2D Fighting Games

[GhostontheNet]

I've been wondering, is there anyone here who likes 2D fighting games? When I first got into video games about 13 years ago, games like Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II were all the rage, and you could find them in any arcade and on almost everyone's Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo. Of course, ever since the release of Tekken and Virtua Figher alongside a new era of 3D gaming, the popularity of 2D fighting games has declined. Still, companies like Capcom and SNK have continued to release a number of excellent 2D fighting games over the years. Which ones do you like? My personal favorites are Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Darkstalkers: Vampire Savior, Marvel vs. Capcom, Capcom vs. SNK II, and Samurai Showdown II. Also, who are your favorite characters to play as and why?

[HiddenWoodchuck]

I love 2D fighters! Street Fighter was the first one I got into at the arcades, before buying it on the Super Nintendo. I used to play it all the time as a kid. You listed some of the best games, but I gotta mention King of Fighters and Guilty Gear. I love those games. The only game I had a favorite in was Street Fighter 2. I used Blanka all the time... kinda because I spammed some of his cheap moves on my friends a lot, but truthfully I liked playing with several characters. I used Ryu and Chun-li a lot also. Heck, I even have Street Fighter on my cell phone... the same one I used to play on the SNES. I play it sometimes on lunch break at work... haha.

[GhostontheNet]

I love 2D fighters! Street Fighter was the first one I got into at the arcades, before buying it on the Super Nintendo. I used to play it all the time as a kid. You listed some of the best games, but I gotta mention King of Fighters and Guilty Gear. I love those games. The only game I had a favorite in was Street Fighter 2. I used Blanka all the time... kinda because I spammed some of his cheap moves on my friends a lot, but truthfully I liked playing with several characters. I used Ryu and Chun-li a lot also. Heck, I even have Street Fighter on my cell phone... the same one I used to play on the SNES. I play it sometimes on lunch break at work... haha.

I have Guilty Gear X2 on my Xbox, although I haven't played it in a while. I never had much direct contact with King Of The Fighters machines, and by the time I was able to get it on one of my home systems, Capcom Vs. SNK 2 had already been released so I could just play with the best of both worlds. Come to think of it, I did have King Of The Fighters 95 on the Gameboy, where I learned to be frighteningly effective with Nakoruru, who was one of the hidden characters.

As to Blanka and Street Fighter 2, I know what you mean. A lot of people like to play as Blanka for the electric shock. Myself, I'm a monster with sweet and innocent looking Chun-Li. Ever since a video game magazine informed me that you can charge her fireball or spinning bird kick while you fall down or while you're in the air, I've just been a total menace with her. Her aerial medium kick has good range and priority and can launch combos that continue on the ground. To make matters worse, you can surprise the opponent by jumping back and then pivoting off the wall for a prime strike. She's quick and agile, she's got great throws, and the popular thousand-kick move comes in handy when you're in close and your opponent least expects it.

[everdred12a]

My favorite 2d fighter is Capcom vs. SNK 2. My best fighter is Iori, primarily due to the fact that his moves are easily chainable, and the range and speed on his crouching fierce kick.

[GrubbTheFragger]

Guilty Gear owns my soul. Such a great game

[Kkun]

I adore a good 2D fighter. I believe it is a soon to be lost art form that needs to stick around. :| Sometime in late 2004, I went through a 2D fighter phase and began snatching up as many as were available on my PS2. I grabbed Guilty Gear X2, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (which had Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike on it), Marvel vs Capcom 2, and a couple of others.

My favorite is Guilty Gear X2 with Street Fighter III being a close second. My favorite characters in GGX2 are Chipp Zanuff (easily chainable, super fast), Millia Rage (fast, hits hard, combos easily), and Jam Kuradoberi (fast, and combos exceptionally well, difficult to play with but worth the effort to learn how).

My favorite Street Fighter III characters will always be Ken and Chun-Li. I've been playing with Ken since I was a wee lad playing Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition on my Sega Genesis and Chun-Li because...well, Chun-Li is awesome.

[GrubbTheFragger]

My favorite Street Fighter III characters will always be Ken and Chun-Li. I've been playing with Ken since I was a wee lad playing Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition on my Sega Genesis and Chun-Li because...well, Chun-Li is awesome.

Ah i know that feeling Ken is teh win.

[everdred12a]

and Chun-Li because...well, Chun-Li has big boobs.

>>Fix'd ;p

[Fish and Chips]

I picked up a copy of Guilty Gear X2 cheap a couple weeks ago. If I can get my dusty Xbox working properly, I'll be able to try it out tonight and report back to all of you tomorrow.

In the meantime, I enjoy Melty Blood (I'm decent as Nrvnqsr Chaos), though I doubt anyone else here aside from Nate and Ingemar has heard of it.

