Fighting games as a single player challenge

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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cave hermit
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Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by cave hermit »

So obviously fighting games are most fun played against friends or competitive strangers, but of course unless you're playing the latest Tekken (I love 7!) or the latest Street Fighter (V is just meh), you aren't going to be easily finding other people to play with. Good luck organizing that Karnov's Revenge tournament (Well actually... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InjhVEY5dm4) or easily hopping into KOF XIV netplay.

So what about the merit of fighting game single player modes? The problem with a lot of modern fighting games is that their AI is pretty much nonexistent (ever try playing one of the random offline Nesica fighting games at Round 1?), but what about fighting games that actually put up a... fight with its AI? Off the top of my head, I think the Neo Geo SNK fighting games would qualify as good single player fighting games, the AI puts up a pretty good fight, and of course there are the infamous SNK bosses. The Street Fighter II games also offer quite a nice challenge I think against the AI.

Basically it seems like when the games were originally limited to arcades, they had to put up a decent fight so people would keep putting in quarters without getting bored even without challengers always on hand, and when fighting games came to consoles, especially with the advent of online play, developers stopped caring as much about the AI since they figured online play would sustain things (of course that would require making the netcode not awful but I digress).

Thoughts?
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Blinge »

I remember Unlimited Hazama in Blazblue Continuum Shift fucked me uuuuppp!!
But i'm generally trash at fighters as you well know..

(cave batters me at Kof13)

I have been meaning to go back and go through fatalfury, kof etc and try to beat all the arcade modes in mame.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by FinalBaton »

One of my most played games ever, is the console ports of Street Fighter Alpha 3 in arcade mode. It's the game I reach to when I just wanna unwind. I sit there and just mindlessly practice combos and alpha counters for a good while(I have a lot of fun doing this to unwind, it feels very zen to me).

I think that series and the SF2 one offer good oposition and fun times in arcade mode, even at moderate difficulty level. And AI does a good job. After playing for a long while you notice that each character has it's go-to combos, sure. But that's like playing against the same person all the time. At least it feels like a person is playing. I got no complaint against that AI, it's well put together and feels solid
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Marc
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Marc »

I remember the SNES version of Turbo... you could literally manipulate the AI on that. The whole 'reach M. Bison without losing energy to unlock Sheng Long' think? I did that on level 8 the AI got so predictable.

The arcade version does it to a lesser degree, but time hasn't been kind and my reflexes are not what they were :D
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BIL »

Sam Sho II is great for this. Rock-solid game, relentless but not impervious AI, GIGANTIC PERSONALITY. You will feel the unbridled IKARI NO SENGOKU Image Image The VAs were audibly sweating as hard as the rest of the staff. KOROSHIIIIII!

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Is Genjuro gonna have to choke-slam a bitch?
Marc wrote:I remember the SNES version of Turbo... you could literally manipulate the AI on that. The whole 'reach M. Bison without losing energy to unlock Sheng Long' think? I did that on level 8 the AI got so predictable.

The arcade version does it to a lesser degree, but time hasn't been kind and my reflexes are not what they were :D
I gotta look up that scan where a UK magazine brazenly stole EGM's April Fools Sheng Long story... then upgraded it to work on the SNES cart... and even described the "HARD-WON, SATISFYING ENDING" :lol:
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by FinalBaton »

well looks like I shouldn't have lumped SF2 in my last paragraph. that was a mistake

I stand by SFA3 tho


@BIRRU I need to play some SamSho. I'm a crt/lo-res nut so I'll have to get me a consolized MVS(been wanting that for a while anyway), unless there's very good ports @ 240p. At least I have my Saturn for some good KoF action. Is there SamSho ports on there or PS1?

EDIT : looks like SSV on PS2 runs at 240p. as seen in list below. Is it a good one? might pick up that KoF one too.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=55420
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BIL »

FinalBaton wrote:@BIRRU I need to play some SamSho. I'm a crt/lo-res nut so I'll have to get me a consolized MVS(been wanting that for a while anyway), unless there's very good ports @ 240p. At least I have my Saturn for some good KoF action. Is there SamSho ports on there or PS1?
Sadly the only SSII port I know of that gen is for PS1, and it has godawful load times that ruin the presentation (not great in any game, but particularly depressing for Sam Sho II).

