Game design

Fighting games involve combat between pairs of fighters using highly exaggerated martial arts moves.^[1] They typically revolve around primarily brawling or combat sport,^[2][5] though some variations feature weaponry.^[5] Games usually display on-screen fighters from a side view, and even 3D fighting games play largely within a 2D plane of motion.^[1] Games usually confine characters to moving left and right and jumping, although some games such as Fatal Fury: King of Fighters allow players to move between parallel planes of movement.^[1][12] Recent games tend to be rendered in three dimensions and allow side-stepping, but otherwise play like those rendered in two dimensions.^[5]

[edit] Attacking and defending

Aside from moving around a restricted space, fighting games limit the player's actions to different offensive and defensive maneuvers. Players must learn which attacks and defenses are effective against each other, often by trial and error.^[1] Blocking is a basic technique that allows a player to defend against attacks.^[13] Some games feature more advanced blocking techniques: for example, Capcom's Street Fighter III features a move termed "parrying" which causes the attacker to become momentarily incapacitated (a similar state is termed "just defended" in SNK's Garou: Mark of the Wolves).^[14][15] In addition to blows such as punches and kicks, players can utilize throwing or "grappling" to circumvent "blocks". Predicting opponents' moves and counter-attacking, known as "countering", is a common element of gameplay.^[5] Fighting games also emphasize the difference between the height of blows, ranging from low to jumping attacks.^[16][17] Thus, strategy becomes important as players attempt to predict each others' moves, similar to rock-paper-scissors.^[1]
An integral feature of fighting games includes the use of "special attacks", also called "secret moves",^[16] that employ complex combinations of button presses to perform a particular move beyond basic punching and kicking.^[18] Combos, in which several attacks are chained together using basic punches and kicks, are another common feature in fighting games and have been fundamental to the genre since the release of Street Fighter II.^[19] Some fighting games display a "combo meter" that displays the player's progress through a combo. The effectiveness of such moves often relate to the difficulty of execution and the degree of risk. These moves are often beyond the ability of a casual gamer and require a player to have both a strong memory and excellent timing.^[1] Taunting is another feature of some fighting games and was originally introduced by Japanese company SNK in their game Art of Fighting.^[20][21] It is used to add humor to games, but can also have an effect on gameplay such as improving the strength of other attacks.^[22] Sometimes, a character can even be noted especially for taunting (for example, Dan Hibiki from Street Fighter Alpha).^[23][24]