Fighter of the Year nominations revealed

Round 1

Words: GamesRadar Staff on December 8, 2012

The fighter at the top of many a fighting game fans shortlist in 2012 is, without a doubt, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. However, the colon in that game's title is crucial, as Virtua Fighter 5 originally hit US shores in February 2007, and rereleases are not considered for awards. Still, this year wasn't without a strong lineup of original fighters. See who made the cut in the video below.

Check back on December 15 to find out GamesRadar's 2012 Fighter of the Year.

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, PS Vita, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, iPhone, DS, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows Phone 7, Arcade, PSP, Dreamcast, PS1, Game Boy, Saturn, GameCube, Sega CD, GBA, SNES, Genesis, Turbografx, NES, Xbox, N64

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MyCoolWhiteLies - December 11, 2012 8:57 a.m.

From what I have played of these, I'd definitely have to go with Persona 4 Arena.
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n00b - December 9, 2012 2:34 p.m.

I'd have to go with persona 4 arena or tekken tag 2 skullgirls is a strong second.
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JMarsella09 - December 8, 2012 11:11 p.m.

God how I love Arena.
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MetroidPrimeRib - December 8, 2012 8:57 p.m.

TTT2 no contest, honestly. And I wouldn't be surprised to see nearly everyone else say that. Either that or SC5. I liked P4A and SC5 a lot, DOA5 was pretty much a disappointment, SFxT was a disappointment, as was Skullgirls. But nobody really was talking about Virtua Fighter: Final Showdown. Ever.
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The_Ouroboros - December 8, 2012 7:57 p.m.

As a big part of my FGC here, I heard no one clamoring to play VF a week after it was released. It went the way of DOA5 when compared to TTT2 and SC5, and now that SFxT has been patched to playability there are too many other great options out there. While I love me some WWE '13, it's in no way a fighting game; it's a sports game. Or would that make UFC games fighters also?
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Tjwoods18 - December 8, 2012 7:43 p.m.

Can you seriously think that WWE is worthy? SmackDown Vs Raw 2006 was better than anything going today.
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Hobogonigal - December 8, 2012 7:40 p.m.

From my limited time with fighting games at friends houses, I would agree with Taokaka and say Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for the best I have played, followed by Soul Calibur V. Street Fighter x Tekken was alright but had a few flaws that stopped it from being as great as it should have been. Quick question, the way I look at it, Smash Bros and Playstation All-stars are classed as brawlers and not fighters. Anyone else agree?
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minimaxi - December 8, 2012 4:46 p.m.

I love SC5 so much I'm considering it my personal GOTY 2012 (XCOM:EU could possibly be that but I haven't played it). I actually hoped for super/ultimate SC5, something that I would hate from capcom fighters.
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Nap1400 - December 8, 2012 3:09 p.m.

The move lists were finally patched in, actually. For PS3, anyway. Sites like GR don't relly tell you that stuff. Shoryuken and EventHubs are the go-to sites for those kinds of updates. Anyway, Skullgirls honestly takes my pick for fighter of the year. Deep mechanics, fast gameplay, memorable characters, and being a new IP doesn't hurt.
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Nap1400 - December 8, 2012 3:11 p.m.

Whoops, that was meant to be partly in reply to the first comment.
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taokaka - December 8, 2012 2:49 p.m.

Tekken tag 2 gets my vote for fighter of the year with soulcalibur a close second. unfortunately persona 4 arena will have to go in the running to be my fighting game of 2013 due to zen united not having released it in Australia and Europe.
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shawksta - December 8, 2012 2:19 p.m.

This is really a tough one, its already bad enough to choose between Tekken and Soul Cailbur as they both have their Ups and downs but we also got Persona 4 arena, which, while very complicated, can really teach people about Fighting games and how they work and have great animations. And then we have Dead or Alive 5. All these games were fun, however while not really a winner, Skull girls deserves a big nod, its animation was amazing, the gameplay mechanics were really interesting and fun despite being so damn complicated with no chart to tell you movesets. Its a shame this game couldnt have been more, its apparently supposed to soon, but for now, its potential waiting to be expanded.
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