Character Select Screens in 3D Fighting games

[@Neogears1312]

The tekken 1 portraits were meant to animate in the arcade version and the ps1 simply couldn’t handle that so it chose to stick to still frames.

[@sridrawings4510]

Why the ps1 version couldn't

[@spongebobfan78]

@@sridrawings4510 Hardware limitations. Another thing that resulted because of this was that the backgrounds in PS1 Tekken games are static images while those are mostly 3d modelled in Arcades.

[@Linkonpark100]

Thankfully, FMV endings were a good compromise.

[@rapappathepepper3996]

@@sridrawings4510 It could actually, but it'd take more time to load, for instance, to achieve it they'd probably have to do something like, unload all of the other portrait data and then load this one, but even then for versus mode this wouldn't be possible.

[@j_c_93]

​@@sridrawings4510 probably just the load times. You know how they take a few seconds to pop up in Tekken Tag Tournament? That probably would have been about 60 seconds on the PS1

[@mario19885]

Absolutely glad that you have the Dead or Alive fighting games with this video!! 👍

[@peacexlove]

I may be wrong but I think that artists were able to create Photoshop-style effects before 2003 by using the versions of Photoshop that came out between 1990 and 2002 🤷🏻‍♂️ Great video BTW ✌🏼

[@Drzuul]

Yup. I knew Photoshop existed before 2003 but while writing this video, I searched when CS1 came out and put that in the script without doublechecking. I had a much longer tangent about OG Photoshop in mind, but when I looked that up, Isecond-guessed myself.

[@thechiliphilly467]

Soul Calibur 3 also had the screaming during the VS screen.

[@Lozzu]

Would’ve loved some Bloody Roar in this, but great video!

[@Lozzu]

Ah gotcha about the timelyness, looking forward to a part 3

[@JudgementSkull]

Bloody roar 2 character select is fire

[@am_pm.17]

Yes! And would've also liked to see Rival Schools, DBZ Budokai, Battle Arena Toshinden, Street Fighter EX!

[@Drzuul]

All great suggestions I will be sure to keep them in mind

[@Danimal4114]

Oooh, I was hoping to see Destrega's character select but hey, maybe in part 3! And I absolutely agree, SC2 has one of, if not The best character select screens! Simple yet stylish, showing the character and costume real well. And my favourite bit, is that it translates well onto the weapon select as well, which was a real cool feature!

[@Drzuul]

I will add it to the list. I totally forgot to talk about weapon select, good point

[@melvinshine9841]

I'm a Tekken guy to the core, but it makes me sad that Tekken is probably going to be the only 3D fighter for a good while. We're probably not going to get a new Soul Calibur anytime soon, and Koei Tecmo practically killed DOA. Sega's supposedly working on a new VF, but I don't trust them to not get in their own way, and Bloody Roar is dead and fossilized.

[@RAIN_2001]

i agree i would love to see some bloody roar and more 3d fighters in general

[@Drzuul]

It really is a shame. Tekken is the only one really around. I played a lot of these games while making this video and they all have cool mechanics and are different from each other despite b sharing the 3D concept. I’ve heard koei techmo is willing to have someone else work on DOA and there have been rumors all year about a VF revival so only time will tell.

[@Louieneil96]

missing character select on virtua fighter: 4 final tuned and 5 R

[@waywtc123]

I really liked the style of this vid, so I'd be down to see part 3 handle it similarly. Great stuff!

[@knifeandfork821]

Good video! And yeah , soul calibur 2 had a great character select screen. If you do make a follow up to this video, would you ever cover the 3D era mortal kombat games? The character select screens of those games had some interesting design choices.

[@Drzuul]

I will cover mortal kombat and I really wanted to do the PS2 Mortal Kombat games for this video, but I just ran out of steam.

[@StudioRevoct]

Soul Calibur 2 has to be the greatest of all time

[@Drzuul]

Considering it’s the inspiration behind these videos I can’t disagree. It’s just perfect

[@rapappathepepper3996]

Ah man why does everyone forget about the Tekken 1 arcade animated portraits? Oh yeah, no Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned CSS which looks completely different. Either way i'm happy to know i'm not the only one that is autistically obsessed with these topics lol

[@N.i.E.M.O]

Pretty sure a lot of people forget the animated character select portraits in Tekken 1 because the PS1 version removed them for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the console version essentially doubled the amount of playable characters by adding all the sub-bosses and Heihachi as playable characters, which would have required them to animate all those portraits too (as I don't believe those characters had animated portraits in the Arcade version), so instead of taking the time to animate them all in order to match up with the 'main' selectable base roster, they just removed the animations from everyone so there wasn't a discrepancy. **Edit** Nevermind, the bosses did have animated portraits in the Arcade version. Maybe the reason was space limitations on the PS1 CDs?

