3D fighting

3D fighting games are fighting games that exclusively deal with three-dimensional space and movement, unlike the traditional two-dimensional format made standard with Street Fighter. 3D fighters made their first appearance under Sega's Virtua Fighter [バーチャファイター] series, kickstarting the genre. Many 3D fighting game series followed in its wake, including Tekken [鉄拳], SoulCalibur [ソウルキャリバー], Battle Arena Toshinden [闘神伝], Street Fighter EX, Bloody Roar [ブラッディロア] and Dead or Alive - many in an attempt to capitalise on Virtua Fighter's arcade success.

3D fighting mechanics unique to the genre include the ability to evade attacks by sidestepping, environmental boundaries (utilising sumo-style ring-outs, breakable walls or infinite stages as opposed to the wall-to-wall boundaries of 2D fighters), combo systems based on strings and juggles as opposed to attack cancelling, a heavy emphasis on ground movement over air movement, and a focusing more on up-close brawling with little zoning.