2018 is the most significant year for tag fighting games since 2012, when Skullgirls, Street Fighter X Tekken, and the console version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 hit the market. Back then, MvC3 and then UMvC3 had been released to good media and community reception yet there was certainly more room for tag fighting games to flourish. However, I feel this time around the audience is anxious for more tag fighters for different reasons. Namely, the disappointing release of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite and subsequent silence from Capcom regarding the game’s future.

It’s no news that MvCI is struggling. After its announcement on December 2016, there has been nothing but a constant stream of bad news for this game. The removal of assists, a concept that the series pioneered 20 years prior in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and the change from the 3v3 to 2v2 format already raised some eyebrows. But then the art direction, voice acting, and overall presentation left a lot to be desired on release. On the esports side of things, the leaked market strategy video controversy coupled with the game’s exclusion from Evo 2018 was the death blow to the game in the eyes of many.

While the whole MvCI situation unfolded, Dragon Ball FighterZ was gaining traction nonstop. Not only with the FGC but with the mainstream media as well. In a big part thanks to the Dragon Ball IP, but in my opinion also thanks to the great work Arc System Works did with the game’s presentation. The game has now released to very good reception and is currently leading Evo 2018 for entrant numbers.

While Dragon Ball FighterZ certainly scratches that old school MvC-like itch for me. I still find that mechanically it is a bit restricted. UMvC3’s Aerial Exchange allowed for tons of freedom with air combos and Skullgirls’ custom assists allowed for extremely creative gameplay. DBFZ is still being discovered and expanded upon by the top players but characters featuring a single assist, the lack of true zoning (RIP Beerus), and the linearity of most combos outside of Hit, Piccolo, and both Gohans leave me with the feeling that for most of the cast there is only one way to play them “right”. Cell and Android 16 being particularly bad offenders of this.

Because of my reservations towards DBFZ now is why I’m looking very closely at Blazblue Cross Tag Battle’s development. While both games are meant to be accessible for newcomers, BBTAG has approached this in a different way than DBFZ. For starters, BBTAG is a 2v2 fighting game with a 5-button layout: A (weak attack), B (strong attack), C (clash, aka universal overhead), D (tag), and P (partner skill). However, the assist changes with directional inputs, giving you 3 assists per character in total.

Not only does this increase the tag offensive potential but it opens up other interesting possibilities. For example, one of Yukiko’s assist is Dia, a move that regenerates health on contact. Couple that with a character like Carmine that utilizes certain attacks at the expense of his own health and you have a synergic game plan that does not only involve assists only for attacking.

Pay attention to Chie’s health in this clip.

In this game you’re also able to take control of your partner in the middle of an assist, which allows for some really cool-looking combos. The official Blazblue Twitter has been posting combo samples as part of a Twitter campaign and this Azrael/Blake combo has me frothing at the possibility of going from Leopard Launcher into a Valiant Crash with ease with the use of Blake’s or Noel’s assist.

Finally, the game incorporating actual pushblock coupled with burst-like mechanics are defensive tools that in my opinion should have had equivalent counterparts on DBFZ. And no, Sparking doesn’t count because it cannot be activated on hit or blockstun. It is more of a free unblockable on contact.

I think the game is shaping up nicely and while there are aspects of it that I don’t like at all (like most characters being only able to run forward, not walk) I think it still retains a lot of the originality of the series that BBTAG pulls characters from. Speaking of originality however, the last game I wanna talk about is one that no one really saw coming: the spiritual sequel to SNK Gals’ Fighters, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

While at its core, SNK Heroines is a fanservice game through and through, I think SNK is trying to mix things up in a way that will still pique the interest of “serious” fighting game players as well. KOF XIV, made big strides to make the series more accessible than its predecessors, yet I feel that it didn’t really pay off to them. The presentation, despite improving tremendously over time, is constantly brought out as a big negative for the game. And if people give flak to MvCI for its presentation, it is fair to do the same for KOF XIV.

This time however, Yasuyuki Oda and his team went back to the drawing board and tried something novel. They took the KOF XIV engine, revamped the shading, added a coat of fanservice and created a tag game that borrows heavily from games like Super Smash Bros: the existence of items (some of those for pretty comedic effects), removal of low attacks (both pokes and sweeps), specials being performed with a directional input + special, and use of a block button (that provides a barrier) definitely raised eyebrows among the most hardcore players. Despite this, there are some very interesting things going under the hood on this game.

For example, your meter and health are sort of “connected” in SNK Heroines. The more damage you take, the more your super meter expands which creates a bit of a “passive” comeback mechanic. In order to get a KO, you have to finish your opponent with a super, so you can be extremely low on health but can turn things around easily by getting in with an assist/item and spend your meter wisely. The neutral game was also turned upside down from KOF. You cannot crouch, but there are air dashes and evasion moves similar to P4A’s Quick Escape. Active tagging is similar to BBTAG where you can change characters at anytime.

The more damage P1 takes, the more access to meter the player has.

Just like how Divekick was a simple game where neutral was everything, I think in SNK Heroines, SNK has made KOF’s intimidating neutral game a bit more accessible while reducing the level of execution of a regular fighting game. This seemingly “waifu bait” game is shaping to be a good entry-level fighting game that should be able to teach players what tag fighting games are about. Out of all the games I’ve mentioned, this is curiously the only one that will be getting an arcade release. So I guess SNK is conveying the idea that this is a fighting game first and foremost and fanservice game second. It is obviously not devoid of criticism (the sound queue to finish an opponent is a very annoying bell tolling loop) but I’m interested in seeing how this experiment pans out for SNK.

All things considered, I think 2018 will be the best year for tag fighting games in a while. Especially if you’re into air-dashers and assist-reliant games. Only time will tell what the real depth of these games will be, but as of now there’s a wealth of titles to choose from and all are very accessible to approach.