After getting addicted into playing fighting games for a year now, I was wondering what are some of your all time favorite fighting game stages and for what reasons? Could be for the aesthetic, the music, the background elements, the representation of that character personality, etc.
I like the river stage on marvel vs capcom 2 for the music.
Melty Blood: Actress Again’s, flower garden stage.
For how it looks, the music, and fits with the fighters designs.
The white blossoms are an amazing contrast, to the violent storm brewing in the background, as well as the fighting itself.
The giant moon, so close to the sky, adds such an otherworldly feel to the conflict, both strangely peaceful and unsettling.
Also, the flowers in the foreground have a layering effect, so those flowers overlap the fighters as they move around.
It looks fantastic with them in motion.
It’s a masterpiece of a game.
Any of the stages that had a stage fatality were cooler by default...
but "the subway" became "the street" after a well-placed uppercut.
Hella satisfying
От каждого по способностям, каждому по потребностям
At 6/1/25 11:22 PM, Deity-Donkus wrote:
I like the river stage on marvel vs capcom 2 for the music.
Oh yeah! That game is packed with so many amazing jazzy songs like this one. Another one I really appreciate is the theme for the Clock Tower stage.
At 6/2/25 12:35 AM, MixCatTape wrote:Melty Blood: Actress Again’s, flower garden stage.
For how it looks, the music, and fits with the fighters designs.
The white blossoms are an amazing contrast, to the violent storm brewing in the background, as well as the fighting itself.
The giant moon, so close to the sky, adds such an otherworldly feel to the conflict, both strangely peaceful and unsettling.
Also, the flowers in the foreground have a layering effect, so those flowers overlap the fighters as they move around.
It looks fantastic with them in motion.
It’s a masterpiece of a game.
Wow! That really is a pretty scenery to fully admire. Astonishing the amount of details put into making this.
At 6/2/25 05:44 AM, 5ERGEI wrote:
Any of the stages that had a stage fatality were cooler by default...
but "the subway" became "the street" after a well-placed uppercut.
Hella satisfying
One of the coolest stage in the series with one of the absolute best theme. All versions sounds excellent.
At 6/2/25 10:46 AM, Marc-Ant wrote:At 6/2/25 12:35 AM, MixCatTape wrote:Melty Blood: Actress Again’s, flower garden stage.Wow! That really is a pretty scenery to fully admire. Astonishing the amount of details put into making this.
For how it looks, the music, and fits with the fighters designs.
The white blossoms are an amazing contrast, to the violent storm brewing in the background, as well as the fighting itself.
The giant moon, so close to the sky, adds such an otherworldly feel to the conflict, both strangely peaceful and unsettling.
Also, the flowers in the foreground have a layering effect, so those flowers overlap the fighters as they move around.
It looks fantastic with them in motion.
It’s a masterpiece of a game.
I’d fully recommend looking the game up and seeing it for yourself. It’s up there of being on of the best fighting games ever made.
While originally, only released on PS2 in Japan, there now is a PC port of the game for sale.
Honestly, if you really like fighting games… you’ll definitely enjoy this a ton!
Dunno how much it counts but...
Personally i'd have to say the Mishima Dojo in Tekken 7, and specifically during a flashback in the story mode. Cuz you basically go through a playable version of the Tekken 5 intro with a super faithful remix of the song that plays through it. One of the best examples of fan-service I've personally experienced.
Falling Cliffs from Mortal Kombat Deception was always fun..
Joker's Arena from Fighter's Destiny just because I'm a sucker for playing card aesthetics.
Every stage from SF3: New Gen & 2nd Impact mainly cuz they look cool. 3rd Strike has great ones too but I think these ones fit the colorful cast more. And the first two SF3s also have more background characters too.
SF3:2I(Necro's stage)...
SF3:NG(Yun's stage) tho, the 3rd strike version is amazing too
There is a fighting platformer called King of the Hat, you may remember it from when Discord did a partnership with them and were holding out that tournament to see who would win a new computer. They even gave the game away for free to anyone participating!
Super hard to find footage of the stage in particular, but Outer Brim is a very unique one in which it has a screen wrapping (horizontally and vertically), which leads to some of the most chaotic matches you can get in the game! The song reflects it very well as well. The one I sent you is an old version of it, but is the one I prefer.
This one from Guilty Gear XX is pretty awesome. Also, glad you're interested in FG's as it's easily one of my favorite genres of game.
At 6/2/25 02:41 PM, Fox-Hawx wrote:Dunno how much it counts but...
Personally i'd have to say the Mishima Dojo in Tekken 7, and specifically during a flashback in the story mode. Cuz you basically go through a playable version of the Tekken 5 intro with a super faithful remix of the song that plays through it. One of the best examples of fan-service I've personally experienced.
