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The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 1:28 pm
by Maj
Combos don't always have to be technical breakthroughs, or execution nightmares, or anywhere near the best of all time in order to stand out. Sometimes all it takes is one element of style. It's about time we started appreciating/acknowledging that elusive alternative form of creativity.

Combo Video Vol.7 by zerokoubou
- at 0:34, i'm convinced that Bison intentionally times his j.MP juggles to float Blanka over the unbroken statue
- at 2:10, whiffing Fei Long's HP Rekkas to cover ground during the setup simply looks awesome, as does meaty c.LK slide mid-combo
--- (may have been discovered by Tosaka first)
- at 2:53, linking all three of Fei Long's strong punches in a row is dope; not exactly difficult, although he does take a step forward inbetween
- at 3:31, Dhalsim connects j.D+HK drill as a crossup, in slow motion, while Gief is burning

3S Combo Video #2 by SlimX
- at 1:45, Urien performs quite possibly the first 3S combo i ever thought was cool, partly because it was the first time i'd seen anyone do anything advanced using the high Aegis Reflector and partly because he utilized the FB in the combo, making the Aegis installation flow organically

MSHvSF and MvC Combo Movie by joo
- at 0:41, something about the way Cap's doublejump sj.HK connects makes the first five hits one of the coolest strings i've ever seen in a Marvel combo
- at 1:19, between the 40th and 45th hits, Chun completes a full 360 degree air combo rotation around Omega Red
- at 1:49, towards the end of the combo, Cyber Akuma superjump-cancels c.HP into whiff Divekick to juggle with s.LP

This is only the beginning. Got a lot more combovids to point out, but i'm drawing a blank right now cuz i still haven't gotten around to sleeping.

Let's keep this thread focused on stylish content - such as combos, setups, and glitches - as opposed to excellence in editing and presentation.

Re: Paragons of Style in Combos

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:46 am
by Maj
Attention to style tends to become more prevalent once open avenues for technical innovation dwindle. Whenever somene releases a series of impressive optimized videos focusing on a specific game, the last installment typically features the highest style to substance ratio.

SF2 Combo Movie Vol.3 by Studio L / Tosaka
- at 0:44, Dhalsim combos two air drills and still manages to keep the combo going
- at 1:07, Ken combos j.HK into corner crossup air Hurricane Kick and still links a super afterwards
- at 1:19, Bison uses Stomp in two separate combos in two different ways; second one is brilliant
- at 1:33, Dee Jay does a midscreen 100% non-dizzy combo with two low fierces, catching Fei Long's head bleeding during superfreeze

CFJ Logical Progression by ksyg
- at 0:45, Bison stomps the hell out of Anakaris' underground limbs
- at 1:31, Demitri's EX FB hits Ryu's outstretched s.HP which spreads out the hits which launches Ryu higher
- at 1:35, everything is spaced perfectly to save the last juggle for a second EX rolling attack, enabling that awesome zigzag maneuver
- at 5:21, Rose's first c.HK sweep is necessary but the second one is purely for style
- at 6:21, Guy fits not one but two wacky side switches into one sequence, displacing his superfreeze nexus in the process
- at 7:50, Hauzer not only does a midscreen 100% non-dizzy combo, but he switches sides in the middle too
- at 8:30, Kenji miraculously arranges a 100% damage combo ending with dashpunch super just to show us a unique victory pose
- at 9:51, although Chun's combo contains no new pieces, literally everything cool about her CFJ incarnation is shown in one combo

Sometimes style comes down to doing things a certain way, avoiding the path of least resistance. It would have been easier to have Ryu jump onto Demitri's EX FB, but way less inventive.

Re: Paragons of Style in Combos

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 10:11 pm
by Maj
Although this video looks somewhat dated now, it was by far the most intense CvS video available at the time. Most of the content focuses on getting the maximum number of hits possible, but there are a few clips which stand out as stylish.

