192-1019: Dragon Ball FighterZ (pronounced "fighters") is a 2.5D fighting game co-developed by Arc System Works and Ecole Software and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment . Based on the Dragon Ball franchise, it was released for the PlayStation 4 , Windows , and Xbox One , in most regions in January 2018, and in Japan the following month, and was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch in September 2018. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in February 2024 alongside an update adding rollback netcode for these versions and Windows. Dragon Ball FighterZ involves
384-483: A 3rd Strike semi-final match held at Evolution Championship Series 2004 (Evo 2004) between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong . During this match, Umehara made an unexpected comeback by parrying 15 consecutive hits of Wong's "Super Art" move using Chun-Li while Umehara had only one pixel on his health bar. Umehara subsequently won the match. "Evo Moment #37" is frequently described as the most iconic and memorable moment in
576-526: A "giant jerk" though he liked 17 for the characteristic. Android 18 ( 人造人間18号 , Jinzōningen Jū Hachi Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #18") is the sister of Android 17 . After being released, she travels with Androids 16 and 17 to find and kill Goku, though they are interrupted by Cell and the Dragon Team several times. She and 17 are eventually absorbed by Cell, but later during the Cell Games,
768-504: A Commentator Voice Pack and additional music from the anime series which can be played during battle. A physical collector's edition for the game was also released, which includes a steel book case, three artboards, and a 7" statue of Goku. A Nintendo Switch version was released in September 2018. On August 7, 2022, during EVO 2022 , Hiroki announced versions of FighterZ for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S with added rollback netcode , which were released on February 29, 2024 alongside
960-631: A Spirit Bomb. When Evil 21 starts resisting the attack, Good 21 pushes her into it, killing them both. Goku plans to request 21's reincarnation from King Yemma and to help the player return their original body. Dragon Ball FighterZ is developed by Arc System Works and marks the company's fourth time working on the Dragon Ball IP, after the Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors games and Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden . The game's producer, Tomoko Hiroki, stated
1152-571: A best-of-three matches format like later fighting games, and has training bonus stages . The Player vs Player edition of Karate Champ , released later that year, is also the first fighting game to allow two-player duel. It influenced Konami 's Yie Ar Kung Fu , released in October 1984. The game drew heavily from Bruce Lee films, with the main player character Oolong modelled after Lee (like in Bruceploitation films). In contrast to
1344-475: A boxing game featuring a behind-the-character perspective, maneuvers such as blocking and dodging, and stamina meters that are depleted or replenished by blows. Karate Champ was developed by Technōs Japan and released by Data East in May 1984, and is credited with establishing and popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre. A variety of moves can be performed using the dual-joystick controls. It uses
1536-519: A brutal and gruesome finishing move onto the defeated opponent. Prompted by the announcer saying "Finish Him!", players have a short time window to execute a Fatality by entering a specific button and joystick combination while positioned at a specific distance from the opponent. The Fatality and its derivations are arguably the most notable features of the Mortal Kombat series with cultural impact and controversies . Fighting games often include
1728-411: A character's health, and the round continues until a fighter's health reaches zero. Hence, the main goal is to completely deplete the health bar of one's opponent, thus achieving a " knockout ". Games such as Virtua Fighter also allow a character to be defeated by forcing them outside of the arena, awarding a "ring-out" to the victor. The Super Smash Bros. series allows players to send fighters off
1920-532: A combo. The "Dragon Rush" move can break through an opponent's guard and if successful, offers a choice between an aerial combo or forcing the opponent to switch to a different character. The "Super Dash" flying attack will home in on the opponent's lead character and is able to pass through weaker projectiles. Lastly, players can "Ki Charge" to manually increase their Ki gauge, similar to previous Dragon Ball fighting games. The game includes several other features, such as "Shenron System", that allows players to gather
2112-536: A fighting game. It reached second in the sales charts in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US, behind Monster Hunter: World in all cases. It also debuted second behind Monster Hunter: World in Japan with 68,731 sales in its first week. By October 2018, the game had shipped over 3.5 million copies worldwide. Throughout 2018, it sold 112,258 physical copies for PS4 in Japan. Total sales reached over 4 million copies by
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#17327986026112304-470: A fixed-size arena along a two-dimensional plane , where characters navigate the plane horizontally by walking or dashing, and vertically by jumping. Some games allow limited movement in 3D space, such as Tekken , while some are set in fully three-dimensional environments without restricting characters' movement, such as Power Stone and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm ; these are sometimes referred to as "3D arena" fighting games. The fighting game genre
2496-678: A further 20 being released as paid downloadable content (DLC) via a series of "FighterZ Passes" for a total of 44. Android 21 is a new character original to the game, designed by series creator Akira Toriyama . ^U Unlockable characters ^A Characters that have assist characters ^P Playable characters who are also assist characters for certain playable characters ^AP Playable assist characters, and whose own assist characters are also playable characters The game takes place sometime between "Universe 6" and "Future Trunks" saga of Dragon Ball Super . The game's main antagonist, Android 21 (or later, her evil-half),
2688-511: A game that featured unprecedentedly detailed pre-rendered 3D graphics and vastly improved on the core concept of combos, presenting a way faster gameplay than most other games of that era, specific combo-breaker maneuvers, and the "Ultra", a series of combined finishing moves surpassing the number of 20 hits. Many of the games of that period were low budget clones of the more popular games, and in some cases this led to controversy; in 1994, Capcom USA took unsuccessful legal action against Data East over
2880-417: A greater number of animations, but otherwise play like those rendered in two dimensions. Games that are fully three-dimensional without a 2D plane are sometimes referred to as "3D arena" fighting games. Aside from restricting movement space, fighting games confine the player's actions to offensive and defensive maneuvers. Players must learn each game's effective combinations of attacks and defenses. Blocking
3072-426: A group of Red Ribbon Army soldiers is censored from publication in the original manga. Both Anthony Gramuglia, writing for CBR , and Aimee Hart considered the homophobic characterization of General Blue to be deeply problematic. Gramuglia is particularly critical of Blue's uniform being styled after that of an organization which persecuted homosexual individuals , as well as the anime adaptation's depiction of Blue as
3264-580: A hard blow from Gohan causes Cell to regurgitate her. Although Krillin is unable to wish for her to be turned into a human, he is able to have her self-destruct device removed. She settles down with Krillin, and at some point, they have a daughter named Marron ( マーロン , Māron ) . 18 continues to make recurring appearances as a secondary character, and later fights for Team Universe 7 in the Tournament Of Power arc. Android 16 ( 人造人間16号 , Jinzōningen Jū Roku Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #16")
3456-482: A hit when countering zoning. The opposite of turtling , rushdown refers to a number of specific aggressive strategies, philosophies, and play styles across all fighting games. The general goal of a rushdown play style is to overwhelm the opponent and force costly mistakes, either by using fast, confusing setups or by taking advantage of an impatient opponent as they are forced to play defense for prolonged periods of time. Rushdown players often favor attacking opponents in
3648-584: A human soul (the player) can possess the warriors and provide them strength. The player possesses Goku and awakens next to Bulma , who asks him to confront the Earth's current crisis. Clones of the other fighters and villains have been appearing and the other Z Warriors are nowhere to be seen. After confronting the resurrected 16, Beerus and Whis arrive to explain the soul's link to Goku, but assert to both Goku and Bulma that they are not getting involved since they are deities. Goku and Bulma leave to try and find 16 and
3840-606: A number of games that sparked another surge in fighting game popularity. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in early March 2008 to universal acclaim and went on to set a new record in sales, at one point selling at 120 units per minute. Another game was Street Fighter IV , the series' first mainline title since Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in 1999, which was released in early 2009 also to critical acclaim, having garnered praise since its debut at Japanese arcades in July 2008. The console versions of Street Fighter IV , as well as
4032-431: A player at any time. The game also introduced pressure-sensitive controls that determine the strength of an attack, though due to causing damaged arcade cabinets, Capcom replaced it soon after with a six-button control scheme offering light, medium, and hard punches and kicks, which became another staple of the genre. In 1988, Home Data released Reikai Dōshi: Chinese Exorcist , also known as Last Apostle Puppet Show ,
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#17327986026114224-504: A popular genre for amateur and doujin developers in Japan. The 2002 title Melty Blood was developed by then-amateur developer French Bread and achieved cult success on the PC . It became highly popular in arcades following its 2005 release, and a version was released for the PlayStation 2 the following year. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw the rise in online gaming . In 2004, Mortal Kombat: Deception , Dead or Alive Ultimate , and
4416-511: A positive reception, the second playable version of Android 21 has been met with a divisive response from the fighting game community . Some players criticized the character's gameplay as being unbalanced and claimed that the opportunity to play as the character in competitive matches, particularly in serious tournaments, has led to declining interest and investment in FighterZ from high-profile professional players. The game has been compared to
