The 10 Players of Every Old School 2D Fighting Game

Two-dimensional fighters are my favorite genre of video games out there. Adventure games are great, I can run with first-person shooters, and I’ll even hop back on Madden every now and then, but for a kid raised on Street Fighter, there’s nothing compared to the 1-on-1 battlefield of 2D fighting games on the “One shall stand, one shall fall” tip. (It also ruined most RPG’s for me because I simply cannot play them. Turn-based fighting? I get hit based on the points of my shield or something? Take this controller from me.) In the land of the 2D battlefield, certain constants remain no matter your preferred fighter or game. You’ve come to know their styles as glimpses into the psyches of the players behind them, and just like the 2D fighters themselves, they will never change. Which fighter are you? The BrawlerAlways aggressive, the Brawler brings that heat the second they hear “Fight!” Their talent lies less in patience or precision, but more in beating the life out of you in 50% health increments. You can only survive 2 encounters with a Brawler per health bar. They’re fatal if they trap you in a corner.

Best against: The Overly Complicated Special-Move Fighter, The CheapskateWorst against: The Projectile Warrior, The One-Move Perfectionist The Noob“I don’t play much, but I’ll try.” Those are the famous last words before a famously satisfying experience of whuppin’ this person’s ass. After muddling through 8 minutes of character selection of them asking what each character “d…