CvS Combos! by Kamui and mopreme
- at the very beginning, Sakura performs a juggle combo ending in a lvl3 fireball which then cleverly serves as a knockdown setup for the next combo
- at 1:55, i always liked how they used EX-Kim's LP Ku Sajin after the lvl1 upkick instead of going straight into divekick juggles like everyone else
- at 3:12, Ken gets the combo counter all the way up to three before he even lands, which you don't see often in CvS1; plus side switch mid-combo
- at 3:28, probably my favorite combo in the video, starts with a dope stomp setup, uses all three supers, and ends with a cross-under lvl1 upkick

There's kind of a strange story behind this particular video too. Before it was released, MrWizard showed it to me and asked if i thought it was good enough to post on SRK's front page. Back in those days, SRK generated actual content and i guess they had submitted it to Wiz for hosting or something. So i watched it once or maybe twice and told him that it had a couple of new things in it (Kyo OTG and Kim lvl3 divekick malfunction) but most of it wasn't that crazy. I don't remember whether it got posted or not, but i still feel bad about that cuz every time i rewatched the video, i liked it even more. Sometimes you can't tell just how much work went into something until you look at it very closely (and repeatedly). So yeah, sorry guys. I was dumb.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 1:36 am
by Maj
Easily one of my favorite videos of all time, the final production of an incredible crew, and still strong as ever ...

Capcom vs SNK 2 Combo Video | continuation by Sai-Rec
- at 3:19, Honda whiffs a 360 and a 720 in the middle of one combo; how do you beat that?
- at 4:16, not the flashiest combo but Vega does pick up his weapon in the middle of a link so he can do his lvl3 claw super
- at 4:48, that meaty stomp against Gief's RC Taunt is so tight
- at 5:38, the way that Cammy DP connects and traps Gief behind her for the midscreen lvl1 juggle followup is awesome
- at 11:36, Kyo incorporates three OTG hits into one combo along with a crossover whiff HK RED Kick; even the setup is elegant
- at 12:46, Vice shows up with a 24-hit rejump combo requiring no super meter? yes please.
- at 13:35, Nako reflects Joe's double tornado and then sets up a two-hit juggle on the bird; so damn clever
- at 13:54, Joe comes right back with hella tornadoes and hella knees
- at 14:17, Joe sets up a meaty LK Knee simply by managing pushback range, to enable an HK Knee followup juggle
- at 14:41, once again excellent range management to make sure each Todo wave only hits once
- at 15:19, random standing strong is awesome and so is sweeping after that HP Double Reppuken
- at 15:53, great combo all around but even better because of Haohmaru's s.HK

This project was a huge turning point in Sai-Rec's progression following their two "Harvest" videos. It marks a departure from their early days of focusing (too?) heavily on technical nuances and trying to max out the hit counter with every character - which led to hundreds of knife wounds and way too many Rolento deaths. For proof, all you gotta do is look at the pair of Sakura combos shown in this video. That hooker can land forty hits C-Groove and well over a hundred hits in A-Groove, but both those combos are overplayed and boring. In contrast, both of the Sakura combos in this video are quick, surprising, and very clever.

The only downside to this video is the fact that they used the lowest speed setting to avoid skipped frames. It's hard to blame them considering how much more work it takes to do this kinda frame-precise stuff on turbo speeds, but you can't argue that tempo is an essential aspect of style.

Oh yeah, and this video has a ton of stylish Maki and Rolento and Kyosuke and Yun and Akuma combos which i left out above simply because they're too technically brilliant to be considered style-driven.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:49 am
by Maj
Flashback to one of the marquee highlights of the GameCombos.Com era and still one of my favorite combo videos to this day.

Volume VI by NKI
- at 0:15, 0:28, and 0:37, we've got three combos where the first ground attack is a fierce
- at 0:37, tigerknee air super FB is dope; remember, opponents become invincible halfway through their knockdown arc in SFA2
- at 0:49, 1:26, and 1:47, fierce Dragon Punch comes first
- at 1:04, Bison stomp combos are dope
- at 1:08, not one but two CC stomp hits; actual damage is laughable but style damage is through the roof!
- at 1:12, the most kung-fu Gen clip i've ever seen
- at 1:44, Ryu pushing buttons like it's a new game
- at 2:02, S.Akuma pulls off one of the few Taunts that ever felt appropriate

The overall editing and pacing of the video is excellent but it's the variety and fierceness that really puts it over the top for me. I mean, i just really enjoy that whole approach of "Oh i got you right next to me? BAM, FIERCE! Worry about the rest of the combo later." You know, that "Fierce first, ask questions later" philosophy.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 1:47 am
by Maj
Now for some true oldschool style - the kind you can only find on a VHS cassette.

