Latest news with #fightinggame
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Street Fighter Legend Ken Masters Enters the Ring in Fatal Fury—and He's a Beast
Ken Masters, the flashy Street Fighter martial artist and former millionaire, officially steps into the Fatal Fury universe this summer. His appearance as the second free DLC character in City of the Wolves' Season Pass 1 continues the recent Capcom and SNK collaboration that includes notable rereleases of classic fighting games (SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium and Capcom vs. SNK 1 and 2), and Fatal Fury's Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui guest-starring in Street Fighter 6. SNK's spin on the character will feel familiar to anyone who's played as Ken in Street Fighter 6. In this incarnation, Ken has his expected Dragon Punch, Hadouken, Jinrai Kick, Quick Dash, and Tatsu, but with tweaks and required changes brought about by City of the Wolves' fight mechanics. If Ken's upcoming release will be your first time controlling the fighter, rest easy knowing that he fits into SNK's recently released fighting game quite nicely. He's a combo-heavy character with fire-enhanced specials and supers that can quickly drain a life meter. However, I discovered notable differences and similarities between his game incarnations while playing a prerelease demo build. And, for the most part, SNK's take on Ken is awesome. New Command Normals Make Up for CotW's Fewer Buttons City of the Wolves is a four-button fighting game (or five-button if you make heavy use of the Rev button). However, Ken is from a six-button fighting game. So, how does SNK make up for the missing inputs? Command normals! By default, pressing down+HK unleashes the equivalent of Ken's Medium Kick in Street Fighter 6, not the Hard Kick. So, if you want to bust out a low sweep to knock a foe off their feet, you must press diagonally down+HK. Likewise, tapping Hard Punch launches Ken's Street Fighter 6 Medium gut-punch, but pressing forward+HP tosses out his familiar Fierce attack. It took me a few minutes to adjust to Ken's tweaked control scheme, but I soon used him mostly as I do in Street Fighter 6. Ken Now Has City of the Wolves' Feint and Rev Blow Moves Due to City of the Wolves' Feint, a move that lets you pop a fake attack to bait opponents into an action, Ken has a fake Hadouken. The most obvious use-case scenario is to Feint a fireball to hopefully cause an opponent to jump over the Hadouken that never comes, and then anti-air the challenger with a Dragon Punch. Now, I couldn't use that in practice since online multiplayer wasn't available in the demo, my offline FGC buddies weren't available during the test period, and the CPU didn't fall for it. You can also use Feint to cancel the recovery time on certain normal attacks, opening the doors to new combo routes. City of the Wolves' Selective Potential Gear (S.P.G.), an updated version of Mark of the Wolves' Tactical Offensive Position (T.O.P.) system, is an essential gameplay tool. It's a short, yellow bar you set to one of three positions on your health gauge (beginning, middle, or end), and it activates when your remaining health falls within its borders. The benefits include increased damage output and the ability to perform armored Rev Blows that let you absorb a few hits before landing a big attack. Ken's Rev Blow is his Street Fighter 6 Drive Impact, a swinging hook. It's the most sensible move for SNK to use as a Rev Blow, considering the similarities between City of the Wolves' Rev System and Street Fighter 6's Drive System. Unlike the Street Fighter 6 version, the attack doesn't produce a wall-splat when you land the punch on a cornered opponent. Instead, it crumples or knocks down the competition depending on the situation, so adjust your combos accordingly. Line-Sway Maneuvers? Yes! The Fatal Fury games are known for their line-sway (or lane-switch) system, a mechanic that lets you move between a stage's foreground and background for offensive or defensive purposes. This system appears in City of the Wolves in limited form as a gameplay element tied to the Dream Amusement Park Morning stage. The moves aren't exclusive to Fatal Fury characters. You can use the line-sway to maneuver Ken outside of harm's way, knock opponents from one lane to another with a hook punch or jump kick, or create combo situations. Giving Ken lane-change abilities makes the character feel like a fighter who truly belongs in a Fatal Fury title. And, as someone who played both Fatal Fury and Street Fighter II religiously during their 1991 debuts, it's absolutely wild to see Ken, the Capcom icon, leveraging a SNK gameplay mechanic once thought lost to time. Other Notable Ken Attacks and Tactics in City of the Wolves Breaks are related to Feints, in that they can cut particular special and super move animations. Think of them as City of the Wolves' take on Street