Why are 3d fighting games less popular than their 2d counterparts?

Hi everyone! So it's been a while since I posted any content here, so I'm back with a question. Why are 3d fighting games so much less popular than their 2d counterparts? I already have a guess, but I want to hear what everyone else has to say. I think that some of the biggest reasons being two things:

• The fact that 3d fighting games feel so very different than 2d fighting games gameplay wise.
• The fact that most 3d fighting games make their gameplay more similar to 2d fighting games in the wrong way.

Tekken 7 arguably shares these problems with other 3d fighters, but to a lesser degree. But I want to know what you think. Why do you think 3d fighting games are less popular than 2d fighting games?

 

Originally the idea of an arcade fighting game was associated with 2D graphics and 2D game play.. The original fighting game community was created in a 2D world. Eventually 3D graphics and game play came along, but the inertia of the 2D community was already well established. To this day when most players think of arcade style fighting games they automatically think 2D graphics and 2D game play Tekken is 2.5 gameplay Soul Calibur is really the only true 3D arcade fighting game that was able to make the proper transition to consoles.

Also I think 3D fighting games made the mistake of trying to bring 2D elements and 2D game play concepts into the 3D environment to try to win over the 2D fighting game community, instead of just taking full advantage of all of the possibilities that open up with 3D graphics and 3D gameplay. This mistake is in part responsible for why 3D is not as popular. True 3D fighting games appeal to a different kind of player and different makret. Instead of just putting in the hard work to develop the new market for 3D fighting games., they tried to add 2D elements and some 2D game play concepts (e.g floating, launching, fireballs etc) in the new 3D world to attract existing members of the 2D fighting game community

The 3D arcade fighting games have too many 3D concepts to be full accepted by the 2D community and too many 2D concepts to be fully adopted by the 3D community.

I have often posted that Virtua Fighter should shed all vestiges of 2D arcade fighting and fully embrace a 3D martial arts paradigm. It would then be accepted by much broader audience.

Virtua Fighter is literally in a class by itself. Yu Suzuki basically invented a 3D martial arts simulator that unfortunately was forced to run in an Arcade machine environment along side 2D fighting games.. Virtua Fighter was about 5-7 years ahead of its time. Had it been invented during the original PS2 days, it would have been marketed totally differently And would have taken a very different path

 

That's a very fair point @masterpo. 2d fighting games have been the more popular subgenre mostly due to the fact that many of the most popular fighting game franchises have been 2d.

I have mixed feelings about that statement. On the one hand, I absolutely feel that 3d fighting games are trying too hard to be 2d fighting games. At the same time, I do feel that 2d game mechanics can actually be implemented into 3d fighting games if done right. The big problem is that most 3d fighting games don't do it right.
I feel that the best way to fix that problem is to give the game general 3d feel and movement, but using 2d concepts. For example, maybe 3d fighting games could use overhead attacks instead of mid attacks as attacks that can't be block crouching. 3d fighting games have also artificially weakened 3d movement like sidesteps to make it feel "more 2d" to fans. In short, I feel that 3d fighting games can have some elements of 2d games as long as they don't contradict each other. Or new 3d fighting games could be made that combines aspects of both.

That is a fair point. The only counterargument I could see being that the 3d community makes up a fairly small percentage of the FGC. So combining the 2 would be a logical choice to make.

Virtua Fighter has pretty much always done that, and it still hasn't been that popular. That is probably bound to change in the future due to the success of Ultimate Showdown. Even if the actual game itself is not very good, we do have to thank it for sparking interest in the franchise.

I have almost no disagreements with that statement. I feel incredibly strongly about some products being unfairly thrown aside because better or more significant products came at around the same time. When it was made, Virtua Fighter was caught up in the milestones. If it was made in the days of the PS2, it would have been the milestone.
The only disagreement I have is that Virtua Fighter was actually the reason why the original PS was based on 3d hardware.

 

There are overhead attacks in VF.
Pai's , is one of many.

 

That is true. At the same time, I mean overheads being the only moves that can't be blocked crouching.

 

If they did that in Virtua Fighter, it would look unrealistic.

 

Perhaps. These are more ideas for possible new 3d fighting games to arise. Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Dead or Alive have cemented their distinctly 3d mechanics into fighting games. If new 3d fighting games are to be made, than these are ways that could possibly make them land on their feet.

 

Not necessarily true or guaranteed. Maybe in some ways, but it isn't a total guarantee.

 

You are right. It's not guaranteed to make them successful, but at least it's worth a shot.