4608-529: A pretense for the organization to paint themselves as heroic figures while they seek revenge against Goku. Each of them wield special ray guns in battle that unleash an array of powerful ki blasts. Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 are respectively voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya and Mamoru Miyano in Japanese, and by Aleks Le and Zeno Robinson in English. Following the deaths of Doctor Gero and Cell, a new reincarnation of
4800-441: A realistic fighting engine that features three-dimensional environments while abandoning time limits and health bars in favor of an innovative Body Damage System, where a sword strike to a certain body part can amputate a limb or decapitate the head. Video game enthusiasts took an interest in fictional crossovers , which feature characters from multiple franchises in a particular game. An early example of this type of fighting game
4992-404: A replicant copy of Android 17 along with Doctor Myu in the afterlife, who later merges with the original Android 17 to become the villainous Super 17 (超１７号, Chō Jū Nana-Gō ). The Dragon Ball 30th Anniversary Super History Book , released in 2016, features concept art and sketches for various characters drawn from the series' history. Manga artist Masashi Kishimoto contributed a sketch featuring
5184-524: A response to hackers of the original Street Fighter II game to add new features. However, criticism of these updates grew as players demanded a true sequel. By 1995, the dominant franchises were the Mortal Kombat series in America and the Virtua Fighter series in Japan, with Street Fighter Alpha unable to match the popularity of Street Fighter II . Throughout this period, the fighting game
5376-573: A rollback netcode update for the Windows version. Owners of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions received free upgrades to their next-generation counterparts. Two action figures of Android 21 have been produced, one as part of the Dragonball S.H. Figuarts line, and another by Megahouse as part of their Dragon Ball Gals line, respectively. After its announcement, Dragon Ball FighterZ
5568-613: A series of bosses , and Enter the Dragon (1973), about an international martial arts tournament. Other inspiration is Japanese martial arts works, including the manga and anime series Karate Master (1971–1977), and Sonny Chiba 's The Street Fighter (1974). Before martial arts games, the earliest video games with fist-fighting are boxing games , featuring battles between characters with fantastic abilities and complex special maneuvers. Sega 's black-and-white boxing game Heavyweight Champ , released for arcades in 1976,
5760-487: A set number of lives (called stocks) for each player (usually three), and if the score is tied between two or more fighters when time runs out, then a " sudden death " match will take place by delivering a single hit to an opponent with 300% damage. Fighting games widely feature health bars , introduced in Yie Ar Kung-Fu in 1984, which are depleted as characters sustain blows. Each successful attack will deplete
5952-493: A set number of rounds (typically three ), beginning with the announcer's signal. If the score is tied after an even number of rounds (such as 1-1), then the winner is decided in the final round. Round decisions can also be determined by time over, which judge players based on remaining health to declare a winner. In the Super Smash Bros. series, the rules are different. Instead of rounds, the games usually give players
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6144-549: A shift to a darker tone for the series, as well as a notable example of antiquated or politically incorrect attitudes towards real world stereotypes and tropes in Japanese anime. Some of the group's individual members, including the Red Ribbon Androids who appear as recurring villains in the franchise, have left a lasting impression in popular culture and specifically received commentary by media outlets. Dragon Ball series creator Akira Toriyama drew inspiration for
6336-473: A single-player campaign or tournament, where the player must defeat a sequence of several computer-controlled opponents. Winning the tournament often reveals a special story-ending cutscene , and some games also grant access to hidden characters or special features upon victory. Tekken introduced the concept of story modes in 1994 with the first arcade full motion video cutscenes for each character's victory. In most fighting games, players may select from
6528-570: A small device on his hand. Gero later flees back to his laboratory and release Androids 17 and 18 in order to fend off Goku's associates, but 17 turns on his creator and murders him following a brief altercation. Doctor Gero is voiced by Kōji Yada in Japanese, Brian Dobson in the Ocean dub, and Kent Williams in the Funimation dub, who also voiced Mercenary Tao. Android 19 ( 人造人間１９号 , Jinzōningen Jū Kyū Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #19")
6720-466: A superior officer are absolute, but each member may conduct themselves according to their respective ambitions. Goku's protracted struggle with the Red Ribbon Army begins when he resumes his search for his Grandfather 's Dragon Ball following the conclusion of a martial arts tournament he participated in. At the same time, Commander Red directs his forces to raid several settlements throughout
6912-503: A team, from an initial roster of characters from the Dragon Ball franchise. One character is controlled and can be switched with one of the other characters at any time. Players can also call one of their other characters to perform an "Assist" move, allowing simultaneous attacks and combos with the entire team. All three characters on the same team must be defeated for a player to win the game. If neither team has been defeated before
7104-465: A type of action game where two (in one-on-one fighting games) or more (in platform fighters ) on-screen characters fight each other. These games typically feature special moves that are triggered using rapid sequences of carefully timed button presses and joystick movements. Games traditionally show fighters from a side view, even as the genre has progressed from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) graphics. Street Fighter II , though not
7296-482: A variety of playable characters with unique fighting styles, special moves, and personalities. This became a strong convention for the genre with the release of Street Fighter II (1991), and these character choices have led to deeper game strategy and replay value. Custom character creation, or "create–a–fighter", is a feature of some fighting games that allows a player to customize the appearance and move set of their own character. Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium
7488-426: A variety of computer-controlled fighters, Street Fighter II allowed players to play against each other. The popularity of Street Fighter II surprised the gaming industry, as arcade owners bought more machines to keep up with demand. Street Fighter II was also responsible for popularizing the combo mechanic, which came about when skilled players learned that they could combine several attacks that left no time for
7680-492: A version of Dragon Ball FighterZ would be released on Nintendo Switch later in 2018, with a playable demo of the Switch version of the game being available for attendees on the show floor, where it was revealed that the game supported a simplified control scheme to accommodate single Joy-Con controller play in single-player and multiplayer modes. Players who preordered Dragon Ball FighterZ on console received early access to
7872-523: Is a basic defense against basic attacks. Some games feature more advanced blocking techniques; for example, Capcom's Street Fighter III features a move termed " parrying ", which can be immediately followed by counter-attack, skipping the temporary stun a block would have put them in. A similar stun state is termed "just defended" in SNK 's Garou: Mark of the Wolves . An integral feature of fighting games
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8064-451: Is a common element of gameplay . Fighting games emphasize the height of blows, ranging from low to jumping attacks. Thus, strategy requires predicting adversarial moves, similar to rock–paper–scissors . In addition to blows, players can utilize throwing or grappling to circumvent blocks. Most fighting games allow a grapple move by pressing two or more buttons together, or simply by pressing punch or kick while being directly adjacent to
8256-432: Is a hitman hired by the Red Ribbon Army to deal with Goku. He is the younger brother of Master Shen, or Crane Hermit ( 鶴仙人 , Tsuru-Sen'nin ) , the lifelong rival of Master Roshi . He wears a custom made pink gi with the kanji for "kill" ( 殺 , satsu ) on the front and the English phrase "KILL YOU!" on the back. He is first introduced in the series by being hired by the Red Ribbon Army to take out Goku and retrieve
8448-492: Is a large fully mechanical android modeled after Gero's son Gevo ( ゲボ , Gebo ) , a high-ranking soldier in the Red Ribbon Army who died from an enemy bullet in an undisclosed battle. 16 is deemed a failure by Gero, and is deactivated until Android 18 reactivates and releases him. 16 processes a sophisticated mechanism to sense and track power levels in real time, a feature both 17 and 18 lack. Unlike his Android companions, 16 does not take pleasure in fighting others, and
8640-421: Is a round, pale fully mechanical android and the most loyal of Gero's creations. Like Gero's Android form, 19 is capable of absorbing the energy of others. During an attack on Goku and his associates, the Dragon Team, 19 successfully drains Goku of his energy while he is incapacitated by his heart virus condition, but is destroyed by Vegeta afterwards. Gero retreats back to his laboratory in response. Android 19
8832-425: Is accompanied by his insectoid robot , Hachimaru. Doctor Hedo is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese and Zach Aguilar in English. Carmine ( カーマイン , Kāmain ) is the secondary antagonist of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero , as he is the secretary of Red Pharmaceuticals and Magenta's loyal bodyguard and chauffeur. He has a large pompadour hairstyle and has a habit of combing it. He assists Magenta in rebuilding
9024-410: Is also capable of copying and emulating the abilities and powers of other characters by stabbing her targets with an energy blade projected from her hand. She is unlocked as a playable character for all game modes once the story mode is completed. A second playable version of Android 21, using her human design and her lab coat attire, was added via downloadable content in February 2022. Android 21 and
9216-415: Is behind everything. The scientist Goku and Krillin saved from Cell earlier arrives and reveals herself to be Android 21. She destroys 16 for his betrayal and knocks out Goku when he tries to follow her. The player then possesses Cell's body and battles 21 before returning to Goku's body again. 21 devours the resurrected villains and decides to wait for Goku and his friends to grow stronger. Goku brings her and
