History Main / ThreeRoundDeathmatch

* Justified in ''VideoGame/FatalFury 2'' and later games in the series - the first time a character loses a round, they get back to their knees and gasp for breath while the game tallies the round bonus. It's only when the match point is lost that they get knocked out. Notably, some of them even try to get back up only to fall over again (e.g. Krauser, Yamazaki, Jin Chonrei).

* The UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}-only ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown: Warriors Rage'' features a different spin: both characters start with a three-segmented health bar colored green. Once the green bar is depleted, one segment gets slashed off and it turns yellow. Deplete it again and the second segment is removed, the winning character utters a quick quote, and the opponent is given a small health bar that flashes red. Deplete that one and the match ends.
* After playing it straight for four generations, ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive 5'' finally subverts it. Defeated characters are visibly still semi-conscious, and shown on the ground woozily holding their head or propping themselves up even on a match point. Story fights only go for one round, and arcade modes are [[ExcusePlot ostensibly]] an organized tournament where fighters would be allowed to recover between rounds.

* Likewise with the first ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fighting game, ''Immaterial and Missing Power''. Both players get a second to position themselves after a "knockdown" but there's no reset. This fits well with the single player story mode, where all of your opponents will have multiple stages anyway.

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* The UsefulNotes/{{Sony PlayStation}}-only ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown: Warriors Rage'' features a different spin: both characters start with a three-segmented health bar colored green. Once the green bar is depleted, one segment gets slashed off and it turns yellow. Deplete it again and the second segment is removed, the winning character utters a quick quote, and the opponent is given a small health bar that flashes red. Deplete that one and the match ends.

* ''VideoGame/PrimalRage'' gives you a choice of one, three or five rounds.

* Examples of the "team battle" aversion include ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' (since the first game), ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' [[VideoGame/CapcomVsWhatever and]] ''[[VideoGame/SNKVsCapcom Capcom vs. SNK]]''. ''[=KoF=]'' and ''[=CvS=]'' end rounds whenever a fighter falls so a fight can be as short as one round (in ''Capcom vs. SNK 2'' if your opponent only opted to use one ratio 4 character) or as many as seven (in ''[=KoF=] 2001'' if neither you or your opponent opted to use Striker characters and battled to the final character on each team). The tag-team gameplay of the ''[=MvC=]'' games (and by extension ''Tatsunoko vs. Capcom'') are isolated to single-round, "last team standing" format (''[=KoF=] 2003'' and ''XI'' also use this format).

** Not quite; we have to mention the JustForFun/{{egregious}} example of ''MortalKombat Deception'' and ''Armageddon''; MK, being a fond believer of this trope already, took it to the ludicrous extreme when they added in {{death trap}}s, which ''killed your opponent instantly'' if you threw them into it...but if you haven't ''won'' the Three Round Deathmatch, the next round starts with the opponent suddenly un-deadified and back to full health.
*** Although there is a slight aversion in the ''MortalKombat'' (and many others) series in that you can only perform signature Fatality and such moves at the end of the match-winning round.

This term pops up in ProWrestling, where "deathmatch" typically just means no disqualifications.

** Not quite; we have to mention the {{egregious}} example of ''MortalKombat Deception'' and ''Armageddon''; MK, being a fond believer of this trope already, took it to the ludicrous extreme when they added in {{death trap}}s, which ''killed your opponent instantly'' if you threw them into it...but if you haven't ''won'' the Three Round Deathmatch, the next round starts with the opponent suddenly un-deadified and back to full health.

** Let's be honest, ''[[FuunSeries Kizuna Tag Encounter]]'' was [[OlderThanTheyThink Urier-than-thou]] in this case. And yes, you're still screwed, should only you lose ONE fighter.

* Likewise with the first ''{{Touhou}}'' fighting game, ''Immaterial and Missing Power''. Both players get a second to position themselves after a "knockdown" but there's no reset. This fits well with the single player story mode, where all of your opponents will have multiple stages anyway.

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* ''PrimalRage'' gives you a choice of one, three or five rounds.
* Justified in ''TheLastBlade'', where the opponent sits up and recovers after the first loss, only going down (or dying) when the match point is scored.

** The same applies for ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', [[BloodierAndGorier only moreso]]. In addition, when a round ends, the defeated character gets back to their feet (some even have special ways to do so - Noob Saibot, for example, drops himself through one of his portals and lands upright) to start the next round.
* ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' uses a variant. Each character gets two life meters. When the first runs out, the character stands back up, the two face off, and the battle continues.

* Examples of the "team battle" aversion include ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' (since the first game), ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' [[CapcomVsWhatever and]] ''[[SNKVsCapcom Capcom vs. SNK]]''. ''[=KoF=]'' and ''[=CvS=]'' end rounds whenever a fighter falls so a fight can be as short as one round (in ''Capcom vs. SNK 2'' if your opponent only opted to use one ratio 4 character) or as many as seven (in ''[=KoF=] 2001'' if neither you or your opponent opted to use Striker characters and battled to the final character on each team). The tag-team gameplay of the ''[=MvC=]'' games (and by extension ''Tatsunoko vs. Capcom'') are isolated to single-round, "last team standing" format (''[=KoF=] 2003'' and ''XI'' also use this format).