A great deal of Phoenix Wright footage has surfaced in recent months, some of it practical and some of it anything but. The importance of knowing lengthy, high-damage combos as well as multiple paths to get them started can’t be stressed enough. It’s important to keep some of the more impractical tactics available to your character of choice in the back of your mind for when certain scenarios arise, but sometimes you just need some solid bread and butters to get you through the match.
With this in mind, Aonien has compiled a collection of combos that will come in handy during nearly every match and can be used in a variety of situations. You’ll learn plenty of ways to follow-up after an air grab (one even offers an opportunity to collect a great deal of evidence), how to hit-confirm into an Objection! for when you’re ready to enter Turnabout Mode, and some simple strings to take advantage of that mode once you start pointing fingers.
Whether this is your first time taking opponents to court or if you’ve won countless cases in the past, this footage has a lot to offer.
With programs like UltraChen TV, Super Desperation Radio, The Show That Sucks, and The Fray (whenever they decide to get off their butts) making the rounds, it’s easy to overlook the smaller fighting game community broadcasts that pump out content on a regular basis.
One such stream is Meter Burn, a talk show hosted by Wesley Cruz and Katy Cujo. This week, the dynamic duo is welcoming Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist Christian Howard onto the program to discuss his work on the live-action project. As Howard had heavy involvement in the creator of the series, he’s sure to have some great insight on their work behind-the-scenes.
You’ll find Meter Burn’s live broadcast below, but you can also head over to Twitch to join the chat.
The folks over at VG Bootcamp recently went live with another installment of Smash @ Xanadu from Xanadu Games in Baltimore, Maryland. These weekly broadcasts provide a great look at the region’s Smash community, and tonight’s installment will feature competition in the latest version of popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod Project M.
If you’re interested in some Smash Bros. action, be sure to tune in. The stream is live below, but you can also head on over to Twitch to join the chat.
Have you ever been stuck somewhere, maybe a work meeting or family gathering, and found yourself fiending for some fighting game action and without a personal electronic device to download GGPO or MAME to? Well, first off, you should really cherish time with your relatives, they won’t always be around. That said, there’s now an incredibly easy to to get in some Street Fighter II without using anything but a browser and an active internet connection.
At the beginning of the month, a team of developers released Internet Arcade to the world. By using JSMESS, a JavaScript program that functions as a port of the MESS emulator (which itself has ties to the aforementioned MAME), Scott’s group was able to make hundreds of classic arcade games playable within internet browsers.
While tons of classics are available, including titles like Bionic Commando, Burgertime, Dig Dug, Elevator Action, Out Run, and more, Street Fighter II is the sole fighting game to be included in the initial group of 900. With this technology now publicly available, however, it should only be a matter of time until more find their way online.
Keep in mind that not everything is working perfectly. First off, you will probably need to switch over to Firefox if you happen to use Chrome, Safari, or (gulp) Internet Explorer as your main browser, and certain JavaScript blockers may also interfere. Also, sound starts off muted, so you’ll need to hit the unmute button beneath the game window and then refresh the page to enable all the boops and beeps, crackly as they may be.
You can also use external controllers, so feel free to plug those into your computer and start throwing some fireballs. We’ve included a link to the full range of games below, but you can also click here to check out Street Fighter II immediately.
While many titles easily fall into the fighting genre, there are plenty of games out there that make use of common fighting conventions, but still remain largely ignored by the vast majority of genre-loyal players. One notable series that is often overlooked is Ultimate Ninja Storm, which is based off the popular Naruto franchise. These games combine beautiful cel-shaded art, a cast of characters that are easily recognizable, and battles that unfold in a manner that positively bleeds anime–in a good way–all while offering up plenty of the best aspects of our genre of choice.
Ultimate Ninja Storm provides players with the strategic depth of standard fighting games, but removes complicated combos and setups. These features, which fighting veterans undoubtedly love, ultimately work as a barrier preventing the entry of new players into the scene. In my personal experience, I’ve encountered difficulty getting friends into fighting games and have often wished for a way to bridge the gap between non-fighting titles and those that make the Evo lineup. Divekick has proven successful in this endeavor in some cases, but the single hit losses and often frenetic game play–while appealing to a great number of players from outside of the fighting game community–can just as easily put up the same wall as high execution requirements.
The first thing that any fighting game veteran will notice when stepping into Hidden Leaf Village for the first time is the simplistic combo system. If they want, they can mash the attack button to chain together a flashy string of hits and drain their opponent’s health. There are no fancy directional inputs or various strengths of attack to choose from–though there is a dedicated ranged attack button which some characters can use for ranged auto combos–just a simple button that leads to simple combos.
This combo system is akin to what you can find in Persona 4 Arena, though while Persona’s feature can, in some cases, work as a functional piece of larger combos, the Naruto combo system remains markedly more simplistic. Certainly, assists can be called and dash cancels can be used for combo extensions, but you won’t find yourself Tiger Kneeing any Dragon Punch inputs or worrying about landing a successful series of one-frame links to put a stylish end to your opponent.
So without a complicated combo system, what can you expect from this series? At the most basic level, fights revolve around proper use of your evasive maneuver (kawarimi). This mechanic lets players escape combos or, if timed correctly, avoid the first hit of a combo entirely and put themselves at advantage. This combo breaker resets a negative situation to a neutral one, but if your opponent is prepared, they can chakra dash to chase you down and put you into yet another combo. You can, of course, block this attack or escape in a number of other ways, but if you run out of resources, you’re going to eat a huge combo and there’s nothing that can be done to stop it. This creates a bluffing system that adds depth to the matches and allows for advanced tactics much like managing bursts in airdashers.
