Killer Instinct for Xbox One

          So long story short, I'm a game developer that has never really got into fighting games. I'm played the smashes, that 3D tom and jerry fighter, and playstation all stars. The simple mechanics made me enjoy them. I've attempted Mortal Kombat and Street fighter, but the mechanics never clicked with me. Now I'm stuck with a problem here: I'm making a fighting game!

        Help me out guys! Why do you enjoy these overly complex games?!?!

A good fighting game is complex and easy to pick up. Also have personality with the style of the game. make that shit competitive too. If this makes sense.

We like them because they are overly complex. A good fighting game is like a game of chess.

Also fighting games are not for everyone that includes game developers and game players.

Depends I guess... A game like Street Fighter is very complex, balanced but hard to compete online unless you are really dedicated...

VS

A game like Super Smash Bros is complex (but not nearly as much as SF) but easy to pick up and play for anyone and its really fun and online isn't very competitive

The interesting thing is obviously... Even though SF is a "true" fighting game, I believe Smash Bros has a bigger fanbase just because its so much more fun for a lot more people

It's a very simple formula: Simple and fun combo system, smooth gameplay and unique character design.

I think that's why, even though the Neatherrealms games (Mortal Kombat and Injustice) are enjoyable enough they don't hold their own against Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Capcom, King of Fighters, Guilty Gear, or BlazBlue. They have the combo system right, but they're certainly missing the smooth gameplay and unique character design.

Also, A gimmick doesn't hurt (ie, parry system, focus attack, X-Ray, burst system, combo breaker etc).

And "overly complex" isn't the case with fighting games. What you call overly complex is just depth. Fighting games are naturally very shallow: it's just P1 vs P2 (possibly more in a arena style game), but the depth is needed to seperate the good players from the average; aand to stop players from getting bored of the game quickly by offering a learning curve and a challenge for the player to overcome. Fighting games, especially at a higher level get very technical, but you might not have expected it because of its p1 vs p2 premise.  The frame data, spacing, mind-games, blocking mix-ups, parrying, performing difficult combos, knowing when to do what, etc (pretty much everything that could be considered complex) is what makes the fighters skill based games. And why it's so satisfying to go 1 v1 against someone else.

So most of you guys are saying that the extreme difficulty of the mechanics themselves is a good thing? To me they're in the same boat as qwop.

the fighting

No, they're saying a simple mechanic that is also complex. The phrase 'Easy to pick up but hard to master' reflects that. Now you played smash right and you notice how easy it was to get into. Then you seen the level of skill those smash players have in tournaments right and how hard it is to get to that level.  

The mechanics is what makes fighting games alienting; But it doesn't have to be. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat (the new ones) are as simple as you can get. It may seem to be extremely difficult to someone who doesn't play a lot of fighters - or maybe the genre isn't for you. QWOP is purposely made so you look like an idiot when you play it- even when you understand it, it's still just a joke; when you get fighting games, it becomes an art (watch any high level match).

I'll say it again. Fighting games are very alienting. There are times when the mechanics are overdone. In King of Fighters for example, there's a running option as well as a dash, there's a hop option as well as a jump, and then there's a small hop option to go with that- ugh - it just becomes too much; and I haven't even mentioned the ridiculous combo system. (Even still, KOF 13 is still one of the best fighters out there). There's something to be said about simplicity - just look at DiveKick; it's just two buttons and it's still a viable fighter.

The learning curves don't have to be all that extreme. You can pick up Street Fighter without spending years in training mode, you can pick up DiveKick in seconds, and you can master awesome combos in Mortal Kombat in minutes. There's no mechanic too complex to understand in a fighter, it just depends on how much time you're willing to put in the game.

That's why I have fun with smash.

"Serious" fighters though like street fighter are hard to pick up.