Why I LOVE fighting games pt.1

I wasn't all that into fighting games until last year. Truth be told, the closest I've ever been to dedicating myself to a fighting game was back when I played a lot of Melee and Brawl. Of course, those games are more like intensified party games than actual fighting games in my opinion, but only now I realized that the reason I was hooked on those games was the prospect of improving my skills and beating whatever challengers came my way.

It was last year when a friend of mine got a copy of Mortal Kombat 9 for his 360. Of course, the MK series had been infamous for it's over the top violence for a long time now so of course I was already familiar with the series although I never really played the games myself. And so I played my friend and got my ass handed to me every single time. I didn't care though, I was fascinated by all of the characters and wanted to play as them all. Eventually I bought the game for my Ps3 and that was the only game I played for that entire summer. I learned a few combos, but my win rate for the online mode was dismal at best. I scoured Youtube for videos that would give me stronger combos that I couldn't have been able to think of myself and spent hours finding them and practicing them.

Yet no matter how strong my combos were, I was still routinely beaten after every few wins. Eventually I happened upon Test Your Might, and searched every thread for ways to improve my skills. And so new terms were added to my vocabulary: mind games, punishes, whiffs, unsafe on block, active frames, match ups etc. I learned ways to improve and what mistakes I should avoid. And after every loss, I'd always ask myself "what did I do wrong and what should I do to win next time?"

The feeling was, engrossing. I loved the sense of accomplishment that came with overcoming obstacles in terms of my defence and the thrill of taking down dreaded opponents. And whenever there was a new technique hitting the scene, I was always sure to learn about it and adding whatever knowledge I had to my arsenal.

To this day, Mortal Kombat 9 remains the most played game in my library.