LogFAQs > #937568537

Or rather: Does a game have to copy Street Fighter 2 to even COUNT as a fighting game.

Now, I'm not one for subtlety in games I don't follow - I could easily say all fighting games are the same the say I say all racing games are the game ('cuz they are :D)

But SF2 has some genre defining traits that I haven't seen many fighting games escape from.

These are:

• 2d horizontal lock (even in 3D fighters like Soul Calibur your are locked to the 2d plane after a 3d dodge, contrast Power Stone),
• both players have a static health bar that must be depleted (a staple, just because it's a convention doesn't make it bad, but contrast wrestling and boxing games where you can win on points)
• Single player is a marathon where you fight ever other fighter once, culminating in a boss fight (then again, not sure how this is escapable - Soul Calibur 2 did have Weapons Mode)
• Special Moves from unique button inputs (Sonic Boom and Sonya's Rings are the same move?)

Now, I can apply those to pretty much every contemporaneous fighting game: SF2 is MK1 is Weaponlord is Samurai Showdown is Eternal Champions is Hiryu no Ken is Darkstalkers is Clayfighter is World Heroes is One Must Fall 2097 is Primal Rage... all SF2 clones.

I think War Gods tried something new, but it failed abysmally.

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