Fighting Game of the Year

[Arisato-kun]

I think it's safe to say 2009 was the year of the Fighting Game Renaissance. With Street Fighter IV as a beginning fighting games have seen a surge in popularity that hasn't been seen since the 90s. With all the great fighting games that came out this year I have to ask, what do you think was the standout of 2009?

[Sangaz]

Melty Blood: Actress Again on PS2.

They added Ryougi Shiki to the roster, she's lightning fast and her death perception arc drive finish looks mint.
It played just as nice as Act Cadenza too, only with extra fighting styles. Tohno Akiha, Nanaya Shiki and Ciel still kick arse in it too :|

[WiSeMaN]

Im a very biased person when it comes to fighting games. Which is why I will always say tekken is the best. I don't care what you have to say on the matter or what evidence you have to present.
Tekken is the best

[Trilight]

I'm going to have to go with BlazBlue. I'm a pretty big fighting game enthusiast and played almost every fighter worth mentioning this year.

Street Fighter IV was of course good, I mean it's Street Fighter, yet it didn't revolutionize or change too much from an already proven formula.

Soul Calibur 4 was ok, had a lot of hype but sort of fell flat at the end. The Star Wars characters felt really out of place, story mode was mediocre at best, but the tower and customization process were surprisingly deep and full of replay value. Good yet not as good as the Soul Calibur's 1 or 2.

KOF XII was a preparatory step in my eyes. It had no story mode, and a smaller roster than usual. It overall doesn't have enough new qualities to name it a step up from prequels, much less fighter of the year.

Tekken is the new fighter on the block and one I've really become engrossed in as of late. It's good and my 2nd favorite this year but some problems like having Scenario Campaign as the main mode(with no co-op ), and at times laggy online keep me from naming it best fighter this year.

BlazBlue is the new fighter on the block, and is EXACTLY how a fighting game should be made. It has the smallest roster out of every other game listed, yet with only 12 characters the roster manages to be the most diverse out of any this year by far.

Street Fighter has plenty of unique characters, but having just as many clones keeps it from having too diverse a roster. The 2 main characters play almost exactly the same. Tekken has too big a roster to be very diverse but it does a good job for keeping it somewhat balanced. I have the least experience with KOF but it seems to have a lot of unique characters that stay diverse, but nothing that really sets them apart as noteworthy.

Every single BlazBlue character plays differently. Which means you can't play Ragna and instantly be able to play Arakune next. To be good with a character you have to really spend time practicing with them, learning their movesets and such. Dedication and perserverance in BlazBlue lead to some awesome fights when you've gotten the hang of a character.

Blazblue is visually breathtaking for a 2DGame and has a great musical track. Just listen to Bang's FU-RIN-KA-ZAN power-up theme and not shed tears at the sheer, epicness radiating from the Ikaruga Warrior.

BlazBlue also has a great story, something you hardly ever see in fighters. Street Fighter's story is laughable in comparison, Tekkens is better but too cluttered to be called amazing, and KOF XII doesn't even have a story mode.

As far as final bosses go BlazBlue wins that category as well. Nu, while challenging could be beaten after enough experience with her fighting style and the character you're using.

Steet Fighter's Seth was a joke, and was a complete rehash of other fighter's moves. Algol in Soul Calibur is amazingly easy, even by final boss terms, and Tekken throws a Glow-in-the-Dark Chicken who can't be attacked half the time as their newest final boss, plus a gigantic robot which takes up half the screen.

Nu beats every final boss this year NO CONTEST, she's a completely unique fighter in an incredibly diverse cast and actually ADDS something to the plot and character's development instead of being the usual Deus Ex Machina Hard boss who has no relevance whatsoever and is only put in the game to piss of players apparently.

BlazBlue was simply this year' s edition of Fighter perfection, and I can't wait for Continuum Shift. (Damn I felt like I just wrote a research paper)

[Arisato-kun]

Melty Blood: Actress Again on PS2.

They added Ryougi Shiki to the roster, she's lightning fast and her death perception arc drive finish looks mint.
It played just as nice as Act Cadenza too, only with extra fighting styles. Tohno Akiha, Nanaya Shiki and Ciel still kick arse in it too :|

Can't say I've ever played Melty Blood but it's nice to see that the "Other" option didn't go to waste. ^_^

I'm going to have to go with BlazBlue. I'm a pretty big fighting game enthusiast and played almost every fighter worth mentioning this year.

Street Fighter IV was of course good, I mean it's Street Fighter, yet it didn't revolutionize or change too much from an already proven formula.

