Directors list best games at Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable

During the Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable event, fighting game directors shared their favorite titles and characters from other companies.

The event featured the heads behind games such as Tekken, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter and Guilty Gear. When asked to name their favorite games and characters from the other companies, each of the directors shared their picks. Although there are tons of fighting games to pick from, these ones stand out to the current Japanese fighting game development heads.

Breaking down the fighting game champions

The man behind Tekken, Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada, favors Samurai Shodown 2. His favorite character in the game is Genjuro Kibagami. Harada states that while it’s been close to 30 years, Genjuro’s presentation still sticks with him strongly. In addition, Harada also loves the newest interpretation of the character from the 2019 reboot.

SEGA’s Seiji Aoki followed by expressing his love for Tekken. Although the director behind Virtua Fighter 4 & 5 couldn’t narrow down a favorite character, he admits the similarities to Virtua Fighter characters. Specifically, Aoki is fond of Tekken’s familiar 3D presentation.

The director behind Guilty Gear Xrd and Strive Akira Katano states his favorite fighting game is Street Fighter EX. Katano states that when he was a tournament-level competitor, Street Fighter EX was primarily responsible for getting him into the scene. However, his favorite fighting game character doesn’t come from Street Fighter. Instead, Katano states his preference for Samurai Shodown’s Neinhalt Sieger.

Guilty Gear creator Daisuke Ishiwatari states his biggest inspiration was Samurai Showdown. Similar to Harada, Ishiwatari also has a preference to Genjuro. However, he also mentions Ukyo Tachibana. Ishiwatari states this is the character that helped him win an early location test tournament.

Yasuyuki Oda, behind SNK’s King of Fighters 14-15, states his favorite fighting game of all time is Street Fighter Alpha 2. In addition, he names Sagat as his favorite character. Oda also mentions that he loves Darun Mister from the Street Fighter EX series as well.

Lastly, Capcom’s Shuhei Matsumoto states his deep appreciation for The King of Fighters and the character Sie Kensou. The man who helped bring us Street Fighter V and Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite cites how Kensou’s Kansai dialect made him fond of the character.

About the Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable

Hosted by Virtua Fighter’s official YouTube channel, the third Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable brought together the greatest minds behind current Japanese fighting games. The livestream was held on March 21, but you can check it out for yourself below!

What do you think about the directors’ picks for the best fighting games and characters? Do you agree? Let us know in the comments!

Via Event Hubs