Fighter 6's Super Cancels. This opens new offensive opportunities, most notably linking attacks that aren't ordinarily linkable. For example, you can Break the HK and Rev versions of the Tatsu hurricane kick to shorten their distances and set up opponents. Ken's Just Defend, an advanced blocking technique that recovers health and has other benefits, uses his Street Fighter 6 parry animation. In a nice touch, Ken can perform an aerial Just Defend. The move fits into City of the Wolves' combat system—notable because Ken lacks an air-parry in Street Fighter 6. When Ken's Dragon Punch and Terry Bogard's Burn Knuckle collide, the punches deflect each other, pushing the characters slightly away. Ken Enters South Town This Summer Overall, SNK's spin on Ken Masters feels great so far, blending well into Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' many gameplay systems. Naturally, his true effectiveness will be revealed when the character is released to the general public. The free Ken DLC is slated to arrive later this summer, though no firm date has been provided. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is available now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robert Kirkman Teases Massive Roster of Playable Characters for Invincible VS: 'That's a Spoiler. I Might Get in Trouble for That'
We currently know six of the playable characters in fighting game Invincible VS. There will be more, of course. But just how many? Based on comments from Invincible creator Robert Kirkman in an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Invincible VS will have a massive roster. Invincible VS is the upcoming 3v3 tag fighting game set in the Invincible universe. It's developed by Skybound Entertainment's first in-house game studio, Quarter Up. Already confirmed Invincible VS characters include Mark Grayson (Invincible), Atom Eve, Thula, Bulletproof, and Rex Splode. Check out IGN's Invincible VS preview from June for more. Fresh from his SDCC 2025 panel where he announced Battle Beast for Invincible VS, Kirkman told IGN that if fans are wondering if a specific character from either the Invincible comic or the Prime Video animated series will be in the game, there's a '99%' chance they will be. This, the ever chatty Kirkman added, was perhaps a spoiler. 'There's so much care being put into being true to the Invincible universe,' Kirkman began. 'So if you're a fan of the comics or the show and you're like, 'Oh, there's a fighting game coming, who would I like to be in that fighting game?' There's a 99% chance they're going to be in the game. I'll just say that. That's a spoiler. I might get in trouble for that. I don't know.' Kirkman continued: 'The lineup is going to be absolutely insane. I'm so glad that we announced Battle Beast. You can't do an Invincible fighting game without having Battle Beast be one of the playable characters. There are other characters like that that will more than likely be in the game. So we'll see. We've got a lot of announcements to roll out. There's a really great team working on this and I can't wait for people to see everything is going into it.' Who would you like to see playable in Invincible VS? Let us know in the comments below. As for when Invincible VS will be released, Kirkman said 2026, which we knew already, but then he added: 'Sooner than you may think… But next year. I'm not being specific.' Interesting... Check out IGN's roundup of everything announced during Robert Kirkman's Invincible panel at SDCC 2025 for more. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ or confidentially at wyp100@ Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Invincible Vs.' Will Occupy Its Own Unique Corner of the ‘Invincible' Universe
After turning The Walking Dead into a multimedia empire, Robert Kirkman has been hard at work doing the same for Invincible. First there were, of course, the comics. Then the awesome Prime Video animated show. There have long been talks of a potential live-action movie. And, next year, the franchise's first full-fledged video game is coming, called Invincible Vs. And while little is known about the game, set for release in 2026, Kirkman spoke to press about it at San Diego Comic-Con. What we previously learned is that Invincible Vs. is a three-on-three fighting game from Skybound Games and Quarter Up. A partial roster was announced in June, and at Comic-Con, that roster expanded with the reveal of Battle Beast, who also recently made his debut on season three of the TV show. But what exactly is this game? And why a fighting game? Kirkman let us know. 'I love fighting games,' he said to a group of press, including io9. 