Related posts:

1. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1 Pt.4
2. Update: Final Character for Super Street Fighter 4?
3. Participate in the First GV Super Street Fighter 4 Online Ranking Battle

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Related posts:

1. Killzone 2 DLC Update
2. Killzone 2 Review
3. Killzone 2 DLC no longer free

Movesets

Sagat

Tiger Shot(high): QCF+P- Sagat’s high fireball controls much of the upper screen, I’d suggest using the light punch version as mainly for fireball traps you’ll be using the low shot, so if they jump over or try to evade the low shots and you’re not quick enough to go for the Uppercut walk back and light high shot will knock them back into position for the trap.

Tiger Shot(low): QCF+K- Sagat’s go to move, this can be abused as it fires quite quickly though you have to find the timing to throw them continuously. You must abuse with caution however because when Sagat extends his hands they can be hit, remember to mix the speed with all the different kick strengths for the most effective use of the tiger shots.

Tiger Uppercut: DP(M)+P- Sagat’s reversal is an amazing move, with amazing Anti-Air reach and damage, however as a trade off it doesn’t have the invincibility like a Shoryuken or Balrog’s headbutt, it can still go through moves as its priority is near unmatched but you’ll find yourself trading more than a few other character’s reversals.

Tiger Knee: DP(M)+K- This move is quite awesome, it comes out very fast, can be used to escape tick throws and can juggle into itself for up to 3 hits and does a great job of pushing an opponent to the corner, not to mention that it hops over low moves. Against opponents with slow reaction time you can get free throws if you make it miss right in front of them.

Super(Tiger Genocide): QCFx2+P- Sagat’s super reaches incredibly far and is invincible the whole way through, opponent’s that don’t know the range of the super or how to space, you can go through fireballs with this for great damage.

M.Bison

Psycho Crusher: Hold B(1sec)F+P- M.Bison’s trademark move is quite useful, it’s his “reversal” it gets him out of tick throws, but doesn’t work too well on wakeup, it is very safe and can be used in conjunction with the knee press to keep up some insane pressure.

Knee Press:Hold B(1sec)F+K- though the Psycho Crusher is the trademark, the Knee Press is the foundation, it is so completely safe, the light kick version actually allows you to attack before your opponent gets out of block stun, allowing for Bison’s famous pressure games. don’t forget to add in throws to get them to stop blocking and blocks to avoid reversals.

Devil Reverse:Hold D(1sec)U+P then press punch after the jump- New to HD remix this can be used to get out of the corner and has a 1 frame invincibility so this can be used as a reversal move. This move can be used to retreat or stay in the same position while building meter, so it is quite versatile.

Head Stomp(w/Skull Driver):Hold D(1sec)U+K(press punch after the stomp for Skull Driver)- The headstomp is useful for going over fireballs very quickly, the Skull Driver I would only recommend against characters without good reversals like Dhalsim or M.Bison as it doesn’t combo and so you can get hit out of it.

Super(Knee Press Nightmare): Hold B(1sec) F,B,F+K- This is Bison’s only “get off me move” so its a good idea to have this stocked as much as possible as many times as possible, its fully invincible and does great damage. You can combo into jumping medium punch(pressing the button twice in air)

Fei Long

F+MK: Fei Long does a hop overhead kick, not much to say about it, it can’t be blocked low, but Flying Kick is better.

Rekka Ken: QCF+P, QCF+P, QCF+P- These are Fei’s bread and butter so learn to combo them, the combo timing takes some getting used to. They do great damage, they combo from Fei’s better normals. They travel very far and can combo from anywhere all you have to do is get the first one to hit.

Flame Kick: B, D, DB+K- Fei’s Reversal move and its alright, it has decent invincibility, it has a pretty wide hitbox so you can catch them jumping from some pretty interesting angles. The light kick version is pretty safe if you get them to block it, if you miss completely though you’re screwed. This is also one of Fei’s juggle moves.

Flying Kick: QCF+K- The Flying Kick can make or break your Fei Long, it can get him in your opponents face to start his various mix up games, the light kick version can go through fireballs. It can also juggle into itself or flame kick or his super.

Super(5 Rekkas): He is completely invincible except for his head, this super can juggle though I wouldn’t recommend it unless you need those last couple of hits where the flame kick won’t do.

Cammy

Cannon Drill: QCF+K: Cannon Drill is quite safe if you hit with the tip of Cammy’s boots, the closer you are to your opponent the lighter the kick button you should use. This move will be used a lot by Cammy players in offensive as it does good damage, it’s comboable and its safe.

Cannon Spike: DP(M)+K: Cannon Spike is Cammy’s reversal, its fairly safe due to its insane horizontal range, it serves as a great anti-air capable of hitting many different angles. The invincibility frames are there but not enough to go through fireballs.

Hooligan Combination: QCF+K: Cammy flips into the air and you can either press forward and kick to grab the opponent or don’t press anything in which case Cammy will do a slide. The throw is an awesome move, it really keeps your opponent on their toes mixing it up by making them block Cr.MKs and Cannon Drills all day and then throw this throw out every now and again to catch them sleeping. It does great damage and hops over small fireballs like Yoga Fire or Sonic Boom. The slide is below average, its pretty unsafe, but it can be used to catch people who freeze up after seeing the initial flip into the air.

