If you’re just dipping your toe into the Bandai Namco fighter universe via Tekken 7, the odds are good you’ve felt overwhelmed. There’s enough depth, data, and difficulty in this legacy 3D fighter to fill a college course.
So let’s get some training in.
TEKKEN TRAINING: Electric Wind God Vids is SRK’s new video series aimed to help simplify and streamline the learning process of Tekken 7. Our introductory lesson is on the role of generic jabs in Tekken: or more specifically, how the jab shapes the pace and mind games of a Tekken match.
For Asuka, Jack, and Kuma players, your jabs break tradition in terms of frame data, but you still can technically play the same pressure game with them via slight modifications. We will cover these jab exceptions in a future video!
For more TEKKEN TRAINING, be sure to subscribe to ShoryukenTube! And if you have any specific questions about Tekken gameplay you’d like covered in a future video, let us know in the comments!
Last week, we brought you a look at all of the known anime and manga references for Goku and Frieza in the upcoming collaborative fighter between Bandai Namco Entertainment and Arc System Works, Dragon Ball FighterZ. Now IKevinX is back to give us a look at the other two Saiyans we’ve seen in gameplay so far: Gohan and Vegeta.
Clad in battle gear similar to Piccolo’s and in his Super Saiyan 2 form, most of Gohan’s attacks and animations obviously come from his battle against Perfect Cell at the climax of the Cell Games, with his Dragon Rush being a particularly impressive panel-by-panel recreation from the manga. Though certain moves are also lifted from some of his younger days, notably his battles against the likes of Frieza’s 2nd Form and Dodoria on Planet Namek. We also get a great at his Level 5 Super, courtesy of Maximilian: the one-handed Father-Son Kamehameha that was used to utterly obliterate the entirety of Perfect Cell, with Gohan even having a recovery animation mirroring his complete exhaustion after the attack.
As for the Prince of all Saiyans, the self-proclaimed “Super Vegeta’s” attacks draw chiefly from the Android and Cell Sagas, but have references peppered in from throughout his entire tenure with the series, especially when it comes to the staggering amount of kicks he uses, which even the video creator noted was a bit of a chore to fully source… unlike his signature barrage of ki blasts. Lastly, his expressions during his Final Flash Super have been beautifully recreated, complete with the attack’s planet destroying capabilities! You can see both videos below.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is set to be released in early 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with a closed beta coming sometime before the end of summer.
A look at ComboFiend’s controversial “functions” quote, and the community backlash it caused.
Peter Rosas: If you were to actually think about it, these characters are just functions. They’re just doing things. Magneto, case and point, is a favorite because he has eight-way dash and he’s really fast, right? So our more technical players, all they want to do is triangle jump and that kind of stuff. Well guess what, Nova can do the same thing, Captain Marvel can do the same thing. Ultron can do the same thing. Go ahead and try them out.
Those are Peter “ComboFiend” Rosas’ words from a recent GameSpot interview, discussing many aspects of the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. As a producer on this title, Rosas is responding to GameSpot’s question regarding community desire to see X-Men in the new Vs. game. His reply, describing fighting game characters as “functions,” has not been very well-received by the general community. Despite being technically accurate from a design standpoint — and clearly intended to encourage players to try the game and new fighters, rather than lament a missing former main — it downplays how much fans and players enjoy these characters simply for their own sakes.
In the video below, VesperArcade discusses the idea of looking at fighting game characters as functions instead of fighters, and the fan aftermath of ComboFiend’s quote. He also speculates that marketing new characters instead of returning ones earlier on might have mitigated some on the “no X-Men” backlash.
While it may have vanished from major Twitch streams, Project M is very much alive and kicking. With an active Championship Circuit and players continuing to push the game to its limit, this storied fan mod of Brawl shows no signs of fading into obscurity.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of other landmark documentaries about the Smash community, Duct Tape Productions is planning to explore “the sordid history” of Project M in Rewrite, a film coming in 2018. From its humble beginnings to its rise in popularity, subsequent fall from grace, and now its rebirth, this documentary hopes to literally rewrite the Project M history book and tell the truth from the players and people who were there.
If Duct Tape Productions are able to meet some specific stretch goals on their GoFundMe, they plan to release some smaller films about Supernova — the tournament that sparked Project M’s renaissance — and the Wolf player Switch who is widely considered the Mango of Project M. There is also the possibility of a special Rewrite build of PM, complete with custom music and artwork.
The version 2.00 update of The King of Fighters XIV impacted judo grappler Goro Daimon in an odd way. As Persona Entertainment notes in his latest combo video’s description, some damage values were shifted around, resulting in slightly less damage output overall.
To compensate, the EX Jiraishin ground pound was buffed both in neutral and in combos, allowing Goro to more easily do flashy and damaging mid screen juggles. 60% off two meters, as demonstrated early on in the video, is certainly nothing to sneeze at. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that versatility is always a welcome addition to any grappler’s repertoire.
