Recommendations for games to get started with Fighters

[J T]

I would put K.I. Gold and Virtua Fighter 4 in the advanced categories. The sheer amount of moves and combos you can learn for these games is staggering and if you are willing to give them the time, you can become a master.

Also, I don't know if it counts, but there is also a ton of depth to Fire Pro Wrestling. It's more of a wrestling game than a fighting game, but you could be equally competitive with it.

I also like the idea of putting a Smash Bros game in the beginner category and maybe something from Soul Calibur 2 or DOA 2 as well.

I suppose Guilty Gear would probalby be a good intermediate.

[SirJoshuaTimothy]

For advanced 3D: Virtua Fighter 5 all the way. It has so much depth, jumping in without any experience in fighters is almost impossible.

Has anyone mentioned Darkstalkers for 2D?

[noiseredux]

Has anyone mentioned Darkstalkers for 2D?

I did!

[SirJoshuaTimothy]

I understand what you're going for, but at the same time you don't want to just make it a bunch of Street Fighter games in every category (even if they are awesome).

I agree, If someone wants to get to know the fighting genre, they should get a sampling of different games to get an idea of common strategies and button combos...1/4 swoop + button, double direction tap + button, etc.

[noiseredux]

I understand what you're going for, but at the same time you don't want to just make it a bunch of Street Fighter games in every category (even if they are awesome).

I agree, If someone wants to get to know the fighting genre, they should get a sampling of different games to get an idea of common strategies and button combos...1/4 swoop + button, double direction tap + button, etc.

exactly.

I mean don't get me wrong -- SF2 is definitely my favorite fighter out there. But if I looked at a list of fighting games and it was basically:

SF2
SF3
SF Alpha
SF Vs Marvel
SFEX
SFIV
some other game

I'd just be like

I think it would be much better suited to act more as a survey of the genre. I like the inclusion of weapon games, tag-team games, and so on. Maybe even throw in Tekken as a gateway into 3D fighters.

I think the point is getting into a GENRE and not a SERIES.

[skyknight]

2D fighters, I say the Street Fighter series is the one to start, ant even at advance skill levels, people still play it. Guilty Gear and BlazBlu are not for the beginners, since their game mechanics are drastically different from many 2D fighters (dash, air-dash, justy/block?). Neo Geo fighters are good, except for cheap final boss on certain series.

3D fighters, at this point I gotta say Soul series are the one to start, but with some reservations, Soul Calibur I & II are good to start, III was half-baked (in-game fatal error for Chronicles of the Sword AND balanced arcade release after home console release! ), IV, WTF with the character designs and "re-skin" characters and little improvement over 3. Tekken series is another one, though some can get by thru bottom-mashing. I say 2, 3, and 5: Dark Resurrection are the ones to play. Virtua Fighter series have some easy characters to start with, along with characters that require series training.

[the7k]

There's a lot of people who are familiar with the Street Fighter series, but not much else. I say we also think about those who know all about SF but want to branch out.

The Darkstalkers series was a large inspiration for Arc System Works. As such, I'd say Vampire Savior is a great 'beginner' fighter for those familiar with Capcom fighters who would like to transition into Arc's fighters.

Garou: Mark of the Wolves is possibly the most Capcom-friendly SNK game ever conceived, so I'd say it is a great 'beginner' fighter for those familiar with Capcom fighters who would like to transition into SNK's fighters.

Rival Schools is yet another fighter that is familiar to those who played Street Fighter, yet also will gently introduce them to 3D fighters.

Just my thoughts.

Pocket Fighter and Tatsunoko vs Capcom also had very 'newborn-friendly' control schemes (and I don't mean that as a put-down, by any means), KOFXII had a 'Simple Input' mode, and Marvel vs Capcom 3 is also going to have a 'Simple' control scheme. Things to look out for.

[AppleQueso]

What about the Samurai Shodown games?

[Erik_Twice]

I think SFIV is far more beginner friendly that SFII and should be a better choice over it. For some reason, SFII feels very tight when it comes to timing and it kind of throws out many people because they push the buttons just not fast enough. It has been a while since I played it but that's how I remember the game.

It's also a more readily availble game when it comes to people to play with, as it's constant stream of releases has kept a good community around.

I agree with the7k that Darkstalkers is a good series to introduce faster games like Blazblue or Guilty Gear but I wonder if it's a good idea to introduce people to a game that won't have people playing it. Blazblue is not much harder to grasp than Darkstalkers, IMHO.

I would put the games I mentioned like this:

BEGINNER
Super Street Fighter IV
Super Smash Bros Brawl

INTERMEDIATE
BlazBlue/Guilty Gear

[neilencio]

How about Marvel Super Heroes? It's a good introduction to the Capcom VS series for the intermediate. It's very newbie friendly and perfect for people who already have experience with SFII, but it has non-SFII stuff like super jumps and super cancels, minus all the stuff about tag team mechanics (X-men: COTA came first but MSH just looks more polished overall). The difference in speed and armor between different fighters also teaches newbies how to adjust their playstyles based on the character being used.