You can't design a game in which every move can combo into another. You would have infinites out the ass until that bullshyt fatigue meter you made up comes into play.
Also no matter how many different ways a game has to create combos eventually the top combos will be discovered and people would use those exclusively. Why mix it up just for show? I'm trying to win so I'm going to use the most damaging combos I can reliably pull off. Your system doesn't stop that.
wait wait, lets address the first point. you said you could have infinite combos.
not true. and its not just due to the fatigue/stamina meter(that you have in sports games).
but in real life martial arts. lets keep it simple. or real life boxing.
if you throw lets say a right over head hook. whats the counter? there are more then one. one is a left jab to the head right underneath the hook you're throwing. if you're quick enough. you can throw a right jab to the head while move away from the hook and moving towards the otherside of the guys face. leaning and punching at the same time(that will take off some power of your punch but still a decent counter if you're athletic enough. then there's the body punches you could throw while that hook is in the air.
if you're quick enough, depending on the guys chin, body being able to take a punch, your strength, the angle you're swinging from. are you balanced are you leaning into it. or are you facing away. are you on your toes, etc. that will change the amt of power vs how quickly you throw said counters.
now why am i discussing counters? because counters can cut off an infinite combo. you start smacking me up something nice right hook left jab, body body, right hook, kick, etc.
lets say i duck the first swing. then block low. well if your next hit is a head shot thats coming from the top down. i'm in trouble. but if i'm smart enough to realize. i dont have to necessarily block low after ducking the first hook. i could duck, then crouch and crack you in the gut. depending on my strength, that could push you back just enough to stop the rest of that combo. even if you hit me with a few shots.
i'm also all for them monitoring body damage. you see how they show us now how the player looks all beat up. thats cute. but thats OLD. by now the body damage you see should effect the persons speed, strength.
if you keep blocking my hits. i want your arms to hurt to the point where when its time for you to swing. you cant swing as fast, you cant hit me as hard. but thats the decision you have made when going up against grundy, etc. perhaps.
then if you bring in that stamina meter. a big boy like say grundy cant be throwing the wild haymakers at you all game long without consequences. which start with stamina. the more combos or attempts you throw at me. the more tired he becomes. the more tired you are, the slower you move. now you're more open to getting countered. the more tired you are the more you are susceptible to getting hurt more with the same shot that would have hurt you less if you were not fatigued.
then to add to all that. any of your what i call mini super moves, for instance if you have a gun you dont have unlmited bullets. if you keep shooting, you will run out. then you will have to fight with your other gagdets.
batman even in the cartoons, comics, and on the tv show use to run out of some of the stuff in his belt. he would then go to something else in his belt. and he's mr gagdets. so what about those who have one weapon?
i'll take it a step further. weapons should be abled to be knocked out of your hand(thats old school as well, some games use to do this). sure you can pick it up. but to go pick it up will put you in danger of getting your a... whooped. lol.
at the same time if you're nice with the hands and feet. you can survive with or without your sword. if all you are good at is weaponry. dont lose that weapon. and you have to defend against that attack. which will leave you open to other attacks.
prime example. Ares throws his weapon. that thing should get stuck in the ground and STAY THERE.
just like if i got batgirl and i throw that thing in the air and lets say batman hits me with the ninja stars before i can pull up. i should fall off and my thing be stuck connected to something. now i dont have it to use. until i jump up and grab it down. doing so will leave me open to getting my a.. handed to me.
or i better be nice with the hands and feet.
again yall are just use to this stale way of fighting games. these games have not changed in Decades. yall shouldnt stand for that.
imagine if they implemented everything i just stated. which is in other games just not in the same game all at once. nothing i said is ground breaking. so it can be done.
imagine a fighting game with characters with super powers and weapons. that kind of game would have so many different scenarios that you would never get board with it. because how someone would beat the snot out of you would be different every time. right now its only a couple of ways you lose. you lose to a ranger, you lose to a rusher. you lose to a combo king. very rarely do you lose to someone who is just nice with the hands/feet, that knows when to use the weaponry, that knows some combos, but also knows how to defend him/herself as well as know when to move out of the way, and then knows when to hit you with the mini supers are real super.
most guys are all of one of those things not many. and its because the game is setup where its most effective to be a combo king and nothing else. your defense isnt really defense. its crouch low and walk backwards even though you are actually walking in place once your reach the end of the screen. that should not be possible. they should have spikes back there. or some people around in a crowd that will push you back into the fight. its one thing to retreat its another to use a glitch like walking in place to stop certain moves. thats not how those moves should have to be countered. its like i need an exploit to stop your exploit. that should not be the case. i should have to use better fighting technique to counter your fighting technique.
back to the can you have combos like that. you are correct just allowing crazy combos from one to another would never end. thats why you make it somewhat realistic. to throw a hook takes lets say 1.5 frames, to throw a jab takes 1.0 frame(quicker but not as strong of a hit). they already do this.
to go from a jab with the left hand, into a round house where your pivot foot is your left foot, would go quicker then if you thru a right jab, then use the same left foot as your pivot foot. why because truthfully using a left jab and using your left foot as your pivot to do a round house where your kicking foot is your right foot is much quicker to get into, then using your right jab first. its just realistic physics. certain real life combos work faster because of what you start with and what you use next. sure anything is a combo. but all combos are not created equal. meaning you cant move as quickly from one move to the next.
as long as they have the frame lengths proper for each single move and the inbetween transition from one to another. the combos would only be infinite aside from the stamina bar is if the other person just sucked and the guy giving you the good is that good with his choices of moves from one to another.