Soul Calibur 4 was ok, had a lot of hype but sort of fell flat at the end. The Star Wars characters felt really out of place, story mode was mediocre at best, but the tower and customization process were surprisingly deep and full of replay value. Good yet not as good as the Soul Calibur's 1 or 2.

KOF XII was a preparatory step in my eyes. It had no story mode, and a smaller roster than usual. It overall doesn't have enough new qualities to name it a step up from prequels, much less fighter of the year.

Tekken is the new fighter on the block and one I've really become engrossed in as of late. It's good and my 2nd favorite this year but some problems like having Scenario Campaign as the main mode(with no co-op ), and at times laggy online keep me from naming it best fighter this year.

BlazBlue is the new fighter on the block, and is EXACTLY how a fighting game should be made. It has the smallest roster out of every other game listed, yet with only 12 characters the roster manages to be the most diverse out of any this year by far.

Street Fighter has plenty of unique characters, but having just as many clones keeps it from having too diverse a roster. The 2 main characters play almost exactly the same. Tekken has too big a roster to be very diverse but it does a good job for keeping it somewhat balanced. I have the least experience with KOF but it seems to have a lot of unique characters that stay diverse, but nothing that really sets them apart as noteworthy.

Every single BlazBlue character plays differently. Which means you can't play Ragna and instantly be able to play Arakune next. To be good with a character you have to really spend time practicing with them, learning their movesets and such. Dedication and perserverance in BlazBlue lead to some awesome fights when you've gotten the hang of a character.

Blazblue is visually breathtaking for a 2DGame and has a great musical track. Just listen to Bang's FU-RIN-KA-ZAN power-up theme and not shed tears at the sheer, epicness radiating from the Ikaruga Warrior.

BlazBlue also has a great story, something you hardly ever see in fighters. Street Fighter's story is laughable in comparison, Tekkens is better but too cluttered to be called amazing, and KOF XII doesn't even have a story mode.

As far as final bosses go BlazBlue wins that category as well. Nu, while challenging could be beaten after enough experience with her fighting style and the character you're using.

Steet Fighter's Seth was a joke, and was a complete rehash of other fighter's moves. Algol in Soul Calibur is amazingly easy, even by final boss terms, and Tekken throws a Glow-in-the-Dark Chicken who can't be attacked half the time as their newest final boss, plus a gigantic robot which takes up half the screen.

Nu beats every final boss this year NO CONTEST, she's a completely unique fighter in an incredibly diverse cast and actually ADDS something to the plot and character's development instead of being the usual Deus Ex Machina Hard boss who has no relevance whatsoever and is only put in the game to piss of players apparently.

BlazBlue was simply this year' s edition of Fighter perfection, and I can't wait for Continuum Shift. (Damn I felt like I just wrote a research paper)

A damn good research paper at that. I will be using this thesis to counter Blazblue bashers. >_>

[mr. badguy]

I will be using this thesis to counter Blazblue bashers. >_>

O_O do such people truly exist? I gotta go with BlazBlue also, though I never bought it...That game has so many options, and it's so easy to pick up and play, but it takes alot of practice to get decent. I'd give 2nd Place to Tekken 6 though, just for versus mode alone

[Stev3child]

I prefer 3-D fighters over 2-D. Its just my cup of tea. Soul Caliber 4(despite it coming out last year) has so much depth to the fighting system. Investing some time to learn the basics of blocking, positioning and just imputting can be extremely tedious if you're the casual type of player. But for enthusiasts of the (3-D) fighting genre, its everything to kep you occupied. With games like Virtua Fighter, DoA, and Tekken(my old favorite) soul caliber stands out to me as the most appealing and suitible to my tastes.


But since this is fighting game for this year, I cannot make that choice. As the only fighting game I've played from this year is SF4. Its an excellent game though, with a lot of technical intrigue.

I also love my Bleach Heat the soul 6 but i wont rank it amid the above fighters.

[Hagane, the Ice Nomad]

Well, since I've onlx played a couple games on this list, I'm gonna go with Dissidia.

[Sangaz]

I wouldn't have though Dissidia would count, Same as Stev3child not voting for Bleach Heat the Soul, they're more of a hybrid figher game with hack and slash elements, But yay, another vote for "other".

Did no one else bother playing Melty Blood AA though? It's a great fighter, even more so if you love Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai :1

[mr. badguy]

^ Melty Blood is alot more obscure than the other games... I only know about it because alot of the characters were remade for MUGEN awhile back. I've never even played the real game, to be honest with you.