9408-466: Is considered the first video game with fist fighting. Vectorbeam 's arcade video game Warrior (1979) is sometimes credited as one of the first fighting games; in contrast to Heavyweight Champ and most later games, Warrior is based on sword fighting duels and uses a bird's-eye view . Sega 's jidaigeki -themed arcade action game Samurai , released in March 1980, features a boss battle where
9600-417: Is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Dragon Ball Z by David Dennis Jr. from Uproxx . Conversely, Todd Douglass Jr. felt that collectively, the Red Ribbon Army characters were "hit or miss" for him. Aimee Hart, writing for Anime Feminist , was disturbed by an in-joke conveyed in the anime, which depicts Bulma breaking the fourth wall in an episode to imply that a scene of her being raped by
9792-502: Is considered to be the "Dark Age" of fighting games. The two most prolific developers of 2D fighting games, Capcom and SNK, combined intellectual property to produce SNK vs. Capcom games. SNK released the first game of this type, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium , for its Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld at the end of 1999. GameSpot regarded the game as "perhaps the most highly anticipated fighter ever" and called it
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#17327986026119984-461: Is crushed by Cell, which pushes Gohan over the edge to unleash the Super Saiyan 2 form, the necessary power level to overcome Cell. Android 16 is voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa in Japanese media, Scott McNeil in the Ocean dub, and Jeremy Inman in the Funimation dub. Cell ( セル , Seru ) is Doctor Gero's ultimate creation, referred to as a "Bio-Android". He is designed to evolve into
10176-453: Is depicted in the 1993 anime TV special Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks . Doctor Gero's death at the hands of Android 17 is retold in the seventh Dragon Ball Z film , which features three of his other creations as antagonists: Androids 13, 14, and 15. Aside from multiple non-canonical licensed video game appearances, the three Androids do not appear in the original manga or anime TV series. In Dragon Ball GT , Doctor Gero creates
10368-521: Is derived from a suggestion by Shueisha , the publisher of the Jump magazine line which serializes the Dragon Ball manga. On June 9, 2017, a Japanese press release dated for June 12 prematurely revealed information about the game and two screenshots before its official announcement. The press release was eventually removed from Bandai Namco's website. On June 11, 2017, the game was revealed at Microsoft 's E3 2017 press conference. A closed beta for
10560-458: Is distinctly related to the beat 'em up genre, which pits many computer-controlled enemies against one or more player characters. The first video game to feature fist fighting is Heavyweight Champ (1976), but Karate Champ (1984) actually features the one-on-one fighting game genre instead of a sports game in arcades . Yie Ar Kung-Fu was released later that year with various fighting styles and introduced health meters , and The Way of
10752-407: Is featured as the final boss in each of the game's three story arcs. As she possesses the genetic material of various powerful characters in the series much like Cell, Android 21 is depicted as a very formidable Bio-Android with superhuman strength, endurance, and speed. She is noted to have two forms with distinct personalities: one being her human form with a benevolent personality, and the other
10944-415: Is fully committed to follow his programmed orders: to search for and kill Goku. Despite his large and cold appearance, 16 is very gentle and friendly, similarly to Android 8. 16 also has an appreciation for humanity and nature, and views Cell as an evil that serves to destroy both. While trying to protect Android 17 and 18 from Cell, he is badly damaged, though Bulma and her father later repair him. After he
11136-512: Is her true form which is reminiscent of Majin Buu , with a similar pink skin palette and style of clothing, as well as a malevolent personality whose sole desire is to consume all life. Android 21 can fly and create energy beams using her ki . Like Buu, Android 21 is capable of transforming objects or living things by shooting an energy beam at the target, typically rendering them as confectionery or other sweet foods to feed her ravenous hunger. She
11328-587: Is in fact a ruse; Red, an exceedingly short man , secretly covets the power of the Dragon Balls to wish himself taller. Black turns on Red and attempts to take command of the army and rename it the "Black Ribbon Army", only to be killed by Goku after he is able to wipe out most of the remaining Red Ribbon forces. Following the downfall of the organization, Doctor Gero continues his research and development work on his line of Android operatives to seek revenge against Goku. General Blue ( ブルー将軍 , Burū-Shōgun )
11520-538: Is later absorbed by Cell. He is brought back to life when those killed by Cell are revived with the Dragon Balls. By the events of Dragon Ball Super , 17 works as a forest ranger in a remote island filled with rare animals. He is recruited by Team Universe 7 for the Tournament of Power, where he secured victory on their behalf. Wishing upon the tournament prize, the Super Dragon Balls, he asks for all
11712-476: Is mitigated by technology such as GGPO , which synchronizes players by quickly rolling back to the most recent accurate game state, correcting errors, and then jumping back to the current frame. Such games include Skullgirls and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition . The first fighting games were fundamentally inspired by martial arts films , especially Bruce Lee 's Hong Kong action cinema . Films include Game of Death (1972), where Lee fights
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#173279860261111904-606: Is not a port , but a separately produced game based on the same premise. Capcom released Street Fighter III in 1997 which features improved 2D visuals, but is also unable to match the impact of earlier games. Excitement stirred in Japan over Virtua Fighter 3 in arcades, and Sega eventually ported the game to its Dreamcast console. Meanwhile, SNK released several fighting games on its Neo Geo platform, including Samurai Shodown II in 1994, Real Bout Fatal Fury in 1995, The Last Blade in 1997, and annual updates to its The King of Fighters franchise. Garou: Mark of
12096-405: Is organized like a pyramid structure: its supreme leader is Commander Red, followed by his second in command and adjutant Staff Officer Black, who is in turn followed by commanding officers such as General Blue, and so on. Doctor Gero, creator of the Red Ribbon Androids and Cell , is the chief scientist of the Red Ribbon Army. The organization functions as a military dictatorship where orders from
12288-410: Is repaired, he temporarily set aside his orders to kill Goku to focus on the fight against Cell. Like 17 and 18, 16 was designed with the ability to self-destruct, but the device was removed when he was being repaired. This is made known only when 16 tries to destroy Cell using his self-destruction mechanism, with Cell retaliating and destroying him. However, his head and consciousness survive, but later
12480-470: Is revealed in the Android Saga arc. After creating a more advanced series of Red Ribbon Androids, he eventually implants his own brain into an exact replica of his body, and calls himself Android 20 ( 人造人間20号 , Jinzōningen Ni Jū Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #20") . He is initially encountered by Yamcha , who is nearly killed when Gero impales his chest with a hand and absorbs Yamcha's chi using
12672-471: Is seen towards the end of the original manga series, giving energy for Goku's Genki-Dama to destroy Majin Buu. An alternate future timeline counterpart of Android 8 makes a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball Super . In the Dragon Ball anime, Android 8's creator is revealed to be Doctor Frappe ( フラッペ博士 , Furappe Hakase ) . Later supplementary material suggests that Frappe and Gero developed
12864-567: Is struggling with her inner demon, causing her good and evil personas to split into two separate beings. Evil 21 devours Cell and the control to the power suppressor, drastically increasing her strength. Goku and Krillin rescue the androids and recruit them to combat Evil 21. The Z-Fighters battle Evil 21 for the last time on the Sacred World of the Kai. Once the fighters discover Evil 21's extraordinary regenerative capabilities, Goku attacks her with
13056-729: Is the 1996 arcade release X-Men vs. Street Fighter (which later became the Marvel vs. Capcom series), featuring comic book superheroes and characters from other Capcom games. In 1999, Nintendo released the first game in the Super Smash Bros. series, which allowed match-ups from various franchises, such as Pikachu vs. Mario . In the early 2000s, the fighting genre boom turned to bust. In retrospect, multiple developers attribute its decline to its increasing complexity and specialization, and to other factors such as over-saturation . This complexity shut out casual players, and
13248-459: Is the final boss in the arcade mode. The mist steps also allow combos to be performed as a manner of "crouch dashing," or when the Mishima player could run to the opponent while crouching since regular running prevented executing easy combos. Polygonal fighters became trendy and many developers started to make them. Further all-new titles were released in 1995: Zero Divide on the PlayStation,
13440-431: Is the first Red Ribbon Android operative seen in the series. Although he is deployed against Goku as a weapon, Android 8 turns out to be kindhearted and dislikes fighting; he befriends Goku, defects from the Red Ribbon Army, and later lives peacefully with the locals of Jingle Village ( ジングル村 , Jinguru Mura ) and adopts the alias 8-Man ( ハッチャン , "Hacchan" ) ("Eighter" in the anime) as suggested by Goku. Android 8
13632-437: Is the presumed head of Red Pharmaceuticals, used as a front for the reformed Red Ribbon Army, where he serves as its new leader. He secretly plots, alongside his assistant Carmine and Doctor Hedo, to seek revenge upon Goku and his loved ones for annihilating his father's organization, under the claim that Capsule Corporation hosts evil aliens. He is confident about his plans, but like his father, becomes belligerent when faced with
13824-493: Is the titular villain of the General Blue Saga arc in the original Dragon Ball series. One of the Red Ribbon Army's leaders and seemingly its most powerful member, Blue has special telekinetic abilities that allow him to paralyze other individuals and can also be used to control objects. He is a neat freak, and when he does not enjoy Bulma 's attempts at seduction, she states that he is gay . He manages to steal
