Month: December 2016

The newest installment of the Vs. series, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, is causing a bit of controversy amongst the hardcore fanbase, due to the removal of the signature Assist mechanic, something that hasn’t been absent since 1996’s X-Men vs. Street Fighter. VesperArcade has decided to look back on the history and evolution of this mechanic alongside veteran Marvel player Detrimantix, who may be remembered for his 17th-place finish in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at EVO 2011.

The Assist mechanic was first introduced in the second game of the Vs. series, 1997’s Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. During the course of a match, as long as you were on the ground, you could call in your inactive secondary character to perform a pre-programmed attack. During this time, your point character would be stuck in their Taunt animation, unable to move until the animation completed.

Detrimantix described the system as “primitive” and “something they were just testing the waters with at the time.” As far as the meta, “people just played the characters they wanted, and whatever happened happened,” although in later years players would discover greater depth with the new system, despite the fact that some of the trap and lockdown setups the series would later become infamous for weren’t possible yet.

However, in 1998’s Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, the Assist system would be revamped completely, as rather than calling in either of your team members to perform an attack, players would be granted one of 22 “Special Partners,” such as Thor, Psylocke, Colossus and Devilotte, who would be randomly selected–pending a secret code which allowed for choices–before each match began, and would be limited to a set number of uses.

“It opened up a lot of possibilities that weren’t possible in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, but it came at a trade-off,” said Detramantix.

Capcom significantly expanded the presence of Assists in 2000’s Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, by expanding to 3-character teams, who had 3 Assists to choose from, with each Assist having its own button, as opposed to using the Medium buttons, as well as no limitations on calls, which gave birth to more intricate gameplay styles, such as Spiral trap teams and MorriDoom’s oppressive zoning in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. This also lead to the practice of certain characters, such as Psylocke, Captain Commando and Tron Bonne, who were pretty poor on point, getting chosen solely for their powerful Assists, something the developers are looking to remove in MvCI.

That brings us to 2011’s Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. With a stronger emphasis on ground bounces, wall bounces and OTGs, Assists were modified to compensate, such as Albert Wesker having both an OTG and a wall bounce Assist. Assists were also more vulnerable, making “Happy Birthdays” more common than in past games, along with using both in a single combo, leading to the “touch of death” situations we’ve become familiar with. You can catch the video below.

What are your thoughts on how the Assist mechanic has been implemented over the years? Let us know in the Comments.

Source: VesperArcade

Despite the Super Smash Bros. series being featured in tournaments alongside traditional fighting game franchises like Street Fighter and Tekken, there are still people in the fighting game community that believe Smash is not a “real” fighting game. Though there are obvious ways in which Super Smash Bros. does not fit the mold of a “traditional” fighting game, it is not uncommon to hear Smash players argue that getting good at Smash requires the same amount of dedication and mental dexterity as it does to heighten your skill level in any other fighter–if not more so!

Smash Central has released a video in support of the aforementioned argument to YouTube, entitled “Is Smash Bros. a REAL Fighting Game?” In the video, they admit that there are many aspects of Super Smash Bros. that are definitely  nontraditional, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fighting game. He argues that every fighting game has its own unique attributes, and there are more similarities between Super Smash Bros. titles and other fighting games than there are differences.

You may not agree with everything Smash Central says, but they make some pretty sound points. You can watch the video below to hear the full stance.

Source: Smash Central

Ibuki has long been a character known for her ambigious setups, and most notorious for her vortex potential in the Street Fighter IV series. In Street Fighter V, it seems like old habits die hard, as Ibuki still has insanely ambiguous setups–and potent damage potential off of them.

Here are a couple of videos that better flesh out how lethal she can be off her setups. In this first video, watch the usage of her forward roundhouse in order to create these dirty left/right mixups that are difficult to react to on the fly. These setups can be used in a variety of situations.

In this second video–which is actually the first in this series, but does better here as the last one–we find a corner only setup. This one also requires the use of at least 4 kunai, which makes management of this resource of the essence for Ibuki mains.

Source: RnK Clan