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Underrated and Overlooked fighting games

N4Us

Member
Fallen Angels/Daraku Tenshi

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It's a great fighter with a really gritty atmosphere to it. The people who worked on this game would work on some of SNK's later fighters and Yatagarasu, and it shows in the designs and playstyle.

Flying Dragon 64

RBQ6gXa.jpg

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It's a really cool game to mess around in. Two different styles to the game plus a bunch of customization options. Sadly it's kinda infamous for corrupting controller packs regularly; If it wasn't for that I'd recommend this so much more
 

Papstr

Neo Member
Lots of good picks here so far. Powerstone, Project Justice, Virtua Fighter and Skullgirls are some I'd say are under-appreciated for sure.

Here's one not mentioned yet: Akatsuki Blitzkampf.

Akatsuki_Blitzkampf_box_art.jpg


Released on PC via the doujin scene and made mostly by one guy. Got an updated/tuned arcade version on Naomi that I've been binging myself on recently. Very oldschool, chunky, spacing-based combat set mainly on the ground, fairly simple commands, only three button (Light, Medium, Heavy), and a parry mechanic. Such a great fighter, and virtually no one knows about it.

You. I like you a lot. I still play Blitzkampf to this day, and my local arcade actually has the arcade Ausf Asche update. We've done some for funsies tournaments for it occasionally still as well. Akatsuki appearing in Undernight In-Birth was the best thing ever for me.
 

Into

Member
Def Jam Fight for NY

It was largely ignored because it had a obnoxious rap/gangsta theme. And i say that as someone who enjoys rap and hip hop in general. But the game is absolutely fantastic. It would have earned a lot of cred if it simply had generic fighters, wrestlers, MMA guys etc.
 

BrunoM

Member
Fighters MegaMix

Soooooo much fun it's ridicules that sega didn't get on it and put it on PSN in HD

Same goes for

Fighting Vipers



And now by far my fav fighting game and game one of my all time fav games ever
Virtua Fighter

Amazing deep fighting REAL fighting styles deep as fuck extremely under rated Jack all the way lol !!
 
Def Jam Fight for NY

It was largely ignored because it had a obnoxious rap/gangsta theme. And i say that as someone who enjoys rap and hip hop in general. But the game is absolutely fantastic. It would have earned a lot of cred if it simply had generic fighters, wrestlers, MMA guys etc.
This was the most brutal fighter I ever saw. I really enjoyed watching my friends play it.
 

Peltz

Member
I should really pick up powerstone games. Did they ever get an HD port? I have a Dreamcast, but I'd prefer a higher resolution if possible.
 

FloatOn

Member
World Heroes!!

the cage match thing was brilliant.

edit: I see that this was already mentioned. But who else played Ready 2 Rumble on dreamcast? I'd love another arcade style boxing game.
 

therapist

Member
Virtua Fighter is generally ignored. Some recent games get credit for having "great" training modes, but they're still not at VF4: Evo's level.

Yup.
I need a new vf.

Just give me VF5 : showdown on ps4 and ill double dip.

VF is the best fighting series. period.
anyone who spends enough time with it would generally agree.

Ill also upvote fighters megamix
 

petran79

Banned
Cybergladiators

1996 - Sierra


First 3D fighting game on PC. Supported 3D accelerators back then (3DFX, Rendition Verite, Direct3D). Motions were very smooth. Kinda like a 3D version of One Must Fall
Only 8 characters, but for its time it was quite unique and had its own quality. While not reaching Virtua Fighter or Tekken quality, it was much better than MK4 and on par with Mace the Dark Age, which run on much better hardware.
It would have been more popular if it was more polished, but being limited for PC, it had a tiny fan base.
Also if you knocked your opponent in the next round his life flashed red and he could be knocked over again.

CyberGladiators_B.jpg
 

gelf

Member
Making a port from the model 2 hardware is way more easier than doing a port from the sega saturn I guess
That'll be why, I assume the ports are just emulation of the arcade versions as aside from the addition of online play they are pretty bare bones and they didn't add features the Saturn versions had. The best Saturn emulator SSF still doesn't even allow rendering at anything but the original resolutions whereas the Model 2 emulator Nebula can output whatever resolution you want and the games still look good at 1080p.

Fighters Megamix would require a proper port job, and it likely wouldn't be worth it as it being a Sega game no one will buy it :/
 
NRS should put Anubis and Voodoo into MKX.

