Define "Fighting Game"

[-NAFAN-]

As far as i'm concerned, Smash is as much of a fighting game as any, however, it seems to fall outside of what I consider a "fighting game".

How would you people describe the genre?

 

[Alienz_King]

Pulling a definition from Wikipedia, a fighting game is "Fighting game is a video game genre in which the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as blocking, counter-attacking, and chaining together sequences of attacks known as "combos". Since the early 1990s, most fighting games allow the player to execute special attacks by performing specific button combinations. The genre is related to but distinct from beat 'em ups, which involve large numbers of antagonists."

Going off of that, I personally would define a fighting game as having 2 or more characters attacking each other using various objects (i.e. chairs, bats, etc.) in order to knock the opposing character off of a stage, or attacking them to the point where they lose all health points.

 

[Zink Imp]

Fighting game is a video game with the main goal of two or more players battling each other to claim victory by using a broad range of techniques. Characters are controlled in a set environment, and the opponents can always be seen. To differentiate from other multiplayer genres, fighting games have intricate characters with multiple moves and abilities.

I find Smash to be a fighting game plain and simple.

Even if it's played with items on and Time rule set.

 

[PsychoJosh]

Fighting games are generally games focused on 1-vs-1 combat against human or computer controlled opponents, where each player is tasked with draining the opponent's health until they are defeated.

I personally regard Smash as a fighting game but I can see why some people don't, as it heavily eschews the typical health-bar-draining format for a more unorthodox platforming style. In Smash, a character with low/non-existent damage can still be instantly killed by falling off a ledge or botching their recovery, yet a character with high damage can still survive and put up fight. At no point in a match are they are guaranteed to live or die. This makes it substantially different from a typical fighting game.

 

[SleuthMechanism]

A game where you punch the other guy with the goal of making them stop doing things.