Fighting: The Lone Fighter - The Stuff of Dreams

Let's face it. Fighting Games are becoming geared more and more towards people who play online, and to me, that's a problem. Don't get me wrong, if I'm playing with friends online, that's one thing, and not a bad thing at that, but when I'm forced to go up against random people who are likely cheating or do nothing else with they're time, it's just not fun anymore. So how do we remedy this? We go back to a time before things like Xbox Live or PSN existed (or when they were just coming into play).

Today, I'm here to talk about Fighting games with proper offline modes, or more specifically, Fighting games with a proper Arcade Mode. A proper Arcade Mode is defined by me as such:

-A mode where you battle CPU Opponents in succession, one after the other.
-Individual character endings.
-Difficulty selection.

That said, games like Street Fighter V and, sadly, Killer Instinct (2013) must be left out. While Killer Instinct's 1st Season does indeed have a proper Arcade Mode, it does not apply to every character in the roster, and therefore, I must leave it out. Don't get me wrong though, I still love the game. Let's begin!

Street Fighter II' - Champion Edition
[img width=632 height=550]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/J-039/bf/J-039-S-01070-A.jpg[/img]

I'll be honest. I have very mixed feelings on Street Fighter II. As it's many re-releases came about, it got harder, and it took every fiber of my being to beat the Hyper Version on MAME, and when I finally did it (using M. Bison, who is all I'm good with), the game basically presented me with a "Game Over" Screen, not even allowing me to enter my initials, all because I used him. That made me mad, so to say. The salt was real. That's where the Champion Edition on PC-Engine comes into play. Not only can I beat it without getting mad, but the Character Ending for M. Bison isn't just the game saying "Great job, you beat it with M. Bison, so you still lose". If your gonna play Street Fighter II, and you don't want to lose your temper, this version is the way to go.

SVC Chaos
[img width=550 height=772]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-075/bf/U-075-S-04780-A.jpg[/img]

This is another one I have mixed feelings on. I have always loved SNK and they're Fighting games, but this one is a bit different. Rather than being developed by Capcom, SNK made this one, and it shows. That's not a bad thing, but it does have a problem. While it does qualify as having a proper Arcade Mode according to what I said above, you only get a Character Ending if you beat one of the two secret final bosses, both of which are extremely difficult, and both of which you can't continue against if you lose. While I can beat one of them, SNK's Athena, I have never managed to defeat the other one, Capcom's Red Arremer, who I still consider to this day to be the hardest boss I have ever fought in a Fighting game. Complaints aside, I still like this game, even if some of the opponents are a bit too broken.

The King of Fighters 2006
[img width=521 height=732]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-072/bf/U-072-S-12490-A.jpg[/img]

The King of Fighters 2006 isn't the most beloved game in the series, and I fail to see why exactly. It's one of my favorite Fighting games, and I can't get enough of it. It's just plain fun! It's 3D, has English Voice acting, and the move inputs are still the same. Besides that, it carries on the traditional SNK Challenge, and that prevents it from being dull. It's worth it if you like Fighting games, but I'm unsure on how hard it may or may not be to find these days, as I haven't seen a copy in a long time.

These days, it seems like the best place to find Fighting games as I've described them is on Steam, which still feels a bit odd to me, but hey, a fight is a fight, and I'll keep fighting until my reflexes can't keep up anymore. FIGHT ON!