With Dragon Ball FighterZ rapidly approaching, and just as quickly proving that anime can make for terrific fighting games, now is the time for other phenomenal titles to take a swing at the genre. While not every anime is a good fit for a fighting game, there are plenty of titles that could bring interesting and unique elements to this style of game. Doing this could not only reinvigorate interest in older franchises, but also generate more interest in one of the oldest genres of gaming.
Hunter x Hunter
The fact that Hunter x Hunter – one of the most popular shōnen anime and manga ever – has yet to appear as a fighting game is weird for a couple reasons. The creator of the series, Yoshihiro Togashi, is a huge fan of video games. The series has one of the most interesting combat systems in all of anime and manga, and fans of the series are desperate for any kind of new Hunter x Hunter content. Now is the perfect time to finally bring this series into the fighting game world.
Hunter x Hunter would probably work best as a 2D fighting game, as most conflicts in the series tend to be tactical struggles instead of massive battles. The character roster could easily have around 24 unique characters, as most characters in the series have complex and unique abilities anyway. There’s so much potential in a HxH fighting game that it really is a shame that one has yet to come to fruition.
Kill la Kill
Kill la Kill is easily one of the best anime to premiere in 2013, and it’s a shame that there isn’t much content relating to the series outside of the anime and manga. While it might be a little late to the party, a Kill la Kill fighting game could be a great way to reinvigorate interest in the series and reintroduce it to those who missed it originally.
Kill la Kill would work best as an arena fighter similar to Soulcalibur, as each character generally fights with a weapon that’s specific to them. It might be difficult to create much more than a dozen playable characters for a Kill la Kill fighting game, but this shortcoming is avoidable by having character transformations as separate characters. Stage transitions and stage destruction would be a must though, as it’s a great way to capture the ridiculous magnitude fights in this franchise frequently reach.
One Punch Man
Season two of this truly remarkable anime may be on the way, but by the end of it, fans of the series are sure to be left longing for even more One Punch Man content. It may be difficult to design a game around a character whose whole gimmick is that he can defeat any enemy in one punch, but that limitation could actually result in some interesting game design. If Saitama – the titular One Punch Man – remains overpowered, perhaps affordances are given to opposing players like multiple characters to fight him. Or maybe a player who chooses Saitama has to input button commands to motivate Saitama to actually fight and not just laze about.
A One Punch Man fighting game would probably work best in a ring-out format like Super Smash Bros, as the abilities of the characters in the series are vastly different. The “power level” of each character could also be left mostly intact from the main series, and instead, the game could balance these stronger characters out by having a team of weaker level characters battle a single overpowered one.
Tokyo Ghoul
There is a lot going on in Tokyo Ghoul, and it is as well suited to be a fighting game, as it is any other genre of game. However, as a fighting game, Tokyo Ghoul has the opportunity to implement facets of its universe in fun and creative ways. The biology of the ghouls that appear in the series opens the doors to a lot of mechanics that rarely appear in fighting games.
A Tokyo Ghoul fighting game would probably work best as a 2D fighter or arena fighter. Instead of having a special moves gauge, though, all attacks utilizing a characters kagune – a ghoul’s predatory organ – could be tied to the HP gage. This would fit within the established rules of Tokyo Ghoul and make for a very high-risk, high-reward fighting game. Each character could also have specific close-range attacks that allow them to recover HP by eating a part of and damaging their opponent.
Hellsing
The Hellsing manga received an anime adaptation, a few side story publications, a release of a collection of prototype manga, and perhaps one of the best OVAs ever created in the form of Hellsing Ultimate. But never a video game adaptation. This is a travesty as the over the top violence and gore would make it a perfect fit for the video game genre that first rose to popularity by capitalizing on such controversial features.
A Hellsing fighting game doesn’t necessarily have to be a Mortal Kombat clone, but it would work stunningly well as a one. With a roster made up of a dozen-plus characters, each with their own specific move sets and finishers, Hellsing could work really well as a middle-tier fighting game. It would also be an absolute treat to re-experience the events of Hellsing Ultimate via a story mode.
