Fighting games have always been hard for me. Started out playing Super Smash Bros 64 for a small time at a young age and didn’t care if I won or not. Just liked playing the classic characters such as Kirby or Mario and doing their cool moves.
It was only until 2016 I got more into fighting games. Played Super Smash Bros Melee with my friend and chose the mighty Captain Falcon to grind. We would play many sets and even watch pros compete such as my favorite Mang0. The thrill of learning Melee’s movement such as wavedashing or landing skull crushing knees will always have a visceral feeling.
However, playing to compete is a difficulty I wasn’t familiar with. I started entering tournaments with my friend and facing off new people with different strategies was a pain. With every lost the lower my self-esteem gets.
Fighting games are unique in a way that you can only blame yourself. For a majority of my life I’ve been playing team-based competitive games such as League of Legends or Counter-Strike. And yes you can still blame yourself for mistakes in those games but it was so much easier to put it on someone else. That way you don’t have to face the emotional burden. When it came to melee, losing became part of my identity and so “I’m a loser” became concrete.
So for a period of time I just stopped playing fighting games in general.
I came back in 2021 where a different friend got me into Street Fighter V. This introduced me to traditional fighting games where as Super Smash Bros is a platform fighter. I was kind of into it but not really since at that time COVID was happening and was still struggling with ego problems.
2023 I purchased Street Fighter 6. Now this was the game I got good at and understood more about fighting games as a whole. Applying concepts such as neutral and conditioning. Learning how to anti-air people and executing high-damaging combos. It felt great. And the reason why I got so good is because at this time I detached my worth to the rank/rating, I just wanted to play.
Moved on to other fighting games such as Tekken 8 because I wanted to try a 3D fighter. The knowledge I gained in Street Fighter could be transferred over and I actually had a lot of fun.
With that being said I want to try competing at least once on the main stage. Grinding for a goal like that is a different kind of fun. But it is also important not to lose yourself in the process. And within that process you can do it with other people. It is actually more important to do it with other people. Day by day you give it your all.
Bring it your all and sometimes you make it and sometimes you don’t. However your life will , most of the time, be better for having brought it.
For having brought yourself.