The Pure Game Design of Fighting Games

Fighting Games have always illustrated the purest aspects of game whether balance, asymmetry , risk/ reward decisions or depth, but they are also notoriously hard to learn. Unlike most genres, fighting games don't tutorialize the game well within its own systems, and hence it expects players to rely on themselves or the community to learn. Because of this, although fighting games have extreme depth and a practically infinite possibility space, they are very inaccessible. This video explores the history and design of fighting games, the concepts in game design they illustrate , and the pain and joy of learning them through the eyes of yours truly.