After covering the topics of character selection, jabs, the “Core 4,” and the throw game on the first two episodes, Frabisaur and AceUnlimited move on to the topic of launchers and the finer points of what makes Tekken’s combo structure unique in the third episode of Marshall’s Dojo.
As Frabisaur’s King training continues, AceUnlimited notes that being airborne is when a character is most vulnerable in Tekken, as there are no Bursts or air escapes that can be found in most 2D fighters. He advises how to find your character’s launchers in the move list, such as King’s Jumping Knee Lift (U4,) by seeing if a move is executed “While Standing,” or if it knocks the opponent off their feet in some form.
After a brief look at the movelist notations, they then transition into setting up juggles, as well as how to utilize Tekken 7’s new Tailspin or Screw mechanic, which replaces the Bound system from previous titles. Lastly, the duo cover proper combo finishers, as Frabisaur begins to master some basic — yet complete — juggles, as he realizes that your instinct after landing a launcher should be going into your Screw attacks, as opposed to settling for panic jabs that cost you damage and positioning. You can see the full video below.
As always, if you have questions or want more information on any of these concepts, hit up AceUnlimited on Facebook or Frabisaur on Twitter. Keep an eye on his stream at http://www.twitch.tv/frabisaur for the occasional episode of Tekken Live, where he will be streaming along with Ace to teach viewers. Stay tuned for episode 4, which will cover the concept of strings and all the options they contain. If you’re looking to brush up on some frame data, you can download the Tekken Chicken app, available on both Google Play and the iTunes App Store.
Dantarion, the mastermind behind the popular Street Fighter bot TOOLASSISTED, is retooling and unleashing this beast onto Tekken 7.
And as hilarious as it is watching ranked players figuring out they are fighting the matrix, not all of Dantarion’s efforts are for trolling laughs. Behind the scenes, he’s gathering up frame data and breaking down the game’s mechanics and hitboxes. Anyone that’s used his frame tools for Street Fighter know how valuable his work can be for high-level players.
Though compiling a website hitbox viewer for Tekken 7 like he has for Street Fighter is likely impossible, it’s clear he’s working towards some form of release for this information. In the mean time, you can check out more of his work on his YouTube, Twitch, or Twitter.
NurseLee has been known for breaking down setup after setup for characters in Street Fighter V, and now it looks like he has his sights set on Tekken 7 as well. He has recently been working with Katarina Alves–a newcomer to the Tekken 7 roster–and showing what she is capable of. These videos could very well take new Katarina players that are just learning her and the game itself and bring them up to another level of play.
As one of Tekken’s cornerstones is getting maximum damage off of a launch, NurseLee started his tutorial for Katarina with the basics on her combos. These options cover normal launchers, counter-hits, and wall combos.
As a bonus, NurseLee found a hidden command that is not at all visible within the command list for Katarina. Katarina has a command called Wagtail, which hits mid then low, but the low doesn’t string into the mid hit. However, but pressing Down after the final command of Wagtail, you can cancel out of the last hit into a feint which you can also use as a mixup.
With it having its own comic book to fill in the gaps between the games, understanding how every single character fits into Injustice 2 can be a bit of a head-scratcher. A great example of this confusion is Power Girl’s presence in Injustice 2, or more specifically, her existence alongside Supergirl. The interactions between the two super heroines in Injustice 2 has raised questions among the shrewd readers of DC comics since, technically, the two are the same person.
In their latest video, History Behind the Warrior does a pretty good job at explaining the differences and similarities between Power Girl and Supergirl, and how their coexistence in a single storyline does indeed make sense. Though they do have to give you a quick lesson on Kryptonian history, they clear the air on this matter and tie it into Injustice 2 very well.
You can check out the video below. Though Power Girl’s story can be hard to follow, History of the Warrior dispels the Power Girl/Supergirl confusion once and for all.
IGN’s latest video sheds some more light on the highly anticipated Dragon Ball FigherZ. Simply titled 7 Things You Need to Know About Dragon Ball FighterZ, the clip actually includes a healthy dose of information about the game’s mechanics, something that is sure to command the curiosity of those concerned about its competitive future.
Among the 7 items covered that involve mechanics are the button layout, character types, and the various meter systems. The video also looks at the games similarities to Marvel vs. Capcom 3, like the tagging/assist buttons and a “comeback mechanic” that is very similar to Marvel’s X-Factor.
Besides gameplay specifics, IGN also mentions Arc System Work’s uncanny attention to detail when referencing their game’s source material, something you can observe even further by checking out one of our previous reports. Check out the video below, and stay tuned to Shoryuken for the next episode of When’s Dragon Ball FighterZ?