Happily though, the ACA NeoGeo version on PS4 is (like all games covered by the series) effectively perfect. It has some decent scanline options, but I like to leave it unfiltered. Excellent alternative if, like me, you're away from your CMVS!
EDIT : looks like SSV on PS2 runs at 240p. as seen in list below. Is it a good one? might pick up that KoF one too.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=55420
Examu's SSV Special is widely regarded by competitive players as among the series' absolute best. Lots of intricacies to work with. SSII is much simpler but in that context it's well-regarded by JP tournament players to this day (great watch).

If I recall, KAI once mentioned the PS2 Neo Geo Online Sam Sho collection being good, no experience with it myself. I'd look that one up if PS4 ACA's not an option (the ACA NeoGeo series is on Switch, XB1 and Windows, too, but I've never tried those). Although, I see it lacks SSV Special... not sure how well vanilla SSV is regarded.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Vanguard »

I always liked the adventure mode in Soul Calibur 2. You go around clearing missions on a world map which unlocks new areas. A lot of missions have special rules and requirements and there are light RPG elements where you earn money and buy new weapons.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Ninja Master's: Haō Ninpō Chō was, at least, difficult vs A.I. Normally, with infinite continues, you can credit-feed through this genre game without much knowledge of it, can't you? Surely clearing Soul Calibur 1&2 this way (to unlock Adventure) was easy in my experience. Well, Ninja Master's, which I played more seriously at some point, was much harder to me.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Single player is definitely an afterthought a lot of the time and that's a real shame because as has already been stated here the AI is at its best when it feels like facing a human opponent - after all, how many humans will have played your super-niche game enough for you to not obliterate them? And then you need to have those humans as friends.

Street Fighter Alpha 3's World Tour mode was great - apart from the bullshit final fight against multiple X-ISM Shin M. Bisons with their super gauges permanently maxed. That's the sort of thing I hate in a single player mode for a fighting game - a ludicrously unbalanced boss fight.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom was one I had a tonne of fun with from a single player perspective - never did manage to find an online match. There's plenty of unlockables to encourage you to try out different characters. The final boss is a unique challenge but a fair one. The control system might seem oversimplified at first but I think it works well, with complexity coming from counters, assists and the tag team system as a whole. As standard for Capcom, the roster is well balanced and the partner system gives you tremendous choice in how you decide to play. A real shame it's probably never coming back now the licences have expired. No-one asked for it, no-one played it (because Wii) and no-one will see it again. And yet it's great.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Mischief Maker »

I heard people say the Skullgirls singleplayer AI is something special because they designed it to operate more like a teaching puzzle than a virtual human.

Confirm/deny?
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Leandro »

Nice, I thought I was the only one who still liked to play fighting games against the A.I.

The earlier Samurai Shodown games are good fun going for the 1cc. Tried Samurai Shodown 1 some weeks ago with Hahomaru, took me a while to finally clear it without losing on default MVS difficult. Each CPU character has a specific pattern so the player needs to recognize it and develop a way to counter it. Took me some time to figure out Earthquake and Charlotte (who I still need a bit of luck to defeat). The special credits song is sweet.

All these modern fighintg games just can't do arcade mode like they used to.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Ruldra »

There are a few fighting games out there with a well-developed singleplayer mode. Out of the top of my head I can recommend Warzard / Red Earth and the amazing tournament mode of One Must Fall 2097. In both of them it's not just about beating your opponent but also taking as little damage as possible.

But even regular fighting games can provide a lot of fun. One of my most played titles in MAME was Last Blade 2, exclusively in singleplayer.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

I don't recall its exact name, but the PS2 port of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution comes with a "free lessons" mode of sorts, where you're in-depth taught about each and every character's moveset. This is, I suppose, a thing everyone who designs fighting games dearly wishes to be known about their creations, but not everyone is given resources to develop such a schooling device. Soul Calibur's Adventure also betrays this way of thinking, seems to me. So do "challenge shrines" in Onimusha 3 (which is primarily a fighting game, albeit single-player only). See, at least PS2-gen Capcom was both bloody brilliant at developing most magnificent action games, as it was clumsy about hinting at their core mechanics (the same can be said about PS2-gen Sega). Particularly, I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of Viewtiful Joe and Onimusha players had spent quite a lot time playing them "all wrong". Come Onimusha 3, you simply won't access all of the game's content without executing all of its executable techniques properly at least once, so even a player inexperienced with fighting games, sporting nonetheless a "completist's" mindset, is given incentive and tools to appreciate it for what it truly, essentionally is.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Sengoku Strider »

VF4 is a good one, they went over & above with that one.

