The Top 10 In-Game Announcers
Many competitive games, and even some non-competitive games, give us some sort of disembodied voice to pair with our gameplay and drive the stakes just a little higher Some embrace the environment of the source material, aiming to be a seamless addition to the match and others opt in for excess octane for maximum excitement levels. These are the best personalities to ever grace the gameplay they’ve found themselves to work with. “Let’s Rock!”
10. Cuphead – Voiced by Luke de Ayora
When conversations about video games with unique art styles come up it’s almost a sure-fire thing that dialogue regarding Cuphead will come up. he discussion will start and stop at the character and world design, which draw inspiration from 1940’s and 50’s cartoons, with a little talk on the side about Cuphead’s lovely music. This conversation will not take that route. I aim to bring attention to someone’s delivery that only adds to that atmosphere of old-timey animation.
Cuphead’s announcer has one of the most important roles in the game: the voice. Outside of the various cries from the bosses and enemies, Luke de Ayora’s voicework in Cuphead is what echoes in everyone’s memories of the game. Whether it’s the line, “A brawl is surely brewing” or just that quick “Begin,” it’s that authoritative call to urgency that sticks throughout the entire game. The announcer’s voice sounds like he’s shouting at a vintage microphone that was discarded from a boxing ring and all of the audio is getting artifacted through an old box television. In other words, it’s perfect. My only gripe is that the lines rarely change and after a couple fights you’ve heard them all.
9. Civilization V – Voiced by William Morgan Sheppard
Sometimes a competition isn’t a constant visible fight. Sometimes it’s a group of people silently plotting out their productions and research in Civilization V. Sure, Civilization doesn’t get much representation in terms of competitive gaming, but it only takes maybe one or two play sessions to realize how contentious Civilization can make a group of friends. The biggest difference is how the game presents itself in comparison to tiles like Street Fighter or League of Legends. There is no constant war (though wars do exists, cold and combative), it’s all strategy. In this environment, Civilization takes a different approach to its announcer. It’s not some overly hyped shoutcaster reacting to a sudden play, it’s instead a warm narration by William Morgan Sheppard.
I welcome this dynamic change of announcing coming from mostly playing fighting and FPS games. Each time I make an advancement of technology or discover a new tech in research, Sheppard greets me with a quote or quip from famous texts by authors and artisans related to what was created. Some of my favorites come from when a great artist creates a great work and are treated to maybe a piece of music paired with a line from “Art of War.” Civilization V provides an announcer that makes me feel like Simba learning from Mufasa’s fountain of wisdom, and I will absolutely spam world wonders to continue that dialogue.
8. Halo – Voiced by Jeff Steitzer
I have many fond memories of walking home after school with a group of friends, each of us picking up our Xbox 360s, and meeting up at our friend’s house to system link in the living room and play Halo all day. It was a ritual we performed multiple times every week and I still hold those memories close to my heart. Walking up to my friends’s front door and hearing that confident “Killtacular” pierce through the doorbell was a beautiful sign that we were gonna have a good time. Jeff Seitzer’s delivery for each line is among the most iconic in shooters and well known to those who haven’t even picked up the game.
7. NBA Jam – Voiced by Tim Kitzrow
I mean, do I even need to introduce this game? NBA Jam was big around the golden age of arcades, back when Midway was a name every quarter warrior knew. Every arcade was a maelstrom of video game noises and flashing lights and for a game to compete in that environment it needed something to catch the attention of a pocket full of quarters. All NBA Jam needed was its iconic backboard shattering Boom-shacka-lacka to turn heads and eat the hours away. I’d be lying if I said that I knew any other lines from Tim Kitzrow because there was no need for anything else. Just one line, one delivery, one shot, to make that impact.
6. Capcom Vs SNK 2 – Voiced by Hiroaki Asai
Another game among the hall-of-arcade fame, Capcom Vs SNK 2 was probably the most popular game at the arcade I would frequent back in the day. Those classic lines of “Live and Let Die, Fight” and “This battle is about to explode” being yelled by Hiroaki Asai as “This is True Love We’re Makin’ is playing in the background is a perfect representation of the arcade scene I will never stop missing. It has been this sort of energy that keeps this game alive in fighting game tournaments even a decade after it had released. It truly is Millionaire Fighting.
5. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 – voiced by Joji Nakata
This is the wild, wild west of fighting games. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is another line in Arc System Works’ chorus about how untouchable they are in defining a “look” and excelling in its execution. Guilty Gear is home to a load of mechanics native to the series like the roman cancel system that allows a player to spend meter to cancel an action and one of my love/hate mechanics, Danger Time which occurs when both players clash an attack button and cause the game to enter into a most volatile environment. Joji Nataka’s delivery in lines like “Heaven or Hell, Duel One, Let’s Rock” and the passing “Counter” keeps with the tone that Guilty Gear takes itself serious and is completely ridiculous. One of my favorite interactions possible in the game is causing Danger Time to activate as Sol Badguy and making the announcer roar as I Dragon Install for maximum hype.
4. Street Fighter III 3rd Strike – Voiced by Infinite
How many times can you say that the person announcing the fight is the same person that created the soundtrack for the game? To my knowledge only once, and that is the genre defining Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Home to one of the best soundtracks in fighting games and the famous “Daigo Full Parry”, 3rd Strike is that sort of outlaw funk that is mirrored in its gameplay by its announcer, Infinite. The man is beyond smooth, and hearing “Into the heat of battle, go for it” in the middle of an arcade always gets me feeling that sort of way. There’s always an extra call to action hearing the “Let’s Go” when I stun my opponent and getting the percussive feedback of “KO” is a consistent delight.
3. Destiny 2 – Lord Shaxx voiced by Lennie James
Destiny 2’s Crucible is not too dissimilar to objective based FPS games. The biggest difference being that gunplay is closer to Borderlands and you play as a Guardian with magical powers provided by a floating sphere called “The Traveler”. Now who better to announce a competition in that environment than the legendary Titan that created the Crucible in the first place, Lord Shaxx?
Lord Shaxx is the sort of person who would greet me at the gates of Valhalla after I get struck down by a Striker Titan’s bolt of lighting and thrust my smoking Exo body back into the fight yelling “Get back in there Warlock.” Some of the best lines in all of Destiny 2 come from Shaxx in the Crucible. Among my favorites are “What do you mean you can’t concentrate when I’m yelling?” and “What do you think ‘Heavy ammo available’ means, Guardian? Tell me because I don’t think you know!” Lennie James’ delivery in each of these lines sell just how bombastic the character is and always adds even more flavor to Destiny’s Crucible than there already is. The lines never get old and I look forward to the next time I get to hear the man yell “YESSSSSSSSS!” as I smoke a Voidwalker Hunter with a volley from my Wardcliff Coil.
2. Skullgirls 2nd Encore – Voiced by Cristina Valenzuela
“Believe in the announcer that believes in you!” Skullgirls is a personal favorite of mine and a lot of that is thanks to its’ Versus style gameplay and damn near undefeated art style. From title screen to credits, the personality oozes from the game in a spectacular fashion. Cristina Valenzuela’s voice work for Skullgirls is one of the most unique and fun personalities that exists in a video game. There are multiple references to other games like Capcom Vs. SNK 2 with the lines “This is tuna with bacon!” and “This is true love we’re making!” which is hilarious and adorable. There are lines for when the game is paused, for when a match gets unpaused, for character or stage selects, and of course the round intros and outros. Some are standard like “Gentlemen and Ladies, it’s showtime” and others are just downright random like “MOOOOM, I’m playing video games!”. I love every moment Skullgirls provides and Cristina Valenzuela’s work is one of the best in the industry.
1. Killer Instinct (2013) – Voiced by Mike Willette
Of course a fighting game wins in this list. Was there any doubt? Good announcers help make good fighting games, but a phenomenal announcer? Iron Galaxy’s 2013 reboot of Killer Instinct is a gem that I could talk in detail about, but that’s not why I am here. I’m here to talk about quite possibly the best voice work anyone has done as an in-game announcer.
Mike Willette’s voice is synonymous with Killer Instinct and I don’t know if they are many people that can’t recall that visceral “COMBO BREAKER!” when they see Jago or Spinal duking it out to some classic heavy metal. The way his lines are delivered is perfect for the speed and feel of Killer Instinct, especially if a combo breaker makes the difference between a win or a loss and even more so if a shadow counter destroys any hopes of a comeback. There is never a shortage of energy and all the announcer cares about is the next bat shit thing to happen in the match. Bring on the “god combos”, unleash those instincts, and most importantly, end each possible round in an “ULTRAAAAAAA COMBOOOOOOO!!!”
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