[GhostontheNet]

I believe it is a soon to be lost art form that needs to stick around.

We'll see. The death of 2D fighting games has been predicted for a long time, but I think this may be unjustifiably so. Companies like Capcom and SNK know that 2D fighters have a small but fanatical audience that can be tapped for quick gain. And while its well known that Street Fighter IV will be made in 3D rather than in sprites, its fighting system will still be basically 2D. Perhaps following Street Fighter IV, a new era of 2D fighting games built with 3D technology (much like the classic Rival Schools series) will follow.

My favorite 2d fighter is Capcom vs. SNK 2. My best fighter is Iori, primarily due to the fact that his moves are easily chainable, and the range and speed on his crouching fierce kick.

In Capcom Vs. SNK 2 my best and favorite character is Nakoruru because she's incredibly versatile. Her specials are designed to take her all over the map and penetrate the opponent's defenses to zero in on their weak spots. Her moves all have sweet geometric angles rarely seen in fighting games, and while her range in short its still really no sweat to get in that close and nail them with quick kicks and sword slashes. To top it off, you can throw the opponenent and then use their getup time to use her excellent healing prayer supermove.

My favorite Street Fighter III characters will always be Ken and Chun-Li. I've been playing with Ken since I was a wee lad playing Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition on my Sega Genesis and Chun-Li because...well, Chun-Li is awesome.

The coolest part of Street Fighter III was the way they put the street back in the fighting. The way they gave the game a Hip-Hop rhythm and the characters unconventional geometries on their moves gave fights the feel of funky dancing. For me, Chun-Li was the worse for the wear because the subtle contortions of her traditional moves made it much more difficult to use her effectively. In Street Fighter III my favorite chacter is Ibuki because she's quick, agile, and is good at penetrating through defenses. Her neckbreaker move has good range and conveniently glides right under most projectiles and upper to middle range attacks, while her aerial projectile keeps your opponent's offense in check. Her double/triple kick special is good for quick strikes, and her supermoves have that "oh crap! Now I'm in for it!" quality.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I've played Melty Blood!

I used to be a maaaaaajor Mortal Kombat fan. Kabal was a favorite of mine.

[ShiroiHikari]

I've heard of Melty Blood but have never played it. Honestly, the name turns me off, haha.

I also am a big Guilty Gear X2 fan. EX Ky for the win.

[HiddenWoodchuck]

I played Melty Blood for the first time not many weeks ago :p it is pretty fun. I heard something about a new Melty Blood game coming out at some point? I think this year... unless I am thinking about something else. Dunno.

I'm playing Guilty Gear Isuka some right now. Eternal Champions and Streets of Rage 3 on the Genesis just came to mind. Those were fun too.

[GhostontheNet]

I used to be a maaaaaajor Mortal Kombat fan. Kabal was a favorite of mine.

Yeah, for many years I was quite the Mortal Kombat fan too. For all the efforts of Senator Lieberman to keep that game away from me, much of my time in Elementary and Middle school was spent dishing out macabre demises to my unfortunate adversaries. I was pretty good with Kitana, Mortal Kombat's femme fatale heroine myself. Still, as I got older and learned about real macabre violence like the Rwandan massacre, playing it left a bitter taste in my mouth because I didn't like the side of me it could bring out.

[GhostontheNet]

I'm playing Guilty Gear Isuka some right now. Eternal Champions and Streets of Rage 3 on the Genesis just came to mind. Those were fun too.

Streets Of Rage and games like that aren't usually considered 2D Fighting games as much as they are 2D Brawlers or Beat-Em-Ups, but those are cool too so I'll allow talk about them in this thread. Eternal Champtions was one of the most brilliant but underrated 2D fighters on the Sega Genesis because people weren't used to the charge-back, forward, punch/kick or the press all three punch/kick buttons for specials. Things were only made worse by the fact that the AI was programmed to cheat and use specials when its energy was depleted. But the graphics and the fighting system were both very well-done to those that knew how they worked. I was a menace with Shadow Yamoto in Eternal Champions, especially with her tripple kick and invincibility cloak moves.

[HiddenWoodchuck]

Ah, yeah, I wasn't sure if I should mention Streets of Rage, but I decided to sneak it in my post anyway. :p I just have such fond memories of that game... bless you for allowing me to speak of other 2D related games. Life was pretty good back when I was playing those games. I want to be a kid with no worries and my 2D fighters/brawlers again :p

I'm gonna download Eternal Champions for the Wii soon... I just noticed they have it on the virtual console!

[jon_jinn]

Street Fighter all the way man.

