The game was called injustice: Gods Among Us, and I was good at it. Never made top 8 so I don't want to oversell my accomplishments and pretend like I'm Sonic Fox, but getting 13th at a major maining a shit tier bottom 5 character like Green Arrow is still something 99% of people who play it would never be able to do....also for what its worth (not much) I was consistently in the top 10 in the leaderboards for most of its prime and the only Arrow main in the top 100.

Why do I love it? Well full honesty I got into it because I'm a DC comics nerd who had always been a casual fan of fighting games, but that was the first game I've ever seriously trained in and practiced and learned shit like frame traps, okezeme, etc. I also think that its got some of the most interesting character designs (in terms of mechanics, definitely not art) ever put into a fighting game that really (for the most part) captures the essence of who the character is. I actually think this game and its traits are a much better version of what Street Figther V was trying to do with its V-Shift system.

Superman? No complex combos and no crazy gimicks. Dude is essentially the Ryu. He just has incredibly powerful (fucking broken at launch lol) tools and footsies. His trait is basically the Kaioken attack. Batman? Gimicks for days! His bat trait lets him always have a contingency plan in place and sort of make up his own frames with tons of combos and creativity available. Solomon Grundy is one of the most unique takes on a grappler architype I've ever seen with his super armor and the way he can give himself buffs. Watching high level flash play makes you feel like you don't even know how to play the game. They made Aquaman scary long before Jason Mamoa got the part. And Batgirl....man.....FUCK BATGIRL!!!!

The game definitely has its share of jank. A lot of its mechanics were sort of a proof of concept idea and were ultimately better realized in the sequel that I sadly never got to play competitively due to real life drama. Shit like the clash system or the slower walk speed turned a lot of people off. Also: while the game was maybe passable in its original release it looks like DOG SHIT now more than ever. NRS has always had mediocre fine artists and so their character designs are a mixed bag and entire youtube channels have been built around how awful their animators are.

But still...for all its flaws....I love it so and think fondly back to it often. My arcade stick to this day is still some fan art I made for the game and the community.

Some sick highlights from the game's heyday:

Here is KDZ versus Sonic Fox at Summer Jam 8 grand finals. This one is pretty significant because this match was basically right on the cusp of Sonic Fox becoming the absolute dominating force of fighting games they are today. I guess a lot of people today think of them as a DBZF player or something, but they got their start in Mortal Kombat and Injustice is where they really started their reign of terror. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI9ymTJD2x0

Theo versus Tyrant at NEC. One of the most absolutely insane endings I've ever seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGzx3OJRqZI

Digit Versus Warchild. This one's kinda a beating but Digit was the number 1 Shazam player and he plays him like he's El Fuerte from Street Fighter IV or something. You don't see many people playing the character but super entertaining to watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYUZMrGxYgk

Dab versus Jupiter. Shit quality....but man it has one of the hypest comebacks ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDbsziuocFU

Jupiter Versus Theo. This was the east coast v west coast fight we spent months building up to. The kings of lame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vGbsLm5Ilw&t=503s

Pig of the hut versus Sonic Fox in winners finals. Their grand finals match was sadly a complete blowup...but man....for a brief moment....the fox bled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjCUB8ipEI8

And of course I can't not post this one in a higlight real. Revolver versus relaxed state in Lex luthor v zod which is hands down the worst matchup in the game. You think you've seen bad matchups? You aint seen shit. Absolutely broken....but still kinda wild and fun to see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2EQbHIoyu4