Category: Fighting Games

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Witness the Astral Skill Instant-Kills from the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle demo

With the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Online Beta in full swing, we’ve already seen some great tech from Twitter, as well as a variety of gameplay primers. Now it’s time to share a full, dual-audio compilation of the recently-revealed Astral Skills. These flashy match-enders can only be executed by pressing 222B+C when you have 9 full Bars of Skill Gauge, which is only achievable with Level 4 Resonance Blaze. On top of that, your opponent has to be down to a single character.

Avid Arc System Works content creator Koefficient has recorded all 20 of the legendary finishers for the entire 20-character base roster, and has timestamped them according to franchise. There are a lot of great little touches here depending on the series your characters of choice hails from. While the BlazBlue cast’s Astrals are set to BBTAG’s main theme, “Crossing Fate,” the Persona 4 Arena characters enter Awakening state (a requirement to access IKs in their home games), before performing their Instant Kills, set to the song “Mist” in a throwback to the original Arena title.

Additionally, the Under Night In-Birth characters, who utilize their Infinite Worth EXS, perform them to the tune of “Unknown Actors,” the console opening theme of Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st]. Team RWBY’s are set to Volume 1’s opening theme, “This Will Be The Day,” with the infamous moon of Remnant in the background. You can see the full compilation below.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle’s online beta is currently ongoing for players who digitally pre-ordered the game on both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. With the open portion beginning today, May 12th, and lasting until Monday, May 14th. The full game will be available on PS4, Switch and Steam PC, in Japan and Asia on Thursday, May 31st, with a North American release following on Tuesday, June 5th. A European release is salted for this summer.

Which Astral Skills are your favorites? Share your picks with us in the comments section below.

Sources: Koefficient

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Nicalis, Inc. announces crossover puzzler/fighter Crystal Crisis for the Nintendo Switch, feat. characters from Blade Strangers

It seems like Nicalis, Inc. isn’t slowing down its insane game announcements — In addition to their crossover fighter Blade Strangers getting announced last month for multiple platforms, the indie publisher and developer has followed up with another crazy crossover project for the Nintendo Switch.

Crystal Crisis is a new crossover puzzler/fighter clearly influenced by Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, featuring characters from the upcoming Blade Strangers. As you can see in the trailer, you can spot Quote and Curly Brace from Cave Story+, Isaac from The Binding of Isaac, and Aban, Tina, and Jim Hawkins from 1001 Spikes. There are also some new additions (not in Blade Strangers) that manga and anime enthusiasts will recognize — such as Astro from Astro Boy and Black Jack from Black Jack. And if you want to get really obscure — Johnny Turbo, the infamous mascot for the TurboGrafx–16 add-on “TurboDuo”, has made cut for his first game appearance ever! These are strange, but wonderful, times we’re living in.

There’s other characters from different gaming series that made the cut, as well as original characters that you won’t find in Blade Strangers. You can read about these fighters, the gameplay, and different modes at Nicalis’s blog, linked in the tweet below.

Crystal Crisis is scheduled for a fall 2018 window release with both physical and digital versions priced at $39.99 MSRP. The physical edition will come with a full-color instruction booklet and bonus goodies. There’s no word yet if the title will be on other platforms — stay tuned for more details on this exciting new puzzle/fighting game as it gets closer to release!

Sources: Nicalis, Inc.; Nicalis, Inc. (Twitter)

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U.K.’s FGC event “WinnerStaysOn Open” to be held on May 13th in London

Want to see the U.K.’s top fighting game talent go at it? Then free your schedule for this Sunday, May the 13th.

The Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London, the largest public esports studio in the UK, is hosting the ‘WinnerStaysOn’ Open, the largest fighting game community event in the UK. From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, you can check out top tier tournament play in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and Dragon Ball FighterZ.

There’s also going to be several renowned fighting game community players and casters in attendance, including King Jae, F-Word, Ketchup, Mustard, Damascus, Tyrant, and more.

You can stream the event here at WSO’s Twitch Channel, or you can buy tickets here to attend the event in person.

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Revisit Ryu’s early arcade days in this original Street Fighter gameplay video

Ready to see Ryu knock Gen out with just three fireballs?

sf street fighter capcom 30th anniversary logo

Capcom’s massive Street Fighter retrospective compilation — the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection — is arriving on your platform of choice soon, bringing many FGC favorites such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike back into our homes. And of course, the collection includes the game that started it all: the original Street Fighter.

