Fighter Maker (格闘ツクール, Kakutō Tsukūru) is a series of games for PlayStation consoles and Microsoft Windows. It features a robust character creation system, letting players even create animations. There are two versions of the games, Fighter Maker (FM series) and 2D Fighter Maker (2DFM series).

Fighter Maker
Genre(s)Fighting game, game development
Developer(s)OUTBACK
Kuusou Kagaku
exA-Arcadia (Arcade)
Publisher(s)ASCII (2DFM95)
Enterbrain (2DFM2)
Agetec (FM)
exA-Arcadia (Arcade)
Platform(s)exA-Arcadia (Arcade), PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
First release2D Fighter Maker 95
1998
Latest releaseFighter Maker 2
2002

Games

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3D series

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Fighter Maker

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Fighter Maker
Developer(s)ASCII Entertainment
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Part of Agetec Inc.'s Designer Series, Fighter Maker is 3D-based and allows users to create custom moves for their fighters.

The music for the game was composed by the U.K. band INTELLIGENTSIA,[2][3] who also created the in-game FX;[4] MIRAI, one of the band's 2 members, is a playable character in the game.

The first FM game is also known for having one licensed character, Street Fighter EXs Skullomania, complete with the original move list.

Reception
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The game received average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[5] IGN said, "when you actually put the character into the game, controls are pretty tight and solid", and concluded, "Fighter Maker is one of the most unique software packages on the PlayStation. I'm guessing we're going to see a ton of websites dedicated to characters gamers have created, uploaded with the handy-dandy DexDrive. The competition between friends is going to be fierce. Who can create the coolest, most utilitarian character in the game?"[12] GameRevolution gave it a mixed review, a few weeks before the game was released Stateside.[10] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 25 out of 40.[8]

Fighter Maker 2

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Fighter Maker 2
Developer(s)Enterbrain
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: 29 August 2002
  • NA: 19 November 2002
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Fighter Maker 2 (FM2) for the PS2 was another entry in the Designer Series from Agetec Inc. It is similar to the original, but with more advancements in character design, movement, and attacks.

Reception
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Fighter Maker 2 received more mixed reviews than the original according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[16]

2D series

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2D Fighter Maker 95

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2D Fighter Maker 95 (FM95) was released for Windows prior to ASCII's departure from gaming. Unlike its PlayStation counterparts, this version focused on 2D-style gameplay, allowing the user to create and import their own characters, sounds and graphics into the engine, allowing for far more flexibility and range than the PS versions. The program was pirated and fan translated to English and released on the Internet, where it found a large following amongst dojin game makers and the M.U.G.E.N. community.

2D Fighter Maker 2nd

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2D Fighter Maker 2nd (FM2K or 2DK) was released by ASCII's successor company, Enterbrain. An update to the original version, FM2K allowed for a greater amount of expansion and extension than FM95, revising much of the original engine to allow more options while adding a menu-based system for clarity. As with the previous version, it became wildly popular amongst the dojin communities in Japan. Again, piracy and a fan translation followed, though the second version has yet to meet with the success of the first, primarily due to the large amount of M.U.G.E.N. communities already in operation as well as the incomplete translation of the FM2K software and documentation. A re-translation of this engine was created by WindowsLogic Productions in August 2022 and posted on the Internet Archive.[25]

2D Fighter Maker 2nd EXA

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It was announced at Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) 2019 that Kadokawa had exclusively licensed the 2D Fighter Maker 2nd engine to exA-Arcadia. In order to use it for arcades, exA-Arcadia re-developed the engine from scratch to use hardware rendering instead of the software rendering of the original version. New features that were not possible before have been added: handling of coins & credits, multiple language support, transitioning between single player and VS games, CPU vs CPU demos, 16:9 widescreen, full screen display and 0.3 frames input latency. This version of the tool is only available for exA-Arcadia developers.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kennedy, Sam (17 June 1999). "Fighter Maker Ships for PlayStation [date mislabeled as "April 27, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 29 February 2000. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ Intelligentsia, Mirai (13 October 2017). "Post". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  3. ^ "【CM】3D格闘ツクール 【PS】3D Kakutou Tsukuru (Commercial - PlayStation - ASCII Corporation) Fighter Maker". YouTube.
  4. ^ "Ps1 3D格闘ツクール". YouTube.
  5. ^ a b "Fighter Maker for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  6. ^ Williamson, Colin. "Fighter Maker - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  7. ^ EGM staff (June 1999). "Fighter Maker". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 119. Ziff Davis.
  8. ^ a b "3D格闘ツクール [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Fighter Maker". Game Informer. No. 74. FuncoLand. June 1999. Archived from the original on 9 July 2000. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  10. ^ a b Liu, Johnny (May 1999). "Fighter Maker Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  11. ^ Stahl, Ben (17 June 1999). "Fighter Maker Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  12. ^ a b Harris, Craig (17 June 1999). "Fighter Maker". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  13. ^ Nicholson, Zy (June 2000). "Fighter Maker". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. 59. Future Publishing. p. 131. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  14. ^ Maruyama, Wataru (June 1999). "Fighter Maker". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 9. Ziff Davis. p. 95. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Review: Fighter Maker". PSM. No. 22. Imagine Media. June 1999.
  16. ^ a b "Fighter Maker 2 for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive.
  17. ^ Reiner, Andrew (February 2003). "Fighter Maker 2". Game Informer. No. 118. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on 13 November 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  18. ^ Tokyo Drifter (26 November 2002). "Fighter Maker 2 for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 28 December 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  19. ^ Leung, Christina (December 2002). "Fighter Maker 2 Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  20. ^ Varanini, Giancarlo (14 February 2003). "Fighter Maker 2 Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  21. ^ Nam, Michael J. (8 January 2003). "GameSpy: Fighter Maker 2". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  22. ^ Smith, David (18 November 2002). "Fighter Maker 2". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  23. ^ Bettenhausen, Shane (January 2003). "Fighter Maker 2". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 64. Ziff Davis. p. 124. Archived from the original on 25 May 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Review: Fighter Maker 2". PSM. Imagine Media. January 2003. p. 42.
  25. ^ "2D Fighter Maker 2nd. Re-translated". Internet Archive. Alethila. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  26. ^ "About Us". exA-Arcadia. Retrieved 2024-06-28.