Simple thread to talk about fighting game's.

We get a handful of fighters released every year and unless your one of those tournament fighter guys, most of us only pick one or two to invest our time in. So the question is how do you go about choosing that fighter?

What are the most important features of a good fighter in your opinion ?

What about fighters turn you off?

Be honet with yourself and be specific ( Dont just say good gameplay)

I like Smash Bros over everything in terms of fighting games so I guess for me, it will have to be, easy enough to get into for noobs while having enough mechanics so that the pros dont feel like their hard work is put into nothing when playing 1v1

I forgot to answer. Heres a couple.

Good character design is a must for me. I cannot get into BlazBlu for the life of me. Character design and generic anime personalities are terrible.

Combo heavy fighters blow. Tekken has taken this route and it has become worst because it.

The game HAS to be accessible. It needs to be something people with no experience in the game can pick up and immediately have fun with it. In the last gen, Mortal Kombat was probably the best game on that regard, followed by Street Fighter 4. Marvel vs. Capcom is somewhat accessible, but all that speed can alienate noobs in my experience.

SF4? You think so? Input window is a bitch. That is one thing ill give to Arc System fighters, very lax on input windows.

Dead Or Alive is my game. Easy to play but hard to master.

The following criteria are what's most important to me:

1) Character balance -- some fighters will, invariably, be stronger than others, but none should dominate
2) Interesting fighting mechanics -- is victory achieved by ring out? TKO? Points? Whatever it is, make it engaging
3) Accessibility and depth -- it should conform to the video game maxim "easy to learn, impossible to master"

Well, only a part of SF4 really. That is, the "half-circle" characters (Ryu, Ken and etc). Thanks to the SF2's impact, anyone immediately knows how to play with those characters.

The "charge" characters are a complete pain in the ass though

Another thing I forgot to mention, the game being accessible and easy to learn, it can make it fun to play it single-player - because you're doing cool stuff with little to no effort.

I bring MvC again, with just half-circles, you do crazy combos and specials, it's pretty rewarding to watch. Soul Calibur and DBZ Budokai 3 (yep) also come to my mind in that regard.

I really try to be open and give all fighting games a chance but at the end of the day Capcom just has the right formula down with their SF line for me. From the actual move commands to combos. I'm not big on the Marvel vs Capcom cause its too flashly for an intense fighting. Loved Rival Schools btw.

I really enjoyed DBZ Budokai 3 and the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series as they really try to make it like we're watching an episode. So i guess when it comes to anime fighting games, if they can make the gameplay similar to watching an actual episode i'd like that.

I love the art style of Blazeblu/GG and DoA has some of the sexiest female designs, so I can be quite the sucker for good looking characters too.

Has anybody played Arcana Hearts series? Are they any good? Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX!!!!! is coming out later this year and wonder if its worth picking it up.