BASics
The main objective or goal for most fighting games is to completely deplete your opponent's health bar while sustaining your own character's health bar. As you perform attacks or get hit, you gain a resource called meter that you can use to perform stronger moves called "EX moves" and "Special moves". Every character has different EX moves and Special moves, so it's up to the player to learn them.
The health bars are indicated by the red ovals, and the meter bars are indicated by the blue ovals.
Movement
There are eight directions in which you can move a character using a fightstick or directional pad. You can move the character forward, backward, up, down, up-forward, up-backward, down-forward, and down-backward. Moving the joystick forward will make the character walk forward. Moving the joystick backward will make the character walk backward or block. Moving the joystick up will cause the character to jump up. Moving the joystick down will cause the character to crouch. Moving the joystick up-forward will cause the character to jump forward. Moving the joystick up-backward will cause the character to jump backward. Moving the joystick down-forward will cause the character to crouch forward. Moving the joystick down-backward will cause the character to crouch backwards or block.
The way you move your character depends on the position of your character in relation to the opposing character. For instance, if your character is on the left, and the opposing character is on the right, moving the joystick right will move your character forward.
The way you move your character depends on the position of your character in relation to the opposing character. For instance, if your character is on the left, and the opposing character is on the right, moving the joystick right will move your character forward.
offense
There are usually four to six attack buttons in most fighting games. For example, in SFIII: Third Strike, there are six attack buttons that consist of: Light Punch (LP), Medium Punch (MP), Heavy Punch (HP), Light Kick (LK), Medium Kick (MK), and Heavy Kick (HK). Using these attack buttons together with different direction inputs will produce different attacks for the character. You can also perform a grab by pressing the LP and LK buttons simultaneously.
Defense
In order to prevent your character from losing excessive amounts of health points, you must block attacks from your opponent. You can simply block attacks by holding backward or down-backward right when your opponent attacks. If your opponent performs a standing attack, you can block by either holding backward or holding down-backward. If your opponent performs a low attack, you must hold down-backward to block the incoming attack. If your opponent performs an overhead attack, you must block high or hold backward to block the attack.
Teching
If your opponent tries to perform a grab on your character, you can negate or "tech" his grab by pressing the grab button (LP + LK) right at the instance he or she tries to grab you.