An Evo 2022 Dragon Ball FighterZ match exploded with excitement after pro players quit a match to reawaken its crowd with the iconic Cell Yell.
Players and Evo 2022 viewers had their power levels recharged during this weekend's Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament when two pro players restarted a match to replay Cell's intro, causing the vast crowd to yell in unison. The annual Evolution Championship Series (Evo) was held in Las Vegas this past weekend, hosting some of the most talented gamers against one another in the world-famous tournament. Competitive fighting games are the event's primary focus, often seeing top players winning thousands of dollars in prize money.
Popular long-running fighting game franchises like Street Fighter, Tekken, Guilty Gear, and Mortal Kombat are only a few of the highly competitive games featured at Evo 2022. However, Nintendo's famous platform fighter Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, was absent from this year's Evo tournament due to the event's recent acquisition by PlayStation. Warner Bros. MultiVersus attempting to take its place with one of the largest prize pools the event has seen yet. However, the beloved anime fighter Dragon Ball FighterZ also hosted a massive crowd at this past weekend's pro gaming tournament. The game provided what many would call the most exciting moment of the weekend's anticipated event.
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Pro Dragon Ball FighterZ players LegendaryyPred and Shanks shocked a late-night Evo 2022 audience when one of them accidentally skipped Cell's fan-favorite intro. The mistake caused the room full of hundreds of viewers to boo, resulting in the players quickly returning to the character select screen, which has expanded greatly after FighterZ's three DLC packs. Once the opening re-started, almost every fan in the room reenacted the iconic "Cell Yell" as one powerful sound. The exciting and striking human moment of comradery reported by Kotaku can be seen and heard below, thanks to Twitter user shreeder4092 posting the clip from Saturday's late-night match. While the tournament is no stranger to exciting moments, this FighterZ tradition successfully got the crowd fully revitalized.
The iconic Cell Yell first started when tournament crowds made the character's intro iconic by matching Cell's powering-up yell with their own. This resulted in huge groups of fans coming together to match the shout whenever a pro player chose the DBZ villain. While there has been no official word on a new Dragon Ball fighting game in development, the Evo tournaments continue to grow after a troubled couple of years. Many popular conventions were canceled or postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Evo event also had some significant setbacks after a dramatic shift in leadership. Sony Interactive Entertainment now owns the pro gaming event, which has several players worried that non-Sony games may have a tough time being included in the following tournaments.
Besides exciting battles featuring the world's most talented fighting game players, developers also like to tease upcoming projects during the event. During a Tekken showcase, a short clip of a classic cutscene ended with a newly rendered clip shown at Evo 2022 teasing what Tekken 8 may look like with the words "Get Ready" to fire up the onlooking crowd. While not everyone is a fan of fighting games that require quick reflexes and a deep knowledge of gameplay mechanics, it's difficult not to get swept up in the emotions and levels of hype on display when large groups of people are collectively excited to yell and power-up together.
Jason Hon is a Gaming News Writer and the content creator behind the Mega Manga Mondays Podcast and the Comedic Gaming YouTube Channel Honzy and Friends! Within him lies a colossal passion for Gaming, Shonen, and making people smile. He graduated from The Los Angeles Film School and performs improv comedy. He lives with his wife and two cats in Iowa, USA.