Last updated on May 2, 2013
Wow, I haven’t done one of these for a while. The plan was to have a podcast every other week, but I’ve been totally swamped with interviews and podcasts; apologies for those looking for a new one every week, because we’re gonna slow it down a little bit.
If you want to become good at fighting games, there’s no way around it: good execution counts for a lot.
Most beginners think using the flashiest moves will make you win, or that throwing out whatever towards your opponent will trick them into taking huge amounts of damage. It doesn’t work that way. For one, you’ll get blown up for even trying certain unsafe moves with certain characters. For another, the flashiest moves aren’t neccessarily the best. Think Chun-Li in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Her most imposing and dangerous weapon came from crouching MK rather than anything else. Why? Not only did the game give this simple crouching normal an incredible speed and frame advantage, but it could cancel directly into Chun-Li’s best super art (number two, if I’m thinking correctly, or Houyokusen). Ever other character in Third Strike, including top tier wonder Yun, needed to beat or avoid this one devastating move altogether to avoid their own defeat.
However, the c.MK wouldn’t exist as a threat without a super combo linked after it. You need the speed, quickness, and proper timing to buffer two quarter circle motion into the kick move and then press punch. That seems an insurmountable task to the lot of us, especially if you’re not using a joystick, and ESPECIALLY not under the pressure of a competitive tournament situation. Still, such a move only shows us the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fighting game execution.
First, you need a stick. Period. I know people always debate whether it’s worth the investment, and let me tell you: it is. I never played stick at all until 2009 when Street Fighter IV came out. I learned the new controller from scratch. It took a heck of a long time, but it makes even the biggest combos much easier. The game came out in arcades, and you should play on an arcade controller. Granted, they cost money, but if you’re getting into fighting games at all you’ll find yourself using the same controller on quite a few fighting games, 2D and 3D alike. I even adjusted to playing Soul Calibur on stick after ten years; if I can do it, anyone can with enough persistence. If I sound like an elitist here, I want people to play at their best. Playing on a default joypad only goes so far in terms of executing the most difficult techniques, so why intentionally gimp yourself? Of course, you will play badly at first, but that’s a universal experience for everyone! I could also give you the technical reasons (wired controller, microswitches responding within milliseconds of your press, speed, etc.), but trust me. I don’t lead you astray, do I?
Simply put, execution requires practice, whether in doing moves over and over again or playing matches. Every fighting game requires a different sense of timing; some, like Street Fighter IV, give the player a multitude of input shortcut (such as the ones above) and a larger buffer period for inputs. When transferring to another game like King of Fighters XIII, you’ll need to perform every single input correctly or nothing will come out. As a first word of advice: stick with one game until you work your way around a joystick like a pro. Buy an expensive one too (MadCatz and Hori, at the very least, offer mainstream sticks that use real arcade parts – custom sticks take much more time. Or build one yourself with the proper tech savvy).
Practice comes in many forms. You should first jump right into training mode and try characters out. Check their movements, normals, specials, etc. Don’t worry about their playstyle or anything. Just mess around with the controls; the more you play, the more you’ll get a feeling for the flow of combat. Don’t bother playing the computer, as it’s a poor substitute for another person. If you find yourself a training buddy, better still; two players starting on the same level makes the process much easier than being beaten down by people who far exceed you capacity to execute moves.
Once you settle on a character -or if you didn’t, shame on you – mess around some more, or just pick the default protagonist; they’re usually the easiest to play at first. Look up some moves and try them out. If your game includes a trial mode of some sort relating to combo execution, start using that. Those combos aren’t always good in actual combat, but they’re a starting point. They’ll proceed to teach you the basics of timing, speed, and executing correctly. Try hard to get used to this; if it doesn’t work, there’s usually a video on the Internet SOMEWHERE that details the mechanic you’re missing. Read, read, READ on the mechanics of your game, or frustration ensues. Sometimes, the game won’t give you the answer you need (example: SFIV’s trial mode does not tell you the correct inputs for certain moves), so experiment! There’s no penalty for missing a combo in training or even doing a special or super incorrectly. Try, try again.
Furthermore, avoid bad habits. Don’t shortcut the motions. I know I said that they exist, but using them will become a handicap if you switch games. Do the proper motion enough, and it becomes second nature. If you find yourself with problem doing a quarter circle forward motion, do it slowly – the more you do it, the more muscle memory will come into play.
Once the process begins, don’t overdo it. Keep your practice time to an hour or two; I guarantee your hand will hurt the first day, more than likely. Naturally, performing too fast will cause this. Take it slow and let the muscles build up; you may work up a new set of strong hand muscles when all is said and done! Over time, your skill will develop to the point where things will magically come out of your brain without a thought or mistake. I’ve suddenly reached that point in SFIV, though not in an actual match. The general rule for effective combos is: if you can do it ten times in a row, then most likely muscle memory will take over and perform it correctly in a match. I did not do this yet, but I am getting close! Lastly, you do not need the fancy stuff. Sometimes, learning basic punish combos for all situations becomes enough; you can integrate greater threats into your strategy later. Learn the flow of the game first, then learn the advanced techniques. I did this in the opposite order, and learned the hard way.
In effect, all of these tips boil down to simple perseverance and dedication. If you do not step up to the task, you will fail. If you do not schedule practice time to learn the game, you will fail. If you do not take the time to learn what happens in the game, you will fail. These remain immutable facts of life; without dedication, sacrifice, time, and perseverance you cannot succeed. If you do not know what the Bible says, how can you possibly live the Christian life? Joshua 1 remains that perennial example:
7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
That meditation works all the time, throughout the day, in the morning and in the night. To read the Bible isn’t some scheduled activity; it’s a feat of mental muscle memory. This is why Christians encourage each other to read it again, and again, and again. Once never seems enough to learn all of the different aspects of the text. Neither does one lifetime seem enough at times! Yet the Bible tells us, again and again, to listen to the Word of God (whether in Christ or in the Written Word) and to think about it throughout the day. All time equals God’s time; not just when I happen to partition it off for some specific hour. That’s how I should treat it – the ideal, even if not the reality.
Whatever comes about in our daily trials, we cannot forget to meditate, to continually think about the Word of God as it also change us in the process. We need to develop muscle memory to remember what we need to remember. Trust me, however strange that sounds, it works. So it is in video games, so it in real life.