Those unfamiliar with this game (definitely iconic, but maybe not the best in terms of gameplay…) can get better acquainted with it via this hefty gameplay sampling, where you can see Ryu tear through many long-unseen CPU-controlled fighters. The Hadouken and the Shoryuken were definitely in a different power class back then…

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch (with an exclusive Tournament Battle mode) on May 29th. Training and Versus modes have just been confirmed for some titles.

sf 30th games

Source: CCW|MRpeck324

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VesperArcade discusses Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition DLC character releases: Should they be stronger out of the gate?

It’s almost safe to say at this point that as far as Season 3 of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is concerned, three of the six announced DLC characters have received a less-than-stellar reaction from the community. Longtime fan-favorites Sakura and Blanka have been deemed too weak or too “honest” for the way SFVAE is “meant” to be played. Series newcomer, Falke, was greatly anticipated by some to be a successor to Rolento from Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Ultra Street Fighter IV; upon release, players discovered that not only does she not play at all like Rolento, but she is also slow, has mediocre damage output outside of her V-Triggers, and suffers from having some weird hit and hurt box problems.

While most agree that Falke is interesting and “fun,” her competitive future seems to be up in the air already, and she hasn’t even been out for a month yet! Of course there is still Falke tech trickling out on social media, and new characters take time to figure out — some judgement should be out on hold until more players try her out online and at local and major tournaments. Also, all is not lost when it comes to Season 3 characters: two more fan favorites, Cody and Sagat — and newcomer G — have yet to be released, so hopefully their releases will turn some people around…

With that being said, in VesperArcade’s latest video, he opens up a discussion concerning Capcom’s plans for the rest of the season three DLC characters and beyond. He talks about how Capcom should consider taking a risk to make their characters stronger, but not “overpowered” upon their launch. They discuss the idea that Capcom should have a beta test, or make the new character free to try out, before their actual release. He also weighs the pros and cons if Capcom decides to go down that path.

Source: VesperArcade

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Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Tournament Series announced

The Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Tournament Series will feature tournaments for Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, and Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Capcom has announced the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Tournament Series to celebrate the release of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection later this month. The series is comprised of three tournaments for three different Street Fighter games, coinciding with Capcom Pro Tour events. Each game will have a prize pool of at least $7,000 and the top eight finalists will be paid.

The first game in the tournament series will be Super Street Fighter II Turbo, held at CEO in Orlando, Florida from June 29 to July 1. Next up will be Street Fighter Alpha 3, which will be held at SoCal Regionals in Ontario, California from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16. Finally, Canada Cup will host Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in Toronto, Canada from Oct. 26-28.

While Super Turbo and 3rd Strike were both featured in the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournament Series in 2013 and continue to see a consistent presence at major events, Alpha 3 has not been as popular for tournament play. But with more than $7,000 in prize money in play for each game, there will definitely be some veterans returning to the game soon.

Registration is currently open for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo tournament at CEO via Smash.gg.

Source: Capcom

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Gundam AGE-1 Full Glansa and Montero revealed for Gundam Extreme Vs. 2; Plus Coin, VS. Mobile, and EX Burst detailed

Some new details have surfaced for Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 via a booklet from the game’s recent location test. Revealed were a couple of new mobile suits, as well as details of the EX Burst system.

Twitter user UMR has shared some photos of the booklet which you can see below.

The two revealed mobile suits were the AGE-1G Gundam AGE-1 Full Glansa from Mobile Suite Gundam AGE, and the MSAM-YM03 Montero from Gundam Reconguista in G. These will be joining the existing roster, which includes the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos, TBG-11B Try Burning Gundam, and GF13-006NA Gundam Maxter.

In addition to this, the booklet also detailed the changes to the game’s “VS. Mobile” mode as well as the workings of the “EX Burst” mode. With the former has been completely revamped with medals acquired through gameplay now being used for scratch tickets for a chance at scoring extra mobile suits.

EX Burst mode has 5 different kinds of awakenings, these are:

  • M-Burst: Enhances mobility and performance.
  • L- Burst: Refills an ally’s ammo and boost recovery effects, also fills up EX Gauge.
  • F-Burst: Enhances close-ranged attacks, enables guard breaks.
  • E-Burst: Avoids critical situations, requires only half an EX Gauge.
  • S-Burst: Enables cancelling of shooting attacks, decreases reload time, and increases meter build.