'I was at the arcade playing the first Mortal Kombat. I was at the arcade playing Street Fighter 2. In the 90s, [I was] getting the Super Nintendo or the Genesis, where you actually got the Mortal Kombat with blood. I played Primal Rage. I played Time Killers. Like I was there at the birth of fighting games… And I think that they're a really great showcase for a large number of characters. When you have an open-world game, you're kind of playing as that one character, and you may encounter the other characters, but you don't get to play as them. So I think, as far as showcasing the Invincible universe and showcasing all of the different characters that encompass it, fighting games are ideal for that… As our first marquee, big-in-scale game. I think that a fighting game made the most sense. I think it is going to be the most satisfying for fans.' To be fair though, Kirkman also said he would've loved to make a Mario-style platform game, or even an open-world game. But one big thing became an issue. 'Open world games are expensive,' he said. 'Has anyone heard the budget for Grand Theft Auto 6? It's like three Trey Parker and Matt Stone deals.' (Note: Trey Parker and Matt Stone just signed a new deal for $1.5 billion). So, that's why it's a fighting game. But it will have a story too, and while Kirkman couldn't say too much about that, he did offer a pretty interesting tease. 'There's certainly a narrative component to the video game that is an additive experience that may or may not be connected to the larger world at play,' he said. 'So I would say stay tuned. But we always try to make sure that everything we do has a narrative function. And because of the multiversal aspect of Invincible, there is a really cool way to connect things in a way that sometimes you can't really do. So yeah, there's a tremendous opportunity to do some cool stuff, and we'll see.' He later, almost inadvertently, added this pseudo-clarifier to that tease. 'The game will get to stand on its own, and it'll be its own, unique corner of the Invincible universe,' Kirkman said. But also, there was a lot he couldn't say. He wouldn't say if Invincible Vs. would have cameos from other games, just as Invincible characters have cameoed in other fighting games. He wouldn't say if it would have any DLC or season components like some other fighting games. But he is definitely excited and proud about how the fighting game can do something that's so very invincible. 'One of the coolest things about Invincible Vs. is that you get to have these very different characters that, a lot of times, don't even interact in the comics or in the show,' he said. 'You haven't really seen Atom Eve and Battle Beast interact in any kind of way, but you will get to see that in this game. And so, because of that, I think this game offers a unique experience for Invincible fans that will make it that much cooler of an experience if you're familiar with the world and familiar with the history of these characters… There are some really unexpected combinations. Invincible Vs. will be released for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
CNET
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Invincible Vs Adds Fan-Favorite Battle Beast, and He's Not Holding Back
Invincible Vs is an upcoming tag-team fighting game first revealed back at the Xbox Games Showcase in June, and based on Robert Kirkman's Invincible comic and show. As San Diego Comic-Con is underway, it made sense for a new character to be revealed, and this one is quite the fighter. Battle Beast is the latest addition to the Invincible Vs roster. The big, blue barbarian cat is quite the brute with his mace. He does some brutal damage, causing blood to splatter everywhere. His super combo exemplifies his violent nature as he sends his opponent far into the sky only to smash them into the ground, creating a rain of blood that he revels in. Battle Beast joins the previously revealed characters for the game, including Invincible, Omni-Man, Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Bulletproof and two Viltrumites, Thula and Lucan. Invincible Vs is the first game from developer Quarter Up and published by Skybound Games. Quarter Up is a new studio, but members of the team created 2013's Killer Instinct. As a tag game, players will form a three-person team and battle against other teams in a similar style to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Characters can unleash long, powerful combos and tag in other team members to extend them. Each fighter also has their own super combo to deal massive damage. The game takes place in Robert Kirkman's Invincible universe, so expect to see more characters from the show and comics. Kirkman revealed Battle Beast during his panel at Comic-Con on Thursday. There is an expected public demo of Invinbile Vs next month at the Evolution Championship Series on Aug. 1-3 in Las Vegas. The event brings the best fighting game players from around the globe to compete in various games. This event is also a time for new fighting games to be showcased, so it's likely that there will be playable versions for those in attendance, as well as a possible exhibition by pro players to show off the game. Invincible Vs will be released sometime in 2026 for PC and Xbox Series consoles.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'We're still here': Kenny Omega opens up on AEW's wild road, Okada and gratitude ahead of All In 2025
