Best Fan-Service Games

[racketboy]

I thought this would be a fun little discussion....

What games come to your mind when you think of fan service?
The first ones come to mind for me are Super Smash Bros Melee and Marvel vs Capcom 2, but ones like Namco X Capcom and Sega Superstars Tennis look good as well.

Any obscure ones out there?

[NotBlaine]

Funny... I just made a post about the fanserviceness of TvC on srk.com. Small world.

Your Card Fighter Clash games really get in there. Pretty good games to boot.

SNK Vs Capcom (not Capcom Vs SNK) have some real winners for obscurity (the aliens from Metal Slug 2 for instance). Though, it is probably more 'good fanservice' than 'good game'.

Props to Captain Rainbow for digging up some old fan favorites.

[Hatta]

I just googled "fan service", it seems that this is a euphemism for hentai.

[Mozgus]

I just googled "fan service", it seems that this is a euphemism for hentai.

Well in the anime world, it pretty much means senseless nudity in a situation that didn't call for any. It started becoming more prevalent as anime continued to get worse in the mid 90's.

[Pulsar_t]

Erm.. Sega Superstars Tennis?

[RadarScope1]

Brawl has to be the top fan service game, ever.

Animal Crossing might be one, with some of the Easter eggs in there. I think the SF2T HD Remix might be a good one. It's a different type of "service" than Brawl, but if you're a fan of that game or the SF2 series whatsoever, it's got to make you pretty damn happy. Especially with all the tweaks David Sirlin and the tourney level players put in.

[NotBlaine]

fan service 101 - excuse any typos. I'm on my phone in a restaurant.

Technically, fan service is a term to describe anything done deliberate to titilate fans. Commonly in anime, this a panty flash or cleavage. This isn't the only type. It's also not limited to anime or even games. For example, the opening of The A-Team could be considered a type of fan service... where Faceman stares slackjawed at the Cylon (he was also a character in Battlestar Galactica). Though whether an 'in joke' can be fan service is debatable, the whole point of that gag is to give those who know a litttle chuckle.

That's essentially what fan service is - something for the fan boys.

It just so happens, a lot of time, that something is girls underwear.

I'm sure what Racket is talking about is games with fanish, obscure or 'inside' references.

Segagaga (no link, again... phone post) also has a lot of inside jokes. One escapes my recolection... something about a door labeled 13F which is hex for 'yellow' and has some meaning as 'yellow gate'... which is meaningful to certain people not me for some reason.

At any rate... excuse me as I order a Thai Chicken Burrito.

Lemon Out!

[RackGaki]

Fan service... rather than pick a specific game (those seem well covered), I'll pick a certain type.

The top fan service provided in games would have to be the headshot for any FPS. It always has to be dramatic, with more blood and giblets than anyone could possibly keep in their skull. Can't get rid of it since developers figured out how to assign damage to a portion of a model. Got to admit that I can't get enough of it, either. I smile everytime I pull one off with a sniper rifle in Gears 2.

[Gamerforlife]

It's not obscure, but Kingdom Hearts games are full of fan service

I think most long running series are full of fan service. There are familiar elements in ever Castlevania game that mean more to long time fans than newcomers. It's the same thing with Final Fantasy games with the ever present Cid character. You remove some of these elements and fans would probably get annoyed

I like to think of any unnecessary cameo in a game as fan service. Final Fantasy Tactics:War of the Lions has Cloud, Luso and Balthier as playable characters, all of whom bear no relevance to the story at all. Luso and Balthier even get their own animated cut scenes.

Shin Megami Tensei:Nocture had a completely unnecessary cameo of Dante from Devil May Cry, who even became playable.

The new Mortal Kombat vs DC game. That's total fan service. So is Marvel Ultimate Alliance by its very nature.

Cannon Spike is fan service for Capcom fans. Soul Calibur with its ridiculous cameos from Link, Darth Vader, etc. The upcoming Final Fantasy:Dissidia is TOTAL Final Fantasy fan service.

The Dynasty Warriors series is fan servicey in how it takes these culturally significant and popular Chinese characters(who also seem well known in Japan)and puts them into a game. I believe Koei even made a game that including both the Dynasty Warriors cast and the cast of Samurai Warriors(which is Koei's other popular series that focuses on well known Japanese historical figures like Nobunaga)

Also, the Onimusha series had the main character look like a well known Japanese actor and Onimusha three also had a well known French actor in the game.

[Ack]

Super Robot Taisen, and the fighting game entry to the series, Super Robot Spirits.