Fighting games are some of the most difficult and intimidating to learn. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by all of the variables at play, from complex button inputs, to a seemingly endless stream of online competition ready to beat you to a pulp and brag about it. Even fights against the computer can prove difficult when it appears to have a counter to all of your tactics. How does one get better at fighting games?
Before the advent of training mode, all you could do was suck until you eventually didn’t suck. Then training modes became standard on console fighters, though it was mostly used as a place to practice combos rather than actually learning the nuances of combat. As a means of addressing this shortcoming, fighting game developers have implemented tutorial-like modes into their games. However, I still feel like they’ve all fallen short in some way or another. The end result is the fact that most games in the genre do an inadequate job of teaching players how to actually play, which will drive those dedicated enough to seek information elsewhere, or drive others (maybe most) away.
What can fighting game creators do to help players become better grasp their games? I think they’re almost there, but not quite. Why?
Actually, I think ‘why’ is the answer. Having played almost every major fighting game release this console generation, the common thread among almost all of them is the fact that they almost never tell you why anything it’s teaching you is important. Or worse, why the things they aren’t teaching you are important.
Instead, almost every game focuses on answering the ‘how’. They show you how to do special moves. How to do combos. How to execute on some of the game’s more specific mechanics. That’s all well and good when done properly, but it’s almost meaningless without the right context. Why is Ryu’s crouching medium kick so important to his gameplan? Why would I want to throw a slow sonic boom versus a fast one? Why do I want to use this complex combo that I’ve struggled to do for hours now?
Only a handful of games have scratched the surface of this concept. SoulCalibur V had a terrible training mode, but it does give you context around a handful of key moves and explains how to best use them. Darkstalkers Resurrection has come the closest to doing it right, as it goes out of its way to explain the best uses for specific moves, combos and tactics. However, with only a handful of lessons for each character, it’s over before it really gets going.
While the community has done a tremendous job educating itself on these games, it shoulders too much of the burden that the game should carry on its own. I’m not asking for these games to teach players everything, but they should give players at better basic understanding of the game they’re playing. I think that fighting game creators will reach this point eventually, though it’s surprising to me that we haven’t reached it already.
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In Third Person 
Hit the nail on the head here.
It’s remarkable how leading fighting games don’t give you any more than a Free-Style Training mode (most of which are very useful) and maybe some “Trials” or “Missions” to complete. Those who are very well integrated to the games systems might see the uses for the stuff they show you, but as a resource for getting people started or into the game, they are borderline useless. My brother for example has never ever seen the point of me spending about 30mins in Training Mode, because the context of it or uses for it has never been properly explained to him in game.
Street Fighter 4, as an example, gifts the player “moderately” practical combos in Trial mode, but there is no elaboration of context surrounding each (sometimes not even specific explanations to show which normals to use to complete them, there are Close and Far version of each but this isn’t explained!). Ironing out simple concepts like this would be very easy for companies like this to do, and it seems a shame for them not to bother.
Once Fighting Games learn to do Tutorial modes in a fashion like those on YouTube, we’ll start to see a growth in the Fighting Game Community. Even the inclusion of more advanced resources like Frame Data on disk would be valuable for everyone of every level looking to advance (I think Injustice:Gods Among Us has included this). At the moment, I find myself pointing people in the direction of YouTube a lot more than the in-game resources because they simply don’t offer context or useful information on the disk.
Great read.
Great comment!
Yes, Injustice does have frame data, which did come in handy when I was trying to figure out ways to punish Deathstroke’s sword flip on block.
What games do you think currently have the best teaching experience? Or at least components that are great? I think Skullgirls has a really good systems tutorial, though there’s nothing to teach you about any of the characters for example.
Ha, thanks, sorry about the late reply, didn’t see yours until just now!
At the moment, I’ll back Skullgirls – it does the teaching of systems very well, and elaborates on chains, using meter and all that jazz very well. Like you say though, character specific details are lacking. I think the Darkstalkers Resurrection tutorials are really well done, albeit brief. The show system mechanics off, AND character specific combos, uses for meter, mobility and practical strings. In all seriousness though – I’ve been playing KOFXIII recently and I think that has one of the best tutorials I’ve seen in a long time. Demonstrating mechanics, application in situations and useful information about certain moves. However, these things may have only been picked up by me because I was looking for them. Concepts outside of the mechanics were never really explained – I was able to pick up on them because of the way they demonstrated the move in a trial for example (certain Command throws can be combo’d, when the opponent enters a particular hitstun animation and only in that time etc..)