WOW! Didn't know this was a thing in the story mode. Impressive how they went the extra mile recreating it as I had played a bit Tekken 4 a while ago and it really shows the glow-up of the series between 2 generation of consoles. It is sad to see it's not available for casual playing unless you use a mod as it would have been a fun bonus to throw in.
At 6/2/25 02:56 PM, Bansheebutt wrote:Falling Cliffs from Mortal Kombat Deception was always fun..
Joker's Arena from Fighter's Destiny just because I'm a sucker for playing card aesthetics.
True. I've seen a few compilations of stage fatalities in this game and Armageddon and they're really fun to watch and kinda broken. This one being the best for how both players can die if they are both still standing as the level starts to collapse.
I also watched the second one, and it looks cool. I like the floating cards that change patterns in the background.
At 6/2/25 06:56 PM, blackwind677 wrote:Every stage from SF3: New Gen & 2nd Impact mainly cuz they look cool. 3rd Strike has great ones too but I think these ones fit the colorful cast more. And the first two SF3s also have more background characters too.
SF3:2I(Necro's stage)...
SF3:NG(Yun's stage) tho, the 3rd strike version is amazing too
I also agree with all you said. If there was one thing Second Impact did better than Third Strikes, it would have to be having better stages for some of the characters with how more appealing and lively they are to observe. The most notable examples I would say is with Elena and especially Hugo. Plus, Ken stage in San Franscio with that theme is just SO good. One of those stages I would love to actually be in.
At 6/2/25 07:59 PM, nicolistheguy wrote:This one from Guilty Gear XX is pretty awesome. Also, glad you're interested in FG's as it's easily one of my favorite genres of game.
That's an awesome take of hell. And thank you! Back then, it was only Smash Bros since I was only ever interested in fighting-platforming game for how easier they are to play. Then, once they added the SNES version of Killer Instinct on the NSO, I decided to try it because I always wanted to play for a long while and I enjoed it greatly. Then, after a summer trip where I ended up playing Darkstalker's Revenge and the 1992 Mortal Kombat, I finally got into this genre and now been playing all the Capcom fighting collections notably the Street Fighter Alpha series.
At 6/2/25 06:56 PM, blackwind677 wrote:Every stage from SF3: New Gen & 2nd Impact mainly cuz they look cool. 3rd Strike has great ones too but I think these ones fit the colorful cast more. And the first two SF3s also have more background characters too.
SF3:2I(Necro's stage)...
SF3:NG(Yun's stage) tho, the 3rd strike version is amazing too
Jacky's stage (City) in Virtua Fighter 4 (vanilla). It all boils down to the lighting more than anything. The way the helicopter is buzzing around and this blue & green palette with the bright windows. All these elements go together very well for what's otherwise a generic NY-ish city. Just a fraction of how good VF4 looked. Even better on the arcade version. Theme is alright too if you're into this kind of stuff.
Also fun fact, on the character's win animation, the camera can potentially go into the helicopter's perspective.
Contrary to popular belief, Virtua Fighter does have style.
At 6/2/25 09:08 PM, blackwind677 wrote:At 6/2/25 06:56 PM, blackwind677 wrote:Every stage from SF3: New Gen & 2nd Impact mainly cuz they look cool. 3rd Strike has great ones too but I think these ones fit the colorful cast more. And the first two SF3s also have more background characters too.
SF3:2I(Necro's stage)...
SF3:NG(Yun's stage) tho, the 3rd strike version is amazing too
Jacky's stage (City) in Virtua Fighter 4 (vanilla). It all boils down to the lighting more than anything. The way the helicopter is buzzing around and this blue & green palette with the bright windows. All these elements go together very well for what's otherwise a generic NY-ish city. Just a fraction of how good VF4 looked. Even better on the arcade version. Theme is alright too if you're into this kind of stuff.
Also fun fact, on the character's win animation, the camera can potentially go into the helicopter's perspective.
Contrary to popular belief, Virtua Fighter does have style.
Super stylish! Decided to look gameplay of this game out of curiosity and it certainly is beautiful! Love the different elements certain stages have like snow stomp effects or cracked tiles. Really advanced for it's time. Glad to see there is a new title to this series after so long.
At 6/2/25 10:47 PM, Marc-Ant wrote:At 6/2/25 09:08 PM, blackwind677 wrote:At 6/2/25 06:56 PM, blackwind677 wrote:Every stage from SF3: New Gen & 2nd Impact mainly cuz they look cool. 3rd Strike has great ones too but I think these ones fit the colorful cast more. And the first two SF3s also have more background characters too.
