Today, there are over 2.5 billion gamers in the world. No matter what video game you’re into, there’s sure to be a sea of competitors out there, ready to face you.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned gamer, one thing’s for sure: there are always players out there who are better than you. It’s just a fact.
Are you now wondering how to get better at fighting games so you can own your opponents? Then you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll outline several strategies you can use to get good at fighting games!
Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin
First things first: there are only so many hours in a day. Sure, you can try and cram as many fighting games into your waking hours, and you might find that you’re naturally good at a few of them.
But the fact is, the more games you try to fit in your day, the less time you’ll be able to devote to each one. And in that case, you might end up being just ok at 5 fighting games rather than absolutely fantastic at 1 or 2!
What you need to do is determine which games you want to focus on. In the beginning, it’s ok to start off with 10 titles, just to get a feel for things.
But once you familiarize yourself with each game, start narrowing your focus by picking a few to explore further. Then from there, you can determine which ones you want to absolutely wreck on.
Now, we’re not saying that you can’t play quite a few fighting games at once. We’re saying that you can’t play every single one seriously. Otherwise, you’ll drive yourself insane trying to be Superman, who you’re not.
So go about getting better at fighting games in a smart way. Choose your battles wisely, so to speak.
Once you start to wreck house, then you can think about moving onto other games to hone your skills do the same. But that’s for later; for now, you want to start small.
Study Up
Once you’ve decided which fighting games you want to focus on, it’s time to study up.
In general, all fighting games will have all sorts of combos you can press to unleash heavier, more damaging moves. And these combos will most likely vary for every character you can play as.
As you can imagine, there will probably be tons of fighting game combos possible whenever you hop onto the game and duke it out.
You’ll want to first get a feel for which characters you like to play. Set up a few games with either bots or other beginners and just cycle through the characters. For many gamers, it’s not uncommon for certain characters to just speak out to them more than the other ones do.
In the beginning, you’ll want to get to know these characters well. Study their unique combo moves and make sure you commit them to memory. You don’t want to be in the middle of a fight, freeze up, and forget to land that combo that’ll earn you the W!
For this reason, you’ll want to physically tap the buttons or keys. Not only will this help you memorize the combos more easily, but it’ll also help your muscle memory, which will come in handy if you do freeze up.
Study All Other Character Moves
Sure, you can stick to a few characters to wipe the floor with your opponents. But people might think you’re a one-trick pony.
Plus, if you go on to play in the big leagues, tournaments usually have rules for how often you use a character. Your favorites might even actually be outright banned for a round or two. What would you do then?
We said in an earlier section that you should choose a few video games and only move onto others after you get good at those. The same concept applies to the characters you play in the games themselves.
By expanding your knowledge about the different characters, you’ll have more versatility when you play these fighting games. If you’re top 2 characters are banned, then you’ll have no issue switching to someone else, as you’ve already studied up on how to play that character.
In addition, knowing other characters prepares you for fighting against your opponents. If you have a general idea of what all the combos are, then you’ll know what to look for and prepare to act defensively when appropriate. This will definitely give you a leg up on your competition!
Get the Right Setup Going
Now, before you get to practicing (more on that later), you need to make sure you have the right setup. This is for 2 reasons: to optimize your gaming experience and to also prevent you from getting injured.
We’re actually not kidding about injuries. Have you ever gotten carpal tunnel syndrome from doing a lot of office work on your computer? Well, the same can happen here, even though you’re having fun with video games!
So it’s important that you get the right setup going for you.
First, make sure you have a desk with plenty of space if you’re playing on a PC. If you’re playing on a console, then make sure you’re sitting somewhere comfy that’s a good distance away from the TV or monitor.
Also, get an ergonomic chair; whether that’s an office or gaming chair is really up to you. But do note that gaming chairs tend to be expensive, so if you want one of those, start saving up!
If you’re gaming at a desk, you’ll want to adjust your chair so your feet are flat on the floor and your hands sit comfortably on the keyboard and mouse, without your wrists dipping down. If needed, get wrist rests to elevate them.
And of course, if you’re on a PC or laptop, you’ll want to make sure you’re machine enough to run the games you wish to play. Otherwise, you’ll run into issues like lag, which can really mess up your timing. And timing is everything when it comes to fighting games!
Practice, Practice, Practice
Lastly, you need to get lots of practice in. Like with anything else you want to get good at, you have to work at it and get the experience in. The more familiar you are with something, the more natural it’ll be to you.
Don’t skip the tutorials. They might seem tedious, but building a strong foundation is key to success.
If there is a campaign to play, you should play through it. Not only will you get the most bang for your buck that way, but you’ll also get some good practice in while enjoying the backstory for the game.
Practice Against Bots
Once you’re done with the campaign, or if there isn’t one, you should practice fights against bots. This will help you learn blocking in fighting games and more.
This is because bots are programmed to have more unpredictable movements, like human players do. You’ll notice that they’ll act differently than the opponents in campaign mode.
But because this is AI, it’s still not a perfect substitute for human players. So once you feel like you’ve familiarized yourself with bots, then move onto the other type of practice: against other people.
Practice Against Other People
Most fighting games will have unranked and ranked games. You usually can’t even unlock ranked games without putting in some time in the unranked section, so it’s always a good idea to start there.
In unranked games, you can play against people from a wide range of skills, from beginners to pro gamers. This lets you exercise your reflexes and get used to adapting to different fight situations.
Once you get a handle on fighting humans and you’ve unlocked ranked games, then you’re well on your way to being a pro!
Now You Know How to Get Better at Fighting Games
After reading this article, you now have some fantastic advice on how to get better at timing in fighting games and more. It’s important to choose just a few games, study up, have the right setup, and get plenty of practice in.
Remember that you shouldn’t take video games too seriously. If you end up completely focused on being the best at the game, it might take all the fun out of it for you.
So while it’s important to step up your game, just keep in mind that in the end, it’s just pixels on a screen. If you can manage to have a fairly relaxed attitude about whichever title you choose to play, then all the fun and excitement will naturally follow!
If you found this article on how to get better at fighting games useful, then make sure you check out our other articles too!