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but even heavier is the hair that wears the braid or the bald cap. "Street Fighter," the enduring fighting game franchise that your parents mastered and your nieces and nephews stream, is on its sixth official iteration, and in the digital age, some characters are created and released after the game's initial release. To introduce the most recent additions to the lineup, Capcom reached out to wrestling superhuman/side-quest savant Kenny Omega, who donned the wigs and wear of Crimson Viper, Ingrid, Sagat, and his "Street Fighter" main, the pugilistic protagonist of "Street Fighter III," Alex. '[The development team] said, 'Yeah, hey, do you mind dressing up as everybody? Or do you just want to be Alex?'" Omega tells Uncrowned, revisiting one of the many bucket list items his otherworldly output has afforded him just days ahead of AEW's biggest show of the year, All In 2025. 'I said, 'Are you kidding me? I want to get everyone a shot here. This looks fun.' It was really cool. Advertisement "Wearing C. Viper's wig … that ponytail is just yanking your head, giving you hernias. It's crazy, so much weight. Then wearing the bald cap — I've never seen myself bald either, so wearing the bald cap for Sagat, it was real fun.' And so it goes that in 2025, Omega wears a lot of hats, but what's under each of them is one of the driving forces of modern professional wrestling, both inside the ring and out. Saturday's All In extravaganza is simply one more opportunity to show why he — and the brand heavily built on his style and history — is so special. Along with The Young Bucks, Omega is the personification of the question: 'If you were starting a wrestling company, who would you pick as your lead act?' When Tony Khan first went all in on AEW, it was the breakneck, hyper-athletic style and fourth-wall-breaking humor Omega and the Bucks curated that became the imprint's driving force. Before Khan tested the televised wrestling waters with 2019's All Out — AEW's debut pay-per-view event highlighting The Elite and other non-WWE top talents around the world — Omega was already the stuff of legend: A Canadian-born dynamo who, at least internationally, had surpassed the work of his legendary countrymen like Owen Hart and Chris Jericho. From his initial excursion to Japan with DDT Pro Wrestling in 2008 to his New Japan Pro Wrestling swan song in 2019, Omega had done it all, winning title after title and either occupying or hovering near the top of every outlets year-end 'Best Wrestler' lists. So considering his extensive résumé and abilities, it may not have been the biggest gamble for Khan to make, but Omega remains appreciative of getting the chance to show that their brand of entertainment was sustainable. Advertisement 'We really did feel like this was something that fans had wanted," Omega says. "And by what fans had wanted, I just mean an alternative, something new to watch — not necessarily in exchange for what they had already been watching, but maybe something to add to their current palate of wrestling programming. And we'd seen a lot of success overseas. We'd seen a lot of success in the indies. At that time, too, we were selling a lot of [Bullet Club and Elite] merchandise through Hot Topic and through Pro Wrestling Tees. So it really did feel like there was a movement happening before our very eyes, and that if our stuff and people like our stuff were making a movement, then if there's a way to make it more available for them, that people might watch. So it's really cool that we were actually able to materialize that, make it into a thing — and six years later, here we are. We're still here.' Kenny Omega's theatrical style has become one and the same with the AEW ethos. (Lee South, AEW) Inside and out the ring, the outrageous and impossible are just further things to attempt for Omega. He's in the video games he plays and he voice-acts in the anime he watches, all because he decided to give it a try. He's the kid at summer camp who'd jump off of anything just because the opportunity presented itself. 