Spinning Back Knuckle: QCB+P: Cammy turns around while jumping forward and hits the opponent with a 2 hit back fist. the hop goes through fireballs and low moves.However Cammy’s head is not invincible. This move is mainly used to deal with fireballs by getting around them and to put pressure on the opponent as she has can attack before your opponent gets out of blockstun. Her hand is invincible so you can use this as a safe option if you think your opponent will do a reversal when they get up, but you have to space it right.

Super(Spin Drive Smasher)QCFx2: Good for block damage, great for going through fireballs if you can predict it, can be comboed into from Cr.MK

Dee Jay

Air Slash:Hold B(1 sec) F+P Dee Jay’s fireball, very useful for pressure, not as slow moving as sonic boom but you can walk behind it, Dee Jay can hang with other fireball characters with this one.

Dread Kick: HoldB(1sec) F+K- The dread kick is nice and safe, can be used for pressure, but mainly its used as a combo ender that does some great damage. Being that DeeJay is the combo machine of Super Turbo and HDR you can imagine that this will be used quite a bit.

Up Kicks: Hold D(1sec) U+K- LK version is the anti-air of choice even though DeeJay has some pretty awesome normal ones too, MK and HK are mainly for combos though they can both be pretty sweet anti-airs as well. Did I mention that this is his reversal so you’ve definitely got a little bit of invincibility here, not enough to go through fireballs, but enough to beat most jump ins and meaties.

Machine Gun Upper: Hold D(1sec) U+P(keep tapping punch afterward for max hits)- Combos! Combos! Combos! This move does great damage even after the damage reduction it was given from Super Turbo.

Super(Rolling Dread Kicks) Hold B(1sec) F,B,F+K- can be juggled into after MK Upkicks, has decent invincibility not all the way through the move though. Can combo MK up kicks after if this hits as an anti-air.

T.Hawk

Hawk Splash: (In air) D+HP: Default Body Splash, can cross up, leads to one of Hawk’s very few combos

Hawk Dive:(in air press two buttons of the same strength i.e LP+LK)- The Hawk Dive is now safe as opposed to its terrible Super Turbo version. You can play all sorts of mind games with this, such as empty jumping into totem driver or J.LP instead, waiting for them to react to your jump then hawk dive to beat their moves, or just use it to get in. It is quite versatile.

Totem Driver: HCB,F+P or 360+P- Standard 360 grab, loads of damage, Hawk’s is special because of the position he lands in after its over, he has a slew of set ups for that range such as jump LP and then totem driver or low LPx3 and then totem driver or doing Hawk’s Flight instead if they try to avoid the totem driver.

Hawk’s Flight: DP(M)+P- Hawk’s Reversal and anti-air. The invincibility is decent enough to go through normals, but not enough to get around fireballs.

Super(Double Totem Driver): HCB,HCB,F+P or 360×2(720)+P- Exactly as the move implies a Double Totem Driver that does over half life, use it more or less the same way as a regular totem driver.

General Overview

Sagat: Playing as Sagat is almost robotic, he’s almost made for the routine player. Sagat uses his tiger shots to lock down opponents while using his tiger uppercut if they manage to escape, His St.LK beats almost every other ground normal in the game and his J.HK has incredible priority. If you’re not quick enough for Tiger Uppercuts his St.HK is a more than sufficient anti-air. Having super kills his opponent’s fireball games except from full screen away. Sagat is no doubt a beast in the right hands, its hard to get more in depth than this with the character without getting into every little situation.

M.Bison: M.Bison is not for the weak of heart, he takes quite a bit of skill to use, you have to be efficient with charge moves, you need to know when you have enough charge the moment you have enough charge. Bison has no reversal other than his super, Devil Reverse only has one frame of invincibility so its still quite vulnerable. You’ve really got to keep the pressure on with Knee Presses and tick throws(St.LK is an excellent tick thow move). Make sure to block because if you get knocked down by reversals as Bison has a bit of trouble you’ll have a hard time getting in. Using Devil Reverse to build meter and for getting in can be helpful but using to get in is not too reliable.  The reason he’s so good is that once he’s in he has some amazing tools. Fireballs of any kind are easily stuffed by his St.MK. His St. HK is great at beating people to the punch, or trading because unless you’re against Balrog you’ll usually win the trade. St. HP can be used as a decent anti-air as well as his jump straight up HK. Bison’s combos while few are deadly doing in the neighborhood of 45-65% damage and if the combo dizzies the opponent they can say goodbye to the round.

Fei-Long: Fighting with Fei Long you can get some pretty easy dizzies. He has some pretty nice tools to mess around with as well. The Rekka Ken punches are excellent as pokes and combo enders. You should aim to stay around the max distance of his MP Rekka Punch(1st hit). The Flame Kick should be used like any reversal, anti air and escaping tick throws as well as a combo ender. The Flying Kick are an easy overhead in addition to his F+MK. What makes the flying kick great is not the fact that its an over head, not the fact that it juggles, not even the fact that it goes through fireballs, but that you can do some crazy stuff after it. Fei Long’s cr.LP is cancelable and as such you’re able to mix up between a low LP into any special, a throw, a sweep, walk up and then Cl. HP which can link and cancel into special moves easily. His Cl. HP is also difficult to reverse because it stays out forever, so messing up the reversal gives Fei either a trade or a free combo and Fei’s combos hurt quite a bit.