While I would call kawarimi the core feature of the game, there are a number of other systems at play that work on top of the ease of combo execution to provide a well-rounded fighting experience: guard breaks, assists of varying types, parries, ring outs, a unique method for building super meter, and plenty more features combine to make a game that’s got a lot more going on beneath the surface than might immediately meet the eye.
Of course, if you’re a fan of the Naruto series, you’ll be pleased to discover that an impressive amount of the cast is not only represented in the game, but also playable. Additionally, you’ll find a lengthy story mode complete with voice acting and appropriate battles to keep you immersed in the action when human opponents aren’t around.
Interestingly enough, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the most pirated game in Oklahoma according to Movoto. Sure, that’s only a single state, but taking into account that no other fighting game made the list (and that it was facing off against heavy hitters like Watch Dogs and entries in the Elder Scrolls series), you should have no problem finding someone to spar with.
Witty Gamer has provided an in-depth video introduction to the game’s mechanics as well some match footage to give you an idea of how the fights flow. Are games from the Naruto series for everyone? Certainly not, but if the videos pique your interest, there’s no reason not to give them a try.
[Note: All information presented in this article, as well as the videos from Witty Gamer, refer to Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. There has since been another recent addition to the series, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, which added new characters, new game modes, and new story elements, but left core gameplay mechanics intact.]
Canada Cup Gaming’s Lap Chi Duong recently released a breakdown of the prize pool for this weekend’s Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament at Canada Cup 2014.
While every tournament splits its pot among the top-placing competitors, Canada Cup 2014 is unique in that second through fifth place will find themselves in the money , while the winner of the tournament will instead get a slot for the Canada Cup Master Series early next year as well as any flight and hotel accommodations they may need.
The complete breakdown is as follows:
1st place – spot for Master Series + flight + hotel
2nd place – 40% of prize pool
3rd place – 25% of prize pool
4th place – 15% of prize pool
5th place (tie) – 10% of prize pool
At the Master Series, the Capcom Cup 2014 winner will take part in an eight-player round robin against previous Canada Cup champions like Mad Catz’ Daigo Umehara, Kazunoko, Xian of Razer, and Qanba’s Xiao Hai, special invite Luffy of Team Meltdown, and Wednesday Night Fights season three champion Snake Eyez, vying for a larger piece of the overall $20,000 CDN prize pool.
Canada Cup 2014 takes place November 7-9 at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino in Calgary, Canada. Meanwhile, the Canada Cup Master Series is scheduled for January 11-15 at the same venue.
Those of you still holding a torch for Virtua Fighter, good news! Sega recently announced that the latest installment of their long-running Virtua Fighter franchise will be upgraded yet again early next year.
Few details were provided as to what this update will entail, but if previous revisions are any indication, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown Version B may include balance tweaks for the existing cast in an effort to extend its competitive life.
Much of Sega’s original announcement has to do with Version B’s network services, mentioning that the upcoming title will not be compatible with their ALL.net infrastructure. Whether or not this means they will be rolling out something new remains to be seen.
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown Version B is scheduled to appear in Japanese arcades sometime in March.
Newly-released scans of this week’s Famitsu magazine have revealed that Leo Whitefang, a character heavily featured in Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-‘s story on consoles, will become a part of the playable cast sometime after launch as downloadable content.
Due to the nature of this reveal, little information is known about how Leo will play in the game as of yet, but we do have some idea of how he will factor into the series canon when the game appears on consoles next month. As one of the three governing kings of the Allied Kingdom of Illyria, this beastly figure will certainly play a large role in the narrative moving forward.
This news comes after heavy speculation pegged Leo as a playable fighter due to the way he was displayed in a recent trailer as well as his appearance on Xrd’s cover.
We’ll have more details on President Whitefang after Famitsu is officially published in Japan later this week.
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- is scheduled to launch on December 4 in Japan, with a North American release following shortly after on December 16.
We’ve seen plenty of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 combo videos lately that focus on the game’s lesser-used characters, but sometimes it’s good to get back to the top of the tier list where all the popular kids like to hang out. In this video, pat728 partners Vergil, Morrigan, and Strider to dish out heavy damage in a number of situations.
Both Vergil and Morrigan take point throughout the video to do what they do best: dispatch enemy fighters. Clocking in at just shy of ten minutes, there’s a lot here to take in and, as with any combo video featuring Vergil, there are plenty of sword loops involved.
In addition to combos, pat728 includes some tricky incoming mix-ups that combine Vergil’s insane normal hitboxes with a Strider assist to open up all but the strongest defenses and get the damage going.
If you like seeing strong characters showing off how they got their reputations, this video is for you!
YouTube supporting 60 frames-per-second videos has changed the way that we view recorded game footage in the short time it’s been available. If you haven’t had the chance to take a gander at what this means for the fighting game community, you can follow this link to see a collection of footage that takes advantage of this new technology.
Below, you’ll find a Gouken combo video from DoinDamage that also takes advantage of the buttery smooth streaming quality that a true-to-game framerate allows. While the applications of the Red Focus mechanic in the footage are more for conceptual purposes than anything else, the blows that follow are positively stunning–quite literally in some cases.
DoinDamage has also included some handy resets that can make Gouken even more formidable, so give their video some of your time and see if you can add anything to your own game.
