GAME CLEAR No. 135 -- Sonic the Fighters

Sonic the Fighters (1996, Arcade [Sega Model 2])

Developer: SEGA AM2
Publisher: SEGA
Clear Version: Xbox LIVE Arcade
Clear Platform: Xbox Series X
Clear Date: 5/28/23

What were we talking about?

Fighting game tournaments are something so great. At Momocon 2023, I had the absolute pleasure of entering my first Super Smash Bros. (1999) tournament. It was the only remaining Smash game I had never played in a tournament setting, and I had a blast. I finished 5th, far exceeding my expectations, after just a month of prep. A lot of the principles from subsequent entries are transferrable to 64, of course, but it’s still a very different game. It was an absolutely gleeful experience for me to do as well as I did, and a major contributing factor to that was the quality and sportsmanship of my opponents.

I had pleasant and substantial pre and post-game conversations with everyone I played. Mid-game, my opponents and I took turns exchanging tips of the cap for particularly impressive KOs or combos. In my third set, I won in a game three, last stock situation, and rather than grovel, my opponent laughed and wished me well the rest of the way. And his well-wishes were sincere, as he gave me a thumbs up or a smile and nod after my subsequent victories. When I was finally swept in a best of five in losers’ quarters, he still insisted a played great! What a nice guy.

The reason I had my best placement in a Smash tournament in my life is probably because of a common through line: this was pretty much nobody’s main Smash game. Sure, we all grew up with it, but most of us had caught the competitive Smash bug during one of Melee’s multiple revitalizations or maybe even as late as Ultimate. Momocon hosts the South’s largest Ultimate tournament, so it’s no surprise a couple participants also entered 64. Regardless, we were all playing a game that was not the one we were most familiar with, and I guess my month of practice gave me an edge over those that truly went in cold. Or maybe after over two decades of playing Captain Falcon, I’ve learned a thing or two. Who’s to say?

Another common theme, of course, was that most of us were getting old, at least by the standards of competitive gaming. It’s weird to think, but to have had an N64 during its retail lifespan, you’d pretty much have to be pushing 30 at this point at the very least (or, I suppose, had an older sibling). That’s a far cry from the ages you’ll see at Ultimate tourneys, where you can be at risk of losing to literal children. Multiple conversations with my opponents pertained to what our main Smash games were and whether or not we’d really kept up with them lately. Lots of “yeah, I used to be pretty active in the scene back in [whatever year], but life happens.”

Indeed it does, and a pandemic happened too. To the extent that I was any good at Ultimate, any momentum I had with that game was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 outbreak. Before Momocon, the last (open) tournament I attended was pre-pandemic. I had no idea what the Georgia Smash scene would look like after and frankly still don’t. But I don’t think I’m ready to give it up yet. It’s too fun. Competition is one of those things that keeps the flame inside me from going out. It’s a reason to live.

But isn’t this supposed to be about Sonic the Fighters? Does this guy ever shut the fuck up? This is the most navel-gazey rambling I’ve ever read!

The thing is I also entered a Sonic the Fighters tournament as I was signing up for Smash. I saw it on the list and couldn’t pass up the chance to play an AM2 fighter in a competitive setting. However, far from the 24 years of experience I have with the Super Smash Bros. franchise, I had probably compiled some 15 minutes in Sonic the Fighters before entering the tournament. I more than doubled that time the night before the tournament by buying and spending some time with the 360 port of the game.

Despite having a pretty strong cocktail of fears of failure, commitment, and being wrong, one thing I don’t struggle with is picking a main. It takes basically no time for me and I never waffle. I just take a look at the characters and the vibes handle the rest. In the case of Sonic the Fighters I didn’t have time to worry about that shit anyway because I was maybe gonna have an hour to practice. I picked Tails because his name is Miles and my middle names is Miles. Easy. I then cleared the arcade mode with him, and that’s why this post exists at all.

Anyway, the thing about Sonic the Fighters is it is extremely underdocumented and underresearched. It’s a cutesy fighting game designed for beginners with silly moves and cartoonish animations. This is not a serious game that thousands of people have spent time labbing, so without any YouTube or forum guides, I pretty much just looked at the fox’s special moves and tried to memorize some extremely basic bread and butter stuff. It didn’t hurt that I had played some Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers (with which Sonic the Fighters shares an engine), but it’s not like I’m very good at those either. Ultimately, I figured if I could remember to tech when I got launched and could get a little lucky, I’d probably beat somebody.

And I was right! After getting thoroughly trash compacted by my first opponent (who had a gnarly and insane looking Xbox adapter for his Saturn controller), I was immediately called to main stage for my first losers’ match. On the projector in front of everyone, I actually managed to win. Just as quickly, I was then shuffled off to my third opponent, who beat me in a last game, last life situation, just as I had done to that friendly fellow in Smash the day before. I was out at 1-2.

The vibe for this tournament was so different. I exchanged no more than “good luck” and “ggs” with my opponents before and after matches, and I didn’t stay til the end. Still, I had put in the slightest bit of work and managed to beat someone at the fighting game. That part still ruled.

More importantly, I remembered what it was like to totally suck at a fighting game but be mercifully matched against someone else who sucks. Two people just poking at buttons and desperately trying to remember the most basic fundamentals.

I happen to enjoy that shit, and it’s got me thinking that I should probably buy this new Street Fighter 6. Traditional fighting games are very scary to me, and I have only dabbled in a few of them (including previous Street Fighter games), but I know I have friends who are also bad at them. If you wish to flail with me at a game neither of us is good at and with no stakes, please hit me up. I would love to fight you. Yes, you.

And who knows? Maybe someday soon I’ll find myself at a local getting my ass beat. But I’ll be out among the people, maybe making some friendly acquaintances. Gotta do something to keep the lights on in my head.