Cammy: Cammy has become an amazing rush down monster in with her new changes. Her Cr.MK can lock people down like nobody else except maybe Chun-Li. Her Back Knuckle goes through fireballs and leaves you recovered before they stop blocking leaving you able to continue to pressure with cr.MK and blocks in case they try to use reversals. Cannon Drill knocks down and is easily comboed into, its also very safe, so you can continuously pressure with it, blocks, and Cr.MKs, to complete the pressure cycle she has her Hooligan throw which you can mix up between canceling it off of Cr.mk or doing the two moves seperately this goes double for cannon drill. Cannon Spike has a huge hitbox and can be used as an awesome anti-air. It is also safe if you can hit with the max range of the move. Her cross up is J.LK. Lastly her St.MK and St.HP are stellar pokes that work well to stuff fireballs when you get in range to use them.

DeeJay: Dee Jay the combo machine of HDremix is quite versatile, he has a very quick and efficient fireball that can be used to keep people out or keep the pressure on people. Dread Kicks are safe and can be used in the end to push you back a considerable distance if you need. Up Kicks are basic reversal material. What makes DeeJay special is his short range, high priority normal moves. His Cr.MK and his Cr.HK are both sweeps but in different forms. His Cr.MP and Cr. HP have so much priority that almost nothing beats them except for Sagat’s St. LK. His J.MK is an easy crossup that leads to some heavy combos. Cr. HK is a sliding sweep that can actually be used as an anti-air and an amazing way to cover ground, it is pretty safe too, Cr.MK has deceptive range and knocks down, it is a great ender for strings of pokes. St.MP, St. HK and St.HP can be used as sweet anti-airs so you don’t always need charge for Up Kicks. Dee Jay is great at tick throwing with Cr.LK, Cr.LP or J.LP. His shortcomings are that he’s a charge character so he’s easily tick thrown, also his short range moves, while great are still short range and that’s not a good thing in a game about controlling space.

T.Hawk: Once a joke in Super Turbo, he’s now quite formidable. Use his Hawk Dive to get into range for the Totem Driver. Totem Driver is more or less the staple of T.Hawk, this isn’t to say that you should go crazy with it, because it is punishable if it misses and it is very avoidable if you’re obvious. The Hawk’s Flight can be used very liberally if the opponent is always looking for the Totem Driver. Hawk’s normals aren’t really that amazing, but his specials are great and they can be enough to see him through, his super can be a great help, though its more or less a suped up Totem Driver. The LP button is your friend with T.Hawk mixing up the amount of Cr.LP you do before throwing or doing a jump in LP and then Totem Driver or Hawk’s Flight are his main offense.

Combos

Sagat:

(J.RH)->Cl.HK or Cl.HP->Tiger Kneex2 or Tiger Uppercut

Cr.MK into any special

Tiger Knee->Tiger Knee

M.Bison:

(Crossup J.HK)->St.LK->Cr.MK->Knee Press or Psycho Crusher

St.LKx2->Cr.MK->Knee Press

Super-> J.MP(press medium punch 2x while in air)

J.MP(press button 2x)->J.MP or Super

FeiLong:

(Meaty Cl. HP)->Walk forward Cl.HP->Rekka Ken

Cl.HP-> Rekka Ken or Flame Kick

Cr.LK->St.LP or Cr.LP->Rekka Ken

(Anti-Air) Flying Kick-> Flying Kick or Flame Kick or Super

Cammy:

Cl.Hp or Cl.MP->Cr.MK

Cr.MP->Cr.MK->LK Cannon Drill

Cr.MK-> Cannon Drill

Cr.MK->Super

Cl.HP or Cr.MK-> Cannon Spike

DeeJay:

(crossup J.MK)->Cr.LPx2->UpKicks or Machine Gun Upper

(crossup J.MK)->Cr.LP->Cr.HP->Dread Kick or Machine Gun Upper

(crossup J.MK)->Cr.LP->St.MP->HK UpKicks

MK UpKicks->MK Upkicks

MK Upkicks->Super

(anti-air) Super->Up Kicks

T.Hawk:

Cr.LPx3

J.D+HP->Cr.HP

Related posts:

1. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1 pt.2
2. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1 pt.3
3. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1 Pt.4

Move List

E.Honda

B or F+ HK: Honda does a downward angled kick that hits low and knocks down, I suppose this move makes up for his sweep having such small range. This move has stellar range, I use this a whole bunch to attack from long range to mix it up with walking in and using the Ochio throw or the headbutt.

Headbutt Torpedo B(1 second) F+Punch: Duskoi! Honda launches himself like a torpedo head first at the opponent, this move has amazing priority and can really punch a hole in your opponent’s defense. The harder the punch button used the farther Honda travels. However the LP version can go through most fireballs with the exception of Ryu’s super and Akuma’s charged fireball.

Butt Smash: D(1second)U+Kick: Honda launches himself upward and lands on the opponent’s head, butt first, the start of this move is invincible and can be useful for getting closer to the opponent, but it can be easily countered if expected. This move can only be blocked standing.

Hundred Hand Slap: Tap Punch Rapidly: Honda’s famous hundred hand slap is good against grounded opponents. It has lost some priority since the original Super Turbo but it still has its usage. It takes chunks out of your opponent’s life in block damage and can beat most ground normals similar to Chun’s Lightning Legs.

