With the Fighting Game genre having reached a new renaissance of evolved gameplay, and the successful revival of fan-favorite franchises in recent years (with the arrival of Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat, Marvel Vs Capcom 3) I’ve expected this trend to continue and give us more long-lived franchises or long-lost cult faves to sate our fighting game appetite. But many developers are playing it safe, and I think it’s time for developers to grow a pair, bring these games back with a fresh coat of paint, and give us the fighting games we deserve and love.
It'd be easier to count how many games Morrigan isn't in.
I bet the overwhelming majority of you have played with (or against) the likes of Morrigan the succubus, the quirky catgirl Felicia, or the Red Riding Hood parody of B.B. Hood (or Bulleta in Japan). But did you ever play the series they came from? Have you even heard of Darkstalkers or Vampire Savior?
Hailing from all over popular media, the Darkstalkers series gathers every type of horror creature you can think of.
Want to play as the kung fu werewolf, Jon Talbain, who can summon a wolf-shaped burning inferno called the Dragon Cannon to attack his foes? Want to use the evil Aussie rock and roll zombie, Lord Raptor, who uses his shapeshifting body to eviscerate his enemies? Darkstalkers has it all, and each new concept has a twist to keep old ideas fresh and distinctive.
Many games rely on their bizarre concepts and twists to make a bang in the media, and Darkstalkers did it earlier than most. But the Darkstalkers series has aged considerably, so a current-gen version should come with a complete revamp, visually and mechanically. And what better time then when vampires and zombies and werewolves (on my!) are at their most popular in movies and shows like Twilight, Grimm, True Blood, Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries, and so much more?
Capcom, hear my plea, and give us a game with unique, dazzling visuals, a tight control system, and more of that franchise-defining mix of horror, humor and flair. Fans have been clamoring for a proper sequel for about a decade now (no more ports, please) so give us what we want and you won’t be sorry.
In the 90s, if you wanted machine gun-toting boxers, dueling dinosaurs, and ice-aliens from space, you didn’t turn to Mortal Kombat: no, you turned to Killer Instinct.
Rare may also want to make more... imaginative characters...
Killer Instinct never quite got out of Mortal Kombat’s shadow, especially since it was co-created by Rare and MK developer Midway, with Rare using an obvious MK template. But it was the crazier, whacky little brother that was a little less refined but made enough noise to garner attention. It had an amazonian warrior woman who summoned elephants down on her enemies, an ex-convict turned fiery super-killer, and an emerald spy who had an 80 hit finishing move. The problem was, though, it just was never as good as Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat was bigger, better, and eventually whackier (for better or worse), while Killer Instinct was plagued with glitches and bugs and unbalanced characters. No matter how much you loved it, a game that doesn’t work isn’t fun.
A current-gen version of Killer Instinct could take the zany nature of it’s story—where some mega corporation hosts tournaments to test their lab experiments, supernatural prisoners, and alien refuges against other special warriors from around the world (to make tons of money from it, of course)—and exploit that narrative for everything it’s worth, making Killer Instinct a (hopefully) fun parody of the gory fighting game genre Mortal Kombat created. Think of it sort of like Saints Row the Third, taking a concept and exploding it past its boundaries to make an enjoyable satire for players to immerse themselves in. Gameplay should be exciting, brutal, and as far over the top as it can go without losing itself.
Following Mortal Kombat (for the first time, in a good way), Rare could take the time now to revamp and expand the story and roster, taking different takes on old faves and adding to their ranks new pastiches on popular fighting game conventions. With Rare rumored to be attempting a re-release of Killer Instinct 2 on the downloadable scene, perhaps this is the first step to a proper Killer Instinct 3, and the right time to take a second-tier franchise and make it number one.
X-Men: Children of the Atom debuted in the 90’s (and helped to spawn the rest of the “VS” Capcom games). A few years later, X-Men moved from 2D to 2.5D with X-Men: Mutant Academy, an interesting (and pretty great) foray further into the fighting game genre. Its sequel, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, blew it out of the water, delivering a fun, mutant-filled experience that rewarded longtime fans with a Street Fighter-inspired input scheme, great graphics (for the time), cool Supers to pull off, a full “Academy” mode to learn every character’s moveset, and a bevy of unlockables. Players had no doubt that X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 was developed by fellow X-Men fans who loved the franchise as much as they did. You could even play as Spider-Man and even—gasp!—Professor X?!?!
