Every time there’s a new Mortal Kombat, I think it might be unbearably gross. MK1 threatened to be the game when Netherrealm unleashed a montage of dismembering dead people to showcase their latest skin-shredding tech, but let’s play it at Summer Game Fest And Gore didn’t feel the same discomfort. It’s just punctuation. In Mortal Kombat every sentence ends in a big red❗ And the game has only one thing to say: This year is going to be the best year in fighting game history..
Mortal Kombat 1 is more polished than Crystal Skull, and it’s as if Netherrealm spent the better part of the last few years making fighting games while he slept, focusing on his talent. What are the details of these faces? Johnny Cage cakeHow the two fighters face each other in a brief cutscene that hides the loading before seamlessly entering combat?
But personally, I’d give it all up for the stupid, self-paced characters that create characters in Street Fighter 6’s story mode. In this mode, you run around town with weirdos with cardboard boxes on their heads. We don’t know much about Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode yet, but so far it seems to be doing more of what the previous three MK games have done. It remixes the series’ complex narrative in fun new ways, with cutscenes gradually appearing. Hollywood CG level realism.
Perhaps there’s some surprising freedom hiding somewhere in MK1’s story, but my bet it’s mostly going to be battle-encrusted cutscenes again. If Street Fighter 6 hadn’t yet delivered a radically different experience, like giving Chun-Li a can of sardines and hoping she would like me, I’d be in that mood. I should have known in advance that I would be disappointed. Both are possible, so why choose one over the other?
With the two landings just a few months apart, it’s a reminder of November 2004, when Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 took FPS games in very different directions and threatened to rip the genre’s arm off. I have. This time, we bring you two of his fighting games with a team that has reached the pinnacle, a veritable feast of fists. Assorted punches. A feast of beatdowns. Quiche filled with KO (if you don’t know, lunch is ready)
The point is, fighting game players will be eating good stuff this year, even if it’s just chewing on Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1. But 2023 has a lot more to offer.
Indie newcomer Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age features an unusual 2v2 format for four simultaneous players.there are some TRUE A rare 2D interpretation of a fighting game, with nice toon shading art and three “lanes” the player can traverse. Lanes incorporates some of the sidestep footsies and special attacks you would normally expect from a 3D fighter. At times, this mayhem feels more like Street Fighter than Super Smash Bros., but Diesel His Legacy is crafted by a fighting game industry veteran, and the controls look a lot like Street Fighter.
Next, the existence of “Tekken 8” is looming. I don’t know if that means he will appear in 2023, but it seems pretty likely. Bandai Namco is conducting network tests in his July. PC Gamer’s resident Tekken superfan Molly his tailor is gearing up for a new Tekken era by taking part in the still-strong Tekken 7 tournament. Tekken 7 was his big hit in 2017 and remained on sale for the next six years. In December, sales exceeded 10 million copies, making it the best-selling Tekken game in history. Tekken is said to have sold even more copies than Street Fighter. However, the topic of Street Fighter 6 was on a different level than previous fighting games on PC.
On Steam, Street Fighter 6 peaked at 70,000 concurrent players at launch, dwarfing Tekken 7’s 19,000 in 2017 and doubling Mortal Kombat 11’s 35,000 in 2019. There have been other blockbuster fighting games in PC history. Dragon Ball FighterZ launched in 2018, reaching his 44,000 concurrent players. Athletes who broke records. Of course, all of these games are also on consoles and usually have more players. However, earlier this year Capcom switched one of his tournaments from his PS4 hardware to PC. It’s entirely possible that PC will become the default platform for competitive play in the future.
But aside from where people play fighting games, it’s just nice to see them so excited. I can’t stress enough how much Street Fighter 6’s adventurous story mode and its newest control options will appeal to people who always thought Street Fighter wasn’t for them. is not. Both Mortal Kombat and Tekken are the kind of games people buy for their ludicrous graphics alone, but of course there’s more to them than that. MK1’s cameo system is a clever way to integrate some of his fighter’s depth in Tag Team while adding more nuanced control over how AI partners jump into assists. Tekken 8 adds multiple systems that reward aggressive play and new control types for less experienced players.
Capcom, Bandai Namco and Netherrealm will undoubtedly sell the most fighting games in fighting game history over the next 12 months. But has there ever been a better year in the history of fighting games? It contained a dizzying array of games, including an outstanding variety pack. Honestly, if you really think about it, FightersGeneration Timelinedespite having survived the genre’s most unpopular years, it doesn’t seem like a bad year for fighting game players.
Once 2023 is fully over and we see how many new people have jumped into the ring, we have a hunch that the next few will really get us on board.