Kappa

I actually liked War Gods. lol

And I absolutely think they should harvest characters from War Gods and the superior awesome amazing Mace: The Dark Age.

Anubis, Lord Deimos, Hellknight, Gar/Warmech, Ichiro, Taria, Mordus Kull, fuck it the whole goddamn Mace cast.

I would rather have a new Mace: The Dark Age than Mortal Kombat X.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
How the fuck did we get an HD remix of Sonic: The Fighters, but not Fighter's Megamix?

HOW?!?

HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW?!?

Because those weren't HD Remixes, they were a special version of the nebula model 2 emulator picked up by Sega that ran in higher than normal resolutions. They weren't ports, they were HD emulation.

Sonic the Fighters was never a retail Saturn game, you're playing the arcade game running in a higher resolution. Fighter's Megamix was never a model 2 game.
 

Seyavesh

Member
You know that's such a brilliant idea..... I'm not surprised Capcom hasn't done it.

Actually they did lol

The JP PSX version of the game had a create-a-char visual novel mode where you made friends w the game chars, played minigames like DDR or track racing and a whole bunch of other crap.
You could follow various stories depending on who you were friends with and got moves and stats from the mini games and them.
edit: my b, it's not ddr it's more like bust-a-move
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnnjT54H8GM

but yeah. it was super cool and basically criminal that it got left out of the US/PAL release. it's one of the most interesting parts of the game!

If you remember how there were generic hidden chars with compilation movesets, they exist as leftovers of that mode in the US version.

edit:
also cut out from the US release of a rival schools: project justice's create-a-character mario party mode, where you create a character and play a mario-party-like board game where you do minigames and stuff to get moves, stats and party members. at the very end of the game you fight it out with the other players with the character you got.

seriously the rival schools franchise got fucked for the west
 
I wish people still played Last Blade and Garou, but they are pretty well known games.

My pick for underrated game is Bleach DS. It simplifies a lot of the inputs and has pretty easy timing for combos, but plays like a traditional fighting game. Online mode was great too. Made by Treasure.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
cool to see people saying VF. I agree, but specifically I think VF3 is the most underrated of the franchise.

vf3 had such big ideas, it made huge leaps forward from VF2 and did more to shape how the series looks today than 2 did. 2 was basically a prettier 1. vf4 took out lots of stuff from 3 and is some aspects just a prettier, more intricate vf2. I see people call vf3 the black sheep of VF! crazy. sure it sold worse than the rest, but if you look at its innovations, at high level play, it's a gem.

check out this 3tb tournament that was held in Japan last month:
http://youtu.be/S2QeiXFUonU
 

dmcAxle

Neo Member
Is Melty Blood considered under appreciated? Maybe to the same extent that Darkstalkers is to Capcom games? It's pretty popular in some areas but not too many people know about it outside of hardcore anime fighter fans.
1086537-melty_blood_actess_again_box.jpg

151730-Melty_Blood_-_Actress_Again_(Japan)-1.jpg


Hopefully Melty Blood HD is on the horizon but if the developers rather continue with UNIB I'd be okay with that too I guess. We'll find out if it's happening any time soon or not tomorrow (I think?) when French Bread talks about their Under Night In Birth 2 plans.
 
You know, I really wish more fighting game fans knew of and played Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and the Touhou fighting games. They're really fun.

They're really unique and interesting, too. The card mechanics are really neat.
 

dmcAxle

Neo Member
I like the Touhou fighting games but I can't really enjoy them because of the randomness in the weather mechanic that you can't turn off. That's why if I want to play the series I just go back to Immaterial and Missing Power despite the smaller roster.

The newest one (Hopeless Masquerade) from Twilight Frontier was an interesting idea with the pure air combat but I don't think it executed very well. It just felt awkward. It's the least popular of all their fighting releases too.
 

petran79

Banned
Is Melty Blood considered under appreciated? Maybe to the same extent that Darkstalkers is to Capcom games? It's pretty popular in some areas but not too many people know about it outside of hardcore anime fighter fans.

it is more under appreciated than Darkstalkers. The newest version at least.
A Steam release would make series perhaps as popular as Skullgirls. You can bypass the official netplay client through Caster.

Certainly the most accessible animu fighter.
 

dmcAxle

Neo Member
it is more under appreciated than Darkstalkers. The newest version at least.
A Steam release would make series perhaps as popular as Skullgirls. You can bypass the official netplay client through Caster.