SF3:2I(Necro's stage)...
SF3:NG(Yun's stage) tho, the 3rd strike version is amazing too
Jacky's stage (City) in Virtua Fighter 4 (vanilla). It all boils down to the lighting more than anything. The way the helicopter is buzzing around and this blue & green palette with the bright windows. All these elements go together very well for what's otherwise a generic NY-ish city. Just a fraction of how good VF4 looked. Even better on the arcade version. Theme is alright too if you're into this kind of stuff.
Also fun fact, on the character's win animation, the camera can potentially go into the helicopter's perspective.
Contrary to popular belief, Virtua Fighter does have style.
Super stylish! Decided to look gameplay of this game out of curiosity and it certainly is beautiful! Love the different elements certain stages have like snow stomp effects or cracked tiles. Really advanced for it's time. Glad to see there is a new title to this series after so long.
Mhmm. Vanilla 5 is the same way. Way more cinematic funnily enough as is the music.
...Running Battle Stage from Pocket Fighter (A.K.A. Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix). It's a console exclusive for a mode called Running Battle, which is basically Survival Mode that you fight against all 12 characters as you proceed from left (Day) to right (Night). what's special about it is, the more you progress, the more you encounter characters from other Capcom franchises like Megaman, Breath of Fire & etc. It plays a great track that's called "Never Give Up" and what's cool is that, even if I know what characters you encounter along the way, It's always motivating to keep going till the end. It's one of various reasons that I enjoy returning to this game on PS1 rather than the Arcade:
...
At 6/3/25 02:59 PM, CALDM2001 wrote:...Running Battle Stage from Pocket Fighter (A.K.A. Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix). It's a console exclusive for a mode called Running Battle, which is basically Survival Mode that you fight against all 12 characters as you proceed from left (Day) to right (Night). what's special about it is, the more you progress, the more you encounter characters from other Capcom franchises like Megaman, Breath of Fire & etc. It plays a great track that's called "Never Give Up" and what's cool is that, even if I know what characters you encounter along the way, It's always motivating to keep going till the end. It's one of various reasons that I enjoy returning to this game on PS1 rather than the Arcade:
...
Wow! Didn't know that! That's a really cool fact you just shared as I only played this game on the Capcom Fighting Collection and would have never known this was a console exclusive stage. Really like the chibi sprites for the Mega Man Legends cast.
Final Destionation from Brawl, I love it mainly because it has a really good design.
At 6/4/25 10:46 AM, Ellormasteroo wrote:Final Destionation from Brawl, I love it mainly because it has a really good design.
True that! One of the best version of that stage from the background to that god tier music. The most memorable track this series ever had to offer sounding both magestic and serious. Perfectly matching the setting.
At 6/4/25 10:46 AM, Ellormasteroo wrote:Final Destionation from Brawl, I love it mainly because it has a really good design.
Not sure what stages I have in mind for other fighting games but if were to pick just one series I would say the Hyrule Temple Stage, Battlefield Stage, and the Final Destination Stage from the Super Smash Bros. series. I like them because of the Hyrule Temple’s size, and the Battlefield and Final Destination because they are easy to play on and get around without having way too many obstacles and distractions in the way.
At 6/7/25 03:46 PM, SolidSnakeOnAPlane wrote:At 6/4/25 10:46 AM, Ellormasteroo wrote:Final Destionation from Brawl, I love it mainly because it has a really good design.
Not sure what stages I have in mind for other fighting games but if were to pick just one series I would say the Hyrule Temple Stage, Battlefield Stage, and the Final Destination Stage from the Super Smash Bros. series. I like them because of the Hyrule Temple’s size, and the Battlefield and Final Destination because they are easy to play on and get around without having way too many obstacles and distractions in the way.
I actually love Hyrule Temple for the same reason, too bad nobody else agrees with us on that.
skullgirls always delivered on memorable stages. But there’s something about Ms. fortune’s stage that gives off that beautiful urban vibe. All the stages are beautifully detailed to give off a lively atmosphere. And shows how vital stages are even if they are just set pieces. Not only are they vital for the character’s lore, but world building as a whole. As for the music, The Fish Man’s Dance is such a vibe and fits Ms. Fortune’s character very well. It’s just neat :)
Wowie, this is fun!
Capcom vs Snk 2 had the right theme when it came to its stages. Big ass world wide fighting tournament event which felt like a big party celebration and each stage has its charm. Then you had the final boss stage which goes the opposite route with its osaka tower rooftop with the rain throwing down hard
I think Infinite Azure is still one of the most stunning fighting stages of all time
*unshits your pants*