Although I imagine censorship groups must have had a heart attack every time Juggernaut punched a helpless man in a wheelchair... wit ha kitten on his shouder!
When X-Men: Next Dimension came out for the PS2 and X Box, the franchise expanded on everything. It moved to a 3D fighting plane, added more characters, and almost every single environment was a stage that connected to another. There was also a Danger Room stage that shifted into vastly different environments as you played it, including a roman chariot arena and a dystopian ruin. You could opt to ignore Arcade mode and play the very deep, cinematic-filled Story mode that allowed you to choose your opponent from a group of characters when you reached a fork in the path, giving you branching narratives and multiple endings that encouraged multiple playthroughs.
But this game suffered from a number of problems that no amount of fanboy love could solve. Namely the difficulty. Even on easy, the A.I. was punishingly difficult; bugs occasionally caused cool, although game-breaking, glitches and characters were extremely unbalanced. God help you if you had to play as Forge against an A.I. controlled A-Type Sentinel. It took my mutant patience powers to keep from chucking my controller at the TV.
A Brood's "Super" move? Impregnate and Mate! C'mon, let's get this game going, dammit!
A new iteration could take everything that’s ever worked for mutants in a videogame before and take it to new heights. Since the X-Men helped create the “VS” franchise, use Marvel Vs Capcom 3 as a template and bring it back to 2.5D. Give us expanded movesets (like perhaps giving Mystique actual shapeshifting moves), various X-Locales (think of Asteroid M, the Mojoverse, the demon dimensions of Limbo, and the Shiar throne room) and tons of unlockables: from costumes and skins to art and character bios.
Characters should be diverse, to encourage a true variety of gameplay mechanics and tactics in fighting. Dazzler could bring the visual flair Capcom is known for. Hope Summers could bring a Cable-influenced set of cutthroat soldier moves. Pixie could use her teleportation, magic and soul dagger for a deceptive moveset. Husk could shed her skin into various elements for different stat boosts. Northstar could be useful as a charge type character mixed with the aerial prowess of Chun Li. Cannonball could rely on well-timed dashes/flying attacks. Then give us secret characters like the all-powerful Gladiator, the cosmic pirate and Summers patriarch Corsair, and the dangerous Mr. Sinister. The possibilities are endless. Hell, we could throw in a Brood monster, or even—*gasp*—Professor X?
The comics have recently turned to events like Schism and Regenesis to make for a fresh jumping on point for newcomers. The movies, good or bad, have drawn millions to the franchise. With such a huge fanbase to support it, the time to return to Mutant Academy is now.
Bloody Roar is a gimmick series: as much as Soul Caliber is for weapons and Dead or Alive is for female bouncy parts, Bloody Roar is a game for beating the hell out of each other as huge, ferocious man-beasts.
Characters in the first game were a medley of unusual character designs. There was Gregory, the circus strong-man and wereape; there was Mitsuko, the stocky and tough blue collared wereboar mom; there was Bakuryu, the old but still swift ninja weremole; and there was Fox, the weird, adrogynous assassin were, er, fox, among others. But it was in the soon to be series staples Yugo the pridefighting boxer werewolf, Alice the nurse were-rabbit, and Gado, the tough mercenary werelion, that fans attached themselves to, especially in the much improved Bloody Roar 2.
This is when you know they're out of ideas. I mean, seriously, I've never seen that animal in National Geographic.
Yugo, Alice, and Gado returned, along with Busuzima, the j-punk scientist werechameleon and one of series villains; Jenny, the sexy and dangerous model and spy werebat, and a completely (and unexplained) younger Bakuryu, among others. It’s here that the game introduced flashy Supers, a very connected (if average) story mode, unlockable characters, and an extremrly well balanced roster of characters.