14016-511: Is the use of "special attacks", also called "secret moves", that employ combinations of directional inputs and button presses to perform a particular move beyond basic punching and kicking. Some special moves, which play an animation portraying an aspect of the character's personality, are referred to as taunts . Originated by Japanese company SNK in Art of Fighting (1992), these add humor, and they effect gameplay in certain games, such as improving
14208-430: Is to force an opponent to take significant risks to approach the zoning player's character, or to stall out the in-game timer, which causes the player with more health (typically the one doing the zoning) to win. The effectiveness of the latter strategy varies from game to game, based on the effectiveness of zoning tools as well as the length of the in-game timer and the rewards characters can receive for successfully landing
14400-505: Is voiced by Yukitoshi Hori in Japanese media, Cathy Weseluck in the Ocean dub, Phillip Wilburn in the Funimation dub, and Todd Haberkorn in the Dragon Ball Z Kai dub. Android 17 ( 人造人間17号 , Jinzōningen Jū Nana Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #17") is a Red Ribbon Android created by Doctor Gero. Along with his sister Android 18, 17 is released by Doctor Gero as a last resort to fend off Goku's associates, but he turns on Gero and kills him instead. They continue to search for Goku, but
14592-499: The Gundam: Battle Assault series. This genre is distinctly related to beat 'em ups, another action genre involving combat, where the player character must fight many enemies at the same time. Beat 'em ups, like traditional fighting games, display player and enemy health in a bar, generally located at the top of the screen. However, beat 'em ups generally do not feature combat divided into separate "rounds". During
14784-399: The Marvel vs. Capcom series of team-based fighting games, with news outlets and players believing the game to be better than the most recent game in the series at the time, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite . The game shipped over two million copies a week after release, becoming the fastest selling Dragon Ball title. It also set a Steam record for the highest number of concurrent users for
14976-533: The Marvel Vs. Capcom series, she stated there was no intention to emulate the Marvel vs. Capcom series with the gameplay system. Android 21 was marketed as an "original character supervised by Akira Toriyama" when the character was first unveiled in promotional and marketing material for FighterZ in September 2017, which inferred that he was involved in her visual direction and conception but not necessarily with
15168-455: The Tekken , Soul and Dead or Alive franchises continued to release installments. Classic Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games were re-released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade , allowing internet play, and in some cases, HD graphics. The early part of the decade had seen the rise of competitive video gaming, referred to by the term Esports . The rise in esports saw
15360-656: The Xbox version of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection became the first fighting games to offer online multiplayer and have received positive reception from critics. While the genre became generally far less popular than it once was, arcades and their attendant fighting games remained reasonably popular in Japan during this time period, and remain so even today. Virtua Fighter 5 lacked an online mode, but still achieved success both on home consoles and in arcades; players practiced at home and went to arcades to compete face-to-face with opponents. In addition to Virtua Fighter ,
15552-406: The samurai player character confronts a boss samurai in one-on-one sword-fighting combat. One-on-one boxing games appeared on consoles with Activision 's Atari VCS game Boxing , released in July 1980, and Sega's SG-1000 game Champion Boxing (1983), which is Yu Suzuki 's debut at Sega. Nintendo 's arcade game Punch-Out was developed in 1983 and released in February 1984, as
15744-412: The "perfect" being. The creature is completed at a later date and unleashed by Gero's supercomputer, intended as a fail safe by collecting data in the background. Before the release of Dragon Ball FighterZ , Cell was sometimes referred to as "Android 21". Android 21 ( 人造人間21号 , Jinzōningen Nijūichi-Gō , lit. "Artificial Human #21") is a character originally introduced within the main story mode of
15936-470: The 1980s to 1990s, publications used the terms "fighting game" and "beat 'em up" interchangeably, along with other terms such as " martial arts simulation" (or more specific terms such as " judo simulator") and "punch-kick" games. Fighting games were still being called "beat 'em up" games in video game magazines up until the end of the 1990s. With hindsight, critics have argued that the two types of game gradually became dichotomous as they evolved, though
16128-466: The 1993 arcade game Fighter's History , which supposedly plagiarized Street Fighter 2 . Data East's largest objection in court was that their 1984 arcade game Karate Champ was the true originator of the competitive fighting game genre, which predated the original Street Fighter by three years, but the reason the case was decided against Capcom was that the copied elements were scènes à faire and thus excluded from copyright. Sega AM2 debuted in
16320-452: The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, and attempts to avenge his brother by ordering his disciples to hurt and kill Goku and Master Roshi's other students. It is later revealed that Tao survived and was modified into a cyborg using all the money he gained from his previous assassination jobs. He enters the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament with the support of Master Shen, but is easily defeated by his brother's former student Tien Shinhan. In
16512-596: The Brown ( ブラウン , Buraun ) Corps are mentioned in passing, but are never seen. The Red Ribbon Army occasionally recruits hired help to further their objectives, such as the assassin Mercenary Tao , and the anime-exclusive thief Husky ( ハスキー , Hasukī ) . During the Commander Red Saga , Black eventually discovers that Red's motivation to obtain the Dragon Balls in a bid for world domination,
16704-575: The Dragon Balls he possesses. He murders General Blue with only his tongue, slew Bora the guardian of Korin Tower with his own spear, and seemingly kills Goku. After succeeding in the initial battle and collecting most of the Dragon Balls in Goku's possession, Goku challenges him again with his newfound power from Korin. He gets caught in the explosion of his own grenade and is assumed dead. Master Shen later enters his disciples Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu in
16896-443: The Dragon Balls one by one as the fight progresses. A random Dragon Ball will be given to a player that successfully performs a light autocombo. Specific Dragon Balls can be obtained by successfully performing a multi hit combo, with the amount of hits determining which ball is given. Once all seven are assembled and a player performs a light autocombo with maximum Ki, Shenron appears to grant a wish and allows players to choose one among
17088-445: The Dragon Balls. In the aftermath of the Red Ribbon Army's defeat by Goku, a surviving member known as Doctor Gero continues the group's legacy and creates a series of powerful artificial humanoids known as Androids as part of his vendetta against Goku. The group was generally well received by reviewers. Commentators noted that the Red Ribbon Army arc, in which the group is presented as the first legitimate threat to Goku, represented
17280-562: The Dragon Radar during their final encounter; after returning to the army's headquarters, however, he is set to be executed for not obtaining any of the Dragon Balls after multiple failures. He is allowed to fight the hitman Mercenary Tao to redeem himself, though Tao easily kills Blue using only his tongue. He is voiced by Toshio Furukawa in Japanese, and Sonny Strait in the Funimation dub. Tao Pai Pai ( 桃白白 （ タオパイパイ ） ) , Mercenary Tao or General Tao in English anime dubs,
17472-484: The English Funimation dub, 17 is voiced by Chuck Huber . Huber thought of Android 17 as his biggest role since "nobody liked Garlic Jr. as much as they liked Android 17." Huber considered the role his easiest and a "voice actor vacation", as under the direction of Christopher Sabat he did not have to put on a voice and was advised to be calmer in his dialect. Huber personally found the character to be
17664-649: The Exploding Fist (1985) further popularized the genre on home systems. In 1987, Capcom 's Street Fighter introduced special attacks , and in 1991, its highly successful sequel Street Fighter II refined and popularized many genre conventions, including combos. Fighting games subsequently became the preeminent genre for video gaming in the early to mid-1990s, particularly in arcades. This period spawned dozens of other popular fighting games, including franchises like Street Fighter , Mortal Kombat , Super Smash Bros. , and Tekken . Fighting games are
17856-943: The Exploding Fist borrowed heavily from Karate Champ , but nevertheless achieved critical success and afforded the burgeoning genre further popularity on home computers in PAL regions, becoming the UK's best-selling computer game of 1985 . In North America, Data East ported Karate Champ to home computers in October 1985, becoming one of the best-selling computer games of the late 1980s. Other game developers also imitated Karate Champ , notably System 3 's computer game International Karate , released in Europe in November 1985; after Epyx released it in North America in April 1986, Data East took unsuccessful legal action against Epyx over
18048-534: The Pirate Robot, a minor character from the General Blue Saga arc. Members of the Red Ribbon Army and the later Red Ribbon Androids have appeared in numerous licensed Dragon Ball video games . Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network opined that the Red Ribbon army arc represented the Dragon Ball series at its peak in terms of its tone, a pleasant balance between "the frivolity of early Dragon Ball and
18240-399: The Red Ribbon Androids together as colleagues. Android 8 is voiced by Shōzō Iizuka in Japanese, Dale Wilson in the Ocean dub, and Mike McFarland in the Funimation dub. Doctor Gero ( ドクター・ゲロ , Dokutā Gero ) does not appear in the original Red Ribbon Army story arc, and is retroactively linked to the group when his motivation of revenge against Goku for the organization's downfall
18432-420: The Red Ribbon Army and its series of Androids created by Doctor Gero was highlighted in media coverage; for example, a trailer showed a cutscene where she assists an injured Android 18, and calls herself a researcher for the Red Ribbon Army. Hiroki indicated that the character is highly intelligent, as emphasized by her lab coat and glasses, possibly more so compared to Doctor Gero. Android 21's ability to transform
