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What IS a Tag Fighter?
Watched Arcane and want to play 2XKO? Did Hunter x Hunter coming off hiatus get you excited for Nen Impact? It’s the perfect time to look at the tag fighter genre and explain exactly what it is!
When 2XKO was first shown to the world, one of the biggest surprises for the fighting game community was that the game was going to be a tag fighter. While veterans of the scene aren’t surprised by the mixed reaction to this news, new members are likely confused as to why this matters.
So let’s go over just exactly what a tag fighter is and why it’s a genre that you’ll either absolutely love or completely hate.
Assist Me!
Tag fighters are a sub genre of fighting games where players pick a team of 2 or 3 characters instead of just one. Then throughout a match, you’ll be able to call on other characters from your team, either to assist you by throwing out a move or to tag out/switch places with your current character. Before anything else, this is the defining feature of the tag fighters subgenre and the key thing you should be looking out for to figure out whether a game is a tag fighter or not.
One thing to note is that this also means that games like King of Fighters are typically not tag fighters (with a few exceptions in the series) and are considered team fighters instead since there’s no tagging or assist calling in those games.
Because of this mechanic found in tag fighters, it allows for a lot of creativity and player expression from the character select screen alone as players are able to find fun and unique synergies between all the characters. While it means that some teams are just insanely broken like the Zero May Cry team composition in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, it also allows players to play characters that may be considered weak and let them shine.
Fighting Games for Sickos
One reason for the polarizing reactions to tag fighters is due to the general gameplay of games within the subgenre. Many tag fighters are considered fairly degenerate due to the fast paced rounds and insanely long combos. Along with nasty mixups that would feel absolutely broken in other fighting games and pressure that can keep you blocking forever, there’s no denying that tag fighters can seem scary to get into.
But what truly makes tag fighters a polarizing subgenre is the overall difficulty curve to pick up and learn. Whether you’re coming from Street Fighter, Tekken, or even Super Smash Bros, most tag fighters will have a lot more system mechanics to familiarize yourself with as well as the simple fact that you’ll have to learn multiple characters right off the bat. With fighting games already being considered a tough genre to get into, it’s easy to understand why tag fighters can get a bit of a bad rep.
Regardless, if you’re able to work through the rough learning curve, you’ll quickly find that despite the degenerate nature of tag fighters, there’s a lot to love and enjoy about the series. Once a tag fighter begins to click, you’ll quickly find that the feeling of doing anything remotely cool has never felt so satisfying.
That’s thanks in part to the vast amount of freedom of expression tag fighters give you in every aspect of the game, from your movement to your combos. Add it all up, and you’ll quickly find that tag fighters can deliver a satisfying feeling that no other fighting games can truly match. Along with that you’ll find that many of the quirks and mechanics that once frustrated you during the learning process are actually some of the sickest parts of the game.
Tag Fighters to check out
While we’re all patiently waiting for the next time 2XKO becomes playable, there are some other amazing tag fighters you could be trying out in the meantime. Check out some of these options and give them a shot to get your tag fighting fix for the time being.
MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
While we’re all patiently waiting for the next time 2XKO becomes playable, there are some other amazing tag fighters you could be trying out in the meantime. Check out some of these options and give them a shot to get your tag fighting fix for the time being. The series that really put tag fighters on the map. The Marvel vs Capcom series is probably what most people first think of when it comes to tag fighters and now this new collection will allow players to play some of the original games with one another with rollback netcode. While many of you will immediately launch Marvel vs Capcom 2, which many consider the best tag fighter ever, the other tag fighters are all equally fun and worth trying out as well!
Just beware the Wazzler.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
If your focus is all on the upcoming release of 2XKO then BBTAG is the game you should try out. The game is a 2 on 2 tag fighter developed by Arc System Works and features characters from Blazblue, Persona 4: Arena, Under Night In-Birth, RWBY, among others. The game itself has fairly simple controls with 3 attack buttons and only quarter circles commands for special attacks and features many mechanics you would find in 2XKO like Cross Combo which is similar to the 2X assist fuse. While it won’t be an exact 1 to 1 experience, BBTAG will be your best bet to practice and get ready for the return of 2XKO.
Skullgirls
By now, anyone who’s interested in Skullgirls probably owes the game from one of the game’s many sales. Don’t get the wrong idea though, Skullgirls is a very fun game to pick up and learn for anyone interested in getting into fighting games. Along with that, as the game uses the ratio system, where the strength of your characters depends on how many you pick, you’re able to slowly pick up characters one by one and still have a relatively enjoyable experience.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
The last game you should consider checking out is the biggest tag fighter of current times in DBFZ. While the game’s popularity has dropped in recent years, a new patch has brought some excitement back to the game. While the game already felt like a quintessential tag fighter, the new update has turned the tag fighter degeneracy up to 11 in the best way possible. So if you want to really experience just how depraved tag fighters can be, consider picking up DBFZ and giving it a shot for yourself.