[@rapappathepepper3996]

@@N.i.E.M.O I believe it could fit at least some frames of animation, not all but some, it is not occupying the whole disc. I believe the main reason that was cut from the PS1 version was because of limited RAM, not ROM, it'd take too long to load even a simple character select screen, though one way of doing it would be to load the animation data in RAM when you select the character and unload the rest, but that would be annoying, and specially with 2 players.

[@neonthunder3261]

46:11 i'VE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS THE AOF SOUND IS LIKE SNK'S VINE BOOM.

[@Drzuul]

More like The vine boom is an inferior AOF hit sound

[@Xelae93]

Excellent video. I really like the format used in this video. Going through every game in a series adds that extra perspective, and that does a lot for me. I gotta go back and watch the first video again, cause I can't quite remember everything from that one. Edit: After rewatching the first one, I definitely prefer this style.

[@Drzuul]

Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it!

[@alexsantos3100]

Damn no Last Bronx, Battle Arena Toshinden or Fighting Vipers.

[@Drzuul]

I would’ve included Fighting vipers if I hadn’t gotten burned out I really like that series. Probably sonic the fighters too.

[@Pikkle_Sokks]

Would love to see some anime fighting games' screens covered, as well as the Bloody Roar series!! Thanks for the analyses, this was a whole lot of fun :)

[@Drzuul]

I’m very surprised people remember bloody roar. Anime fighters are a guaranteed at this point

[@Pikkle_Sokks]

@@Drzuul BR2 was the first game I ever played!! So much nostalgia for it, wish we could get a 5 to redeem the disaster 4 was ;~; And heck yeh! I'll look forward to it, mate!

[@linklickz]

the first version of photoshop came out in February 19, 1990 not 2003

[@Drzuul]

Yeah I got my dates mixed up with CS1’s release

[@4x13x17]

It was weird hearing that because I remember photoshop in w95

[@jonathantyner171]

Ubisoft should’ve made a 3D fighting game called “Lethal Fatale”

[@MetaKnuxXbeats]

Amazing video as always. I wonder if I’m the future you plan to do one themed after anime fighters like Blazblue, Guilty Gear, Melty Blood, and Under Night

[@Drzuul]

You might have the ability to see the future

[@ZzigZaG00NIN]

Didn't know VF had the faces zooming in like that lmaoo

[@Lozzu]

Thanks adachi

[@yaikon0]

TRUE!

[@MegafanX123]

#teddiegyat

[@gionataspiniella]

You could easily fix DoA 6 character select screen by moving the 3 characters in the bottom row under Nyotengu and add another random select to the left

[@Nujazzdouble]

Soul calibur 2 announcer is god tier 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@GreatHealer.]

The arcade version of Tekken 1 had 3D animated movement very similar to Virtual fighter 1 this is missing on the PS1 version.

[@Lozzu]

Also photoshop is definitely older than 2003 afaik

[@Drzuul]

Yeah I got my dates mixed up. Photoshop CS1 came out in 2003.

[@patrickdoherty4527]

Very important to know your character's blood type.

[@Drzuul]

True! How else will you form a para social relationship with a fictional character without knowing such crucial details?

[@Wintermute-088]

Blood type holds more prominence in japanese culture - its basically means personality type.

[@PAINNN666]

Woah men. If you talk about tekken and VF variations so where is another PS1 screen of DOA? Talk about in part 3 please

[@Drzuul]

I didn’t want to talk about console variations if I talked about the arcade and vice versa, but I will add this to the list and keep it in mind. Thanks

[@PAINNN666]

@@Drzuul Ok. It was later ported on Arcade as DOA++ Or Arcade was earlier? Doesn't matter. It's different. Maybe boring not worthing mentioned but it's some childhood lol.

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

Y'know, I grew so used to that Tekken Tag screen that I've never minded the weird plasma background there. That and... I mean, you have the rosters of Tekken 3 and Tekken 2 in the same game, game sold itself on that alone.