18624-502: The Red Ribbon Army in secret and plotting their revenge against Goku and his friends and family. He is incredibly ruthless and cold-blooded in situations, as he enjoys tormenting his enemies and is willing to kidnap and kill children. Carmine is voiced by Ryota Takeuchi in Japanese and Jason Marnocha in English. Several key members of the Red Ribbon Army appear in the alternate-retelling film Dragon Ball: The Path to Power , where they are presented with different character designs. In
18816-413: The Red Ribbon Army is formed, eager to seek revenge once more on Goku, whom unbeknownst to them is offworld. They conceal all their operations in a hidden base holographically protected in plain sight, using a pharmaceutical company as a front. Magenta ( マゼンタ , Mazenta ) is the primary antagonist of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero , being the son of the late Commander Red, he resembles the former. He
19008-708: The Red Ribbon Army members wear uniforms reminiscent of the Hitler Youth , the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany , albeit without their signature swastika armbands. One of the group's major characters, General Blue ( ブルー将軍 , Burū-Shōgun ) , is coded as a stereotypically homosexual character, and is similar in concept to the Sturmabteilung co-founder Ernst Röhm . Blue's Japanese voice actor, Toshio Furukawa claimed said it
19200-436: The Red Ribbon Army storyline is indicative of a time period that predates the prevalence of the notion of political correctness in popular media, noting that the concept never gained significant traction in Japanese popular culture by contrast. In his view, some of the antiquated writing and character design for the Red Ribbon Army is "less of a light form of entertainment, and more a throwback '80s cultural artifact"; Smith formed
19392-534: The Red Ribbon Army, producer Akio Iyoku said that bringing the organization back as the main villains would be interesting for the story, as an organized group of people who band together against the heroes of the Dragon Ball series would have their own differing agendas and personal motivations in doing so. He also said that there could be something going on with the organization's new Android creations. The Red Ribbon Army's membership comprises humans, anthropomorphic animals, monsters, and Androids . Its hierarchy
19584-566: The Western-developed FX Fighter on PC and Criticom on console, and Sega's arcade Fighting Vipers - on top of Tekken 2 , an updated Battle Arena Toshinden 2 , and console ports of Tekken and Virtua Fighter 2 . A multitude of new polygonal releases arrived in 1996 from both prime and smaller developers, major games being Virtua Fighter 3 , Soul Edge , Dead or Alive , Last Bronx (in Japan), and
19776-531: The Wolves from 1999 (part of the Fatal Fury series) was considered one of SNK's last great games; the company announced that it would close its doors in late 2001. Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that in 1996, U.S. gamers spent nearly $ 150 million on current generation fighting games, and in Japan, fighting games accounted for over 80% of video game sales. The fighting game genre continued to evolve, with several strong 3D fighting games emerging in
19968-514: The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions were also confirmed. Bandai Namco said there is a possibility the game could come to the Nintendo Switch if enough fans request it. Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama designed a new female character named Android 21 ( 人造人間２１号 , Jinzōningen Nijūichi-Gō ) for the game. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 . On June 12, 2018, during Nintendo's E3 2018 installment of Nintendo Direct , Nintendo announced that
20160-458: The Z Fighters to fight 21, who destroys 16 after discovering his betrayal. Frieza suggests to the group that they strengthen their link with the player to gain back more of their power and defeat more clones as they're the source of 21's strength. After killing the final clone, they defeat Android 21 and use Bulma's machine to help Goku, Frieza, and Cell obliterate her for good. Following her destruction, everyone's powers are restored and Frieza expels
20352-405: The actual character art. The developers later clarified in an interview that they came up with the game's story on their own and created the framework for what kind of character Android 21 would be, while Toriyama designed her within said parameters. The developers sought Toriyama's input as they wanted a slick design for a character that would transform, in the hope that Toriyama's involvement with
20544-449: The anime Tao makes further appearances in filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z during its fifth season . In Japanese, he is voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka in Dragon Ball and Yukimasa Kishino in Dragon Ball Z . In the Ocean dub, he is voiced by Scott McNeil , while in the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Kent Williams , who also voiced Dr. Gero. Android 8 ( 人造人間8号 , Jinzōningen Hachi-gō , "Artificial Human #8") or Mechanical Man No. 8,
20736-437: The arcades in 1996, porting it for the PlayStation in 1998. It spawned a long-running franchise , known for its fast-paced control system, innovative counterattacks , and environmental hazards . The series again included games important to the success of their respective consoles, such as Dead or Alive 3 for the Xbox and Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360 . In 1998, Bushido Blade , published by Square , introduced
20928-498: The basis for his fighting game Street Fighter . Nintendo's boxing sequel Super Punch-Out was released for arcades in late 1984 and ported by Elite to home computers as Frank Bruno's Boxing in 1985, features martial arts elements, high and low guarding, ducking, lateral dodging, and a KO meter. This meter is built up with successful attacks and, when full, enables a special, more powerful punch to be thrown. Broderbund 's Karateka , designed by Jordan Mechner and released at
21120-401: The best Dragon Ball game, and one of the best fighting games in years. The online connectivity is one of the aspects that was criticized about the game. Mike Fahey found the story mode for Dragon Ball FighterZ to be surprisingly good, and thought highly of Android 21 as a "delightful new character" who eats the warriors she transforms into snack foods. While Android 21 was initially met with
21312-583: The best fighting game ever to be released for a handheld console. Capcom released Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 for arcades and the Dreamcast in 2000, followed by sequels in subsequent years. Though none matched the critical success of the handheld version, Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO was noted as the first game of the genre to successfully utilize internet competition. Other crossovers from 2008 included Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe . The most successful crossover, however,
21504-403: The best-selling fighting arcade video game franchises that have sold at least 10,000 arcade units . The prices of fighting game arcade units ranged from $ 1,300 (equivalent to $ 2,800 in 2023) for Street Fighter II Dash ( Champion Edition ) in 1992, up to $ 21,000 (equivalent to $ 44,000 in 2023) for Virtua Fighter (1993). In addition to unit sales, arcade games typically earned
21696-408: The character each player is currently using. As a result of this, a concept called "footsies" has emerged, frequently defined as players jockeying for position and using low-commitment moves at distances where neither character has a particular advantage. Depending on the game, character, and move used, a player may be rewarded for a decisive blow with a strong positional advantage, strong enough that
21888-461: The character in an article for Comic Book Resources ( CBR ) as a tragic figure who brings a somber side to the Dragon Ball universe. In a 2004 poll, Japanese fans voted Androids 17 and 18 as the 18th and 10th most popular character in the series respectively. Sheldon Pearce from Complex found both 17 and 18 to be interesting in their own right and gave them high rankings in his list of Dragon Ball Z characters. The fight between 17 and Piccolo
22080-674: The cloned enemy characters from Dragon Ball FighterZ are featured in the animated opening credits of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission update for the Dragon Ball Heroes digital card game, but have yet appeared in the promotional anime itself. She appears in other video games such as Super Dragon Ball Heroes , Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle , Dragon Ball Legends , Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 , and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot . The 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero reveals
22272-478: The corner of a stage or as they get up from a knockdown; both situations severely limit the options of the opponent and often allow the attacking player to force high-risk guessing scenarios. Spacing is the act of positioning a character at a range where their attacks and movement tools carry the lowest risk and the highest reward. The concept is somewhat akin to that of footwork in martial arts. The desired position for play varies based on what tools are available to
22464-440: The critically acclaimed Virtua Fighter 5 was released to very little acclaim in 2007, its update Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown received much more attention due to renewed interest in the genre. Numerous indie fighting games have also been crowdfunded on websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo , the most notable success being the tag team fighting game Skullgirls in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ubisoft reported that
22656-501: The end of 1984, is a one-on-one fighting game for home computers that successfully added plot to its fighting action, like the beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master . By early 1985, martial arts games had become popular in arcades. On home computers, the Japanese MSX version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu was released in January 1985, and Beam Software 's The Way of the Exploding Fist was released for PAL regions in May 1985; The Way of
22848-752: The end of March 2019. On May 20, 2020, it was revealed that the game had surpassed sales of 5 million copies. By December 2020, the game had sold over 6 million copies worldwide. In November 2021, the game surpassed 8 million copies sold worldwide. As of May 2023 the game has sold 10 million copies. Fighting game The fighting game genre of video games involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking , grappling , counter-attacking, and chaining attacks together into " combos ". Characters generally engage hand-to-hand combat , often with martial arts , but some may include weaponry. Battles are usually set in