Ochio Throw: HCB+P: Honda’s command throw has been nerfed since the original Super Turbo days, He no longer stays next to the opponent after completing the throw but instead jumps back, this was due to the effectiveness of a hard to escape throw trap that he used to have. This move can still work wonders but the trap is a thing of the past. This throw has a special property that allows you to store the ochio throw by holding down punch and performing the HCB, when you release punch at any time(while close)Honda will perform the throw.

Super(Double Headbutt): B(1second)F,B,F+Punch This super is quite basic but effective, It has invulnerability at the start and does loads of damage. Both hits will connect in air so it works as quite the anti-air.

Zangief

Spinning Piledriver: HCB,F or 360+P: Zangief’s classic SPD is still the basis for his game, with amazing/surprising reach and tons of damage.

Double Suplex: HCF or 360+K: Zangief grabs his opponent for a double suplex, though the grab does good damage, it has less range than the SPD.

Banishing Flat: QCF+P: Zangief turns and lays a glowing green hand on his opponent, the hand will destroy fireballs while moving forward, getting Zangief into that oh so sweet SPD range.

Running Powerbomb: HCF or 360+K(while far away): Zangief runs at the opponent and delivers a powerbomb, anyone with even the slightest inkling of good reaction time can get out of this with a fireball or reversal, it can land sometimes but I would not at all suggest making this a huge part of your game.

Lariat: LK+LP: Zangief does a short lasting spin in which he is vulnerable to lows but his upper body is invulnerable.

Fast Lariat: MK+MP or HP+HK: As the name implies Zangief spins faster for longer, can also pass through fireballs.

Super(Final Atomic Buster): HCBx2,Back orForward+P: Super version of the SPD, insane damage, use more or less like the SPD.

Vega

Rolling Crystal Flash: B(1second) F+P: Vega rolls along the floor and then sticks his claw out, this is awesome for block damage as well as staying on your opponent.

Wall Dive: D(1second)U+K: Vega jumps to the wall and then across the screen,you can choose your wall by pressing UF or UB to execute the move rather than simply Up. This can be cancelled by pressing Up+K, Vega will flip and land wherever you pressed Up+K. You’re granted surprisingly amazing control over where goes after bouncing off the wall.

Flying Barcelona Attack: P during off the wall: Vega spreads his arms while falling downward, this used to knockdown in the original Super Turbo which led to Vega being able to repeat this move over and over forcing your opponent to guess which side you were going to hit them from. Now it just has amazing priority and no longer knocks down. This is a fair trade because now Vega is quite balanced rather than standing ahead of most of the cast. He can combo off of this now but its very difficult as Vega doesn’t have much comboability.

Izuna Drop: During of the wall, while close to the opponent F+P: Vega grabs the opponent and drops them on their head doing great damage, this move can be quite tempting to do because of the damage, but it can be seen pretty easily if you go for it too much, mix this up with the Barcelona Attack and just dropping off the wall.

Off the wall Spike: D(1second) U+P: Vega jumps to the wall but you have no control this time, he just flies claw first into his opponent and bounces off, I haven’t gotten too much use out of this move, but I guess one could imagine it would be used to punish big mistakes like a missed reversal due to the speed of the move.

Flip Kick: DB(1 second) F+K: Vega’s Reversal, it has some invincibility but not enough to go through fireballs, however…

Backflip: LP+LK: this move does, and can serve as his main reversal, this move avoids everything, lows, fireballs, other reversals, and on top of it all it builds meter.

Double Backflip: HP+HK: The same as Backflip but it lasts for longer and leaves him farther away from the opponent, so depending on how far you feel like being away from your opponent you can use this or the backflip.

Super(Barcelona Special Izuna Drop): DB(1second) DF,DB,UF+K then F+P while close to the opponent after the wall dive: Vega does a really fast wall dive, which you have control over and can do the same things as the regular Wall Dive but if you attempt an Izuna drop he does this super instead. This super should be used exactly as you would use the regular Izuna Drop. The super does not activate unless you perform the grab, if you simply do the wall dive you will not lose meter nor have any super flash.

Balrog

Dash Straight: B(1second)F+P: Balrog dashes forward with a punch that looks similar to his St.HP, this move has ridiculous range, it does wonders to get Balrog in, you should only use it though when your opponent can’t hit you out of it as it is pretty easy to be hit out of.

Dash Sweep: B(1second)DF+P: Balrog dashes forward very quickly and does his Cr.HK sweep that knocks the opponent down, this move is great, its fast, damaging and plays such an important role in his very amazing mixup game as it can only be blocked low.

Dash Upper: B(1second)F+K: A very quick dashing uppercut, somewhat effective anti-air, recovers very quickly so even if you miss you may be able to get a throw in.

Dash Alternate Upper: B(1 second)DF+K: Very similar to his dash upper except it knocks down, not completely sure of any alternate properties other than that.

Buffalo Headbutt: D(1second)U+P: Balrog’s reversal, this move is quite unsafe but very invulnerable you’ll find that you can quite easily travel through fireballs with this. This move has surprising reach also.

