Monthly Archives: October 2009

God of War II Combo Video

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Back in June of last year, Magnetro and i collaborated on this five-minute combo video for God of War 2, developed by SCEA Santa Monica Studios where a number of oldschool Street Fighter players worked. It’s no surprise then, that many of these combos look like they came straight out of a fighting game.

All of the editing and the vast majority of the clips were performed by Magnetro. Even though we discussed every little detail, i only had time to record three clips: the Barbarian Hammer ToD combo at 0:38, the Spear of Destiny juggle combo at 0:53, and the projectile madness combo at 1:23. It was a lot of fun messing around with GoW2 because Kratos has such an incredible variety of combat abilities and approaches, not to mention a wide selection of enemies to beat up.

Even though i think the combos at 2:56 and 4:07 are absolutely amazing, my favorite clip has got to be the 4:14 crumbling pillars sequence which was cleverly manipulated by activating the Amulet of the Fates to slow time immediately beforehand. Be sure to visit Magnetro’s website for a full transcript explaining all the combos, glitches and extras.

CV Spotlight: Desora’s Super Maniac Techniques

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When all is said and done, Capcom vs SNK 2 is still my favorite combo playground of any video game i’ve ever owned. Unfortunately it’s exceedingly rare to come across any new productions featuring CvS2, so it’s a good day whenever i do find one. This one showed up recently, but apparently it was recorded three years ago.

Capcom vs. SNK2 Super Maniac Techniques

It was edited and uploaded by desora but features gameplay by SAW and Chari as well. Normally i prefer clean editing, but it’s actually pretty cool how he leaves the mistakes in there because it feels more organic. Also in some cases we can see hints as to how the technique was performed, like with Chun Li whiffing DF+HK before she kattobi cancels it into CC activation on the second try.

The highlight of the video is at 2:01, where A-Chun Li sets up a crazy backwards stomp juggle CC midscreen. A-Dhalsim’s stylish drill CC at 0:42 is fun to watch too. There’s even a cool full-stage A-Geese CC at 1:22, ending with a Raging Storm which actually knocks his opponent out of the corner. Though the best part may be the ending, where we see eight different things that could’ve gone wrong in a C-Sagat combo which seemed very basic when shown only seconds prior.

What Is Zoning?

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Zoning means acquiring and maintaining certain positions on the screen favorable to your character’s arsenal but disadvantageous and restrictive to your opponent. Rushdown, footsies, turtling, runaway, and all other major categories of tactical gameplans employed by fighting game players involve some aspect of zoning.

In some cases, these areas occupy enormous chunks of the screen. For example, take almost any Street Fighter character and draw an imaginary vertical line 1/3 screen distance away from their foot. If you put Dhalsim anywhere in the remaining 2/3 of the screen, he’s automatically got a significant advantage that you’ll need to overcome in order to hurt him.

Conversely, if you put Zangief anywhere within that same 2/3 area, he’s automatically got a significant disadvantage that you’ll want to preserve. Of course if Zangief finds his way into your nearby 1/3 zone without leaving the ground, suddenly he becomes quite scary.

In other cases, these areas can overlap in complex and subtle arrangements. For instance, Guile is generally dominant from long distance because he can throw Sonic Booms at will, and your opponent has to take risks to deal with them. If your opponent somehow reaches point blank range while carrying momentum, Guile’s in trouble.

However, the interval between these extremes is actually reversed. Guile has an advantage when your opponent is a few steps away as long as Guile’s still within c.MK range. That’s Guile’s best poke and it pushes opponents away when it connects, enabling you to throw Sonic Booms again. However if your opponent stays a few pixels outside of Guile’s c.MK range, that poke becomes unsafe, severely limiting Guile’s options. Therefore the entire strategic playfield looks like a fuzzy checkerboard.

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Weekly Screenshot: Dodgeball Zero 2 Alpha

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Same deal as last time. Whoever comes up with the best title gets to pick the next SF4 Biweekly TACV character. Like before, the rules are one entry per person and i’ll choose my favorite on Monday. Please try not to suggest anything offensive.

sfz2aj-sakura-bison-01

SFZ2A Sakura’s lvl3 Shinkuu Hadoken immediately after superfreeze against M.Bison’s HP Psycho Shot startup. Those soldiers in the background salute whenever Bison comes near.

SF4 Biweekly TACV 01: Ryu

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Alright here’s the deal. For reasons unknown, nobody has stepped up to explore the SF4 combo engine to its fullest potential. Usually by now someone in Japan would’ve broken it wide open, but i’ve seen nothing particularly impressive thus far.

So to get the ball rolling, i’m going to be posting some SF4 combo clips recorded with programmable controllers, Sai-Rec style. Except i won’t be working on any comprehensive SF4 combo project in the meantime, so what you see is what you get.

0:11 The first hit of Ryu’s j.MP creates a free juggle state every time, so if you can avoid connecting the second hit, you can follow up with anything. Dhalsim’s j.LP is a useful setup because it allows you to hit him at the top of his arc from the end of yours. It would’ve been nice to juggle with a Focus Attack but it’s too slow, so i went with Ryu’s c.HK instead. Juggling sweeps is always cool.

0:17 Same setup as before, except with a flashier finish. Using the slow LP version of Shinkuu Hadoken gives Ryu enough time to recover and connect Metsu Hadoken midscreen. There aren’t too many chances to use supers in SF4 combos because FADCs are such a big deal.

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