Certainly the most accessible animu fighter.
I think any "air dash" fighting game released on Steam with playable online (Lookin at you Arc..) would end up incredibly popular. The ones on Steam (Blazblue, Guilty Gear, Vanguard Princess) all either don't have online or require a person to separately find a 3rd party program to set it up. Japanese fighting game devs are really missing an opportunity here and someone needs to take the leap.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
I wouldn't call Virtua Fighter underrated. Everyone agrees it's great, but no one wants to play it outside Japan.
I know what you mean, but even if it's well-regarded (and not by everyone, mind you- low punch fighter 5 with its floaty jumps and terrible voice acting is not universally praised), it still typically takes a backseat to games which are often not as good on paper - using the metric of balance as its one of the least subjective metrics on the matter.

That its unpopular it is why people say it's underrated- maybe under appreciated is a better term.
 

L Thammy

Member
My pick for underrated game is Bleach DS. It simplifies a lot of the inputs and has pretty easy timing for combos, but plays like a traditional fighting game. Online mode was great too. Made by Treasure.

This is a really good mention. Never watched Bleach, but I liked the second Bleach game. It even lets both players use the entire cast when you do single-cart multiplayer. Only problem is that it's got a lot of intentionally crappy characters. Like the guy who heals people with his sword.

What's particularly cool is the way your flash step meter works. The inner meter recovers quickly and controls the flash steps themselves, the outer meter controls EX attacks and recovers more slowly. If you try to spam EX moves it significantly hampers your mobility.

I'm debating getting Dreamcast again just so I can play Power Stone again. I miss that game. :(

Honestly, I want to get Vita or used PSP just to play Power Stone Collection.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
Many on the team that did the Sega Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 left after completing that port and formed their own team. Their next game following the VF2 port was an original fighter called Goiken Muyo - Anarchy in the Nippon:

u8eX2gH.jpg


QEnH5qa.jpg
 

Degen

Member
Tekken 4 and Soulcalibur 3

Not that they're obscure of course, but they are STILL the best in their series in multiple ways

Yet all you see (on the internet) is how far they fell from the previous game, and how much the sequels "fixed" them

truly outrageous. truly truly truly outrageous
 

Skilletor

Member
Tekken 4 and Soulcalibur 3

Not that they're obscure of course, but they are STILL the best in their series in multiple ways

Yet all you see (on the internet) is how far they fell from the previous game, and how much the sequels "fixed" them

truly outrageous. truly truly truly outrageous

That's because SoulCalibur 3 is a buggy, broken mess and SC3:AE never got a home port.

Tekken 4...eh, tons of bullshit wrong with that. Don't even think it's a good fighting game.
 

killatopak

Member
Is Melty Blood considered under appreciated? Maybe to the same extent that Darkstalkers is to Capcom games? It's pretty popular in some areas but not too many people know about it outside of hardcore anime fighter fans.
1086537-melty_blood_actess_again_box.jpg

151730-Melty_Blood_-_Actress_Again_(Japan)-1.jpg


Hopefully Melty Blood HD is on the horizon but if the developers rather continue with UNIB I'd be okay with that too I guess. We'll find out if it's happening any time soon or not tomorrow (I think?) when French Bread talks about their Under Night In Birth 2 plans.

I play this so much I actually dream about it. I posted it a much earlier than you and no one even noticed.

Definitely under appreciated.
 
Deadliest_Warrior_-_The_Game_Coverart.png


Deadliest Warrior, from PSN and (I believe) XBLA.

You don't have multi tiered large levels to run around in. You don't have multiple styles of samurai. You don't have multiple stances (I think)..

You DO have a 3d environment to move in though, not as freely as BB. You DO have up to 4 weapons per fighter. You DO have two different armor sets, that actually work. You DO have body maiming - appendages can get broken, or hacked off. You DO have projectiles, they are bow and arrows, spears, flintlock, whatever your fighter has. When you ise a projectile, the aiming is never the same place, thanks to being human. Because of this, and the body maiming with damage associated with it, this can happen:

"Round 1, fight!"
*Player 1 immediately throws spear, it connects with Player 2's face*
*Player 2 dies, due to a SPEAR IN THE FACE*
"Player 1 wins!"

All in 3 seconds.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
Many on the team that did the Sega Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 left after completing that port and formed their own team. Their next game following the VF2 port was an original fighter called Goiken Muyo - Anarchy in the Nippon:

u8eX2gH.jpg


QEnH5qa.jpg
pretty! what's it play like?
 
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