Classic 2D One Piece fighting game mockup has fans hoping for more

It has always been somewhat of a trend to create wishlists for characters and features one wants to see in fighting games, but some fans just bypass that entirely and jump right to ideas revolving around entirely new games. This sometimes leads to artists creating mockups for nonexistent titles, like how 50shadesofHelio designed a classic 2D fighting game for One Piece. 

The art takes inspiration from several existing fighting games, like the character select screen from Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and a stylized look that emulates the original IP’s art style, much like Dragon Ball FighterZ. Visually, that DBFZ influence is clear, but it also has elements that invoke something closer to the cartoony style of Skullgirls, which perfectly fits the world and style of One Piece. 

While this art from Helio is just asking the question of what a One Piece fighting game in a DBFZ-esque style could look like, it is far from the only glance we have had in recent years. 

One Piece: Burning Blood is the most recent example of a fighting game from the series on consoles, with Bandai Namco working with Spike Chunsoft in 2016 to create another dime-a-dozen 3D arena fighter that is mostly flash and little substance. 

We also have a 2D “fighter” on mobile developed by More Fun Studios Group and Tencent Games simply titled Project: Fighter, which Bandai Namco Shanghai has shown footage of, plans to release in China, and had fans excited. No footage or updates on the game have been widely shared since around May 2021, however.

One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum is more in line with an actual fighting game, releasing a 2D fighter on Nintendo 3DS that had some surprising depth and yet would never release overseas. This would eventually get a patch allowing for local and online crossplay with Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden, another 2D fighting game on the system. And the kicker? Both were developed by Arc System Works. 

That doesn’t take into account all of the other One Piece or Shonen Jump-themed fighting games or platform fighters released prior to that too.

And that is where we stand now, as many One Piece and fighting game fans are hoping that ArcSys will once again work with Bandai on a new fighter, this time using the One Piece license in a similar way to that of DBFZ. 

The buzz around that specific idea has picked up over the last several weeks following Bandai confirming that, while DBFZ will receive a rollback netcode update, the game itself will not be receiving any new content. That, paired with CEO Minoru Kidooka confirming that the company wants to more actively pursue IP collaborations, has fans excited for what could come. 

You can expect more amazing mockups like Helio’s to pop up in the meantime while fans await whatever ArcSys is working on beyond DNF Duel and Guilty Gear Strive. Or until Bandai announces something on its own terms regarding a new One Piece fighting game.