One of the most obscene issues with fighting games these days is the near unapproachable learning curve to high level play. Jumping into a match against a player who is proficient with both an arcade stick and precise button presses can spell instant doom to your roster of choice as well as your ego. Reverge Labs is taking matters into their own hands with their game Skullgirls to move the bar forward in the art of teaching someone how to brawl effectively.

Street Fighter 4, for example, has a set list of moves for a player to learn in which they later bring into combos. The hardest part of these lessons are how to bring what you’ve learned in training mode and use them against an opponent. It’s never really made clear when certain combos should be used and in what situation, which begs the question: What good is a weapon if you don’t know how to use it?

In Skullgirls, the idea of the training mode is given a facelift. Not only do the lessons teach you key moves and combos for each character, but when and how to use them for the greatest effect possible. Each character in Skullgirls is designed to act and play differently from anyone else on the roster, which leads to needing a deeper understanding for how a character plays. From what Reverge Labs has told XBLA Fans, their training modes will do just that by putting players in situations where specific combos or attacks are suggested. In theory this will make for more exciting rounds of fighting as well as allowing those who may be considered novices to the fighting genre to step up their game a bit and be able to compete with the big dogs without having to resort to mashing buttons or cheap tactics.

This sounds like a breath of fresh air for the genre as a whole. Maybe the days of learning combos against a static character are over. As of now the best way to learn a fighter is to be taught by someone who is skilled themselves, but it could take a few fans of the genre building a new IP to let the game do the teaching.