[Fish and Chips]

2D fighters is a peculiar genre. I'm terrible at them and all but guaranteed to lose against any human opponent, and yet I find them enjoyable. I suppose that's a suitable testament to how fun they are.

Guilty Gear X2 is pretty awesome, has a lot of charisma. Haven't played (or seen) every character, but I like who I've been introduced to so far. Slayer is perhaps my favorite character (personality-wise), although hardly my best. I'm actually suprisingly decent with...Bridget. Of all people.

Yeah, I'm a button masher. But I'm working to correct this fellas, don't leave me out in the cold.

[Kkun]

[quote="everdred12a (post: 1211242)"]>>Fix'd ]

Hey, I didn't say HOW she was awesome, I just said she IS awesome. ; )

[jaems-kun]

and Chun-Li because...well, Chun-Li has excellent child birthing hips.

>> double fixed.

I liked melty blood, because for whatever reason, when I played it, I was winning.

I've always liked character based fighting games, like clay fighters and mugen.

[Angel Tifa]

I actually grew up on 2D fighting video games. I even started playing them before 3D graphics were even thought of :p.

Some of my favorites are Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Guilty Gear. My favorite characters I remember to play as were Chun-li, Cammy, Dee-Jay, Felicia, Dimitri, Lord Raptor, I-no, Axl Low, and Baiken.

[GhostontheNet]

2D fighters is a peculiar genre. I'm terrible at them and all but guaranteed to lose against any human opponent, and yet I find them enjoyable. I suppose that's a suitable testament to how fun they are.

Guilty Gear X2 is pretty awesome, has a lot of charisma. Haven't played (or seen) every character, but I like who I've been introduced to so far. Slayer is perhaps my favorite character (personality-wise), although hardly my best. I'm actually suprisingly decent with...Bridget. Of all people.

Yeah, I'm a button masher. But I'm working to correct this fellas, don't leave me out in the cold.

I think I'll give some tips on how to play 2D fighters.

1. First of all, unlike 3D fighting games, mashing can actually be one of the worst things you can do in a 2D fighter because the system is in part built to discourage it. Contrary to the old proverb "the best defense is a good offense", in 2D fighting games it would be more accurate to say "the best offense is a good defense". In 2D fighters, blocking is usually done by pressing and holding the joystick away from your opponent as they strike. You can remember to press it by mentally linking "Ah! Get away from me!" with pushing the joystick away from your adversary. Any move that you block leaves them open for a counterstrike of your own. Mashing, meanwhile, encourages you to leave the joystick in the forward direction and hence makes it difficult to block moves that come your way.

2. Many battles in 2D fighters are won or lost depending on how well you use the air to your advantage. 3D fighting games tend to more or less take place on a square horizontal field where players mostly stay attached to the ground. Jumping and projectiles are mostly discouraged, and fights mostly boil down to walking up to your opponent within an optimum strike zone while staying out of his own optimum strike zone. In contrast, 2D fighting games tend to equip each character with a number of options that allow a player to ward off attempts by their opponent to walk up and beat them down at at least a medium range. Therefore, one of the best ways to close the gap between you and another player is to jump at them. To make matters sweeter, many characters have good moves in the air that will land a blow 75%]really[/i] vulnerable.

Even games that only use four buttons rather than six still use this basic system, condensing the function of the Medium attacks into the weak and strong attack buttons.

4. As esoteric as they may seem, most combos basically boil down to the progression from weaker moves to stronger moves. The basic idea is to break through your opponent's defenses to hit them with a chain of moves that increase in ferocity.

[Kkun]

Ghost, I think everything you said is accurate with the exception of the theory about the best offense being a good defense. That works for most 2D fighters excluding Guilty Gear and a few others. If you try to stay on the defensive in Guilty Gear, for instance, you'll lose your tension gauge and that is bad. Very bad.

[Haruhiko]

I play MUGEN with several Street Fighter characters in it, if that counts as anything.

I really do enjoy 2D fighters, but I don't own a single one to my name, despite the collection I've got. Sakura was always my favorite in Alpha 2 while I borrowed it, and Ken was great in SF VS X-Men.

So there ya go.

Anyone else just a little dissapointed SFIV is gonna be done with 3D visuals? I don't know, it just feels like its gonna lose something in the transition. We'll see, though.

[GrubbTheFragger]

I play MUGEN with several Street Fighter characters in it, if that counts as anything.

I really do enjoy 2D fighters, but I don't own a single one to my name, despite the collection I've got. Sakura was always my favorite in Alpha 2 while I borrowed it, and Ken was great in SF VS X-Men.

So there ya go.

Anyone else just a little dissapointed SFIV is gonna be done with 3D visuals? I don't know, it just feels like its gonna lose something in the transition. We'll see, though.

