Selfless Gaming|Lucky has come a long way from being “The Bat of Norwalk” to being one of the SoCal Melee community’s most respected players. Even after sustaining an injury that rendered him unable to travel to tournaments late last year, he was still able to maintain the status of a high ranking competitor in the midst of his recovery.
Daniel Lee (a.k.a. Tafokints) of Yahoo! Esports recently had an conversation with Lucky, in which they discussed his new strategic angle for playing Super Smash Bros. Melee, his esports success, and teaming up with Mang0, who he notes is one of his childhood friends (something that makes their team dynamic quite unique.) They also cover Lucky’s love for craft beers, something that he would consider making a career out of should he ever lay his GameCube controller down for good.
Check out the full insightful interview right here:
The Electric Wind God Fist (EWGF for short) is one of the Tekken community’s most favorite technical tricks. While most players–even pros–will opt for easier and more stable combos during tournaments, doing repeated EWGFs in juggles is something of a execution Holy Grail for Mishima players. It’s theoretically the strongest damage, but almost always just out of reach of mere mortals.
Knee, a Tekken legend among legends, is known for at least somewhat consistently landing four EWGFs in matches post Devil Jin’s WS+2 and Hell Sweep. Now, he’s broken that record off both moves: squeezing out a fifth hit on the small-framed Xiaoyu.
While exciting to see, it’s no surprise that Knee is the one to break it. He was able to demonstrate six EWGFs in a row a few months ago (if you include the initial launcher!).
This’ll likely still be just a party trick for most players, but it’s good to know what the record is! Let’s see if Knee can get this on stream at Evo, now. I hope he can!
New footage from GameSpot shows the most in-depth footage we’ve seen yet of Ultra Street Fighter II’s “Way of the Hado”: the mode that lets you play as Ryu in first-person and throw out his signature moves using the Nintendo Switch’s motion sensor system. The video demonstration takes you through a quick tutorial, which walks you through the ways to move to perform successful a Shoryuken, Hadouken and Tatsumaki. It proceeds to show the first stage, which appears to a base where Ryu is up against a hoard of Shadaloo goons.
There is also a video showing off Buddy Battle, which allows two players to fight through arcade mode at the same time. It might be possible for a 2v2 four-player battle to take place, but there is yet to be a confirmation of such a possibility. Below is a screenshot of Ken and Akuma taking on Violent Ken together:
You can watch both of GameSpot’s videos covering these modes by clicking the following links:
With Injustice 2 now fully in the hands of the public, top NRS content creators The Condiment Brothers–PND|Ketchup and Mustard–continue their “Getting Started” series by looking at the game’s final boss, Brainiac.
This guide covers uses for Brainiac’s key strings and specials, as well as his Tendril Swing and Divekick, that afford him tricky aerial mobility and mixups. His Trait, the Beta Barrage, allows the Collector of Worlds to launch a drone: providing him both a zoning tool, as well as covering his approach–though it goes away on hit. The video also covers some of the few ways he can remain safe without spending meter.
You can begin the path to collecting worlds by seeing the video for yourself below–and you can also check out their pre-release coverage of Dr. Fate, Deadshot,Gorilla Grodd and Scarecrow.
With the buffs that the move has received, we’ve seen a lot more use of Balrog’s Turn Around Punch in Street Fighter V’s second season. With the move doing a hefty chunk of damage while protected by 15 frames of invincibility, TAP is a move that some feel is quite overpowered.
However, it turns out that TAP is beatable. Uncle Wimpy has put out a series of videos via Twitter that demonstrate ways to beat the move. For example, using a perfectly time meaty throw actually beats out the move when used as a reversal.
While TAP on reversal can beat poorly-timed reversals, the fact that its invincibility only applies to Balrog’s upper body means that even poorly-timed low attacks will beat it.
@jav1ts even though rev TAP will beat poorly-timed mid and high meaties, even poorly-timed lows will beat TAP https://t.co/km4LZzAjRq
Evo Moment #37 is one of the most iconic moments not just in competitive fighting games, but in all of sports. Daigo Umehara’s epic full parry comeback against Justin Wong in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike at Evo 2004 has likely been seen by more viewers–and inspired more players–than any other moment in the history of competitive video gaming.