'You just don't really know your full potential unless you just reach out and go for it," he says. "You never really saw things like what [WWE wrestler and fellow gamer Xavier] Woods and I were able to do until we just started to do them. Of course, I'm sure we both feel blessed, all that stuff, but it really is that that's one of the huge rewards, I suppose, of being good and sacrificing for what you love. "So to be able to reflect back and look upon some of the other cool stuff I've been able to get out of all this, that makes me feel thankful and humbled and all that. I always reflect back to that, how I'm able to not only enjoy my hobbies, but to the absolute fullest, where I've got a hand in them, I'm twiddling my fingers and toes in it ... it's a gift that keeps on giving.' Advertisement As invested as Omega is in AEW's success, whether it be through his performances or his peers finding equal or higher footing, he has an appreciation for his wrestling family above all else. And while he understands competition and passion, he's quick to establish that his wrestling family, like Woods and his New Day compatriots, don't know one locker room, one company, or one continent. 'The truth of the matter is, those favorite sports teams may not necessarily feel the exact same way as you do toward the professional rivalry," he says. "I do think it's great for us to have had the opportunity to be in public with it and say, 'Hey, look, yeah, we're competing, but it's all in good fun.' We're doing this so you guys can share a laugh. It's not so that you can write in on a smurf account online and say a bunch of nasty things that you're probably going to regret if [people] ever found out it was really you. Kenny Omega returns Saturday at All In 2025 against longtime rival Kazuchika Okada. (Lee South, AEW) (Lee South) "[If] you really have skin in the game, you're involved at the business level of professional wrestling, perhaps you're an investor, then maybe I can get it. Maybe I can understand why you're really pushing hard for one team over another because you spent your life savings or something. But I think if it's about just enjoying a product or enjoying a specific style of wrestling, or maybe your favorite athletes are in one place over another, just keep in mind that those athletes are also still human beings.' While it's great to see your faces and logos emblazoned on t-shirts and stickers, Omega's focus remains on what's happening inside the ring. Touted as 'Where the best wrestle,' it's that hyper-kinetic, effortlessly athletic, longform wrestling that is AEW's calling card, and it's Kenny Omega's answering machine on the other end of the line. He takes the phrase 'like a video game' to the next level, but with less lives and more ammo. Since AEW's inception, he's run the gamut of feats and foes, becoming the first person to win the promotion's World, International, Tag Team and Trios Championships. The aptly named 'Best Bout Machine' has faced and defeated the likes of Jon Moxley, Will Ospreay, and his own Elite brethren The Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page in multiple Match of the Year candidates. Advertisement The wrestling comes easy for Omega; the more challenging — and possibly more interesting part — is trying to make sure all the things that surround it are flowing properly. Kenny Omega has been an integral part in many of AEW's best matches. (Lee South, AEW) (Lee South) Omega, along with the Bucks and Cody Rhodes, were given the titles of Executive Vice President upon AEW's inception, and while the role is very loosely defined, there's very clear involvement in the creative process from said parties. Ahead of All In, Tony Khan made it clear that he has final say on what's produced, but input comes from multiple places. The first half of 2025 is likely AEW's best streak of quality programming, and it's the culmination of starts, stops, and general trial and error. 'I think when you embark on a journey to find your own identity and you have more than one cook in any kitchen, the vision will change, perhaps, or the vision that you think it should be will change," Omega says. "So had all the keys to the castle been in one person's hands solely, maybe we would be somewhere completely different right now. Not saying it would be a better place or a worse place, but I think that because we've had so many forks in the road, and sometimes it went well, and sometimes it blew up in our face — mistakes can be valuable too. And I just am happy that before our biggest show of the year, one of them anyway, that we are in a very good place, both with our fan base or with casual people that just tune in to watch just a good night of wrestling.' Advertisement One aspect that AEW has always banked on is the idea that wrestling existed before it first aired, and it was good. When a new talent shows up on-screen, AEW announcers run down their previous stops and accomplishments, even if it all happened under the watch of their competitors. While WWE policy has changed under its Paul Levesque-helmed era, for decades it was essentially forbidden to talk about a wrestler's title wins in Japan or their blood feuds in Europe. But AEW has championed 'lore' from the outset, giving a firm handshake to their base when WWE would rarely wink — and even less frequently nod — to things outside of its reach. We really did feel like this was something that fans had wanted. And by what fans had wanted, I just mean an alternative, something