Unlocking the Secrets: Famous Firsts that Shaped Fighting Games!

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Questions about who or what came first in various fields often spark curiosity. For instance, who invented the first telephone? Who was the first to conquer Mount Everest? And what was the very first computer created? While answers like Alexander Graham Bell, Edmund Hillary, and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer are commonly accepted, there might be debates over these claims (such as Antonio Meucci, Norgay Tenzing, or The Difference Engine).

Inquiring about the origins and influence of groundbreaking video games can often lead to fascinating discoveries. For instance, the game “Manbiki Shōnen” from 1979 preceded “Metal Gear” by eight years, making it the first stealth game. This brings us to a question: Which fighting games made their mark as pioneers with some notable firsts?

8. Heavyweight Champ

First Fighting Game (1976)

  • Developer: Sega
  • Platform: Arcade
  • Release: October 1976

Developers like Capcom, SNK, Bandai-Namco, ArcSystem Works, French Bread, and others have significantly contributed to the fighting game genre. However, it was actually Sega who paved the way as far back as 1976 with the introduction of Heavyweight Champ. This arcade game allowed up to two players to use a boxing glove-styled controller for executing both low and high strikes.

This game featured two large, black-and-white pixel characters to showcase the gameplay and included a basic scoring system. Despite its minimalistic and somewhat unattractive appearance, it was well received when it debuted in arcades. Regrettably, it didn’t achieve enough popularity to prevent it from becoming lost media, as neither the original machines nor their ROMs have managed to withstand the passage of time. Today, the only version that exists is its 1987 remake, which played similarly to Punch-Out, but with a view from behind the character.

7. Warrior

First Weapons-Based Fighter (1979)

  • Developer: Tim Skelly
  • Platform: Arcade
  • Release: October 1979

In many fighting games, characters engage in close-quarter combat using fists and feet. However, some players opt for a more weapon-centric approach, such as in games like SoulCalibur, Samurai Shodown, and the Guilty Gear series. These games focus on the clash of weapons rather than hand-to-hand combat, featuring swords, axes, kunai, cat claws, and more. The excitement of these weapon-based fighters can match or even surpass that of their unarmed counterparts in the fighting game genre.

The initial documented instance is referred to as “Warrior“, an arcade game featuring a top-down perspective, in which players manipulated two joysticks and a button to direct the action. The button allowed the player’s knight character to switch between armed and unarmed combat modes. One joystick governed the character’s movement, while the other controlled the sword. Notably, it was the first game to employ motion capture technology, but it was challenging to master, and its machines often encountered hardware issues. Fortunately, it can now be played through MAME emulator.

6. Karate Champ/Street Fighter

First Games with Special Moves (1984/1987)

  • Developers: Technos Japan/Capcom
  • Platforms: Arcade, Apple 2, Commodore 64, NES, Famicom Disk System (Karate Champ), Arcade, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, TurboGrafx-CD (Street Fighter)
  • Release: May 1984

Instead of simply exchanging standard punches and kicks, what truly made fighting games popular was when characters could execute unique special moves. However, one may wonder, what actually constitutes as a special move? Is it always a fireball or showy rising uppercut, or can it just be an enhanced punch or kick? If the latter is true, then the game Karate Champ would stand out, since players can perform additional moves by pressing a specific direction along with a punch or kick.

However, for those who yearn for the original experience, it was Street Fighter 1 that initially allowed players to unleash Hadoukens and Shoryukens. These moves dealt significant damage upon impact. Notably, ‘if’ this is the desired scenario, as the controls in SF1 were more rigid compared to contemporary games. The CPU would relentlessly fire Tiger Shots and Tiger Knees from Sagat, but players often struggled to retaliate with Ryu. It’s no surprise that many fans tend to favor its more renowned sequel instead.

5. Shanghai Kid/Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior

First Games with Combos (1985/1991)

  • Developers: Nihon Game/Capcom
  • Platforms: Arcade (Shanghai Kid)/Arcade, SNES, Sega Master System, PC Engine, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS, Game Boy, CPS Changer, Java ME (Street Fighter 2)
  • Release: June 1985/March 1991

As a devoted gamer, I can’t help but marvel at the transformative impact of a seemingly innocuous glitch in “Street Fighter 2.” This mysterious bug allowed players to seamlessly transition from one move’s animation into another’s startup, fundamentally altering the focus of the fighting genre. Instead of aiming for a single powerful strike, it became about who could chain together the most attacks flawlessly. In an instant, every game that preceded it felt outdated. Interestingly, there were precursors to this combo phenomenon, such as “Shanghai Kid,” which deliberately enabled players to combine strikes, albeit not with the same level of finesse and impact.