In a new installment of their series on iconic esports moments, theScore Esports takes a closer look at Evo Moment #37. Here, they look at the background of the moment building up to the actual match. With insights from the UltraChen duo of David “UltraDavid” Graham and James “jchensor” Chen, they look at how important the moment may have been for the fighting game community, including how the moment captures the community’s spirit in pixel form.
A new Japanese trailer for the upcoming Gundam Versus title from Bandai Namco showcases some of the various ways players will be able to engage in combat. Free Battle, Ultimate Battle, Trial Battle, and Extra Wave are a few of the modes briefly covered in the video. It is also revealed that online ranked, player and casual matches will be available, and that you will be able to adjust the lobby, or “Room,” in a similar way to online modes of other fighting games.
In addition to the new information, some high quality gameplay of the iconic mechs clashing is shown off. Check out the trailer below and be sure the video is set to 108op for the best experience!
Street Fighter V made its way onto ESPN, now it’s time for it to appear on CBS. As part of the South Korean stage of this season of The Amazing Race, contestants will have to the challenge of beating a pro player in Street Fighter V. Seeing as this round is in South Korea, racers will be facing off against either RZR|Infiltration or Secret|Poongko in this special challenge match.
Now, this is a challenge most pro players can’t accomplish, so The Amazing Race are adding in some aids to help contestants. Along with a coach to teach them the basics of Street Fighter, handicaps will be introduced when the racer loses 10 rounds. First, Poongko and Infiltration will be forced to play one-handed. If the racer loses another 10 rounds, the two pros will have to then play blindfolded.
The episode will air tomorrow at 10:00 PM on CBS–and leave your bets on how many tries it will take the contestants in the comments below. I’m thinking around 30.
It seems like it’s never been a better time to be a Guilty Gear player. Xrd has revitalized the series like a a Phoenix Down, and Arc System Works is riding a wave of goodwill from players. By releasing a content-complete title with an inviting Tutorial Mode, alongside a free demo and an attractively priced upgrade, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 arrives amidst an extremely busy season for fighting games. Admirably, those who want to put some effort in learning this zany 2D fighter with 3D graphics can find it on the platform of their choosing, closer to the Japanese release than ever before–whether it’s PlayStation 3, 4 or on Steam.
While REV 2 doesn’t drastically change up the Xrd formula, the Daredevil is in the details. Unlike its younger brother, BlazBlue, Team Red didn’t shake up combos from ground up. The evergreen menus and interface hide an option to revert back to REV 1, if desired. While we don’t see dramatic additions, new stages, some story content, and newcomers Baiken and Answer refresh the experience like a Gold Burst. Furthermore, every character received just enough tuning to make their gameplay shine more, or give them some new options.
For instance, Sin can’t knockdown with Air Beak Driver anymore, but he can do use it multiple times in the air for brand new, wackier combos. His air Dust move provides an air to ground knockdown, however. -REVELATOR- newcomers Kum Haehyun and Jam received just enough buffs and tuning to make their flow come together. The changes to Raven’s excitement mechanic give him much more personality, as the meter fluctuates up and down depending on what he does. Millia can’t knockdown as easily from the air as before, and she needs to get more creative with her moves and mind her Assassin pin more. Altogether, everyone got tuned in varying degrees of subtlety, but it’s good that Arc System Works did not resort to making changes for changes’ sake.
Answer, the character no one expected to arrive, puts Chipp a little bit in his tall hitbox’s shadow. His adorable and unique “Business Ninja” schtick, where he’s literally on the phone throughout every match, makes him a standout character. He drops scrolls around the screen and can cling to them, then dash around the screen, in a dizzying, Naruto-esque style.
Baiken has just enough new things to make old fans complain about certain aspects while they embrace the new, and she certainly found appreciation easily thanks to her swaggering mannerism (that forward walk!), an affinity for alcohol and smoking, and an emphasis on the “Lone Samurai” intros and attacks. Her Azami parry skill, which allows her to use six distinct counter-moves, is simple yet challenging to use. It needs good timing, but it rewards Baiken with great damage conversion and the ability to escape unblockable attacks and–new to Xrd–do counter-moves in the air. Altogether, it’s great to see the cast of Guilty Gear growing, especially since every member adds so much unique flavor; you almost want to sub every character, if only they weren’t so difficult to master.
