Apart from their charge-back cannonball and button-mash specials, Honda and Blanka share a number of core design similarities. They both have long-range, high-damage normals with just enough frame advantage to get by. Both are bound by slow dashes. Neither can chain light attacks. Neither can combo into lvl2 EX Focus Attack or perform any FADC ground combos without counterhit. It’s no surprise that their basic combos follow the same blueprints.

0:11 Dhalsim’s vertical j.LP reaches into the last active frame of HP Electric Thunder. Blanka recovers in time to whiff HP Rolling Attack and juggle with LP Ground Shave Roll. The super command is delayed to reuse the same charge. This trick is easier to duplicate near the corner, because the Rolling Attack recovers much quicker. Unfortunately, Ground Shave Roll also stops instantly upon reaching the corner. Since Blanka automatically starts rolling on contact, it’s impossible to land more than one hit when starting all the way in the corner.

0:18 There are two components to pushback in SF4. Pressing a button expands the attacker’s hitbox to a specific size. If the opponent is standing at point blank range, that expansion pushes them back before the attack even connects. Take a look at Rufus’ c.HP for an extreme example. The second component is of course the pushback caused the strike itself. In this clip, Gouken’s EX Senkugoshoha thrust counteracts Blanka’s s.HK pre-impact pushback, in addition to acting as a counterhit meaty setup. Then the end flip of Blanka’s close s.HK pushes off against the corner. Combined, these two factors eliminate both components of s.HK pushback in the first combo. The second combo doesn’t have the advantage of Blanka being cornered because he needs the corner to juggle MP Ground Shave Roll after HP Electric Thunder.

0:27 Normally crossups are bad for combos in SF4, because they cause opponents to lean backward, which expands their hitbox in that direction and prevents you from getting in close. However, Blanka’s close s.MP causes so much pre-impact pushback that crossup j.HP doesn’t make a difference. It would’ve pushed the dummy that far away regardless. Blanka is usually not a good combo target but he does have a wide low hitbox, which is enough for something.

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And here is the second video premiered at Evo2k10, prior to SSF4 finals on July 11th, 2010! It’s basically a straightforward combo exhibition, except the main theme is “stylish combos.” It’s hard to define what exactly it means for a combo to be stylish, but i’m sure everyone has used that word to describe one at some point.

Instead of covering every minor detail and pointing out every subtle style element, the following transcript will highlight one or two technical aspects per combo. If any questions remain unanswered, please don’t hesitate to ask them.

0:02 SFA Ken / SFA3 X-Cody / SFA2 Sakura / SFA3 A-Guy varied chain sequence kicks off the video and marks the beginning of the first chapter.

0:18 SF3:2I Ryu’s fully charged Denjin Hadoken is interrupted using Oro’s s.LP to set up a jump-in. Ryu’s EX Hurricane Kick fails to knock opponents away under certain circumstances.

0:23 SFA3 A-Vega’s LP Rolling Crystal Flash lobs one of Blanka’s watermelons, connecting right as Vega recovers. Blanka flashes red at ever hit, indicating that he’s mashing tech inputs.

0:29 SF2WW Zangief’s Lariat backspin catches CPU Vega’s arm and swings back to dizzy him. While dizzy, WW Vega can be OTG’d following any knockdown.

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This is the first video premiered at Evo2k10, before HDR finals on July 11th, 2010! The whole concept is projectiles interacting in elaborate and interesting ways. We tried to avoid inflicting damage to the characters, but sometimes we allowed them to get hit for dramatic effect.

Since the majority of these choreographed sequences are intuitive by design, it’s probably best to simplify the write-up by providing technical breakdowns only for the confusing parts.

0:07 SF3:3S Chun Li’s Kikou-sho acts as a stationary projectile, lasting long enough to wipe out Remy’s entire Light of Justice array.

0:10 CFE Demitri initiates this sequence by sending an ES Chaos Flare through Pyron’s LP Sol Smasher, establishing the numerical discrepancy perpetuated until the end.

0:12 SFA2 Ryus mix CC LP Hadokens and lvl1 Shinku Hadokens to create the illusion of chaos.

0:15 CvS Terry’s lvl1 Power Geyser and Kyo’s lvl1 Orochi Nagi both behave like standard single-hit projectiles, nullifying one another cleanly.

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Vega has all the requisite combo limitations of a non-fireball character. He’s got a few stylish juggle sequences, but not much else. Sakura has one of the worst fireballs in the game, but it still adds variety to her combo openings and allows her to land lvl2 Focus Attacks. Otherwise her LK Shunpukyaku loops would dominate her combo options even more.

0:11 Vega’s Rolling Izuna Drop super is a true throw, so crumple stun is obviously the only way to combo it. Vega must stand close to the corner to minimize his Flying Barcelona Special’s startup time after Viper’s s.LK trades with his lvl3 Focus Attack. Otherwise she’ll drop out of reach before he can get there. Vega actually manages to get behind her here, initiating the grab going left to right. HK Flying Barcelona Special and HP Rolling Izuna Drop versions were used, but i don’t think it makes any difference.

0:20 The rising hit of Vega’s EX Flying Barcelona Attack creates a one-time free juggle state. Trading with Chun Li’s backward j.LP gives him plenty of time to recover and follow up with the last active frame of EX Scarlet Terror, putting her in standard knockdown state. Then Vega has just barely enough time to connect EX Sky High Claw off the opposite wall midscreen, due to its juggle potential of one.

0:27 The trick to this combo is starting out with ample space between the two characters. After Vega’s lvl3 Focus Attack trades with Cammy’s s.LK, the next lvl3 Focus Attack brings the edge of the screen closer to Vega’s back than it would’ve with Vega and Cammy standing right next to each other. This minimizes the startup time of Vega’s Bloody High Claw ultra. Of course i also tried going off the opposite wall behind Cammy, but that idea wasn’t even close to working; at least not midscreen.

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Despite apperances, M.Bison and Akuma both obey strict combo limitations. Neither character has much that could be considered an x-factor, apart from Akuma’s strange Shakunetsu Hadoken juggle behavior and Bison’s interrupted ultra. As a result, most of these combos contain only one interesting detail. Still, this episode turned out better than i expected.

0:11 Bison’s EX Head Press slams grounded opponents straight down, but acts as a standard knockdown on air hit. Cammy is considered airborne during the last stage of lvl2 Focus Attack crumple fall, with her hitbox as low to the ground as possible. EX Head Press connects deep enough to follow up with EX Somersault Skull Diver, which has a juggle potential of one. Unfortunately he needs to float forward to reach her, making it impossible to charge for ultra.

0:19 Bison’s lvl3 Focus Attack trades with Dhalsim’s vertical j.LP, creating enough elevation to allow for F+PPP Bison Warp and lvl1 Focus Attack startup. There’s plenty of time to charge before backdashing, and then the LK Knee Press Nightmare input is executed slowly to outlast the backdash. It would’ve been possible to juggle Bison’s ultra after forward dash, but it’s far too slow to connect after backdash under these circumstances.

0:27 With the right corner spacing, Bison’s HK Head Press can trade with Gen’s HP Zan’ei and result in Bison landing behind Gen. This setup pulls Gen closer to Bison instead of pushing him away. Light attacks combo into MK Scissor Kick but not HK Scissor Kick, so the MK version is used both times. The c.LK -> s.LP link requires c.LK to land meaty, which it does at far range due to Gen’s c.LP hit stun. The rest is straightforward, with a focus on variety. I had to get rid of the First Attack message using a single hit of Gen’s LP Hyakurenko, because there was no other way to avoid it and it looked terrible. This combo deals 391 damage and 565 stun.

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