new to watch. It really did feel like there was a movement happening before our very eyes. Kenny Omega And very few acts have the extensive war stories that Omega can remix and revisit. All In 2025 is the site of the latest chapter of one of Omega's biggest, as he and International Champion and Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada face off for the fifth time to crown AEW's first-ever Unified Champion. At this point, the backstory to their rivalry is the stuff of legends — Omega's promotion to New Japan Pro-Wrestling's main event scene came in 2017, and he fell short in his first attempt to uncrown perennial pacesetter Okada at WrestleKingdom 11. Celebrated as one of the best wrestling matches ever, the two then ignited a rivalry so resonant that the U.S. Belt's side-plates feature their silhouettes, with characters executing Omega's One Winged Angel finisher and Okada's Rainmaker clothesline, respectively. 'When I was a child growing up watching WWF, WWE, they [did] such a great job of convincing you that nothing ever happened until they were in WWE," Omega says. "And the truth of the matter is, maybe these guys have met in Japan, Mexico, WCW, ECW, but you'd never know it because they would never talk about it. And I do think that it's a different approach [in AEW], absolutely, from how things were back when I was growing up as a fan. Advertisement "It shows appreciation for the studied, cultured wrestling fan who has actually paid attention after all these years and followed a career from start to where we're at now." Okada and Omega's rivalry is one of the most iconic of this era. (Lee South, AEW) While the two have alternated as top dog over the past decade, Omega is very aware of the other comings and goings of AEW. The gamer in him appreciates the variety of the locker room, and that people with different backgrounds and characters have the same motivation to be the person in that highest slot. Whether it's Swerve Strickland, Toni Storm, Mercedes Moné, Will Ospreay, or the two men vying over the AEW Title on Saturday, it's that willingness to step outside of themselves that sticks out. 'I really very much appreciate that it exists, that there is a hunger and a passion [to be] familiar with the idea of getting down and dirty with some hardcore objects and bleeding a lot," Omega says of AEW. "People are willing to face their fears, and they're willing to try something new if they have an opportunity to then become a top guy within the industry. So we have a bunch of guys who are vying to be the top guy or girl in our company, and they're willing to take chances, they're willing to make sacrifices, and they're not going to give up until they get it. I think it's great that we have more than just one or two of these people. We have four, five, six of them. There's no shortage of people that really want the opportunity to show up and show out.' Advertisement Even with the chance to add to his own list of all-time great matches on Saturday, Omega is hoping for another story's next chapter to surpass its predecessor on Saturday. 'My favorite hardcore match [ever] … was probably the very first [Jon] Moxley [vs.] Hangman [Adam Page] match, the first Texas deathmatch they did," he says. "They were able to capture some crazy magic that night. I would even go as far as to say I think it's very underrated up to this point. For them to be able to do it again, and now the stakes are higher this time and it's for the biggest prize in AEW, I think it could be something very special. I think it's going to be a very interesting match, which I just hope doesn't go too far." Omega, like the world warriors he's emulated and cosplayed as, has evolved over time, changing to maximize not only what he can produce for himself, but how he can best help the business he loves. The all-everything wrestler is AEW's standard-bearer and one the voices in the room that helps create the unique brand of action and anarchy that's drawn so many people to the product ahead of All In 2025. Above any championship, above any star rating, above any cameo, what Omega holds onto is the idea that the fans choose to be there to share those accomplishments with him and his team. 'I think it speaks volumes to what we've put together up to this point," he says. "For the people who are well-versed as to all the shows that are happening this week, there's no shortage of wrestling. There's stuff happening every single day. And for that many people to have made the choice to hang out with us for that day when there are other options available, I have a lot of gratitude toward people who are deciding to spend their afternoon evening with us on All In. It's really cool that something that started not so long ago is really picking up steam, and we're able to make these big events that can get our fan bases excited. "For people to decide to hang out with us for that evening means the world to us.'