NetherRealm stuff is made with the knowledge that plenty of casuals play their games, so stuff like Injustice 2 includes tons of story & unlockables.

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the KoF games over the years, as fighting games go they have a pretty ridiculous amount of lore tucked away in there, and the games tell an ongoing story which directly references previous ones.

I've lost touch with the Soul Calibur games, but they generally had rpg modes tucked in there.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by dan76 »

I still enjoy playing Night Warriors and Vampire Saviour in single player. The combos are always fun to pull off and there's still a ton to learn about characters. On the PS2 port there's a cool mode where you possess the character you've defeated and play as them the next round.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BurlyHeart »

I still have great memories of staying at my cousin's house on Christmas Day and him receiving a SNES with SFII Turbo. Spent all day defeating Bison with all the characters so I could see their ending.

I know a couple of the Guilty Gear games have very tough bosses. I-No and Leopaldan come to mind.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Blinge »

Can I call it a day after beating the arcade on SF2 world warrior or should I play all the different versions of SF2 to say i've really played the 'story' ?
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by WelshMegalodon »

Don't they all cover the same tournament?

If it's the endings you're after, it looks like at least two of them were altered slightly for The New Challengers, but other than that, they all seem to cover the same ground.

Of course, to have really played the story, you'll also need to beat the original Street Fighter, all three Zero games, and both 2nd Impact and 3rd Strike.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Blinge »

Ahh I remember the crux of my interest..

.. I want to play SF single player enough so that when I play THIS battle - https://youtu.be/GZtv8o_z0vE

It will have the maximum effect. so what's the roadmap?
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BIL »

Burinju fighting game stories are fake+gay, PLS tell me u have seen the SFII Animated Movie (`ω´メ)

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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by FinalBaton »

Chun shower scene 8)


always though that twist-foot-on-pretty-boi's-face move was br00tal af haha. specially since Balrog/Vega is so vain
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BIL »

A very SamSho RAEG MODE Image Image reaction there :mrgreen: YOU BITCH I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER

I prefer the English dub and soundtrack by a whisker, pardon some unfortunate corporate grunge, but I like to revisit the JP one occasionally. He just splutter-shrieks "I'll kill you!" there, sounding appropriately psychotic. Image
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Blinge »

BIL wrote:Burinju fighting game stories are fake+gay
no u
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by WelshMegalodon »

Blinge wrote:Ahh I remember the crux of my interest..

.. I want to play SF single player enough so that when I play THIS battle - https://youtu.be/GZtv8o_z0vE

It will have the maximum effect. so what's the roadmap?
That fight is actually based on the opening scene from the animated movie, which is required viewing if you want to get the most out of the Zero games. You also need context for Ryu and Sagat's fight, so I recommend giving the original Street Fighter a try as well. It's not a fantastic game by any means, but I had fun with it.

The PC Engine port allows shortcuts for special moves if certain conditions are met.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BIL »

WelshMegalodon wrote:That fight is actually based on the opening scene from the animated movie, which is required viewing if you want to get the most out of the Zero games.
Required viewing in general TBH Image Gold standard fighting game anime, badass through and through Image also CHUN BOOBZ Image
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by BurlyHeart »

There's an even better fight from the animated movie in the game, though that Sagat-Ryu stage and scene is glorious.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Blinge »

I've been meaning to watch it for years, honestly. I just find it hard to sit still and watch a movie without other stimulus.
maybe I need a beej during :lol:
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by WelshMegalodon »

Did another runthrough since Blinge's question had me in the mood to revisit. The Shoryuken really does break the game, but at the same time, the second half feels impossible without it, and Sagat is out of the question.
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AI in the first Zero is also mostly a pushover. But only mostly. (No, I didn't get the 1CC. For shame!)
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On a related note, Sagat is depicted here and in the Zero games as a rather stocky fellow. I wonder why they decided to make him so lanky for The World Warrior.
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Re: Fighting games as a single player challenge

Post by Ajora »

I play fighting games primarily for their multiplayer. Single-player is usually just a means for getting better at multiplayer.
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