Help getting back into fighting games

When i was considerably younger i used to mash away at street fighter, MK, and soul caliber for hours. But never really too seriously since i was so young, now its been so long i have no idea what the good entries in those ;or any other series for that matter are.

I picked up Injustice for free on PS4 and its alright, but certainly not keeping me engaged i was thinking about getting MKX but i feel like i need to go back and get some fundamentals first, what do you guys think?

I have a pc and i guess i could use my ps4 controller because i literally cant play a D-pad heavy game with my wired 360 controller.

No interest in investing in a fighting game stick?

MK9 and MKX were basically designed for controllers, if you are just getting back in don't let the crazy hardcore guys dissuade you with talk of fight sticks. I filthy casual with friends and the PC versions of MKX and MK9 are both amazing. That and the story modes are a great way to refresh with the MK games.

The key is to have fun first, let the rest come as you feel it. But I totally support you coming back duder!

How about some streeeeeet fighteeer fooooour? That's a pretty good game! If you live in europe I'm always looking for more people to play with.

What about injustice is putting you off? MKX pulls a lot from that game, so that could maybe have the same problem?

I assume you're trying to learn so you can effectively compete with human opponents? Street Fighter is pretty much always the fighting game, so it's not a bad choice. There's a ton of content/videos on the web that teach you the fundamentals of Street Fighter as well as fighting games in general. Otherwise, you can just look at the most current and popular fighting games, as they will have a lot of people to play with. Choose one that seems like it might appeal (you mentioned MKX). Regularly playing with others, online or locally, is key to both having fun and improving. Attempting to learn everything (theory) before you go out and play (practice) is not really the best approach. Do both at the same time.

If your main interest is 2D fighters, I would definitely recommend just getting Ultra Street Fighter 4. Pick Ryu, and learn the fundamentals of fighting games first ( i.e., don't FOCUS on the mechanics of the specific game [C WUT I DID DARE?!!], but rather on fundamentals of spacing, anti-airing, learning your normals and specials, etc). No better way to learn than with the original series and character, and the PC version is well respected from what I understand. There are also a million+ videos and tutorials out there. Look up Vesper Arcade's tutorial series for SUPER Street Fighter 4. It is incredibly thorough and well done. The game has had some iterations since Super, but the fundamentals are all the same.

Playing on pad vs stick is a nonsense argument. Neither is better than the other, just use what you are comfortable with. SF4 series has pretty lenient inputs, so your execution does not have to be perfect either. I have only spent a very small amount of time with MKX, and the input timing feels a lot tighter than MK9.

If you want to stick with MKX, that's fine, just remember that the game will feel quite different because of the way that combos are entered and mostly because you will need to get used to a Block button vs. holding back to block. (although that might be fine for you since you are used to Soul Cal and MK).

What is it about Injustice that isn't keeping you engaged?

Every game is going to be a bit different in regards to what is important etc, but as you say, there are key fundamentals that are basically applicable to any fighting game. Since you mentioned them, I assume you're interested in gaining a better grasp of them. An important one is thinking about your character and their relationship with the space they are fighting in. What parts of the screen can your characters moveset allow you to control? How can those different elements of spacial control compliment each other? As a result of this, where is your character most comfortable in terms of distance to the opponent etc. The classic example of this is Ryu being able to control a lot of horizontal screen space with his fireball, which can then lead to a free dragon punch if you can bully them into jumping over a fireball when they really shouldn't. SYNERGY!

If you want a game that can get you really thinking about those concepts, or others such as understanding your opponents options and making decisions based on that, or picking up on patterns that they display etc, it might be worth taking a look at something like Divekick. It's all boiled down enough that you can potentially see those elements more clearly, rather than in abstraction from something with a LOT more systems and options. I'd say Niddhogg can definitely serve a similar purpose. Vinny basically always won at Niddhogg and I think it boiled down to a bunch of those things. Whether you'll be able to find somebody to play either of those games with is a different story.

It massively helps if you have a like-minded friend/s where you can level up together through a back and forth of finding answers to tactics the other is using etc, there's a really natural evolution that way. Try to play to learn, not just to win, experiment, see how different things interact. And have fun!

Avoid playing the AI if you can. That's a great way to learn very little.

The big 2 competitive games at the moment are Ultra Street Fighter 4 and MKX. There's plenty of information about both floating around on youtube, twitch and various easily found fighting game forums. USF4 is an old game, so the particulars of how things work are well known and you can find good explanations of them pretty easily. The downside is that most of the people still playing USF4 will be much more experienced at it than you, so you may have a tough time finding someone on your level to have fun matches with. MKX is the newcomer, so the information isn't quite as clear or widespread but there's still plenty of good beginner advice out there. Also you're more likely to find people on your level. USF4 will work just fine on a pad, but it was made with a stick in mind whereas MKX was made for a PS4 pad and the stick support is the afterthought.

As a fighting neophyte, i'd like to plug Killer Instinct here. The training modes are great, and fighting friend's shadows are far better than playing AI in terms of learning, if you really don't want to jump into MP lobbies - the system analyzes your fight and shows you strengths and weaknesses.

It's coming to PC soon, and that'll give you the full range of controller choice. (If you want a stick, Xbox One sticks are expensive and a pain in the butt to get) The game's free but i'd say you're going to want to at least buy a character to main with, it's only $5 for one.

Noticing that OP is a monthly premium - fighting shadows was shown a bit on UPF - 5/29/2015.

As someone who likes fighting games a whole lot but is also terrible at playing fighting games I'd recommend just picking up the game you want and getting right to it! Despite having massive issues with MKX on the PC version I can definitely recommend it on consoles. From my own impressions and impressions of pro players it seems to be the best and most competitively viable NRS game yet.

Giant Bomb has a decent amount of fighting game fans. You can usually find us hanging outin FLStyle's tournament threads. (Link to the current one here.)

These are exciting times for fans of fighting games in general so you will have no problems finding help, friends and competition.

wow, thanks guys, lots of really good suggestions. Think @thiago123 has got closest to what im feeling. I mean i watch them play stuff on UPF and they say "like a fireball" and i feel like i should know what that means since i loved street fighter so much but i literally have no memory haha. Learning street fighter would likely make it much easier to pick up other random fighters as well correct?

@corvak, I heard about KI coming to PC and its actually sort of the final straw to me really being interested in fighters again. looks like a really fast, really fun one.

As far as injustice goes, i think im just not a big DC fan, i think superman is lame, and the characters in it i do like have movesets i cant use well.

I'll second the SF4 -> Ryu approach. It's the foundation of everything.

All I'll say is don't drop all the dime on an arcade stick unless you're sure that you'll use it a lot. Nothing sucks more than glancing over at an unused peripheral and wincing at the waste of money. Oh, and KI is a Baller Status game.

just fiddle with Ultra Street Fighter 4. a couple youtube tutorials and a few trips to training mode with Ryu will give you the knowledge base that will apply to pretty much any 2D fighter. Its true what everyone says. He is the most important fighting game character ever so if you wanna start anywhere, start with understanding Ryu.

Get an arcade stick if you want to invest your time. Get Ultra Super Street Fighter 4 and play the most basic character, Ryu.

Street Fighter isn't a combo heavy game like marvel vs capcom, injustice and MKX. It's a good way to understand your footsies and neutral game. Once you're more experienced, then try some combos, they are fairly less complex than other games but you have to get the timing and input right, which is why getting an arcade stick would be a lot better because it's much easier to input controls and such.