VesperArcade shows the efficacy of jab anti-airs in Street Fighter V Arcade Edition

One of many complaints among the community was how effective light normals were at anti-airing and beating many jump-ins clean. This was one aspect of Street Fighter V that Capcom has attempted to fix with the nerfs to light normals’ hitboxes in Arcade Edition. But did it work?

VesperArcade went into training mode to investigate. Setting up various jump-in situations, it has been proven that jab anti-airs — as well as light anti-airs in general — are far less effective in this season than they were before. Looks like you’ll have to use those anti-air specials now…

Source: VesperArcade

PNDK&M break down the history of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3’s meta

Did you miss the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 tournament scene during its heyday? Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is widely considered one of the most competitive of the retro Mortal Kombats, and it’s hard to ignore its influence on the series: it introduced the Run Button and an intentionally designed juggle system, both mechanics of which would go on to influence the rest of the series.

Famous NRS commentators Ketchup and Mustard worked together with legendary MK player Shock (whom is also at ultimatemk.com, an excellent site for more UMK3 info) to put together the excellent UMK3 primer above. Covered here are the basics of the Run-Jab mixup, wide range of juggle hitboxs, glitched jab safety, infinites, and information on the community’s “Tournament Edition” project.

Source: PNDK&M

Heihachi joins PlayStation and ThinkGeek’s new Totaku toy line

Sony, in collaboration with GameStop’s ThinkGeek, has announced a new line of figures named Totaku. The line features statues of various iconic PlayStation characters, one of which is none other than Tekken‘s Heihachi Mishima.

The Heihachi Totaku figure stands at about 10cm tall on a fixed non-articulated base. The figure, as with all Totaku figures, features no articulation, being purely a statue. For those wondering, the figures do not come with near field communications to talk to the PlayStation 4, unlike Nintendo’s amiibo line.

heihachi_totaku

Other figures in the Totaku collection include Kratos from God of War, Crash Bandicoot, Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet,  Parappa the Rapper, the Hunter from Bloodborne, and the Feisar FX350 ship from Wipeout.

The Heihachi Mishima Totaku figure will be available March 23, 2018. Interested folks can already pre-order the figure for $9.99 at GameStop.

Source: GameStop

UFOrange shares multi-character Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters combo exhibition

Despite being a limited release game for a Japanese superhero series dating back to the 70s, Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters still gets the occasionally interesting blip on the combo-video radar. This is mostly thanks to the wall combos, flexible juggle system, and multiple forms many characters can switch between mid-combo.

Perhaps it’s just timing — KRCF is a 3D Battle Arena style game in an era where that’s the go-to fighter to make. Still, as UFOrange points out in the description of their latest combo video, it “turns out this game has some exhibition potential, so here we are.”

Source: UFOrange

Rhymestyle, Maximilian, Xavier Woods and Demetrious Johnson to face off during Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Dragon Ball FighterZ launch stream

The time to step into the World Tournament Arena is drawing near, as the release of Dragon Ball FighterZ is less than a week away. To celebrate, Bandai Namco Entertainment America announced via Twitter that they will be holding a special launch stream on Thursday, January 25th, the day before DBFZ releases outside of Japan. They’ll also be hosting a quartet of special guests: Dragon Ball YouTuber Rhymestyle, FGC YouTuber Maximilian, WWE Smackdown Live Superstar and New Day member Xavier Woods and UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

They will battle it out in a four-man tournament for DBFZ supremacy and there’s bound to be even more surprises in store, so be sure to tune in to all the action at 2 PM PT (4 PM CT, 5 PM ET) at twitch.tv/bandainamcous.

Don’t forget about the “Super Saiyan Showdown” between Sean Schemmel and Christopher Sabat, the English voice actors of Goku, Goku Black, King Kai, Vegeta, Piccolo and Yamcha, taking place on the same day.

Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam PC in North America and Europe this Friday, January 26th, while a Japanese release for the same platforms will follow on Thursday, February 1st.

Source: BandaiNamcoUS (Twitter)

Up your game with this Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition roundup

With Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition in everyone’s hands, the amount of content for the title has ramped up in the last few days.  Like usual, there is just too much content for us to put into individual posts, so to save you — as well as us — time in gathering all your info, we’ve put it into one single article for your consumption.

First off, let’s look at Sakura, the newest character in Arcade Edition. First off, rooflemonger has posted a great tutorial that not only goes over her basics and her specials, but also specific tips such as her non-moving tick throw.

Next up, VesperArcade has a combo guide for Sakura, which will tell you some of the most optimal combos that we currently know for the character.

On the general side of things, here is a remixed version of the Street Fighter V Arcade Edition classic themes.