Turn Around Punch(TAP): Hold 2punches or 2kicks: The longer you hold down these buttons the higher the number the announcer might say with the highest level announced as “FINAL!”, more than likely you will probably only use up to level 3 and perhaps sometimes 4. This move does insane damage at higher levels, but its main purpose is to continue pressure after a dashing move, and trade with other moves because you’ll always do more damage than they’ll do to you when you hit with this.

Super(Crazy Buffalo): B(1second)F,B,F+P or K: When pressing punch Balrog will do about 5 repitions of his dashing straight, this move easily goes through fireballs and can be used for just the sake of doing that. Hitting kick is just as invulnerable but the first hit is changed from a dashing straight into a dashing upper. You can also use this super just for the sake of getting in your opponent’s face, but I personally believe it should be used to go through fireballs and hit the opponent or if you’re facing someone with great normals like Chun-Li or Dee Jay and they’re keeping you out all day.

General Overview

E.Honda

Playing as E.Honda is a very unique character in that he can be seen as a really easy match up to some characters but a real menace to other. Generally characters with fireballs give him a hell of a time, while he roasts other guys like himelf who don’t have any. The reason is this, when Honda gets even relatively close to his opponent he has a whole slew of options to utilize such as his Ochio throw which is unblockable, his far sweep(Back or Forward+HK) which can only be blocked low. His LP headbutt which goes through fireballs, in some cases, his Butt Smash that can only be blocked high, and can cross up forcing the opponent to guess left or right, can be thrown in there for extra shenanigans. The Hundred Hand Slap does  great damage and moves Honda forward, even if its blocked it does good enough damage. The general gameplan with Honda is to get in close and get this mixup game going on, this is easier to do against non-fireball characters as Honda has excellent priority on his attacks and can cut through their defensive pokes quite easily, not only that, if they come to him because Honda can effectively play defense against non-fireball characters he has some really nice anti-airs such as his St. HK, LP Headbutt and Cl.HP. Against fireball characters, patience is required, the key in this match is to not get discouraged, because even if they have perfect health and you have about 20% left, Honda getting into that Back+HK range can mean the round in his favor, just watch for the reversal moves.

Zangief

Street Fighter’s trademark grappler quite to the contrary of what most folks believe is a force to be reckoned with. His Spinning Piledriver means insane damage and he has quite a few setups. Zangief’s Cr.HK is a very valuable asset as it is very very quick and can be used as a scare tactic to force the opponent to block and when they do, BAM! walk up Spinning Piledriver. The range for this mixup is quite short and Zangief is a large man, how oh how can you get in range to even do that? Well Zangief’s lariat as you may or may not know has upper body invincibility so you can use it to maneuver around fireballs. Don’t think that this is a free in card though, it doesn’t have lower body invicibility so you’re quite vulnerable to sweeps while performing this move. Another way to try and get in there is jumping in with Zangief’s heavy aerial attacks such as his J. D+HP, J.HP, J.HK, and J.LK. Again this isn’t guaranteed so you’ll have to mix it up and watch for anything that could put you right back across the screen such as a Shoryuken or an anti-air fireball of some sort. However once you get within sweep range you become a real hazard to your opponent because guessing between the SPD and the Sweep isn’t easy because the range difference is very small. Also a sort of last words to aspiring Zangief players. Don’t try and spam SPD, the sweeps will force them to block and then you can start getting those SPDs off, or vice versa the SPDs will get them to stop blocking and you can hit them all day. Remember that in Street Fighter no matter how much you may like a move, you’ve got to condition them to avoid things that aren’t really coming so that you can hit them with other options, so make use of your whole command list; normals, specials, and supers.

Vega

With Vega, as you can guess, making use of his speed and range is the way to victory. Vega with his claw has the best reach perhaps second only to Balrog but Balrog’s range makes him move, Vega can hit things almost half a screen away with his Cr.LP and Cr.Mp and any other moves that use his claw for that matter. His off the wall specials can really throw people through a loop with the Barcelona attack having the possibility of hitting left or right and the izuna drop being unblockable you already have some great options but couple that and his safe slide(Cr.HK) and extremely long range claw moves(almost everything that involves a Punch button). He’s very difficult to fight. His Rolling Crystal flash can either be hefty damage or really nice and safe block damage. Avoiding fireballs is quite easy for him with his backflips and quick jumps, in fact if you predict a fireball you can go off the wall torward them and get a Barcelona attack or an izuna drop, neither is guaranteed but your opponent won’t have much time to react. For anti-airs you can use either his St.RH or his flip kick, both work extremely well especially when done early. The overall key to Vega is using his extreme maneuverability to avoid things while using his crazy range to attack from afar and his off the wall shenanigans every now and again to catch them sleeping or if you know your opponent does not have the reaction time to counter.

Balrog

Just because he doesn’t use kicks, does not make this guy someone to sleep on, he’s actually on of the better characters in the game. All of his dash punches and uppercuts, heck even the sweep are extremely safe. His Headbutt throws leave the opponent extremely vulnerable because after it finishes he can walk underneath them and play crazy mixup games such as blocking, sweep, not walking under, Buffalo Headbutt, tick throwing with meaty Cr.MK among other things that I’ll leave some mystery on because a player needs room to grow and discover things for themselves. Using the headbutt to go through fireballs is less safe now but still usable from farther distances, Dash punches can get you into your opponent’s face quick, especially the Dash Sweep as it is the quickest of his dash moves and can only be blocked in one direction. His good pokes for the more patient player are St.HP, Cr.MP, Cr.MK and Cr.HK. His Cr.HP makes for an effective anti-air if you don’t have enough charge for the headbutt. All in all sticking to the opponent like glue, mixing it up between his headbutt throw, his headbutt and his low moves can get you extremely far, you just have to be patient in some matches as he can be kept out not easily but it is possible.