Street fighter 4 is going with cell shading i beleave. and i still think it looks really good. Very rarly do "3d" games get the same intensity as a 2d game. I mean Guilty gear is waaay more intense than soul caliber (which still rules the 3d fighting part of me) but throw a soul cali vet into a GG match and they are in trouble so heres hoping SFIV works well and keeps the intensity.

[SnoringFrog]

I lvoe 2-d fighters, and am very much looking forwards to the new KoF games that are supposed to come out some time in the future. ((If I remember correctly, KoF XIII and a rerelease oh KoF '96))

Street Fighter 2 got me started on them, since then I've gotten Marvel vs. Capcom 2, KoF 99, Guilty Gear X and X2, Samurai Showdown, Shaq-fu, and some others I think I'm forgetting.

I can barely play SF2 anymore, being now too GG minded and disappointed at the lack of a dash, but when I do I use Ryu, Guile or Chun-li most often. For SF@ Turbo, I stick mainly w/ Ryu, or occasionally Chun-li even if I can't ever pull off her super.

For Samurai Showdown, I own w/ Ukyo most times espeically once I mastered activating his swoop slawwow slash in mid-rear-dash, and I've always tried to get more efficient w/ Galford and Haomaru ((sp?)). I'm decent w/ Charlotte and Jubei as well. Although, with Charlotte I really just pummel my opponent w/ a neverending barrage, which is entirely different from my normal style in SS.

For KoF 99, I use K, Benimaru and King primarily, and I like to use Mary and Kyo clone #2 as well. I also started getting better w/ Whip because I started liking bringer her on for a striker. In KoF, I like to be patient and guard/dodge alot, and then try to come in after one hit w/ an unrelenting offense to bring into a super special.

Haven't played GGX much, but in X2 I use Ky and Chip the most. I grew proficient w/ Sol after a particular mission, and I'm learning to use Faust as well. After a little refreshing, I can use Zappa and Eddie/Zato fairly well too.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: I use Akuma, Guile, Charlie, Sakura, Hayato, Spider-man, Jim, Amingo, Capt. America and Psylocke. I also got a little better w/ Megaman to shut down my friends who use Cable's gun very cheaply.

Shaq-fu is...funny. A fighting game, w/ Shaq in it...just funny, but still fun and moderately challenging.

[KagayakiWashi]

2D fighters are some of my favorites, especially King of Fighters cause they have such great character designs. I hate the bosses though....SNK too cheap.
I have KOF 00-03, XII, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Capcom Vs. SNK 2, Capcom Vs. SNK, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, and Fatal Fury Battle Archives 1.
My favorite is probably King of Fighters XII because the system seems to be so well done, it's a KoF with graphics that are actually good, and it's got a mess load of characters (but no Joe Higashi )
Generally in King of Fighters games I like Kyo, Mary, Athena, Kensou, Terry, Tizoc, Iori, Maylin (is that her? the girl with all the weapons?), and Ralf. Haomoru is one of my other favorite SNK characters.
In Street Fighter, Akuma's always my favorite, especially with the shun goku satsu.
In Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, though, you just can't get better than Jin Saotome. He's always been one of my favorites, and it's a shame you don't see him in more games.

[WrestlingOtaku]

I would probably enjoy Guilty Gear XX if I could just beat that stupid I-No. I have yet to win a match against her, or get her under 50% for that matter, no matter what character I use. It's really annoying. Other than that, it is a terrific game.

Favorite 2-D fighter of all time though? Marvel vs. Capcom 2 baby!

[TriezGamer]

Count me in as a Melty Blood fan -- I've been playing it since before the release of Re-act. If anyone is interested in a match at some point and has either MBR:FT or MB:ACv2 for the PC, both have 3rd party patches that enable network play.

[Kkun]

[quote="WrestlingOtaku (post: 1220094)"]I would probably enjoy Guilty Gear XX if I could just beat that stupid I-No. I have yet to win a match against her, or get her under 50%]


Let me say this about I-no. I know this seems kind of common sense, but it's one that takes a few people a while to figure out. The biggest barrier to doing damage to her is that she can constantly get a Perfect Defense up because she's constantly attacking and accruing Tension. The trick to beating her to is to keep up a constant barrage of quick attacks (via fast Chain Combos) to whittle down her Tension. Once she has no Tension left, you have to be even faster in dealing with her before she can begin to accrue it again. If you can knock her Tension down to 0 or close to 0 and then hit her with an Overdrive skill, she'll take a ton of damage even on the harder difficulties like Maniac. Really, beating her is just a matter of getting to the point where you aren't wasting any moves. You have to be able to keep a continuous flow of forward progress up where damage is concerned. It's just practice.