23040-610: The fast motions of a joystick, and so players had difficulty executing special moves with any accuracy. The release of Street Fighter II in 1991 is considered a revolutionary moment in the fighting game genre. Yoshiki Okamoto 's team developed the most accurate joystick and button scanning routine in the genre thus far. This allowed players to reliably execute multi-button special moves, which had previously required an element of luck. The graphics took advantage of Capcom's CPS arcade chipset , with highly detailed characters and stages . Whereas previous games allowed players to combat
23232-589: The film Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure , General Blue and Sergeant Metallic appear as soldiers in Emperor Chiaotzu's army; the former is murdered by Mercenary Tao in the same manner as the original source material. Sergeant Major Purple and General Blue appear in the 1990s remake of the Dr. Slump anime, where they attempt to claim the Dragon Balls from Goku and Arale Norimaki . The story of Trunks' alternate future timeline being ravaged by Androids 17 and 18
23424-530: The finisher/combo ender. Season 3 allows players to choose three different Assist types before the match. Also in the said season, Sparkling Blast properties and its time limit enhanced even further if one of the player's team members are down. Dragon Ball FighterZ features a ranking system in both its arcade mode as well as in online multiplayer, where players increase their rank with subsequent wins. The base roster includes 21 playable characters, with 3 additional characters being unlockable through gameplay and
23616-472: The first fighting game to use digitized sprites and motion capture animation. Meanwhile, home game consoles largely ignored the genre. Budokan: The Martial Spirit was one of the few releases for the Sega Genesis , but was not as popular as games in other genres. Technical challenges limited the popularity of early fighting games. Programmers had difficulty producing a game that could recognize
23808-451: The first fighting game, is considered to have standardized the genre, and similar games released prior to Street Fighter II have since been more explicitly classified as fighting games. Fighting games typically involve hand-to-hand combat, though many games also feature characters with melee weapons. Fighting characters are usually based on humans, but there are also games that are entirely based around mecha robot characters, for example
24000-460: The following benefits: give the fighter a second Sparkling Blast, revive a fallen ally, recover a fighter's health or regenerate health for the rest of the match. Another feature is the "Dramatic Moments", special cutscenes that appear at the start and the end of a fight depending on the characters involved and stage, related to events from the Dragon Ball series, which can be applied after using Standing Hard normal attack or Vanish (as of Season 2) as
24192-503: The forces under General White ( ホワイト将軍 , Howaito-Shōgun ) in their northern stronghold known as Muscle Tower. General White's forces include the android brute Sergeant Metallic ( メタリック軍曹 , Metarriku-Gunsō , "Full Metal Jacket" in Viz's English manga and "Major Metallitron" in the English anime) , the ninja Sergeant Major Purple ( ムラサキ曹長 , Murasaki-Sōchō , simply "Murasaki" in the English anime) and his four identical brothers, and
24384-484: The free-to-play platform fighting game Brawlhalla reached 20 million players, with it climbing to 80 million by 2022. In 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch was released. It became the best-selling fighting game of all time, topping its Wii predecessor Super Smash Bros. Brawl and introduced nearly 90 characters through its default mode and through downloadable content or DLC, having sold 34.22 million copies worldwide. Later in
24576-410: The game controls, which created a sense of mystique and invited players to practice the game. Following Street Fighter's lead, the use of command-based hidden moves began to pervade other games in the rising fighting game genre. Street Fighter also introduced other staples of the genre, including the blocking technique, as well as the ability for a challenger to jump in and initiate a match against
24768-424: The game outside Japan because it felt that "unrestrained" 3D fighting games were unenjoyable. Sega also attempted to introduce holographic 3D technology to the genre with Holosseum in 1992, though it was unsuccessful. Several fighting games achieved commercial success, including SNK's Art of Fighting and Samurai Shodown as well as Sega's Eternal Champions . Nevertheless, Street Fighter II remained
24960-478: The game was designed as a three-on-three fighting game because " [...] it would feel a bit odd to see [...] Goku being defeated by Krillin ", in reference to the large difference of power between certain characters, which is common in Dragon Ball , and added it would make it easier to implement aspects of the Dragon Ball license into the game with the three-on-three system. When she discovered that western news outlets and fans had persistently compared FighterZ to
25152-589: The game's open beta test period, as well as early unlocks for the SSGSS Goku and SSGSS Vegeta characters and an additional in-game stamp pack. Two digital bundles were released alongside the game: The "FighterZ Edition" includes the game and the FighterZ Pass, which includes eight additional downloadable characters. The "Ultimate Edition" includes all content from the FighterZ Edition, as well as
25344-507: The game's story. Android 21 was concepted to be a Red Ribbon Bio-Android as part of the developer's take on maintaining a connection to the original series' themes while creating something new, and as a female character since the Dragon Ball series have had few female villains throughout its decades-long history, while her ability to shapeshift into an alternate form at will also differentiates her from notable series villain Cell. Her connection to
25536-463: The game's visuals would generate interest and bring in prospective fans. According to producer Tomoko Hiroki, Toriyama was informed about the game's plot and what the developers wanted in the character, such as her gender and her personality, and he would be left to draw the character as he saw fit. Toriyama took the suggestions about Android 21 into account and finalized her design, but was not involved in any direct input into her story. The game itself
25728-528: The game. Yie Ar Kung-Fu went on to become the UK's best-selling computer game of 1986 , the second year in a row for fighting games. The same year, Martech 's Uchi Mata for home computers featured novel controller motions for grappling maneuvers, but they were deemed too difficult. In the late 1980s, side-scrolling beat 'em ups became considerably more popular than one-on-one fighting games, with many arcade game developers focused more on producing beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups. Takashi Nishiyama used
25920-573: The genre into "true 3D" due to its introduction of the sidestep maneuver, which IGN described as "one little move" that "changed the fighter forever". The "sidestep" in the game, however, consisted of shoulder rolls instead of actual sidesteps. That year, Namco released Tekken 2 , which introduced actual sidestepping or "mist steps" as first released in arcade games and in the international fighting game community. These moves are only exclusive to its two protagonists, Heihachi Mishima and his son, Kazuya Mishima , and his counterpart transformation which
26112-400: The genre with the 1993 arcade game Burning Rival , but they gained renown with the release of Virtua Fighter for the same platform the same year. It is the first fighting game with 3D polygon graphics and a viewpoint that zoomed and rotated with the action. Despite the graphics, players were confined to back and forth motion as seen in other fighting games. With only three buttons, it
26304-467: The grounded realism of Karate Champ , Yie Ar Kung-Fu moved the genre towards more fantastical, fast-paced action with a variety of special moves and high jumps, establishing the template for subsequent fighting games. It expanded on Karate Champ by pitting the player against a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style. The player could also perform up to sixteen different moves, including projectile attacks, and it replaced
26496-488: The history of competitive video gaming, compared to sports moments such as Babe Ruth's called shot and the Ice Hockey Miracle on Ice . It inspired many to start playing 3rd Strike, which brought new life into the fighting game community (FGC) during a time when the community was in a state of stagnation. Dead or Alive 4 became the first fighting game to have a televised competitive esport scene as it
26688-435: The home port of Tekken 2 , cementing 3D as the future of the genre. In 1994, SNK released The King of Fighters '94 in arcades, where players choose from teams of three characters to eliminate each other one by one. Eventually, Capcom released further updates to Street Fighter II , including Super Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo . These games feature more characters and new moves, some of which are
26880-481: The large extraterrestrial monster Buyon ( ブヨン , "Jiggler" in Viz's English manga) . Other members include Colonel Yellow ( イエロー大佐 , Ierō-Taisa , "Captain Yellow" in the English anime) , an anthropomorphic tiger whom Goku defeated when arriving at the land of Korin; and Colonel Violet ( バイオレット大佐 , Baioretto-Taisa ) , the only known female operative of the army. A General Copper ( カッパ将軍 , Kappa-Shōgun ) and
27072-417: The late 1990s, traditional 2D fighting games began to decline in popularity, with specific franchises falling into difficulty due to 3D fighters. Although the release of Street Fighter EX introduced 3D graphics to the series, both it and Street Fighter: The Movie flopped in arcades. A home video game also titled Street Fighter: The Movie was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn , but it
27264-469: The late 1990s. Namco 's Tekken (released in arcades in 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995) proved critical to the PlayStation's early success, with its sequels also becoming some of the console's most important games. The Soul series of weapon-based fighting games also achieved considerable critical success, beginning with 1995's Soul Edge (known as Soul Blade outside Japan) to Soulcalibur VI in 2018. Tecmo released Dead or Alive in
27456-425: The latest game Tekken 8 , which was released in January 2024 sold over 2 million copies in its first month alone. Thus, the 2020s have had a marked resurgence in fighting games that has been deemed a new golden age in fighting games. The following are the highest-grossing fighting game franchises, in terms of total gross revenue generated by arcade games , console games , and computer games . The following are
27648-485: The majority of their gross revenue from coin drop earnings. Android 21 The Red Ribbon Army ( レッドリボン軍 , Reddo Ribon Gun ) is a fictional antagonistic faction featured in Akira Toriyama 's Dragon Ball anime and manga series. The many operatives of the Red Ribbon Army, led by Commander Red ( レッド総帥 , Reddo-Sōsui ) , serve as opponents for series protagonist Goku during his second quest for