For beginners, the game will has a Plus Coin mode. Here beginners can insert two credits in advance to play a minimum of three games. It basically allows beginners more time on a cabinet than normal.

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 is set to launch in Japanese arcades sometime next year.

Source: UMR via Siliconera

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Esports Arena Oakland hosting tournaments for Street Fighter V, Smash 4, and Melee for its grand opening this weekend

It has been a long time coming, but the Esports Arena in Oakland, CA will finally be having their grand opening this weekend. Of course, what better way to kick it off than with some gaming competitions for some of the most popular fighting games. ESA Oakland’s Twitter page made the announcement, listing the games that will be on hand in the tweet below:

As you can see, the insanely popular third-person shooter Fortnite will be a featured tournament game as well, but the main focus is fighting games with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U leading the way in entrants so far with 70+ entrants. For both Melee and Smash 4, there will be a pot bonus of $500 for each game spice up the stakes.

Registration is still open for all games. There is no venue fee for this event, spectating is free, and each game only costs $5 to enter. Go to to smash.gg for if you want to register — and if you live in the Bay Area, come through to meet and hang out with people from these communities and check out all the exciting action.

Sources: smash.gg; ESA Oakland (Twitter)

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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle roundup: A touch-of-death, Weiss combos, and Azrael tech

As the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle beta has been available for over a day now, many players are busy discovering and posting tech on social media. SRK gathered a variety of clips that showcase powerful combos and useful tech for many situations. Thanks to everyone for sharing good tech with the community!

No better way to say hello than with this “Touch of Death” combo. It may be one of the first ones found. Note that it won’t kill higher-health characters.

Now, I already thought Azrael corner cross-up shenanigans are awful… but ASW decided to give him a partner.

Tager also greatly benefits from having a partner. While Gadget Finger restands were already plenty terrifying in regular BlazBlue games, now the partner can tag in for cross-ups and other mix-ups.

Going back to Azrael though, he certainly retains the spirit of his original appearance in the main BlazBlue games.

Here’s a stylish combo between newcomer Weiss and Persona mainstay Yukiko. Now that’s combining ice with fire effectively!

Here’s a Ruby combo. Note that it starts from an overhead!

BlazBlue’s Jin retained the vacuum properties of his standing B, allowing him to cross-up the opponent in the corner.

Here’s an advanced solo Ragna combo. Even without a partner, the combos in BBTAG can be pretty involving.

Es in action. That’s an air confirm leading to close to 10,000 damage.

If you want to play Weiss, here’s a quick combo tutorial for her.

Ruby and Weiss look amazing together in this stylish mid-screen combo. Arc System Works has done an amazing job conveying their abilities from the show.

Who knew Ragna and Hazama can make a good team? It sure is nice to not have a limit on chains.

The frog army is coming! King George is an EX move for Rachel, so with Resonance Blaze, she can throw out quite a few as her meter fills up automatically.

Don’t forget that the BBTAG beta is ongoing. Details have also been revealed about the Nintendo Switch BBTAG beta and the dates for the European version of the game.

Sources: @OmniSScythe; @ikamen99; @Hi_Im_Sunfish; @rairai7280; @kmpyj1; @DISA1126; @isukagg; @kuzumith; @yabujin53; @2C_Quiche; @ShowYouCanSYC; @KoTeRu_

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Register for Street Fighter V at Combo Breaker 2018 and get this Nicki Minaj-inspired Chun-Li poster

Street Fighter competitors at Combo Breaker get a special treat for attending this year!

Registered for Street Fighter V at Combo Breaker 2018 yet? If you have — or if you haven’t, but still sign up before the May 13th deadline — you’ll get a great Chun-Li poster by Long Vo as a registration bonus. Fans of the Strongest Woman in the World won’t want to miss this:

combo breaker chun-li poster minaj sfv

Combo Breaker 2018 is a Capcom Pro Tour Premier event, and hits Chicago, IL on May 25-27. Head over to the official Combo Breaker website to register!

The poster itself, of course, is based on the cover image for Nicki Minaj’s recent single Chun-Li, as you can see:

nicki minaj chun-li single cover

The single itself has met with mixed reactions from Street Fighter and hip-hop fans alike; if you’ve missed it, you can check out the video below. (It’s Nicki Minaj — so, yeah, definitely NSFW, by the way.)

Sources: Combo Breaker (Twitter); Long Vo (Twitter); Nicki Minaj (YouTube)