn't have that much air dominance (her jumping HK not withstanding) and outside of a few tricky cross-overs doesn't have many unpredictiable attacks.

And while Ken/Chun-Li/Yun are normally the characters you see picked by championship level players; I play online with great success with Dudley. I've shut down more Ken/Chun-Li/Ryu than I care to count. He certainly plays well enough to get into upper eschelon of 3rd Strike characters.

[FoxyGamer]

See, I like Mark of the Wolves, Project Justice, and Samurai Showdown II

[ubersaurus]

I'd be curious to hear some more discourse on Chun-Li's "easy mode" on Third Strike. Her most viable super art (Houyoku Sen) is a wiffers dream with a SUPER easy parry in the last attack that easily sets up a counter super combo.

She doesn't have that much air dominance (her jumping HK not withstanding) and outside of a few tricky cross-overs doesn't have many unpredictiable attacks.

And while Ken/Chun-Li/Yun are normally the characters you see picked by championship level players; I play online with great success with Dudley. I've shut down more Ken/Chun-Li/Ryu than I care to count. He certainly plays well enough to get into upper eschelon of 3rd Strike characters.


Chun's stand fierce has ridiculous priority and high speed, for one. As for her super, the kicks one is the best...the way it's usually done is she aims for a low forward(I think) kick, which is a good comboable poke...if it connects, you have enough time to do her super motion and pull it off before the other person recovers or you miss the window. If it doesn't hit or they block, no biggy. The fact it does a shitload of damage is just icing on a cake. The only reason anyone does the super outside of that is if they can chip you to death and think you won't parry.

Shit, Chun Li has been the undisputed best character in the game since it came out. Yun, Ken, Urien, and Makoto are all pretty dangerous, but Chun is just braindead. Those other guys you at least have to know some other stuff.

[Chuplayer]

#1 is Mark of the Wolves
#2 is King of Fighters 98
#3 is the entire Virtua Fighter series VF2 and up. Possibly not VF5, but that's only because I haven't played that one yet.

[Colombian Milk & Cookies]

There are only two games that matter.

Dark Stalkers

Sonic Battle

[AMG]

2D:

Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Mortal Kombat 2

3D:

Tekken 3
Soul Calibur

[Tron 2.0]

1.SFII Turbo
2.Fatal Fury Special
3.Samurai Shodown 2
4.Vampire Savior
5.KOF 98

[DreamTR]

blissfulnoise: Online and Offline play for 3rd Strike are completely different. Chun-Li requires spacing and timing which just isn't there online. The ability to parry and space and play foot games does not exist during XBOX Live play. Chun Li does a hell of a lot of damage, and can combo into Super Art II off of almost anything. Low Forward + Super = 40/50%? And she gets two of them? Back + Fierce anyone? After all these years, you know it's coming, but they are still very simplistic for newbies to pick up.

Dudley is very strong, but he's also very combo oriented, and gimmicky. He's quite a popular/good online character, but offline you would be surprised as to how poorly people play that are accustomed to "winning" online.

[blissfulnoise]

I play a good deal offline myself, but mostly among friends who play at various skill levels and I do very well. Maybe I should check out my area for a real tournament and see how I stack up.

And from watching Dudley videos from various touraments, I don't see a lot of his chain combos employed. A lot of low poking with an anti-air stance. Corner pressure not withstanding, a good Dudley player appears to play more patient than just rushing and dropping standing combos.

His low HK -> Dash Uppercut -> Corkscrew Blow is a thing of beauty.

[DreamTR]

blissful: I've been playing in cross country SF tourneys for years myself...

What I mean by combos is the starter. Standing RH into EX Machine Gun Blow into INSERT JUGGLE HERE.

[blissfulnoise]

3rd Strike at CGE. Stat!

[bangtango]

RYu Hurricane Kick invincibility and insane throw priority (even mashing) when he ends up behind you. Ken has this same issue as well. A very poor Ryu player can Hurricane Kick all day and give pro players many issues in Hyper Fighting.

The throw priority I'm aware of but I never knew about the Hurricane Kick invincibility. I almost never use it in Hyper Fighting. I mostly stick with fireballs and use a defensive strategy relying on lots of counter attacks. I'll have to keep that in mind, though, the next time I actually play someone. It has been forever since I played a human opponent. I always used Ken, Ryu and Vega in Hyper Fighting. Pretty safe choices. For me, they were just the most comfortable to use and the easiest to learn.

[DreamTR]

bangtango: Ryu Hurricane Kick in Hyper Fighting= silly good. Goes through fireballs on wake-up. Has crazy priority. It's nasty.

Blissfulnoise: You going to have a PS2 and joysticks and all that crap setup somewhere? =P

[blissfulnoise]

Blissfulnoise: You going to have a PS2 and joysticks and all that crap setup somewhere? =P

If we could get something set up, I'm sure I could. I'd rather play the xbox (via the 360) version with the Hori DOA stick. It's my current favorite fighting stick. However, the "backwards compatibility" does suffer some definate lag.

Will there be dedicated game stations with PS2/Xbox/360 set up at the show? I could bring my hardware if so.

[ProgrammingAce]

I have to toss it up to an obscure SuperFami title, Gundam Wing: Endless Duel. I got hooked on it back when SNES emulators still sucked, i ended up importing a SFC just to play it on real hardware. I still pull it out at parties every few months.

[DreamTR]

Blissful: I've never seen lag on it unless you don't have your TV set up to the native resolution of the game for Xbox 360. Though I have to say playing it on 360 makes it impossible for anyone to have good arcade sticks that are homemade since no one really made 360 joysticks for that system besides Hori.

I prefer playing on a stand up arcade cabinet myself. The Xbox version is not the same, and most tournaments these days are on the PS2 version, so everything is one big mess these days.

[ubersaurus]

Blissful: I've never seen lag on it unless you don't have your TV set up to the native resolution of the game for Xbox 360. Though I have to say playing it on 360 makes it impossible for anyone to have good arcade sticks that are homemade since no one really made 360 joysticks for that system besides Hori.

I prefer playing on a stand up arcade cabinet myself. The Xbox version is not the same, and most tournaments these days are on the PS2 version, so everything is one big mess these days.

Best of 7 in Hyper Fighting for champion of the universe

[DreamTR]

ubersaurus: CGE champ?

[Nirvana]

Super Street Fighter II is absolutely incredible. It got me into fighting games.

Although it's hard whether to pick that or Street Fighter Alpha 3...I mean, it had Karin!

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is my favorite 3D fighter. Haven't played 5 yet.

[ubersaurus]

ubersaurus: CGE champ?

If there's a machine, I'm down. I'm pretty rusty, and haven't played anybody REALLY good at the game around here in at least a year, but we'll see how it goes!