In the game, the experience wasn’t identical to SF2. Unlike in that game, players couldn’t execute combos from the get-go. However, when the ‘RUSH!’ signal appeared, they could time their punch and kick button presses to maintain a sequence of attacks. Although it was more rigid than SF2, SNK found inspiration to incorporate a similar mechanic in their fighting games, with later iterations of KOF continuing to label their combos as ‘rushes.’

4. Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

First Game with Fatalities (1987)

  • Developer: Palace Software
  • Platforms: Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Apple 2, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Java ME
  • Release: 1987

In essence, the first game to feature “fatalities” can be interpreted differently based on the definition. If we consider fatalities as specific moves that players could execute at the end of a match when they knew a certain code, then it would be “Mortal Kombat.” However, if we define fatalities as moves that allow the player to kill their opponent with the right strike, similar to Mortal Kombat’s later Brutalities, then it would be “Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior” (also known as “Death Sword”). In this game, fighters could use a spinning slash that had the potential to decapitate enemies if it connected.

Subsequently, a goblin would appear to remove the lifeless body and casually roll the head off-frame, mimicking a football toss. This gruesome scene, though less graphic than future controversies surrounding MK, still stirred some debate due to its 8-bit game nature. Nevertheless, it was the provocative model adorning the game’s cover that sparked widespread outrage in the media. While decapitation seems to be tolerable, an almost bare figure seemed to provoke a much stronger reaction.

3. Art of Fighting

First Game with Super Combos (1992)

Following the popularity that ‘Hadouken’ brought about by SF2, it was natural to progress and introduce even more powerful special moves, which we now call super combos. These moves were challenging to execute, as they often demanded the player to build up a special meter. However, successfully executing them at the right moment could deal sufficient damage to shift the course of battle. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is typically recognized as the first game to incorporate these super combos, often alongside Art of Fighting 2.

In the very first “Art of Fighting” game, Ryo and Robert were capable of unleashing massive fireballs and intense attack barrages as well. However, these moves weren’t frequently employed because they could only be executed when the player was running low on health and had a high spirit meter. Similarly, other SNK characters during that time needed to be in a low-health state or take damage to build their meter, allowing them to perform their powerful super combos, often referred to as ‘Desperation Moves’. These moves represented some of the earliest examples of comeback mechanics within the fighting genre.

2. 4D Sports Boxing/Virtua Fighter

First 3D Fighting Games (1991/1993)

  • Developers: Distinctive Software/Sega AM-2
  • Platforms: Commodore Amiga, MS-DOS, Macintosh, FM Towns Marty (4D Sports Boxing)/Arcade, Sega Saturn, Sega 32X, R-Zone, PC (Virtua Fighter)
  • Release: June 1991/October 1993

It’s widely recognized that Virtua Fighter was likely the first 3D fighting game, as stated in the Guinness Book of World Records. Its distinctive, blocky characters certainly set the stage for other companies to explore 3D gaming. However, it’s interesting to note that Sega AM-2 was preceded by 4D Sports Boxing by about two years, featuring even more rudimentary boxers in a fighting scenario.

4D Sports Boxing offered 3D movement features like sidesteps and utilized motion capture for lifelike animations. Additionally, players had the opportunity to train their boxers between matches to enhance their stats. However, compared to VF1, it moved more sluggishly and focused solely on boxing styles, while VF1 encompassed various martial arts such as jeet kune do, crane kung fu, wrestling, etc. Despite these differences, the team at Distinctive Software, including future Xbox head Don Mattrick, can be recognized as early trailblazers within the 3D fighting genre.

1. Net Fighter

First Online Fighting Game (1998)

  • Developer: Syrox Developments
  • Platform: PC
  • Release: 1998

Some enthusiasts appreciate the peculiar, eccentric backstories of popular franchises, as well as the abundance of solo gameplay options. However, the success or failure of fighting games primarily hinges on the quality of their multiplayer modes because they’re essentially about two players squaring off against each other, not one person versus a computer AI. This was evident in the prolongation of arcade life by Street Fighter 2, and it explains why fighting games were on the brink of extinction alongside arcades until online gaming became widespread in the mid-2000s.

The first game that allowed players to fight each other online was called Net Fighter, which was only available on SegaSoft’s Heat.net service. Despite being a run-of-the-mill brawler, it couldn’t compete with the appeal of games like Quake 2 or Baldur’s Gate during the late ’90s. However, it functioned decently enough for online gaming at that time. It wasn’t until two years later, in 1998, when Capcom attempted something similar with the Japan-exclusive Super Street Fighter 2 X for Matching Service on the Dreamcast. Six years passed before Mortal Kombat: Deception gave it a shot in 2004.

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2025-03-09 09:52