Bushido Blade didn't have life bars. Didn't have good graphics or control either. So I couldn't appreciate it. I dunno about the whole "size of a small city" thing, but I get what you're talking about. It'd be nice if it weren't limited to a pre-arranged "arena area". I hear Street Fighter's supposed to make its 4th iteration. I was also told its to be in 3D? This scares me. It didn't fare well in 3D. I've never liked a 3D Capcom game anyway...

I gotta say though, your idea of the perfect fighting game sounds more like an action game with tons of boss fights or something. Will we do away with tiers and just move around this small city looking for the next fight :]