Fighting games have been around for a long time since the 1980s but it wasn't until a sequel to an original fighter by Capcom came out did fighting games start becoming a genre to be looking forward to. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior originally came out in arcades back in 1991 and it was a major overhaul from fighters before it. This was the first time the joystick was introduced with the eight direction movement and the six attack button setup was made as well. For a game back in 1991, the graphics were unbelievable. Also, the two characters that would become "The Icon of Capcom" and the "First Lady of Capcom" (Ryu and Chun-li) were introduced to the world. I don't know if you guys know this but the first icon of Capcom or should I say mascot was Captain Commando (Take the first three letters of both parts of his name and put them together and what do you get?). However, he hardly has a game out. Nevertheless, the figther has improved over the years buy it all started with Street Figther II: The World Warrior.
After Street Fighter II, there came numerous ports of the game and versions such as adding the hyper combo, more characters, stringing combos, and other fighting features. Even former Capcom employees would quit and eventually become SNK and make more fighters including the infamous King of Fighters Series. However, somewhere down the line, fighters started to become stagnant and a fighter that has been worth our while has been denied for many years. The only fighters coming out were either a Mortal Kombat or a Soul Calibur and they are good fighters but the spark, the interest, the charisma fighting games had back in the day were pretty non-existant. Because of this, Midway strayed away from fighters knowing their Mortal Kombat franchise wasn't making much anymore. Why their last game wasn't even that wanted and it was a dream match against DC Comics characters. Soul Calibur needed a new boost so they took a new direction making a "Dynasty Warriors"-type game which got a low rating actually. It would seem fighters would become obsolete until the year of 2009 came around. It took the innovator of the fighter, Capcom themselves, to bring fighters back on a high pedestal in the video gaming community.
Just back in February of 2009, a sequel of epic proportions has finally been given to the masses. Street Fighter IV was an unbelievable smash hit with all the big improvements from the previous games as well as the new directions they implemented while still keeping the old style feel. Veterans and newbies alike would flock to the game with open arms just like Journey and play the games until their thumbs bled for days. There are numerous things I like about Street Fighter IV. First would be the new 3D characters and the 3D backgrounds plus all the flashiness. Next would be the new moves as well as the all around balance the game had. The new focus move was an added surprise since it was a kind of move that was kind of unblockable and protected you from most hits. However, they also provided moves that could break the shield properties of these focus moves. The next thing I truly loved was the inclusion of Alpha characters. I love playing as Dan Hibiki and the reason why I play as him is because Capcom made him as a joke character making fun of SNK but everyone that loves to play as him destroys everyone with him. It is like the choice character if you want to humiliate people because he doesn't have distance on his fireball, his uppercut has no range, yet he has a three-combo air kick that just links well with combos. More than half of his moves are taunts you know. Why he even has a taunt super combo. Finally, was this fighter brought back difficulty in a fighting game for me. I had a troublesome time beating Seth. A lot of people called him cheap but I call it "how a lot of people online fight" so getting used to cheap tactics is always a good thing. With the content, the training, the score attack, the survival mode, the online gameplay, and everything else in between, this was the first solid fighter in a long time. Also, the last Street Fighter was back in 1997 when Street Fighter III came out.
If one fighter wasn't good enough, another fighter was just around the corner. Arc System Works, the creative minds of the Guilty Gear Universe, had something in store for the fighting community when BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was unleashed among the American masses back in June. Now this was the game that supposedly retired the Guilty Gear Universe since Guilty Gear 2: Overture hit shelves last year and did lackluster on their sales. It was time to retire the series because there wasn't any real improvement. However, this new fighter introduced a new story, new character, new backgrounds, and new music which rocks my socks off. Also, the developers went back to a four-button fighting system which was introduced by SNK years ago with the Samurai Shodown Series. What a fun game this has turned out to be and there is so much to do as well. This game has online play, arcade mode, story mode, and score attack mode and unlike other fighters, this game has a major picture gallery worth viewing too. Capcom should have done that but it's okay they didn't. Nevertheless, the anime style with the fusion rock and concert classical was just an excellent formula and it was perfect in the very beginning. Now I want to know how the sequel will be. I heard they'll keep the same characters but they are adding even more. What more can they do to this game to make it uber-awesome?
Those so far are the big games of the year with even more fighters coming out SNK make The King of Fighters XII which had brand new sprites and brand new moves which actually seemed to piss off the critics more than anything else but they can all cry me a river. Next would be the online downloads of the HD remix of Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. Now that was awesome and actually got reviews worth noting. Also, Tekken 6 was released to the masses as well. It seems that there won't be another good fighter for this year. WAIT A MINUTE...
After a fear that this game would not be ported to the United States because of this being a "license nightmare" Capcom has done the impossible and Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (American Name Actually) will be here! I got the Japanese port and maybe I should play it and explain it for you all just to see how awesome the game really is. Nevertheless, Americans are getting fan service with new fighters and more modes. Yay! Anyways, that is it for now, feel free to check out the other fighters coming out on other websites. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
W.W.A.D. (What Would Aslan Do?) Alpha OUT!
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