In the ring with Japan's fighting pros

Top players and spectators enjoyed three days of fighting spirit at Evo Japan

For more than two decades, the Evolution Championship Series, better known as Evo, has been the most prestigious event for the fighting game community. While the tournament’s roots are in the US, the organisers decided to honour the genre’s birthplace when they introduced Evo Japan in 2018. With new titles Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 featuring in this year’s event, we spent three days in Tokyo’s Ariake Gym-Ex soaking up the fast and skilful competition.

The fighting was fierce for the duration; day one saw 350 players vie for Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes’ championship title, while Top Six finals were held for King Of Fighters XV, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising on day two. Yes, that’s right, Capcom’s final sprite-based fighter, Street Fighter III, was brought back as a main-stage tournament game to commemorate its 25th anniversary (it also marked the 20th anniversary of pro player Daigo’s legendary parry, which put Evo on the map). It was also played on original hardware, lending extra charm, with competitors playing on arcade cabinets that had to be lugged up on stage for the Top Six.

The first two days’ tournament finals were held alongside other pools for the bigger games. With three streaming stages running in parallel, it was pure fighting games overload; attendees could catch a cracking match whichever way they turned their heads, whether that was up to the big screens at the front or across at rows of monitors where players of every skill or stripe congregated. Quite often, however, the magic happened outside the streams.