So I went to a UFC boot camp last week, which was located at The Ultimate Fighter gym, right where the television show is filmed. Yes, imagine me in shorts. Exercising. "Working out." I laughed too. I said "I don't go gyms, and I don't do shorts." Somehow I ended up doing it anyway.
To be fair, I didn't do much. I let Rey do all the heavy lifting. Rey went through all the disciplines with actual UFC trainers. He did Muay Thai. He grappled with grown men on the floor. He punched bags. I stood back, sipped water, laughed occasionally, and tried one of those horrible tasting PowerBars that the healthy types are always eating.
If there's one thing I came away with after training with all of these professional trainers and fighters is that these aren't guys that blindly go out there in the octagon to kick each other's asses. These are very disciplined, coordinated, and talented fighters. The contrast between chubby games press members and the pros was mind-blowing, as you'd expect. My mind was never blown watching a UFC fight on television, but I couldn't look away as fighters snapped real kicks, blew through drills, and punished bags and high speed. The sheer coordination and finesse required was never apparent to me until I saw the layperson try it. Apologies to my fellow game journos, but you looked really silly in comparison.
It became apparent to me that Mixed Martial Arts is truly mixed, and to win you need the ability to quickly switch between them all, being a master of all. Your weakness is going to be exploited as soon as the opponent sees it. For most of the games press in attendance, that weakness was moving. Or their waistline.
All of this really figured into my playtime of upcoming game UFC Undisputed 2010. I no longer had the desire to desperately mash buttons. I wanted to somehow apply what I've learned from real fighters and trainers and go into the octagon in a respectable manner. I thought about things like position and spacing and speed, and it all had a positive outcome on my game. All of this also had me looking down a bit on my other beloved fighting games, as none of them ever gave me this 1:1 experience of seeing how a game and its real-world counterpart compare. I'm not saying that UFC Undisputed is a Street Fighter killer, but I am saying that the former gives me a new appreciation for the art of translating sports into games.
I suppose this all was worth putting shorts on for. I did take Destructoid readers' advice: past-the-knee shorts were worn.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
4:20 PM on 05.04.2010
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Nice socks Rey.
I have a black belt in karate myself, so it always warms my heart to see people trying out martial arts. I don't suppose this experience inspired either you or Rey to take up an art?
I wasn't inspired to take up the art, but I did instantly see the appeal of using the drills they showed us as a workout.
Did you get any dicks grinded into your face? I always thought that would be the best part about UFC.
Although my interest has waned because of the footage shown at the last StrikeForce show, it would be good to see some EA Sports MMA coverage when they're getting closer to release too.
/win
MMA fighters all essentially have to learn boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, jiujitsu and wrestling. That is a lot to learn and master! These guys are serious athletes with some of the most intensive training of any sport. For me, watching MMA matches is so much more interesting than boxing or any standalone martial art.
There are enough boring games out there that try so hard to be realistic, I'd completely hate if any of the good fighting games out there tried to do so and in turn threw away their style, and ya know, uniqueness.
It is true 3D fighting for one, and street fighter has never been able to do that, as well as being a repaint of a decade old template. UFC 2009 is THE best fighting game out there, and 2010 will only improve things.
I respectfully disagree. 3D isn't always better than 2D, and why fix what isn't broken? Street Fighter does what it does (emphasis on zoning, space control, and mindgames), and UFC can do with it does (emphasis on close-range striking and grappling systems).
However, I will non-respectfully say that you're insane if you believe that UFC 2009 is a better fighting game than either Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5:R, Street Fighter 4, or BlazBlue:Continuum Shift.
People who think SF4 is better than UFC 2009 or 2010 are just nostalgia blinded idiots who cannot accept progress. It really is that simple.
I'm speechless, are you serious?
Nostalgia blinded idiots.
I'm pretty good at the UFC games, 2009 at least, but I just don't know how to Street Fighter at all, I've tried a whole lot and just. don't. get. it.
@ MuddBstrd - Careful, if you mention real life cheevos on here you get called a lier. - I too have a black belt (1st Dan) in Karate, what style do you do? I haven't trained for like 8 years, but i used to do Wado Ryu.
Kumite!
I do suck at 2D fighters, I admit it- (well I'm decent at marvel vs capcom 2, the only 2D fighter I have ever enjoyed- it was easy to get into and rewarding).
I just think street fighter fans mistake over complexity and numerous button comobos for depth- they use instructions like HK, LK, etc. How the hell am I supposed to know what that stuff is in the game? I don't know what button a high kick is, because these ''easy to get into'' games like street fighter 4 didn't even bother explaining it! If your tutorial is in geek speak, and not directed at your average guy who has no clue of the 1992 control scheme of street fighter, then you have done something wrong.
The UFC tutorial on the other hand is deep and complex but it doesn't use obscure references based on a title over ten years old to explain things, it's noob friendly.
I know that some buttons do a kick, some buttons do a punch, but which ones? Fuck knows. I also have the overthinking problem with SF games, I learn one or two special moves and spend my time spazzing around trying to pull them off, while getting punded.
UFC fighting is more a case of actually knowing what you're doing and kind of doing things you want to rather than mashing the rough area where the buttons are and "ooooh I did a flaming uppercut thingy! i wonder how i did that?"
I like obvious blocking and countering systems, rather than the hold block till an opening comes up, I like to tactically block specific strikes and use that to create an opening.
I'm rambling now, but yeah UFC > SF.
That is all.
That said, I could never grasp the ground game on Undisputed '09. I'm willing to give '10 a chance but I fear I'll be pretty useless once I get taken down. Which I guess... is much like my real life skills, heh.
As for Street Fighter... 6 button strike system is way too much. Not to mention all the twirling circle moves, ugh. No thanks. I hardly think the two could be compared though. Other than 1 vs 1 combat, they really have nothing in common.