No game however has really ever touched on how you should play the neutral game. I found I took taking naturally to the Neutral game most obviously in KOFXIII – but the game itself doesn’t elaborate much on it at all. Darkstalkers mentions it maybe once or twice in it’s tutorial mode, but, outside of combos – the big question from people getting into it is always – How to I get into a situation to land my combo or damage? They’ll resort to jumping in all lot or fishing for the ONE practical combo they’ve been shown by the ingame tutorials and get frustrated when that doesn’t work. This is fine, but, this is evident that they do not understand the concept of the “neutral game”. (Poking, Foosies, Midscreen Mindgames etc)
Breaking through the neutral setting and beginning the momentum game is a complex affair, but the Darkstalkers/KOFXIII tutorials have made me somewhat optimistic about the future for these. I just hope they can make a full packaged tutorial on disc for an upcoming fighting game. Not to mention, the neutral setting is different in EVERY fighting game because the options are always different, for example:
– SF2 – Standard jump arcs, long range grounded pokes, emphasis on whiff punishing, footsies and knockdowns. Anti-Airs and zoning are extremely dominant. (Ryu, Guile, Sagat etc.)
– SF4 – Introduction of rapidly changing jump arcs reducing the effectiveness and increasing the risk of Anti-Air. (C.Viper, Seth etc). Footsies are still very much present but to a lesser extent as characters can sometimes just bypass foosties with certain specials or command normals.
– Marvel 3 – The neutral game is extremely fast paced and distances can be closed within a second due to almost infinite movement options available to some characters. Mobility is extremely strong and playing aggressive is very air tight. Breaking the neutral game is usually evading and out moving your opponent to open them up.
– Injustice – The unblockable environmental attacks force players to notice their location within a stage, making damage risker or more rewarding in certain locations on screen. The “hybrid zoners” can switch between aggressive playstyles and keep-away very quickly, forcing multiple types of neutral situation. Safe Target Combos allow for good block pressure while the opponent still has to brave a mix-up while escaping. Some characters have momentum upon landing some form of blockstun (safe TargetCombo? etc) – very similar to MK9 in this respect. Overall damage is quite high so frame-traps are very strong and reset situations are powerful. Momentum is difficult to break, but there are ways. Breaking through the neutral game seems quite dependant on your character, as there are few universal options aside the basic movement options to move forwards or backwards. Hyper-Armour works well to move through toward zoning characters, and mobility can vary from being very slow to being extremely fast dependant on character.
– SFxT – Similar to SF4 but the risks in Footsies are much higher. In SF4, you might eat a sweep for a whiffed normal, but in SFxT, you eat about 50% damage. Extremely dangerous Footsie potential – one normal connecting leads to a cross-rush combo. Whiff-Punishing in this game leads to about 40-60% damage depending on how much the user is willing to burn (meter wise). Very scary, but intelligent footsies. Anti-Airing is about as effective as in SF4 – with characters able to deviate from their normal jump arcs.
Every single game needs to address this situation in a fighting game differently but with equal effectiveness. For example – in Street Fighter 4, teaching the player the value of Ryu normals and the purpose of each would be an amazing step. Showing how good Ryu’s Cr.MK is for it’s range and cancellable properties and getting players to understand that these traits are desired and valued in the arsenal of any character in the game because they allow that character to play the “neutral game” better. Teach players the fundementals of your game – In KOFXIII for example – why not demonstrate the thousands of ways your opponent can approach you, and maybe even show how you as a player can deal with that? Why is ‘this’ my most effective answer to ‘this situation’? How can I reverse the momentum and apply pressure to my opponent? What are the most effective ways to approach with my character, and can similar principles be applied to other characters? The more questions a tutorial can answer, the better.
In all seriousness though – I think developers are scared of their Tutorials becoming redundant very quickly because there are people who will pretty much break open the game to explore what is possible with a game’s engine – at that point, anything Capcom or whoever have invested into their Tutorial will seem like a waste – especially if a more effective alternative is discovered than what is shown in their tutorial, especially if it comes to basic techniques. More advanced “Kara-Cancelling, Option Selects” etc can be covered by Youtube, that’s fine. I would just want a Tutorial to establish and explain fundamental mechanics important in their game. With the game ever-changing due to new technologies and discoveries, fundamentals can change – so there’s the risk again. I mean, look at Marvel and Chris G’s team (Morrigan, Dr.Doom, Vergil). The FGC was absolutely all over the place because someone was employing an extremely effective keep-away team and winning and others were trying similar stuff. This was going against most established fundamental Marvel gameplay of a heavy aggressive style to a “lame” keep-away style. New strategies that couldn’t have really been prepared for needed to be introduced – and a Capcom Brand Marvel Tutorial couldn’t help you there.
It’d probably be pretty embarrassing for the developer’s if they were to be shown up in that way – but hey, practice makes perfect, and the same goes for designing tutorial modes. Lets just hope we see them improve without the bar of complexity in systems being lowered.