In the past year, online competitions have increased in popularity, making this one of the best times to join the fun, but getting into fighting games can be intimidating. Most games ease you into the fundamentals before you’re dropped off a steep cliff left to find your own ways to get good.

Let’s learn how to improve, pick a main, practice, and more in this beginner’s guide to the FGC (fighting game community).

What Fighting Game Should I Start With

The first thing to do is a little research on what game you want to play.

3D Fighters

• Tekken: Hand-to-hand combat, movement is very important.
• SoulCalibur: Iconic weapons-based battles.

2D Fighters

• Mortal Kombat: The legendary fighter famous for brutal, gory gameplay.
• Street Fighter: The classic franchise that revolutionized the genre. Simple gameplay, lots of footsies.

Anime Fighters

These titles traditionally feature fast-paced gameplay with a lot of combos, some unique mechanics, and flashy moves.

• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle: Fight as your favorite Persona character or main a giant tank. The fundamentals are simple, although the number of options seems more intimidating than it actually is. Players select two fighters every match.
• Dragon Ball FighterZ: Experience your own Super Saiyan saga that looks straight out of the anime. Form a team of 3 characters to overcome opponents with assists, colorful combos, and lots of over the top attacks.
• UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r]: UNICLR has a notable tug of war mechanic that keeps fights fresh. There are a lot of unique mechanics to learn, but once you master them the freedom to play how you want in this fighter keeps the just one more match mentality alive.

Platform Fighters

Players must knock their opponent’s character off the screen or stage in platform fighters. Unlike most games in the FGC, players do not have health bars and instead gain percent. The more percent, the further your character is launched when hit.

• Brawlhalla: Simple item gameplay and limited moves make this great to easily jump in, plus you can play as a variety of characters from popular media like Steven Universe, Adventure Time, The Walking Dead, and more.
• Rivals of Aether: Catered more toward the competitive scene. Lots of technical mechanics, but can still be enjoyed by casuals.
• Smash Bros: Nintendo’s all-star fighting game franchise. Easy to pick up, tough to master.

There are also more realistic games that feature wrestling or MMA fighting.

Which Fighting Game is the Hardest & Easiest

This is a tough question because what you find easy might be extremely hard for the next person interested in fighting games. Generally, anime fighters like BBTAG and UNICLR are harder to get into due to a wealth of unique mechanics and fast-paced moves. Conversely, games like Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate and Street Fighter V are easier to get into and improve thanks to simpler mechanics and slower gameplay. The flashiness of the anime fighters can sometimes make them harder to follow, whereas traditional fighters have more obvious moves, making it easier to react and anticipate.

Again, you might find something like Brawlhalla and other platform fighters far easier than 3D ones like Tekken. Fighting games often offer free demos, so try out a wide variety before investing your time and effort.

How Long Does it Take to Get Good at Fighting Games

Whether it is sports, academics, or esports, skill varies from person to person on a game to game basis. Some people are naturally better, giving them an advantage at the start based on their prior experience with other titles, superior hand-eye coordination, or good reflexes. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve and become one of the best players. Everyone starts somewhere. That means even the top pros in your favorite game were you once in terms of ability.

The amount of time it takes to get good at fighting games isn’t set in stone. For some that might be months. For others years. Either way, you have to realize going into fighting games that you’re going to lose a lot. It is part of the experience, so the sooner you get used to it, the better you’ll be in the long run.

How to Get Started in Fighting Games

Most modern fighting games have a healthy tutorial to help you get better at the game.

Don't Skip the Tutorials

This is the best way to learn the idiosyncrasies of a game and how to get better. Sure it isn’t the most compelling method, but remember when you watch tournaments that you’re only seeing a fraction of the time pros spend with the game. Offline they’re grinding combos, labbing new tech, and doing everything they can to improve.

Practice isn’t always pretty, although it is necessary if you want to get better.

Play Training Mode

Beyond the tutorials are training modes. This is what separates the unknown from the prominent. Practicing is more than just playing against other players. You have to spend time labbing different combos and options in training mode.

You can even set how your practice partner is going to react. Start with the block all setting. This will teach you what attacks work and what don’t. Plus you’ll grasp a better understanding of how to break a defense to gain the upper hand.

How do you Practice Fighting Games

Most casual players stop after finding a character. Here’s how to go further into the competitive scene.

Pick a Main

You’re going to want to pick a character to spend most of your time playing. Your best bet is to start with someone well-rounded because balanced characters are great for learning the fundamentals.

Relying on advanced techniques or gimmicks early on might cause you to struggle in certain matchups without the best understanding of every mechanic. Someone who can move quickly and has moves that are easy to execute helps remedy that problem.

For SoulCalibur that would be someone like Cassandra, while in Street Fighter you might want to try Ryu to get a feel for the game.

Play Other People

There’s no substitute for playing an actual person. While it might seem like beating the CPU on the hardest difficulty is an accomplishment, it’s still a computer program that’s going to use a specific set of moves based on its coding. A CPU will not surprise you, and once you learn the pattern of attack you’ll be able to beat it without a problem. Worst case scenario, you’ll develop bad habits from playing them too much.

Vary Your Opponents

Try to play against a wide variety of characters and playstyles. Zoners, rushdown, grapplers, etc. The more experience you have fighting the rest of the cast, the more likely you’ll adapt to your opponent’s playstyle, increasing your chances of victory.

Watch Tournaments and Guides

One of the best parts about Twitch is that you can watch pros practice in real time. Find out who the top players are for your game and follow them on social media. Many top players also create tutorials on their YouTube pages.

Join Communities and Make Friends

Another great tactic is to find a community on Discord or Reddit for your main or track down the best player that uses your character. Together you’ll improve your understanding of different matchups and situations in order to learn the most reliable options. Feel free to reach out with any questions because most are surprisingly reachable.

Practicing with the same few people is advantageous because you can identify each other’s weaknesses and ways to fix them. Just be sure to not solely play the same people. The more people you play, the better you’ll become.

Losing is OKAY

This idea that you have to win all the time is unhealthy and wrong. Often, the best way to learn how to get better is to have your butt handed to you by a better player.

You’re going to lose, and often. That’s ok. Don’t get discouraged. Playing a fighting game should be fun, and it’s a journey. You can take it as far as you want to take it. There is likely going to be someone better (only one person can be the best), and even the top players in the world have bad days.

Keep Practicing

Improvement takes equal time watching and practicing, but don’t over do it. Take breaks and juggle every aspect of your life without burning out. Even just a little time daily is beneficial, so don’t think you need to spend every hour or day with the game. Consistency is important.

Join Tournaments

Tournaments are an excellent way to get good regardless of if you’ve put 5, 50, or 500 hours into a game. People are more friendly than you think. Remember, improving those around you in your community gives you tougher competition, ultimately making you better too. Jump into some free FGC Open Series events to get started online.