I'm PolarBair and I really like fighting games.

Since 2019, I've been playing fighting games, going to events, and hosting tournaments offline and online too. I sort of followed fighting games, but it wasn't until a new Samurai Shodown was coming out that I decided to see what it was all about. I bought a fight stick (an original Qanba Drone that I still play on) and booked for Combo Breaker that same year, a special experience I hold near to my heart.

And then COVID struck.

I then learned about Fightcade. I got into streaming on twitch more seriously, led by wanting to do something cool with my friends and also to run streams that weren't ugly stretched 16:9 game capture with barely readable player names. Some of my longtime favorites, Samurai Shodown 3 and Karnov's Revenge, are from those times.

Nowadays, I still stream a variety of fighting games, but I also try to branch out to other genres for fun.

Stuff I do

The Community Lab

The Community Lab is a discord I run with a bunch of friends that's all about fighting games. If you want to learn about a new game, see combo clips, and get netplay matches going, feel free to join.

We also run tournaments and casual netplay nights. Find us here:

• Twitch
  
• Youtube
  
• Challonge

Wikis

I edit a bunch of fighting game wikis:

• Cyberbots
• Dan-Ku-Ga
• Samurai Shodown V Special
• Karnov's Revenge

FAQ

So what's with the name?

You might be able to guess, but I fell into competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee during high school. It was a pretty cool time, and I still think the Smash series is great, but keeping up with competitive Melee when the scene is increasingly huge, technical, and fame/drama focused is not for me. Smash 64 is still cool though.

Where else can I find you?

• Bluesky
• Twitch
  • I stream regularly on Mondays and Thursdays at 3PM EST, and sometimes on weekends if I feel like it.
• Youtube
  • I upload mostly VODs, but sometimes there's original videos here.
• Fediverse
  • FGC.Network is a server hosted by Shiburizu, webmaster of SuperCombo and Mizuumi wiki.

What games do you play now?

• Karnov's Revenge
  • Data East, a developer known for making weird games, took a shot at making a Street Fighter II clone. They knocked it out of the park. It's a very approachable game thanks to chain combos, a lax input interpreter, and everyone having a good cross-up button.
• Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
  • A Capcom game that came out in 1995, this is a fast-paced mecha fighter that nails the weight of the giant robots by having lavishly destructible stages and weighty jumps, as well as the first dash button in fighting games.The character and mecha designs are really cool.
• Asuka 120% LimitOver
  • The Asuka 120% series is credited as the first "anime fighter", but with a unique game feel and emphasis on clashes and guard cancels. True to its name, you can build meter past 100% (which lets you use one super) up to 120%, which lets you use unlimited supers for a while.
• Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2
  • A neat 3D fighter based on the grandfather of battle shonen. It's really non-standard, with no jumping, special moves that take 1-3 bars out of 9 total, and it implements wrestling by letting you start combos with an Irish Whip, throwing the opponent against the ropes.

This is not an exhaustive list at ALL. If you asked me to play a fighting game, I'd probably say yes. I'm going through an Ehrgeiz phase now.

I use a bunch of different programs for netplay:

For classic 90s arcade games, including Karnov's Revenge and Cyberbots, Street Fighter, The King of Fighters, etc., I use Fightcade. You can grab the json pack to automatically download games when you enter a lobby.

For SNES games (like Sailor Moon S), there's a bsnes rollback netplay build. It is currently under development and requires sharing your IP, but if you don't mind, there's a lot of good fighting games out there.

For PS1 games and arcade games not found on Fightcade, there's Arkadyzja. Unlike Fightcade, Arka. is actively being updated with new games and performance improvements. Follow this guide to set up an autodownloader, much like Fightcade.

For Asuka 120% (and other Saturn games), the best option is RetroArch. Follow the setup guide for Asuka 120% here. I'm aware RA is kind of a pain in the ass. Maybe in the future there will be a different Saturn emulator with netplay.

For Kinnikuman (and other PS2 games), there is a setup guide. I don't play a lot of PS2 games, so you're probably better off joining a discord and asking for help...