27840-419: The market for fighting games became smaller and more specialized. Even as far back as 1997, many in the industry said that the fighting game market's growing inaccessibility to newcomers was bringing an end to the genre's dominance. Furthermore, arcades gradually became less profitable throughout the late 1990s to early 2000s due to the increased technical power and popularity of home consoles. The early 2000s
28032-434: The mid-2020s, the genre achieved another renaissance with the arrival of Street Fighter 6 and its immediate success, together with Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 8 . Street Fighter 6 sold over 1 million copies within five days after its launch, and sold over 3 million copies by January 2024. Mortal Kombat 1 sold over 2 million copies in its first two months, and garnered over 3 million copies by January 2024, while
28224-448: The military organization, particularly its Muscle Tower ( マッスルタワー , Massuru Tawā ) base, from the video game Spartan X (known as Kung-Fu Master internationally), in which enemies tend to spawn at a rapid rate while the player character ascends a tower; the game itself was based on two Hong Kong martial arts films , Jackie Chan 's Wheels on Meals (known as Spartan X in Japan) and Bruce Lee 's Game of Death . Some of
28416-400: The most popular, spawning a Champion Edition that improved game balance and allowed players to use boss characters that were unselectable in the previous version. Chicago's Midway Games achieved unprecedented notoriety when they released Mortal Kombat in 1992. The game featured digital characters drawn from real actors, numerous secrets, and " Fatality " finishing maneuvers in which
28608-422: The name of Android 21's human base to be Vomi ( ヴォミ ) , still the wife of Dr. Gero and the mother of Gevo, the model for Android 16's design. Vomi is briefly sighted during a media presentation by senior members of the reconstituted Red Ribbon Army as they attempt to recruit her surviving grandson, Dr. Hedo. Gamma 1 ( ガンマ１号 , Ganma Ichigō ) and Gamma 2 ( ガンマ２号 , Ganma Nigō ) , are two androids created by
28800-491: The notion of things not going his way. Magenta is voiced by Volcano Ōta in Japanese and Charles Martinet in English. Doctor Hedo ( ドクター・ヘド , Dokutā Hedo ) is the short, portly genius scientist who is the grandson of the notorious Doctor Gero, who works for the revived Red Ribbon Army under Magenta after breaking free from prison. Unlike his grandfather, he has little desire to carry on Gero's revenge upon Goku, and he has an obsession with superheroes, and seeks to create
28992-434: The one-on-one boss battles of his earlier beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master as the template for Capcom 's fighting game Street Fighter , combined with elements of Karate Champ and Yie Ar Kung Fu . Street Fighter found its own niche in the gaming world, which was dominated by beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups at the time. Part of the game's appeal was the use of special moves that could only be discovered by experimenting with
29184-439: The opponent to recover if they timed them correctly. Its success led to fighting games becoming the dominant genre in the arcade game industry of the early 1990s, which led to a resurgence of the arcade game industry. The popularity of Street Fighter II led it to be released for home game consoles and becoming the defining template for fighting games. SNK released Fatal Fury shortly after Street Fighter II in 1991. It
29376-553: The opponent. Other fighting games, like Dead or Alive , have a unique button for throws and takedowns. Projectiles are primarily in 2D fighting games, like the Hadouken in Street Fighter . Projectiles can simply inflict damage, or can maneuver opponents into disadvantageous positions. Especially in 2D, zoning is defensive play that focuses on using relatively risk-free attacks to keep the opposing player away. The object
29568-432: The other Z Fighters to the Sacred World of the Kai to protect Earth from the fight. With their combined power, Goku and the Z Fighters obliterate 21. Whis expresses his disappointment over the unanswered questions about Android 21. 16 implants the player's soul within the recently revived Frieza, much to the tyrant's ire. Frieza recruits the resurrected Nappa, Ginyu Force, and Cell to battle the clones and eventually confront
29760-415: The other Z warriors. Goku rescues Krillin, and they battle Cell who appears to have knocked out 18 and endangered an unknown woman. The woman claims to be a Red Ribbon scientist and informs them that they need to find the base emitting the power-suppressing waves to restore their abilities. The reunited Z Fighters eventually confront 16, where he explains that the Red Ribbon Army's current leader, Android 21,
29952-446: The player from his body as the heroes and villains start fighting each other anew. Android 16 kidnaps Android 18 and implants the player's soul within her. He requests 21 and the player's help in combating the clones created by the Red Ribbon Army. 21 becomes increasingly unstable after each battle, but 16 refuses to explain her condition to 17 and 18. When Krillin finds the androids, 21 forces 18 to fight Krillin and nearly kills him, but
30144-485: The player links with 21 and discovers two beings within her body. 16 takes 18 to a lab and explains that the cells that created Android 21 may be going berserk and that he used the link system to stop her from going mad. The androids are eventually confronted by Cell, who has regained most of his original power. 21 transforms into her temporarily purified Majin form to protect the androids but succumbs to her corrupted half's hunger again. She unintentionally kills 16 while she
30336-464: The player picking a team of three playable characters and a unique assist for each, then fighting an AI or human opponent with their own team of three characters. The game received positive reviews from critics, with many citing the game as one of the best fighting games released in the eighth generation of video game consoles . The game's fighting system, character roster, visuals, story mode, and music were all highly praised while its online functionality
30528-760: The player's character kills their opponent. The game earned a reputation for its gratuitous violence, and was adapted for home game consoles. The home version of Mortal Kombat was released on September 13, 1993, a day promoted as "Mortal Monday". The advertising resulted in line-ups to purchase the game and a subsequent backlash from politicians concerned about the game's violence. The Mortal Kombat franchise would achieve iconic status similar to that of Street Fighter with several sequels as well as movies, television series, and extensive merchandising. Numerous other game developers tried to imitate Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat 's financial success with similar games, including Rare Software with Killer Instinct ,
30720-528: The point-scoring system of Karate Champ with a health meter system, becoming the standard for the genre. Irem 's Kung-Fu Master , designed by Takashi Nishiyama and released in November 1984, is a side-scrolling beat 'em up that, at the end of each level , featured one-on-one boss battles that resemble fighting games. It is based on Hong Kong martial arts films, specifically Jackie Chan 's Wheels on Meals (1984) and Bruce Lee's Game of Death . Nishiyama later used its one-on-one boss battles as
30912-566: The ponderous solemnity of Dragon Ball Z ". He found the Red Ribbon Army to be effective villains, as it was first time Goku has faced "real bad guys", as opposed to "goofy Team Rocket -esque wannabes" like the Pilaf Gang . Kimlinger noted that the complete defeat of the Red Ribbon Army would have major implications for the franchise's narrative, as it sets the stage for the Android Saga storyline in Dragon Ball Z . Smith commented that
31104-459: The reformed Red Ribbon Army that appear as secondary antagonists in the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero . They are conceived by the army as an even more powerful new series of androids, designed by Doctor Hedo according to his liking of superheroes. Despite their flamboyant, often ridiculous showmanship, they are powerful and dedicated fighters with a strong sense of justice, albeit misguided by their creators. They are supposed to be used as
31296-411: The rewarded player can minimize the number of viable moves available to the other player. Doing so, and then taking advantage of the opponent's limited options, is called pressure. Common forms of pressure include making a player guess whether they should block high or low, or keeping the opposing player trapped in the corner and punishing any attempts to escape. Fighting game matches generally consist of
31488-411: The rise of major international fighting game tournaments such as Tougeki – Super Battle Opera and Evolution Championship Series , and famous players such as Daigo Umehara . An important fighting game at the time was Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike , originally released in 1999. The game gained significant attention with " Evo Moment 37 ", also known as the "Daigo Parry", which refers to a portion of
31680-479: The series as the platform fighter subgenre due to its deviation from traditional fighting game rules and design. Several games such as Marvel vs. Capcom and Dead or Alive have featured teams where players form "tag teams" to fight duels, but a character may be swapped by a teammate. Some fighting games offer the endurance challenge of a series of opponents. Online games can suffer lag from slow data transmission , which can disrupt split-second timing. This
31872-655: The sports game genre. Fighting games involve combat between pairs of fighters using highly exaggerated martial arts moves. They typically revolve primarily around brawling or combat sport , though some variations feature weaponry. Games usually display on-screen fighters from a side view, and even 3D fighting games play largely within a 2D plane of motion. Games usually confine characters to moving left and right and jumping, although some games such as Fatal Fury: King of Fighters allow players to move between parallel planes of movement. Recent games tend to be rendered in three dimensions, making it easier for developers to add
32064-467: The stage when a character reaches a high percentage of damage; however, the gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighting games in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars. Beginning with Midway's Mortal Kombat released in 1992, the Mortal Kombat series introduced "Fatalities", where the match victor inflicts
32256-545: The strength of other attacks. Some characters have unusual taunts, like Dan Hibiki from Street Fighter Alpha . Combos that chain several attacks are fundamental to the genre since Street Fighter II (1991). Most fighting games display a "combo meter" of progress through a combo. The effectiveness of such moves often relates to the difficulty of execution and the degree of risk. These moves are often challenging, requiring excellent memory and timing. Predicting opponents' moves and counter-attacking, known as "countering",