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

...Also, damn it, Hisui, stop sneaking into other games' selection screens.

[@Drzuul]

The plasma background did give me a real headache while editing this. I understand you completely though but replace tag 1 with 2

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

@@Drzuul Yeah, Tag 2 was awesome too, literally the first game I got when I was given a hand-me-down Xbone (along with Skate 3).

[@potchary8366]

10:18 well, that spacing goes out of the window as soon as you unlock new characters, which aren’t even shown on the screen, you have to move your cursor into the abyss to select them and you can’t see which one is going to be next 😭

[@Drzuul]

I also hate when they do this, immensely.

[@Athesies]

Dang i really like vf1 arcades models but those close ups are hard to look at lmao

[@Athesies]

Vf3 is very unsettling too holy moly

[@Drzuul]

VF1’s portraits have a retro charm. VF3’s belong in horror movie

[@TekkenGirl4Lyfe]

It makes me so angry that SCII HD will never be rereleased on modern consoles because Bamco just don't give a flying fuck about the series anymore. Tekken makes more money so they'll just keep milking that cash cow dry.

[@conradojavier7547]

they Don't wanna Pay Todd McFarlane nor Disney to Remaster Soul Calibur 2 & 4.

[@aniiii_wxs]

as much as i love tekken, you’re absolutely right. :p

[@am_pm.17]

Don't bother as it's not gonna happen. At least be glad it's still accessible and not some rare expensive game like some are (looking at you, Rival Schools!). Just get a copy of SC2 for peanuts and a PS2 of which there are plenty around and have fun :)

[@GAZZ707]

what are your thoughts about the virtua fighter 5r and virtua fighter 4 final tuned character select screens?

[@Drzuul]

I didn’t know they existed. Final turned looks like a mobile port of a snes game ported to PC. I hate this aesthetic. Also more hell fire. 5r is very similar to final showdown but the color palette here is much much better. The black and red is just a good color combo. Kicking myself for not including these

[@aniiii_wxs]

ive played some games so much i remember the character select screen theme usf4/usfiv arcade edition was my first fighting game, i remember the select screen theme for it, the animation music partially, before the anounncer said ultra street fighter four, arcade edition and also the sounds when you would click off of something soulcalibur 6/vi was probably my second, i remember the menu music, i also made a few vocaloid customs a few months ago and my teto (utau/synthv) was built on yoshi so she did the weird animations yoshimitsu did 😭😭 NO SH*T MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO TEKKEN WAS WHEN I DOWNLOADED 100$ WORTH OF LBP3 DLC. i still have the king, alisa, and asuka costumes to this day 😭 anyways i vividly remember the tag 2 select music, I ALSO REMEMBER YOUR SUNSET BRO I WOULD SIT THERE FOR A HOUR CUSTOMIZING MIKU ALISA AND GO DO STUFF AND THEN COME BACK TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC hell i could go play it rn if my little brother didnt break the xbox controller, i also remember the tekken 6 select screen music and also electric fountain my mom got me capcom fighters collection and i love akuma, makoto, and gills third strike themes (can you see im biased i like dnb/jungle dnb) i remember some of the music, i also remember second impacts select theme i remember new (it was a city in skullgirls i think?) meridian also from skullgirls (annie, eliza, and beo are top tier.)

[@Drzuul]

I’ll never forget sf4 so iconic. Yes the customization music in tag 2 is even better than the css music

[@aniiii_wxs]

@@Drzuul yooo you replied!! but they are iconic yesss

[@mengo329]

I hate that Tekken 5: DR has all the characters in the background but it doesn't actually DO anything with them. It looks like they should fly out from the back towards the screen or let you pick them from the background like in Fatal Fury

[@Drzuul]

That’s actually a great idea.

[@KenMasters.]

Even though VF is the OG, that franchise had the most puny rosters.

[@michaelromeo9567]

VF has way more moves and depth than Tekken. A real good and balanced 3D fighter can't ave a huge roster, like a 2D fighter. Especially when you put so much effort and work on animations realism and physics.

[@Wolfedge75]

VF, I think, is the one series that focuses on quality over quantity the most. The one time they dropped a character from the roster (T.Arashi) it was simply because they can’t get him to work right and once they did, the absolute unit was put right back in.