Desk has also been busy lately, inventing new impractical and crazy combos. Here’s some of what he’s concocted with R. Mika.

Want to know how Balrog is working with his new V-Trigger, which is reminiscent of his Dirty Bull Ultra in Street Fighter IV? Brian_F just posted up some of his ranked matches that he’s played while using it.

There’s some changes to Bison in Season 3, and this video showcases some of his new crush counter setups that are available this season.

Next up is a great combo guide for both Guile and Nash, focusing on what the duo can do with their respective V-Trigger II.

Chun-Li has yo-yoed from top to bottom tier to possibly back to top tier again. She has definitely regained her title of World’s Strongest Woman this season, and this combo video showcases what she is capable of.

It’s pretty clear that Laura has not changed much this season. She still looks like she’s as strong as she was in Season 2, but this video showcases what all has changed and also pays close attention to her new V-Trigger.

Finally, VesperArcade goes over some of the latest news for Arcade Edition, including beating Shin Akuma and the potential that G really is Q.

Sources: rooflemonger, XusesGB, VesperArcade, desk, Brian_F, mickdo8640, Y. Xiao, Brian Kasugano, GLHFtv

The NRS community shares 25th Anniversary ‘Thank You’ video to NetherRealm Studios

2017 marked the 25th year anniversary of the Mortal Kombat franchise. To celebrate the occasion, RomanovaNRS over at the First to 10 YouTube channel wanted to put something special together: a collection of thankful messages from NRS players to NetherRealm Studios.

Comprised of thank-yous and well wishes from players at NEC 18 and abroad, players sound off on what NRS games mean to them. Sonicfox, Kitana Prime, Sabin, Dragon, CircaNicky, FGCTheo, TheHadou, and more show their love for one of the longest running American fighting game studios in existence.

Source: First to 10

Stay or shift? Mewtater explains the decision-making involved Pokkén Tournament DX’s Phase Shift

Phase Shifting is the core element of Pokkén Tournament DX‘s meta. A Phase Shift is the transition between the zoning-heavy Field Phase and combo-oriented Duel Phase, and it’s triggered by scoring enough Phase Shift Points to make the Shift occur.

Phase Shift Points, or PSP, are still accumulated during the Duel Phase’s combos and pokes. The FGC typically gets wrapped up in trying to find the highest optimal damage for combos, but in Pokkén, you may want to give up damage in certain situations for a wide variety of reasons, most of them involving PSP. Mewtater‘s latest Pokkén video breaks down the pros and cons of intentionally avoiding a Phase Shift, and why you would choose to shift, or stay.

Source: Mewtater

Enjoy these special pre-battle intros from the Dragon Ball FighterZ open beta

Throughout the course of its development, we’ve seen several instances where Arc System Works has gone out of their way to provide extremely copious amounts of fanservice in the upcoming Dragon Ball FighterZ. From recreating attacks and poses from the original source material to the breathtaking Dramatic Productions, which see some of the most iconic scenes in the history of the franchise recreated within the engine, ASW and Bandai Namco have crafted a love letter to this iconic franchise that fans and newcomers alike can enjoy.

With the open beta recently wrapping up, Dragon Ball YouTuber Janemba8000 has captured a myriad of character-specific pre-battle intros featuring the 11 cast members that were available in this test. Given that Android 21’s machinations have revived several classic enemies, it’s extremely satisfying to see the dialogue between the likes of Cell and the now-Adult Gohan, Nappa swearing revenge against Goku for his previous defeat, Beerus declaring the superiority of Gods of Destruction over the Majin race, and other various quips between related characters.

While we previously covered several of the currently-revealed Dramatic Finishes from IGN, we now have another that was released after that article was written.  This new clip features Trunks slicing up Frieza, in a recreation of his first death, on the Rocky Field stage.

Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam PC next Friday, January 26th, with a Japanese release for the same platforms following on Thursday, February 1st.

Sources: Janemba8000; IGN

Learn to balance speed and weight with this combo breakdown for Bob in Tekken 7

HurtboxTV’s new combo breakdown puts an emphasis on speed and weight, as they show you how to pull off a few core strings for Tekken 7‘s Bob. The big-body brawler made his first appearance in Tekken 6, and his finesse as a fighter — and impeccable fashion sense — have made him a player favorite ever since.

Much like his superior physique, Bob’s movelist is pretty massive in comparison to many members of Tekken 7‘s roster. Though he has many moves that make for great pressure and mix-up options, it can be difficult to narrow down exactly which moves to put together for practical combos with optimal damage.

Thankfully for ambitious Bob mains, HurtboxTV’s got you covered in the combo breakdown below. (And if Bob’s not your cup of tea, be sure to check out their other Tekken 7 combo breakdown videos.)

Source: HurtboxTV