Author: Franz "d3v" Co

Sega has just dropped a new gameplay trailer for the upcoming console version of Blade Arcus From Shining EX. This preview gives us our first look at Sonia Blanche, the Shining Resonance protagonist who is set to make her debut in this port.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX launches for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on November 26. Sonia will be included free of charge in first-print copies of the game, but it’s likely that she will also show up as purchasable downloadable content.

Source: Sega via Gematsu

The latest public build of Street Fighter V was playable at Canada Cup 2015 this past weekend, allowing a number of top players to get their hands on the game, including recently announced returning character Dhalsim.

RAF was at the event and was able to capture some off-screen footage of these matches. One player that’s featured prominently is PG|Filipino Champ, who, despite focusing more on Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, is also known for having a deadly Dhalsim in Street Fighter IV.

In the two videos below, Filipino Champ goes up against another top player, Tampa Bison, who takes the latest version of his namesake dictator for a spin.

RAF was also able to play a set with Filipino Champ himself.

Speaking of Tampa Bison, the Florida native was also able to play against Capcom’s own Neidel “Haunts” Crisan, who took the chance to show off some of the things that newcomer Laura can do in a real match.

Of course, RAF wasn’t the only person recording footage at the event. Shoryuken forum regular MarLonLonMilk was also at the event and was able to get some footage of  Team Spooky’s Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez taking on Evil Geniuses’ Ricki Ortiz.

MarLonLonMilk also got to play against Ricki in a Chun-Li mirror.

And finally, Tampa Bison shows up once again to take on a couple of challengers.

Street Fighter V is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16.

Sources: RAF, MarLonLonMilk

Street Fighter V’s second beta is done and over with, leaving many of those who rely on these testing sessions to playt the game before release wanting more. While there’s no news on the beta reopening anytime soon, we have the next best thing: footage from our excellent community. Let’s dive in.

First up we have a bunch of videos from ON|Dark Chaotix. In his combo video for Ken, he demonstrates some fancy run cancel into V-Trigger cancel combos that the fiery shoto can perform both at mid-screen and in the corner.

His Karin video, on the other hand, focuses on juggles that are available from the just frame version of her Tenko, a concept Burnout Fighter explored in our previous roundup.

Finally, his Chun-Li video demonstrates a V-Trigger cancel combo that utilizes multiple lightning legs–similar to her loops in Street Fighter IV–and ends with her Critical Art.

UltraTien focuses on Vega in their videos. The first goes over his pokes and specials in both stances and demonstrates some short bread and butter combos, with the second expanding on the strings in the Spaniard’s arsenal.

In his latest combo video, THE COOL KID93 sets his sights on M. Bison, Nash, and Rashid. This footage includes meaty setups, V-Trigger combos, and Crush Counter applications. Interestingly enough, some of the combos and setups are taken from actual match footage, demonstrating their possible practicality.

For those of you looking for some Necalli combos, XxUltimacloudxX has you covered. Their contribution demonstrates multiple combos and setups for the character that all lead into his Critical Art.

ATRyoSakazaki’s video focuses on damage, specifically getting the most damage out of V-Trigger.

And finally, D3mpsey shared a quick tutorial for Rashid that goes over his tools and neutral game while highlighting a number of practical bread and butter combos.

Additionally, the annotations in his video lead to further uploads of Rashid matches versus Necalli, Karin, Ryu, R. Mika, and Nash.

Source: ON|Dark Chaotix, UltraTien, THE COOL KID93, XxUltimacloudxX, ATRyoSakazaki, D3mpsey

Camalange recently shared an interesting video showcasing a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U technique called Platform Bounce Canceling.

Aside from the fact that Sonic can simply bounce off his iconic springs, this trick allows the speedster to cancel his momentum as he touches a platform. Moving to higher platforms to surprise an opponent or escape their offense is a breeze with this in mind.

While it’s generally easier for Sonic to make use of the springs, other characters can utilize this technique as well, as shown in the demonstration below.

You can find more info on what each character has to do to perform this in the video’s description on YouTube.

Source: Camalange, tip via Jouse

Crush Counters are one of the new mechanics being introduced in Street Fighter V. Reminiscent of the special states in many anime fighters as well as Street Fighter Alpha 3, these normals give players huge advantages on counter-hit.

However, this isn’t as simple as it sounds in practice, as certain normals lead to different Crush Counter states – some simply spin the opponent away, while some actually launch them in the air. Additionally, some attacks, like EX reversals, cannot be countered in this way.

To help players get a better grip on Crush Counters, the second episode of Bafael’s primer series focuses entirely on the mechanic. Specifically, he goes over the best punish combos for characters that were playable in the second beta. Please take note that some of these may change in the final build.

More information on each of these combos can be found here.

Source: Bafael

We got our first earful of Street Fighter V’s remixed character themes back in July. Even so, anyone who played the beta over the weekend will be quick to tell you that all the matches were backed by the game’s stage themes with nary a character-inspired song to be found. Those of us hoping to hear themes for the new additions to the roster were sadly out of luck, or so it seemed.

Intrepid data miners from the Street Fighter subreddit did some digging around in the beta files and unearthed some of the songs we’ve been wanting to hear. Specifically, they found the themes for everyone available in the beta with the exception of Rashid and R. Mika, including jams for series newcomer Necalli, as well as the previously released music for Ryu, Ken, Nash, and M. Bison.

The themes themselves show a wide array of styles, from Ken’s guitar heavy theme, Cammy’s dubstep inspired mix, to Karin’s jazzy, horn-driven theme.

For those who want to get a quick listen of all these themes, Jordanm4344 has put them together in the video below.

Sources: Altimor and Jordanm4344 via r/StreetFighter, thanks to Nightmare Stream for the tip.