Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros And Mortal Kombat X Punctuate Battle Arena Carnage At EVO

There are a slew of reasons fans of fighting games should look forward to EVO each year, but this year, there are two special ones. For starters, this year's event marks the 20th of its kind, and it also marks the first time Street Fighter V is featured at the event. As the SF series has been such a hallmark of EVO over the years, it's easy to understand why a brand-new release in the franchise creates such a fevered buzz.

The fact that Street Fighter V was a cause of a lot of excitement at EVO is interesting simply thanks to the fact that the game didn't have the smoothest launch. Some would argue that the game was released in a broken state, with features promised from the get-go not appearing until months later. Still, this is Street Fighter we're talking about, so despite its launch issues, it has proven able to deliver some exciting combat classic matches at the event.

Whereas Street Fighter at certain EVOs have had obvious winners and losers, SFV's launch is still so fresh that there's been no real domination. Playing at a competitive level like this is how players learn better techniques and tricks, so we're likely to see much tighter competitive play at next year's event. Though, we've yet to see the final, which is sure to offer a handful of surprises.

Today is the day when the best players from Street Fighter V and a slew of others find themselves with 7 other players to duke it out in front of a hugely amped-up crowd. SFV isn't the only game that draws in fans; there's also huge support for Super Smash Bros and Mortal Kombat X, as well as Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

If you want to check out the remaining competitions live, head over to EVO's official Twitch page. As you'd probably expect, Street Fighter V will be the final and biggest lurer of crowds, and it begins at 7PM PST (10PM EST) this evening.

If you're not a fighting game fan but are intrigued by them at all, it's well worth checking out the competitions, especially live. Unlike a lot of games, even Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, fighting games have the capability of pulling you in and making it hard to turn away because all of the action is right there in front of you. You don't view matches from two or more perspectives at once, but rather the same exact perspective the competitors themselves are looking at.

In some ways, the mechanics behind these games lend themselves well to any newbie being able to enjoy watching, even if it's just for the sheer thrill of intense competition. It seems that single year, EVO is larger than it was the year before, so apparently the event is gaining in popularity for sure.