Combos

E.Honda-N/A

Zangief-Cr.lpx3(4)->Vanishing Flat

Vega-(J.HK)->Cr.MK->Cr.MP

Balrog- Cr.MK->Cr.MP->Either Dash upper or Dash Sweep

J.HP->Cr.LK->St.LP->Any special(light version) except TAP or Headbutt

Related posts:

1. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1 pt.2
2. The Fighter’s Lounge Vol.1 Part 1
3. Fighter’s Lounge vol.1:Final!

How He Controls: DK is a brute, short and simple. He is the biggest character in the original Smash Bros. and he is also one of the slowest. However, what Donkey Kong lacks in speed he more than makes up for in power. For example, his Giant Punch move, when it is fully charged can do up to 36% damage in one hit. 

Techniques:

Infinite Throw Trap (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

DK has the ability to use forward throw as a method to constantly stack damage to most characters. In order to do this, DK must use the Trap Throw, but not throw. If the opponent wiggles out, they will likely wiggle out into DK’s grab range whereupon they can be grabbed again. This throw trap can be broken if the opponent can shake towards DK and his grab. Yoshi can break out of this throw trap with ease.

Another infinite trap is to use Down B in the lower left part of Mushroom Kingdom (SSB) to continuosly damage the target. Unfortunately, this is not allowed in tournaments due to the fact that the stage is banned in tournaments.

Ledge Dropping (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

Due to DK’s laggy aerials, DK has very little comboing potential with his aerials except d-air or f-air into throw. However, if DK drops from a ledge, DK can quickly use a u-air and then land to move to do another attack. DK can also jump, use an aerial, and land on a ledge for a similar effect. As a result, on ledges, DK can juggle characters with u-air that he would otherwise never be able to combo.

Donkey Kong’s Matchups (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

Donkey Kong is low on the tier list due to his weakness to combos and limited approach. He is too heavy and characters have a very easy time 0-death’ing him. Donkey Kong also counters jigglypuff due to his gimp combo cargo hold, re-throw into a fully charged giant punch. He has a better recovery however than many others and this helps his tier placement as much as anything else.

Pros and Cons (Provided by SmashWiki):

Pros:

• Attacks deal lots of damage and have good knockback
• Long horizontal recovery
• Longest grabbing range in the game
• Has two spikes
• Good reach, which allows for good combos despite slow attack speed
• Terrific throw combos
• One of the strongest throws in the game, in terms of knockback
• Heaviest character in the game.
• Has an infinite throw called the Infinite throw trap

Cons:

• Huge target
• Easily comboed/juggled
• Slow movement and attacks
• Poor and unvaried approach
• Low vertical recovery
• Kills require setup
• No projectile
• Poor shield cover

And with that, I have done a Smash-Back entry for each of the main eight characters. Hopefully you readers have found these helpful and once the game is released on Virtual Console, I will begin work on Smash-Back entries for the four unlockable characters. Until next time, keep Smashing!

Related posts:

1. Smash-Back Entry 7: Kirby
2. Smash-Back Entry 6: Link
3. Smash-Back Entry 1: Samus

How He Controls: Kirby has a great recovery technique, great quick attacks, and an amazing range. On top of all that, Kirby has fantastic potential for combos and nearly all of his aerial attacks are great. Oh, and he can steal his opponent’s main abilities. I almost forgot about that…

Techniques:

Extended Recovery (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

Kirby can maximize his horizontal recovery by pairing every aerial jump with F-air which allows him to recover much farther horizontally. Kirby still gains some vertical distance as well.

Down Air Up Tilt (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

Kirby’s D-air is used extensively for edge guards. Its large knockback can destroy many characters (such as Captain Falcon, Mario, Luigi, and DK). It can also be comboed easily into an up-tilt. If the last hit of the dair misses, then chaining up tilts, and finishing with his powerful back air makes for a (not graphically)scary and flash combo.

Pros and Cons (Provided by SmashWiki):

Pros:

• Has two spikes
• Can use his neutral b to copy opponents’ neutral b’s
• Less vulnerable to combos
• Surprisingly long range attacks, especially aerials and up-tilt
• Has many high priority disjointed hitboxes
• Has several shield breaker combos
• Good at edgeguarding
• Most of his moves are extremely fast, with very little lag (quickest Forward Smash and Up-Tilt in the game)

Cons:

• Light and floaty, thus easy to KO
• Vulnerable when changing back from stone
• Most zero to death combos are situational and his f-air can be escaped with DI
• No real projectile

Until next time, keep Smashing!

Related posts:

1. Smash-Back Entry 5: Mario
2. Smash-Back Entry 6: Link
3. Smash-Back Entry 4: Yoshi

How He Controls: Since Link has a lot of projectiles in his arsenal he is a difficult character to try and take on. However, he has extremely slow ground movements and attacks so unless you know how to use him properly he can be considered the worst character in the original Smash Bros. and is currently at the bottom of the tier list.

