LogFAQs > #986500060

pyresword posted...

I wasn't a regular player or anything, but I did play a little bit of MvC2 and MvC3. Largely because I was already a part of the local competitive Smash Bros community, and there were some people that played both.

Seemed like a pretty fun game although I never developed anything approaching mastery of it. I think Dante and Zero were my favorite characters to use, iirc, but I probably never even touched like half of the roster.

Sometimes wish I didn't fall out of the Smash scene over time--going to tournaments every week or two was pretty fun.

I really, really want to get to a point in my life that I overcome my anxiety and start going to local tournaments sometime. I think I'd have a great time, but it's a very tough obstacle for me to get over. If you have any advice for that sort of thing as someone who went so often, I'd love to hear it.

In the meantime, here's a ranking!

Top 15 Fighting Game Characters

To be clear, these are "fighting game characters," not just "characters who have appeared in a fighting game." Must originate in an actual fighting game series to be eligible!

15. Tsubaki (BlazBlue)
Im not gonna sit here and pretend like Im an authority on the journey in absurdity that is Blazblues plot, but the bullet points of Tsubakis characterization are recognizable as some pretty well-executed fantasy fare, where the insecurities of someone who seems perfect and untroubled on the surface are seized upon by a crafty villain to incite disaster. Its a good story with an eventual heartwarming end, reinforced by a striking design that stands out among her fanservice-heavy castmates, right down to the simple sword and shield she fights with. Its an excellent valkyrie look that works well for the solid beginner-friendly character she is. And to tie it all together, Condemnation Wings is a top-tier theme in a series with no shortage of awesome music.

14. Adon (Street Fighter)
Capcom maybe did a little TOO good of a job in making Adon annoying and hateable, from the annoying screechy voice to the wild haircut to the obnoxious attitude to the mobile and fast-paced playstyle. Its no wonder that a lot of folks hated playing against him in SF4, but its also a shame, because he was fun as hell to play *as* in that game and I wish hed come back again. He was never my main, but I loved having him as a secondary or just someone to mess around with. Beyond all that, though, Adon stands out for a couple of extra reasons: first, Keiji Inafune created him, and second, he had a big starring role in USFIVs last EVO hurrah in 2015, which was one of the best tournaments Ive ever seen for any fighting game and culminated in an absolutely incredible Grand Finals between Momochi and Gamerbee. If you haven't seen it, go rectify that. If you have, watch it again.

13. Elisabeth (King of Fighters)
Of the characters to make this ranking, Elisabeth comes in near the bottom by the metric of time I've spent actually playing them, because SNK games just have too many other characters that suit me better. The love child of Miles Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma still merits inclusion, though, through the strength of everything else, especially after the KOF XV iteration. Ive always had a big affinity for light powers and the prismatic effect added in that game was a great idea, and she gets the coolest Climax of anyones to go with it. The design has been good from the start, but became especially so with the removal of the unnecessary cleavage window and riding crop. Shes the best part of the Ash-centric portion of the story, too; its a pretty well done platonic relationship that gives her some depth and intrigue as a character and ends satisfactorily. Hard to go higher with her when shes never been one of my mains, but Bettys a definite highlight of modern KOF.

12. Sagat (Street Fighter)
Yep, both of the Street Fighter Muay Thai boys make the ranking. Aside from a brief period in Super SF4 when I tried and mostly failed to learn Juri, I spent most of that release's early days with everyone's least favorite tiger lover. "Least favorite" because, of course, Vanilla Sagat is famously broken. I'm very far from a tier maniac and, if anything, tend to prefer playing "worse" characters in most games, but Sagat has always been one of the cooler SF characters to me among those that show up often. Great moves, great look, great story beats. The only reason I dont have him up even higher is that I think his gameplay tilts just a little too far to the lame side sometimes - not exactly a problem in itself, but I do think its a little incongruous with his whole design to be such a dedicated zoner in many appearances. Ive been glad to see that 6 moves away from that sort of style a bit due to its overall design, and Im looking forward to trying him out there eventually.

11. Uranus (Bloody Roar)
My exposure to the Bloody Roar series is limited exclusively to Primal Fury, but Uranus leaves a mighty impression there. I spoke at length about the excitement of unlocking new characters in the Melee writeup, and thats a feeling that extends far beyond Smash, especially when it crosses over with another fighting game staple: the overpowered superboss. Adding her to the playable roster is not an easy feat, and with good reason, as shes broken enough that she was banned from tournament play. Great design with the broken shackles adorning her body, some awesome lightning powers, and a beast transformation worthy of her story status as the most powerful being in the world, shes one of the most satisfying and memorable tangible rewards for getting good at a fighting game that I can remember, and I played so much Primal Fury with my best friend back in the day that shell forever have a spot on a ranking like this.