Ever since the release of Street Fighter II back in the '90s which has dominated the arcade world. A search has been raging on to look for a fun, deep and unique game is the masses of fighting games. Surely, it is quite easy to subtract those games like Clayfighter and Shaq-Fu off the list as very bad fighting games. But how about those titles that had everything its need to succeed? In this article, we will take a look at those titles which were supposed to be a success but in reality, never took off.
5. 2018 - Dissidia Final Fantasy NT
Dissidia Final Fantasy is a very good series because that eventhough they are fighting games but they still have many RPG elements. The gameplay gives off a quite unique experience that suit to the taste of Final Fantasy fanbase. The PSP version of the game was kinda successful, so they decided to go forward with porting the game to PS4. This PS4 version has the name of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT with the game mechanic mainly focus on 3 vs. 3 battle format.
However the game came out with one very big issue - it doesn't have split screen or any way to have more than one player on a single console. So that means to host a Dissidia match you would need six PS4s. That setting requirement is just insane and way too high with the wrong assumption that many will go on that train.
On the other hand. the gameplay is quite fun and interesting with deep strategy factors such as building the team and learning to use the open maps. The game is also pretty good in how it approached the fighting mechanic with other teams. The RPG elements also serve to slow down the pace but it also makes the game feels somewhat more static. Maybe that is not a bad thing for the diehard fan of the series, but on the appearance, it makes the game looks confusing and boring to watch. The streaming nightmare also applies when you could only follow one player in a match at one time.
The company is still quite committed to turning this game over by adding more contents into the game with the form of DLC characters. They also count on the diehard fanbase of the series as well as the established tournaments. However, there are too many technical and logistical issues for this game to take off.
4. 2004 - Capcom Fighting Evolution
Capcom Fighting Evolution was a complete disaster of a fighting game.
Eventhough that we used to have many expectations for this game. Just list down the list of characters: all the different generations in Street Fighter, Darkstalkers' characters, Red Earth's characters. They even accompany all those characters with their fighting styles from their respective games. This should result in a total epic game, RIGHT? - But it didn't.
There is no point in talking about the balance in this game. It is just atrocious because they just simply copy and paste the fighting styles of many different games into this game with little to no fine-tuning. Together with those sloppy animations of characters' moves that stick to their original images. But that commitment leads to the inconsistency in this game make it feels frantic and uncomfortable to play. Moreover, some major character like Ken and Sagat are not playable characters but only as background decoration. So their names were just a gimmick to raise hype of the game.
This game joined in the tournament game for a brief in Japan, but then it dies out pretty quickly. Until this day, Capcom Fighting Evolution was still being taken out to compared to other crossover games like Marvel vs. Capcom. The other being used as a good and polished example while Capcom Fighting Evolution serves as a bad example of a loose collection of many games.
3. 2012 - PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2012)
At first, if you only look at the general reviews and sales this game is not that flop to go on this list. They have sold more than 1 million copies of this game over the years, still, wasn't enough to get a sequel. What makes it a real flop is the original potential of this game.
This is was originally intended by Sony as its answer to Super Smash Bros of Nintendo. But Sony couldn't just copy-paste the game of Nintendo so they added a few tweaks to the game to create a unique fighting experience. While the game wasn't really a bomb, it left many to be desired.
The characters in this game are not as iconic or well-known as in its Nintendo's counterpart. However, the move and attack skill that they made for their characters seem to be pretty suitable. For example who doesn't wanna use Dante, Raiden, and Karotos to go kick asses?
The biggest low point of this game lies in its gameplay. The control scheme of the game is fun and all but there is a catch that. The catch is that the only way to eliminate your opponent is to build up your meter and use a special skill to finish them off. If you miss that special - you have to wait for the meter to goes up again. This way of focusing so much on a single move to KO is just not a good experience for both spectator and player.
2. 2003 - Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
Dragon Ball FighterZ has become a phenomenon last year when they released it. It has a good reason to be so also. This game had great music, awesome sound effects, stunning visuals, and incredible gameplay. However, over the years, there have been many attempts in the past to create a good Dragon Ball Z, and not all of those game turn out as great as its success.
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 was a clear failure for unusual reasons. The first one is that the game has clunky controls, lackluster graphics, and too simple gameplay that didn't take advantage of its RPG features. Another issue is the trademark symbols in the names of characters in the matches make the game feels cheap.
While this game was never in the place to really take off, there is an interesting difference between the U.S and Japanese releases. No changes in gameplay which are good but the Japanese version reached the market in 1995, as a fresh game for Play Station unit. While the U.S release was in 2003 - 3 years after the release of PS2.
1. 2012 - Street Fighter X Tekken
They were intended this game to be the bridge between Tekken and Street Fighter. At release, the game ended up closer being a Street Fighter rather than any Tekken game. Still, it had the signs of a smash hit. It has 38 characters - a very last cast, and the strategy feature to swap between 2 characters whenever you want to. In this game, you also have the choice between neutral-based, strong team or a high-reward, high-risk duo. So I think it had everything it needs to take 2D fighters to the next level.
However, this game was full of problems in gameplay and weird decisions of the tournament organizers and developers. Street Fighter X Tekken is really slow in early meta because of the low-damage team, and the large stage allows players running around. So the optimal strategy is to deal a little damage then running away to wait for clock out. This loophole was eventually patched but left an unhealable match on the game's reputation.
So to summarize, Street Fighter X Tekken has the groundwork to become a success but too many developments and marketing mistakes in its early life make it become a flop.
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