Techniques:

Pros and Cons (Provided by SmashWiki):

Pros:

• Long reach
• Two good projectiles, which can lead to some very aesthetic combos
• Powerful attacks
• Ranged grab
• Unusual hitboxes

Cons:

• Slow attack speed
• Slow grab if he misses
• Slow dash
• Easily juggled and comboed
• Recovery is short and easily intercepted, especially with spikes
• Is the only character without any sort of spike. 

Until next time, keep Smashing!

Related posts:

1. Smash-Back Entry 1: Samus
2. Smash-Back Entry 4: Yoshi
3. Smash-Back Entry 7: Kirby

How He Controls: Mario is the most well-rounded character in the game and falls directly in the middle of most tier lists of the game. Not only does he have a nice long range courtesy of his fireballs and he also has a good amount of close range Smash attacks that are relatively powerful with relatively being the key word.

Techniques:

Tornado Spike (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

If you catch someone with the Mario Tornado over a pit and the last thing the opponent hits is Mario’s feet, the opponent will be spiked downward. You can use this to spike a recovering opponent or to finish a combo over open ground.

Mario Bros. Pseudo Spike (Analysis provided by SmashWiki)

Both Mario and Luigi can “spike” an opponent with repeated down aerials. This involves hitting the opponent with the downward air repeatedly off the edge and then taking advantage of Mario and Luigi’s huge vertical recoveries to get back on the stage. This does not work against Pikachu, who has a longer and faster vertical recovery than either Mario or Luigi.

Pros and Cons (Provided by SmashWiki):

Pros:

• Good comboing ability with a powerul finishing move (up-smash)
• Potentially a very good recovery
• Fireballs can be used to approach, combo, and edge-guard
• Has a spike (Down-B) and a good downwards drill kick (good for edge-guarding)

Cons:

• Lacks range
• His down-B, an important part of his recovery, requires incredibly fast button mashing
• Not many approach options
• His d-air, which is one of his staple combo moves, can be escaped with DI

Until next time, keep Smashing!

Related posts:

1. Smash-Back Entry 3: Pikachu
2. Smash-Back Entry 4: Yoshi
3. Smash-Back Entry 7: Kirby

General Tips:

1. Stick together all the time: You may think that you can plow through it by yourself and not use teamwork at all. Well, try that and see how many game over screens you get John Rambo,because this is meant for co-op from the start. And no I don’t mean the gimmicky Army of Two co-op,t his co-op is some serious stuff. Always communicate (and some people have never heard such a word) and always have your teammates back even if it’s an AI partner.

2. Don’t be stingy: Dude, if you have a health pack or pain pills and are also in the green section of health, share the wealth with someone on the verge of death. When a teammate dies your chances of survival are significantly decreased especially if the teammate is a live partner. I know the AI likes to throw themselves into fire at times but they are still essential to your survival as well!

3. Please, please know which weapons suck!: Plain and simple, Uzi and single pistol blow. Never, ever use the Uzi even on the beginning of each movie. Pick up the pump action shotty and just go to town because that Uzi may be fast but it isn’t effective at all, and the rumble in the controller doesn’t make it seem any more deadly either. With the later weapons and with a group of peeps, I recommend the following two loadouts: 2 auto shotties, assault rifle, and one dude with the sniper. If not this, then have 2 assault rifles and one shotty, and either one will be effective. The shotgun is essential to taking out the tanks where as the sniper is also good for the tank but mostly effective for taking out many special infected, especially on the finales. The one with the assault rifle should be dealing with the hordes of the normal infected especially in tight hallways. A common yet great tactic is to have the shotty dude duck in front of the assault rifle dude to maximizes your survival chances.

Infected Specific tips:

When dealing with the infected, both common and special, you should always rely on teamwork. And here are a few tips for dealing with the infected.

Common Infected: If you are swarmed by one of the many hordes in the game all you need to do is communicate with your teammates and always know their status. One thing to do if you yourself are overwhelmed is to use that left trigger (360 version) and melee, melee, melee!!! This is effective even against special infected which I will talk about soon.When surrounded, always be sure to melee and make sure you turn to see all sides cause those suckers love to hit you from all sides. This also makes sure that you don’t accidently shoot your team if you are randomly shooting.

Boomer: The Boomer is the fat guy who likes to vomit everywhere. He has a specific sound which sounds likes he’s puking, so listen for that. Once you hear that, or any special infected noise at all, alert your team. If you or someone else has been vomited on by the Boomer, everyone needs to surround that person and help them out. Whatever post you are watching or wherever you are, everyone needs to drop what they are doing and surround the person covered in green. Boomer bile attracts the horde specifially to that person for a short time so a great thing to do is for everyone to surround him and fight of the horde coming to the unfortunate person. To avoid being vomited on, quickly try to shove the Boomer away with the left trigger and when no one is around him, SHOOT HIM! And make sure no teammate  is next to him because when he explodes, bile still somes out and if you are covered it will attract the horde.

Smoker: This annoying foe likes to use his tongue and strangle you. He is tall, scrawny and covered in green smoke abd his alert noise is him coughing, so it isn’t too hard to recognize he’s near. Once his tongue gets you the, Smoker drags you towards himand then strangles you. The most effective way to get out of this is to either be quick and shoot him or have your teammate melee you out of the hold. Easy as pie.