32448-419: The time runs out, the team that has sustained the least damage overall wins. In addition to the unique moves of each character, players have several universal moves available. With the "Vanish Attack", the player can expend Ki to instantly teleport behind an opponent's character and strike them in the back. This has multiple uses, from bypassing enemy projectiles to moving quickly around the stage, or extending
32640-447: The title for a small tournament; many of the pros praised the game highly, regarding its versatility when it comes to play styles as well as being enjoyable. Android 21 has received particular attention upon her reveal due to her distinctive visual design by Toriyama. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, who cited the art style, combat system, cast of playable characters, and story mode as positives. Several called it
32832-435: The true culprit: Android 21. 21 forces the villains to battle and defeat Android 18. Goku and Krillin arrive while she pretends to be an innocent bystander to pit the heroes and villains against each other. The player prevents Frieza from killing Goku and the villains explain the situation to the heroes. Goku suggests that the two sides join forces to stop 21, and the villains reluctantly agree. The villains aid Goku in rescuing
33024-604: The two terms may still be conflated. Sports-based combat games are games that feature boxing , mixed martial arts (MMA), or wrestling . Serious boxing games belong more to the sports game genre than the action game genre, as they aim for a more realistic model of boxing techniques, whereas moves in fighting games tend to be either highly exaggerated or outright fantastical models of Asian martial arts techniques. As such, boxing games, mixed martial arts games, and wrestling games are often described as distinct genres, without comparison to fighting games, and belong more in
33216-404: The ultimate superhero androids, while also desiring the research funds from the army. He is responsible for the creation of the army's secret weapon, an even more powerful variant of the original Cell, Cell Max ( セルマックス , Seru Makusu ) . He has an expertise in biology and has a medical license, and is revealed to have injected himself with a serum that protects him from light shock injuries. He
33408-600: The universes erased during the tournament to be restored. Akira Toriyama came up with 17 and 18 after his editor at the time, Kazuhiko Torishima , expressed his displeasure with Androids 19 and 20 as the intended arc villains shortly after their debut. 17's brief appearance during the Boo arc was originally intended to be Lunch , who is not otherwise seen during the second half of the manga. Toriyama revealed Android 17's real name as Lapis ( ラピス , Rapisu ) in 2014. Shigeru Nakahara voices Android 17 in all Japanese media. In
33600-404: The updated Super Street Fighter IV , sold more than 6 million copies over the next few years. The success of these two games, among others, sparked a renaissance for the genre, introducing new players to the genre and with the increased audience allowing other fighting game franchises to achieve successful revivals of their own, as well as increasing tournament participation. Tekken 6
33792-422: The video game Dragon Ball FighterZ . She is initially presented as a mysterious scientist who works for the Red Ribbon Army, and is somehow connected to a mysterious anomaly which renders various Dragon Ball series characters powerless, as well as the appearance of hostile cloned versions of series characters. Her backstory and true nature is gradually revealed through the progression of the game's narrative, and
33984-470: The view that while the series never loses its anthropological or historical interest, storylines like the Red Ribbon Army arc may be challenging for viewers to "just turn your brain off and enjoy it straight". The individual members and associates of the Red Ribbon Army have received varied receptions. Uonuma Usui from Nobuhiro Watsuki 's Rurouni Kenshin manga is modeled after Mercenary Tao; Watsuki stated that Tao made "a strong impression" on him as he
34176-429: The villains of the Android Saga arc. When Torishima complained about the youthful duo as well after they were incorporated into the story, Toriyama decided to develop and introduce Cell. It was decided that the Red Ribbon Army would make a comeback as the main antagonistic force of the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero , with new characters serving as the main driving collective behind its revival. On bringing back
34368-406: The world in search for the Dragon Balls, ostensibly on a quest for world domination. Goku initially encounters and defeats Colonel Silver ( シルバー大佐 , Shirubā-Taisa ) and his subordinates. Silver is later sentenced to death by Red for losing to a little boy. Though its leadership believe that Silver's defeat was an anomaly, Goku is increasingly seen as a genuine threat when he manages to defeat
34560-725: Was Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii . Featuring 40 characters from Nintendo and third-party franchises, the game was a runaway commercial success in addition to being lavished with critical praise. In the new millennium, fighting games became less popular and plentiful than in the mid-1990s, with multiplayer competition shifting towards other genres. However, SNK reappeared in 2003 as SNK Playmore and continued to release games. Arc System Works received critical acclaim for releasing Guilty Gear X in 2001, as well as its sequel Guilty Gear XX , as both were 2D fighting games featuring striking anime -inspired graphics. Fighting games became
34752-508: Was a difficult role to play due to the character's sexuality. The North American English releases of the manga by Viz Media edited the lips of Adjutant Black ( ブラック参謀 , Burakku-Sanbō ) , Staff Officer Black in English anime, by shading them in; D.F. Smith from IGN remarked that the character is a "ridiculous caricature of a black man" . Toriyama created Androids 17 and 18 after Kazuhiko Torishima , his former editor, expressed his disappointment with Androids 19 and 20 being depicted as
34944-510: Was a normal female human who eventually became an Android created by the Red Ribbon Army after her son became the model for Android 16. Once she awakens, she repairs 16 and uses the Dragon Balls to resurrect Frieza, Cell, Nappa, and the Ginyu Force, and seals away the powers and souls of all of Earth's strongest warriors. Wanting to control the hungry monster within her, she and 16 develop a linking system originally created by Dr. Gero in which
35136-419: Was building off the popularity of its previous iteration and was still positively received, selling more than 3 million copies worldwide by August 2010, one year after its release. Other successful games that followed include Mortal Kombat , Marvel vs. Capcom 3 , The King of Fighters XIII , Dead or Alive 5 , Tekken Tag Tournament 2 , Soulcalibur V , and Guilty Gear Xrd . Though
35328-441: Was criticized. The game was also a commercial success, having sold 10 million copies worldwide as of May 2023. The gameplay is inspired by concepts from several other fighting games. Namely, the control scheme and team mechanics are lifted from the Marvel vs. Capcom series and the overall presentation is reminiscent of other Arc System Works games, such as Guilty Gear Xrd . Players each select three characters to form
35520-474: Was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the creator of the original Street Fighter , which it was envisioned as a spiritual successor to. Fatal Fury placed more emphasis on storytelling and the timing of special moves, and added a two-plane system where characters could step into the foreground or background. Meanwhile, Sega experimented with Dark Edge , an early attempt at a 3D fighting game where characters could move in all directions. However, Sega never released
35712-479: Was easier to learn than Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat , which has six and five buttons respectively. By the time the game was released for the Sega Saturn in Japan, the game and system were selling at almost a one-to-one ratio. In 1994, Namco released Tekken , the rival arcade game using cutting-edge 3D polygon technology. The 1995 PlayStation game Battle Arena Toshinden is credited for taking
35904-509: Was met with great enthusiasm from fans of fighting games and the source material alike, with many saying it has the potential to be the next big competitive fighting game. The game gained praise regarding its art design and animation being faithful to the source material, as well as its fighting mechanics. A playable demo was available at the Evolution Championship Series 2017, where pros were able to get their hands on
36096-400: Was noted by Toriyama to be an official part of the overall Dragon Ball canon. Arc System Works staff indicated in an interview that they wanted to create an original story for Dragon Ball FighterZ because the events of the original series have been retread several times by other licensed video games; the introduction of an original villainous character is intended to add a fresh element to
36288-446: Was the dominant genre in competitive video gaming, with enthusiasts popularly attending arcades in order to find human opponents. The genre was also very popular on home consoles. At the beginning of 1996, GamePro (a magazine devoted chiefly to home console and handheld gaming) reported that for the last several years, their reader surveys had consistently yielded 4 out of 5 respondents name fighting games as their favorite genre. In
36480-425: Was the first game to include such a feature. Fighting games can support a two-player duel, sometimes by letting a second player challenge the first at any moment during a single-player match. Some games allow four-player simultaneous competition. Uniquely, the Super Smash Bros. series has allowed eight-player local and online multiplayer matches, beginning with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U , though many classify
36672-427: Was the first villain in the series to defeat Goku. Craig Elvy from Screen Rant said Android 8 is a minor but important influence in Goku's overall character development throughout the series, and drew a link between their interactions early in the series to Goku's consistently merciful attitude towards his enemies as an adult. Android 16 is considered to be the franchise's best villain by Brandon Zachary, who described
36864-550: Was the only fighting game included in the esport league, the Championship Gaming Series (CGS), in 2007 and 2008. The league was operated and fully broadcast by DirecTV in association with British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) and STAR TV . Dead or Alive has been credited for launching the careers of pro-gamer turned Koei Tecmo employee, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and the highest-paid women pro-gamers, Kat Gunn and Vanessa Arteaga . The late 2000s featured
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