This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.

A few Pixel Revolts ago, I said I don't much care for fighting games. (Actually, I think I put it more explicitly than that.) I love hand-to-hand fighting in some singleplayer games though. What's the difference?

In Shenmue 2, I remember a Tai Chi master teaching me an open-palmed strike. He described it in terms that made complete sense to a martial artist (I've got a black belt in karate), so I could use it in real life. I then had to master it by striking a tree until all the leaves fell to the ground. That's the complete opposite of opening up a command list and reading the instructions. I learned it the same way I learn a move in real life — drilling it into my muscle-memory through repetition. I know some people who didn't get the hang of it and got frustrated, but I felt like I had achieved something.

Another game I mentioned was Batman: Arkham Asylum. The combat in that made me feel like a complete badass and gave me a variety of moves without overwhelming me. The rhythm of combat made me feel like the choreographer of a kung-fu movie fight-scene. After a while, I was watching the goons and countering even before the on-screen prompt told me to. The character animation in that game was the most detailed I've ever seen, slightly exaggerated to make it readable from the third-person perspective.

Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Soulcalibur, and every other fighting game I've played have dumped me in at the deep end with little to no help. The opponents are next to impossible to read, so to counter an attack you have to have super-human reflexes or psychic powers. I'm sure they're great for the people who have been playing them for years and have the time and will to invest in them. I'm also sure those people can see how impenetrable they are for an outsider.

So what would I want from a multiplayer fighter?

  • Combos that make sense — if I want to do a turning-kick, back-kick, reverse punch, I want to be able to press the appropriate buttons in that order, in the appropriate timing. I don't want to memorize a button-combo, perform it, then watch.
  • I want these moves to be performed at human speeds so my opponent has a fair chance of blocking and countering. That would result in something closer to real sparring — fights with fewer flashy moves, lots of countering, and a sense that you've really earned the few strikes that land.

I don't know if that could be done, or how it could be done. Perhaps Natal or Move could provide a natural speed limit that buttons can't. Perhaps pressing too many buttons too fast would result in a sloppy technique. I'd love to see a developer try it, even if it wouldn't be a hit with the fighting faithful.

This has been a response to Chris Hoadley's writing challenge.