REV 2 gets closer and closer to giving every character a fighting chance to shine in the competitive tournament scene, and we have yet to judge who will dominate in this “season”–maybe it won’t be as clear-cut as before. Now, like never before, the underlying philosophy in Guilty Gear comes through in every fight. Complexity emerges from the unique quirks and features of every character, and the real depth lies in figuring out match-ups. For instance, not every character has a straight-up Dragon Punch, but most characters have some way of defending. Elphelt can now execute her roll into Shotgun Stance at any point. Answer has a special reversal move that teleports him on top of the opponent, so the challenge lies in figuring out how to bait and punish it, depending on what’s available to your character. On paper, Baiken looks intimidating, since she can use her parry stance, Azami, at almost any time for powerful counter moves. In reality, she adds layers to REV 2 and forces players to approach the game in new ways, and something like that is exciting for any fighting game.
Even with accessible tools and multimedia, it’s a little difficult to get into the more granular aspects of the game, but luckily, REV 2 does a better job at getting players onboard than most. The entertaining tutorial with Jack-O’s minions is back, and Mission Mode includes character-specific challenges that display how to deal with certain match-ups (including two new ones for Baiken and Answer). Furthermore, the Combo challenges, while relatively untouched, have a few modified sets to help out in learning some of the new tools, depending on character. Those are marked with a “New” tagline.
Going through -REVELATOR – Story Mode again–which is good overall, though a bit drawn out, and a little too sappy and melodramatic–serves as an intro for the additional “After Story” included in REV 2.
There’s a few spelling mistakes in translation, but the team noticeably put effort into creating more visually compelling backgrounds–the new content opens with Raven speaking to That Man under a star-strewn night sky on a shoreline. Of course, the highlight is the Kiske family time, but when Sol shows up… it’s a must-see! It’s short, but very compelling. I wish there was more.
Episodes for the individual characters, which are actually just Arcade Mode with cutscenes, present some background for Baiken, Kum Haehyun, Jam, Dizzy, Raven, and Answer. It’s good to see them fleshed out a bit, as the main Story Mode hasn’t touched on those characters very much. They’re brief, but worthwhile. Similar to the older cast that already has fleshed out “Episode Mode” content, there are a few cutscenes in-between battles.
Online Mode has been a ghostland during this pre-release window, so I couldn’t test out connection quality much. However, those who have played -REVELATOR- should know what to expect. PlayStation Network can deliver solid connections, but only under certain circumstances (distance, internet speed, and its finicky nature), so Steam will generally be superior. However, the refreshed REV 2 lobby is friendlier than before. From little details like expanded information boards, a clearer interface, and daily chests with loot, to a special “First to 3” two cabinets in the center of every lobby, the rooms have more functionality and look more inviting to hang out. Fans of Guilty Soccer will also enjoy Player Rooms more. Arc System Works have also teased improved online matchmaking and documented some of the online lobby improvements.
All in all, Team Red doesn’t significantly change up their formula, and those who thought REV 2 would feel much different from -REVELATOR- will be disappointed. But that’s hardly a flaw, as why would they fix what works? More content-complete than ever before, attractively priced, and with two new, compelling characters (alongside a free demo to try it out!), Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 stands out as a quality package. Putting aside business practices, Guilty Gear remains as an incredibly tightly-tuned fighting game with an inspired rock and heavy-metal soundtrack. It’s tough to find another fighting game in the market with such dizzyingly unique, memorable characters.
Score: 10/10
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 arrives on PlayStation 3 and 4 on May 26, and for Steam on June 1.
The most recent CPT interview from Battle Arena Melbourne 9 is up, and its spotlight turns to Rashid pro Zowie|Oil King.
Li-Wei “Oil King” Lin reveals his The King of Fighters origins, though admits it’s Street Fighter V that made him competitive. He also admits the name Oil King has simple origins (“I want people to remember it easily!”) and that Taiwan’s best players live near enough to have weekly offline gatherings. Though he speaks through RZR|Xian’s translations, when asked about why he plays Rashid, his answer was in English, and arguably the most KOF thing he could have responded with: “He can run. Speed.”