[@Fre4k4life]

How’d you miss out on tekken 1’s best character select on the arcade version?

[@Drzuul]

I only wanted to cover the PlayStation versions for consistency sake

[@nubbert6887]

did you sneak a xemnas voice line in there or does he actually say "Why resist the emptiness?" in soulcalibur?

[@Drzuul]

May your heart be your guiding key

[@JustRelax-NJ]

I wish naruto connections had a character select screen online

[@Burning_Typhoon]

You forgot Virtua Fighter 5:R, and Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned... and technically, Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown and Virtua Fighter: Remix, I guess.

[@Drzuul]

I did not know about the other variations of 4 and 5. As for remix I omitted it because it isn’t a main game

[@Burning_Typhoon]

@@Drzuul It is. It literally was an apology for releasing the original in a rushed state.

[@user-dd6on5cr3u]

Voldo do be voldoing

[@Neutrico88]

Yeah, all Sixth Gen Consoles were PC's.... Except the PlayStation 2 because Sony wanted to make a esoteric machine for some reason That's why some multiplatform ports where worse on the PS2 most of the time, even if the console was capable of more, some of the ports for it was very obviously rushed (RE4 does not use DVD9 so they compressed the audio to oblivion, same for MvC2 which used CD's instead of DVD's)

[@Drzuul]

RE4’s PS2 port was a nightmare probably the worst version of that game

[@Neutrico88]

@@Drzuul idk where you played it but for me the experience was good, the IA was a little more dumbier but nothing really nightmarish, maybe you played it on PCSX2 while I played it in real hardware

[@soul-6323]

Am I the only one that thought games looked good with washed out pastels ?

[@chazmaru9583]

0:45 It was indeed mindblowing back then. I even remember being disappointed at VF2 opting for the small illustrations instead. The sprites are based on (or rather tracing) original illustrations from Terada Katsuya so I suspect AM2 wanted to show off his involvement.

[@Drzuul]

That’s pretty interesting thanks for the info

[@Rockstopmotion]

Primal rage fans wya

[@kidgruesome407]

Download MAME4RAGE2 and play the unreleased and superior Primal Rage 2 friend.

[@leoalex50]

Anime fighting game character select screens?

[@Drzuul]

It’s an inevitability at this point

[@thehellslayer300]

The version you used from soul 3 is the modded version?

[@Drzuul]

I don’t think so I used a regular ps2 copy

[@dubfitness595]

Tekken Tags character select screen was astonishingly bad

[@Netami923]

No it wasn't

[@KenMasters.]

How?

[@tiger-rgn]

it was awesome to finaly have live 3d models, it still holds up to this day

[@am_pm.17]

@@KenMasters. I kinda agree with OP. I guess it's the lack of large portraits.

[@KenMasters.]

@@am_pm.17 Which can be seen only on the versus screen of TKTT.

[@MrSantiagoandDunbar]

Virtua fighter has such a lame roster

[@michaelromeo9567]

Ugh exclusive players are pathetic.. 🤦‍♂

[@nmcintosh8769]

Nah. Youre just lame

[@realamericannegro977]

This game has the most variety so no.

[@N.i.E.M.O]

Virtua Fighter games tend to be solely based on the gameplay and little else. Sure, the characters do have backstories and such, but if I recall, none of the games actually present any of it in any meaningful way in-game, and there's certainly never been anything resembling a 'story mode', not even in the more recent games. The only backstory you get is from the instruction manuals or looking it up online (probably). Compared to say, Tekken, or virtually (lol) any other big-name fighting game series, which while might also have been light on story presentation in earlier games, have progressively done more to incorporate and present character backstories, motivations, and more opportunities to display their personalities, along with straight-up story modes with cutscenes and such.

[@NewGabeOrder]

39:15 The info box is displayed whenever a second player isn't present. When two players are up, then no info boxes get displayed. Same deal with VF1-4.

[@mario19885]

19:45 Honestly I call this Tekken 8 Character Selection Music, The SpaghettiO’s Theme. Cause it makes me want to enjoy some SpaghettiO’s!! 😋🍝

[@Nnavet7]

Cause your Italian or some thing 🤨??

[@Drzuul]

Thank you for this comment, it made my day

[@legend49III]

35:40 Now wait a damn second.

[@Drzuul]

May your heart be your guiding key