Hunter: The one who stays in the shadows and stalks his prey. The Hunter is in a dark blue hoody so he isn’t that easy to spot, but makes a growling noise when he’s near. His attack is to unexpectedly pounce on you and maul you to death which can happen very quickly. Once someone gets attacked by him everyone must react and take out the attacking Hunter. Meleeing him off is more effective than shooting since it doesn’t cause friendly fire.

Witch: The Witch is the one who cries by herself and is kinda illuminated in an orangy pink color. Just make sure you stay away. I’m not even gonna tell you the best way to kill her because I’m stressing to stay away as she is the most powerful in the game and only attacks if you bother her. STAY AWAY!!!

Tank: Lastly is the Tank. This big, mean mother hubbard is the one that comes at the worst times. This is the one infected that requires all 4 teammates to kill it because it takes the most damage, and as I said, the shotgun is most effective. You will know one is near just by the sudden change in music playing in the background. And one last Tank tip: There are always 2 in the finale.

Well here are the fundamentals to playing Left 4 Dead and I hope to all who read this that it helps you. There are tips to each finale but I couldn’t make things too easy can I? Figuring out your own strategy to the finales is the best part of the game. ^_^

Related posts:

1. Can We Now Call Left 4 Dead 2 a Sequel Please?
2. Valve Dropping More DLC for Left 4 Dead
3. Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC Debuts September 29th

Ken Masters

Pros: Ken has a very amazing ground game. He has a very nice assortment of long range pokes, and invincible and safe light shoryuken, and a fireball. Ken’s mixup game is very plentiful between solid and gimmicky options. Ken has great throws that either put the opponent in the corner almost immediately or create excellent opportunities for mix up. Ken’s hurricane kick is a nice tactic for getting in on your opponent from the right distances(if you do it from the wrong distance you can get hit out of it).

Cons: Ken’s fireballs are slow in comparison to other characters that have fireballs and it is easy for him to lose fireball battles as a result. In most match ups you’re best off not even using it except to push your opponent to the corner, canceled off of a move, as a meaty move, or to avoid taking chip damage from the opponent’s fireballs. Ken’s super is almost impossible to use to kill your opponent with chip damage unless they’re knocked down with an invisible pixel.

Ryu

Pros: Ryu is the man that has it all, amazing anti-air ability, great pokes, superb mobility, his fireball trap offense, you name it, Ryu can do it. Even though other characters may share one or two of his great abilities he always has another asset that they may not. Ryu is the epitome of Super Turbo a completely perfect character.

Cons: Everything that Ryu has, another character can do it better. Most characters have great anti-airs, Chun-Li has better pokes, Cammy has better mobility, Sagat has an equal if not better fireball trap.

Ken-Combos

cl.HP->Shoryuken(or)Hadouken(or)Hurricane Kick(or)QCF+K

cr.LKx2->Super

cr.MK->Shoryuken(or)Hadouken(or)Hurricane Kick(or)QCF+K

j.LP->(air)Hurricane Kick->cr.HK

Ryu-Combos

cl.HP->Shoryuken(or)Hadouken(or)Hurricane Kick

cr.MK->Shoryuken(or)Hadouken(or)Hurricane Kick

cr.LK->Shoryuken

Ken-General Tips

First and foremost while playing Ken it is easy to fall into some dangerous habits such as abusing the light shoryuken. It is safe on block but if you miss you can get punished pretty badly by sweeps, which gives your opponent way more advantage than you might think upon the knockdown. Ken has nifty mixups such as walk up as if you’re about to throw and then light shoryu instead. If they block you’re safe, if they try and soften the throw they get hit by the shoryuken. After Ken’s MK throw, the opponent flips into the air, if you hold forward you can walk under them as they land which puts you right next to them on the other side where you have a large amount of options, you can then mix this up with staying on the same side and all sorts of left and right guessing. Beware though, Ken’s MK throw has less range than his other throws, so better opponents will see you trying to go for it. Ken’s j.lp canceled into air hurricane kick is another time where your opponent has to guess what you’re going to do between, throw, light shoryuken, block, or cr.lkx2 into super(or cr.mk->shoryuken if you have no super) because of the huge block stun that Ken’s air hurricane kick leaves the opponent in. After a blocked Hurricane Kick you again can force your opponent to guess between these options and more. Ken’s st.LK,st.HK, and his cr.MK all have great range and can be used to both counter poke and pressure opponents. Like Ryu, Ken should be a habitual user of the cr.HK canceled into Hadouken to push the opponent back toward the corner. Ken can use a lesser version of Ryu’s fireball trap, it requires different timing and spacing but it can be done. This is also a key part of Ken’s game, even though his up close shenanigans are more fun, if you’re trying to pull out that win, learning to use Ken’s fireball properly is a must.

Ryu-General Tips

Performing well with Ryu requires you to be a master of all his assets; as obvious as it may sound. His fireball trap timing and not messing up the fireballs or shoryuken is crucial. Spacing fireballs with Ryu is another must as some characters can punish him severely with jump in combos. Ryu’s F+HP can be used similar to a dash in other games, following it he can throw, Shoryuken, sweep into fireball, F+MP and other options. Ryu is relatively simply to use. He has all the necessary tools for any situation, playing him right depends on your execution and reaction time more than any character specific gimmicks.

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