Unfortunately what followed were cheap, lackluster attempts to cash in on an already souring gimmick, with small (but admittedly interesting) editions to the gameplay, and new characters over the years—through creativity or desperation—including everything from penguins and phoenixes to elephants and crows and dragons. Even weird Guyver-like characters. But none of this was enough to push the series past average, whereas other 3D fighters were stealing the limelight with better games and higher prestige.
The last attempt, Bloody Roar 4, even introduced a character mode that allowed players to fight random battles of varying difficulty to earn ability orbs, which could be attached and swapped in and out of selected characters to give special attributes and perks during the Arcade mode. These orbs included things like beast-strength in human form, or defense against throws, or even making one character use specific moves from other character’s movesets (like taking one of Stun the Insect’s many throw moves or Uranus the Chimera’s shock move). But the overly repetitive and boring nature of this mode made it more tedious and monotonous than satisfying.
A new Bloody Roar game should definitely take the route of Mortal Kombat in simplifying and streamlining the story, or the upcoming Soul Caliber 5 with starting over at an entirely different point of the story. Freshen up the gameplay, the movesets, and the stages; provide a clear narrative; and add a distinctive visual flair that mixes terror and awe, bestowing a sense of murderous power and majesty onto characters who have been extremely stale and dull in recent games. Bring back the Character mode, but add variety by taking MK’s Challenge Tower and using it as a template. Make players earn ability perks from matches where random and specific challenges are issued, like staying in Beast mode, fighting without using Supers, etc.
Bloody Roar has been, at best, a fun experience in the past, one that you could enjoy for a while before it got old and forgettable. Now is the time to turn the franchise around, and change it from a low whisper into a lion’s roar that no game can ignore.
This is perhaps the most long-awaited return for fighting game aficionados. Fans have been asking for a fresh, new Rival Schools sequel for perhaps as long as the fans who have been looking for a new Darkstalkers game. Rival Schools was one of the major 3D games of its time: it had good gameplay, a tag dynamic that allowed a second character to attack or assist, a “Burning Vigor” mechanic that gave your character special advantages when it filled, and Capcom’s prestige backing it.
Then again, with a Principal like this, I wouldn't want detention.
Rival Schools also had some of the best character designs ever, making caricatures of literally every school clique cliche you could think of—plus some fun cliches of the teachers—and added a distinctive Japanese aesthetic to it. Want to play as the loud gym coach? The baseball jock? The weird kid? You could be whoever you wanted, and fight whoever you wanted, allowing many gamers to finally exact revenge on that asshole principal who wouldn’t let you cut class to hang out with your girlfriend (God, who did he think he was?). The only weird thing about it was that all of the so-called “teenagers” looked as old (or older) than the teachers, all (except a few).
Most unheard of at the time was that Rival Schools actually had a story—and a lot of it. It’s story mode was comprised of various perspectives from schools in Japan where students, teachers, and their families were going missing. Angry students decided to look for justice—by beating the crap out of anyone who came their way. A sequel in “Project Justice” came out a few years later with more features and more story, but overall it was a franchise built on exploiting the various archtypes of school students and making cool, funny, or bizarre attacks from them… in a way, this is Capcom’s Darkstalkers’ concept used in a more real world way. Or as real as something like Rival Schools can get.
For one reason or another, Rival Schools (like Darkstalkers) hasn’t released a proper sequel in years. With little 3D fighters out to give competition besides Namco’s soon to be released Tekken Tag 2 and Soul Caliber 5, Capcom could reveal a new Rival Schools, complete with updated character models, new tag mechanics, a new Vigor mechanic, and even more character cliches to pit against each other. Bring back the “Rival Launcher” mechanic and update the “Dodge” mechanic to make for Street Fighter III type parries. Throw in the same story, more or less (perhaps with some of the elements of the Battle Royale franchise added in?) and you have the sequel fans have been waiting a decade for.
Plus, it’s set roughly in the same universe as Street Fighter! Come on, Capcom! Take advantage of that, throw in some cameos, and it’s a booming franchise waiting to return!
