The video game genre of one versus one fighting games or “fighters” is a genre that is

notorious for being inaccessible for people with a wide variety of disabilities. Within the genre
two human players (or one human player and artificial intelligence) are pitted against each
other in a combat situation. These combat situations are usually done with hand-to-hand
combat but may also be weapons-based. The genre's huge accessibility problem(s) comes from
its fast pace and complex controls. These issues are due to the fighting games having what is
known as a combo system a system of performing actions that require rapid button presses on
a gamepad or a computer keyboard to enact. The problem with his method of control is that it
requires a large amount of physical stamina and mental acuity to perform making playing the
genre challenging for people with disabilities.
Back when I was in high school, I was really into the fighting game genre but have since
moved on after realizing that I do not have the stamina to complete certain combo actions
because of their high-speed nature. The need to perform fast movements on a directional pad
along with pressing triggers and face buttons proved to be too much for my reflexes at the
time. Since high school, my reflexes have improved, but I have not come back to fighting games
as a genre and have wondered why. It has occurred to me that the reason why I have never
decided to start playing the genre again is due to my education in disability studies. The fighting
game genre is not disability friendly, thus it presents moral issues when trying to play it. While
my disability (autism) does not directly affect my physical skills, it does cause some “input lag”
physically. I use the gaming term input lag due, meaning a lag between when a button is
pressed an action occurs on screen due to how it adequately describes my experience with
fighting games.
While my experience is not particularly unique when it comes to fighting games, other
players have figured out ways to make the genre more accessible for people with disabilities.
These methods have been especially applicable to players who have visual disabilities. YouTube
content creator, Sightless Kombat has, for example, has played the video game Killer Instinct
(2013) on the Xbox One platform by memorizing the sounds of each of the in-game characters
move sets and footsteps. This was with the aid of Iron Galaxy, the developers of the game
adding accessible sound features. This is an example of developer/player interaction to increase
accessibility which is gaining traction in the industry. The problem with creating an accessible
fighting game though is that it is difficult to design one using universal design principles. As far
as video game genres go, fighting games are one of the most difficult to make accessible due to
their depth and the multitude of disabilities that must be accommodated. In terms of creating
an accessible fighting game, few games have gotten as close as Divekick (2013) which
condenses the fighting game formula into only two buttons and does not require the use of a
joystick or directional pad. This control setup for the game makes it especially easy for people
with motor disabilities to play as it does not require fine movements of the hands. Having only
two buttons to press makes the game also requires less force for pressing the buttons making
the game especially accessible for people who do not have the muscle strength or dexterity to
play with traditional controller hardware such as a gamepad or arcade stick. The difficulty of
making fighting games a genre accessible thus can come from its use of too many buttons at
once.
One versus one fighting games always usually follow the format precedent set by Street
Fighter 2 (1991). This format is the exact opposite of Divekick as it requires the memorization
and enaction of complex move set combinations. These combinations are especially difficult as
they have to be entered rapidly using controller hardware for them to be performed. It is
difficult for a fighting game based on the formula to have "depth" without this functionality.
The idea of "depth" in the video game is a simple concept having hidden complexity as
illustrated by Divekick. The problem with most fighting games is that they have too much
complexity. Complexity is the bane of a game being accessible.