Fighting Games (One-on-one)

[D-Man]

This is, by far, my all time video game genre. Granted, I'm older than many of you, so most might have missed the arcade fighting game boom of the mid to late 1990's. If you're not familiar, I'm referring to the era of games such as Street Fighter, Tekken and Mortal Kombat. An era when you couldn't even walk through an arcade without having to cut through a line/mob of people gathered around a fighting game and mesmerized by someone who racked up 50+ wins (I know... you're all saying, "What the heck are wins in a video game??)

I used to neglect my friends and drive to the "Fun 'N' Games" arcade in the Willowbrook Mall of Wayne, NJ at least 5 or 6 times per week just to play these games. There was no better feeling than having dozens of people gather around my Marvel vs. Capcom machine and watch as I racked up (a personal record) 84 wins in a row. I payed 50 cents for 4 1/2 hours of gameplay. Where else can you do something like that in an arcade?? I would buy strategy guides and memorize all of the button combinations and sequences required to pull off the most complicated and difficult moves in these games such as Strider's 18-hit combo in Marvel vs. Capcom, King's "Rolling Death Cradle" in Tekken 3, or Orchid's 53-hit Ultra Combo in Killer Instinct. This gaming genre was a phenomenon, in my opinion, and I truly miss the competition.

The funny thing is that many gamers forget about other diamonds in the rough that came out during that era. Most focus on big names such as the Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, or Killer Instinct series'. But do you guys remember these gems?

Primal Rage

A fighting game that involved prehistoric, fiction and non-fictional animals. It has special moves very similar to that of your typical Street Fighter game but it also tried to piggyback onto Mortal Kombat's trend of fatalities!

Darkstalkers

Honestly, I have no idea where these characters originated. Probably comic books or something. But this took on every aspect of your typical Street Fighter game, in its most simplistic form.

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

A cheesy, Neo-Geo version of fighting games. It had some cool characters and smooth gameplay but was obviously a direct, Street Fighter knock-off.

Samurai Showdown

Back then, Neo-Geo games were more known for their graphical enhancements to gaming than their gameplay. This game was no different. It had horrific gameplay and was difficult to play throughout but was visually stunning, as compared to its rival games.

Besides these old diamonds in the rough, do you guys have any that stick out in your mind? (Remember, I'm only referring to ARCADE games and not ones you've played on Playstation, XBox, and more modern platforms like them!)

Do you have any fond memories of playing these games in the arcades? (Once again, NOT at home or on your Xbox and stuff.)

 

[Dagger Dias]

I too remember the days of one-on-one fighting games dominating the arcade scene. It wasn't just arcades though, they would be at places like restaurants, bowling alleys, and movie theaters too. A fond memory of mine that sticks out is when I was at Pizza Hut once back in grade school and a long line of kids kept trying to defeat me in Street Fighter 2, but I won against over a dozen of them as E-Honda with the Hundred Hand Slap. I could have stayed there all day playing, but my parents made me leave after a while. Things only got better when Street Fighter 2 Turbo came out, because then I could use the same move and corner people with it since he could move while using it.

Then there was Tekken 3 at the bowling alley, back when I was in a bowling league. Every week after our games ended, I would stop by the arcade machines to play a couple of rounds of Tekken 3. They also had one called Police Trainer, where you shot targets and stuff, but that wasn't a fighting game. I recall having seen all of the titles D-Man mentioned at least once, but the only one I really played much was King of Fighters. Terry Bogard was my best in that game and I beat it a few times as him. It was nowhere near as good as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat though, those two series will always be the true Kings of Fighters (pun intended).... and most other fighting games/series can thank those two for paving the way.