SF3 Double Impact Combo Exhibition by Skill Smith
- at 3:19, Ryu does an EX Hurricane Kick combo which switches sides with Hugo and sucks him into an s.HP xx EX DP
- at 6:25, Alex manages to juggle a stomp; how cool is that?
- at 8:06, looks like a generic Dudley juggle until he crosses under Alex for the s.HK xx DP finisher
- at 9:04, no clue how he gets so much mileagle out of NG Dudley's dash launchers but it's an awesome combo
- at 10:22, NG Sean whiffing a tackle in the middle of a combo is dope; bonus points for picking the tackle super too
- at 11:31, the first part of that Necro combo just has a dope beat to it
- at 12:14, NG Necro links j.LK after MP spin on grounded Alex, then hits Alex with a cool-looking double SA1 juggle
- at 13:40, NG Ken hits Necro with five jab Dragon Punches in a row
- at 13:50, well that NG Ken combo is just plain cool; demonstrates SA3 hitting in four distinct patterns
- at 15:42, that middle part where NG Oro strings together three regular FB's is dope
- from 16:30 to 18:44, what the hell is going on? pre-3S Ibuki is so damn crazy
- at 18:53, Elena sneaks a universal overhead into the middle of a combo; dope SA2 follow-ups too
- at 22:43, NG Yun creates a dope one-hit SA2 setup which allows him to continue the juggle
- at 24:00, NG Yang does a three-hit jump-in starter courtesy of Alex, who made himself taller by whiffing s.HK
- at 24:12, NG Yang puts together maybe the coolest anti-Gill combo in the video? lots of cool bits everywhere
- at 24:26, NG Yang sets up his patented backwards SA1 off a cool air combo, then follows it up with a dope crossover juggle
- at 25:13, Hugo claps for twelve seconds straight
- at 28:08, Urien shows off pretty much the only stylish thing he's got: stomping someone off an Aegis

A lot of this stuff has become commonplace in the aftermath of this video, but it's still cool to see where it all originated before it started showing up in random 3S combo videos.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 7:07 pm
by Maj
This pair of videos is from the early days of CvS2, when the game was mysteriously magical and people would record themselves pushing random buttons during Custom Combos, then mashing out a super.

CvS2 Combo Exhibition 1 by Persona
- at 1:29, Rock knocks Yamazaki out of the corner in the middle of a CC and finishes it with that sweet running overhead move
- at 2:20, Eagle does a generic CC but i like how he mixes up the hard normals used between slides

CvS2 Combo Exhibition 2 by Persona
- at 0:33, that Terry combo is not only all sorts of advanced, but it also includes a Taunt that serves a technical function
- at 0:43, Cammy ends the combo with s.HK xx lvl1 upkick which is a much nicer alternative to the standard lvl1 upkick ender
- at 1:08, whiffing Morrigan command grabs during CC juggles is dope
- at 2:57, that j.HP canceled into Kim's lvl1 divekick looks really cool

Yeah, i always liked these two videos back in the days before lvl2 cancel glitch juggles and Rolento knife setups.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:21 pm
by Maj
One of the biggest problems with SvC Chaos is that the rigid game engine leads to too many flowchart combos. It got to a point where there were three or four major combo video releases by completely unrelated groups which contained nearly identical content for the majority of the cast. Literally we're talking the same exact Terry/Iori/Takuma/Chun/V.Ken/Akuma/etc combos in every single video. Well, these are the first videos that managed to break that mold and make SvCC look almost exciting for once.

SNK vs. Capcom Combo Movie by adakino
- at 0:18, i like that midscreen Akuma j.HK ender cuz it's so ghetto yet so satisfying for some reason; dizzies Hugo too
- at 0:32, Demitri's combo is dope not only because it's a 100% combo involving his grab super, but also because it all happens so fast
- at 0:51, Terry's generic Double Geyser combo is boring and i kinda wish it wasn't in the video, but eh it's SvCC, what can you do?
- at 1:09, dopest SvCC Guile combo ever; totally blew all of our minds when we first saw it

SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos Combo Movie Vol.2 by adakino
- at 0:35, i don't even know why this combo amuses me so much but it just does; so goofy yet so cool
- at 1:03, Geese's backward j.HK dizzy is almost as cool as Akuma's in the last video; also cool that he avoids the generic infinite
- at 1:19, exciting Terry combo totally makes up for the boring one in the last vid; 3 Buster Wolves >>> 8 Geysers
- at 1:47, Tessa does everything right: using three different projectiles and whiffing an ultra in the middle, all very quickly

SvC Chaos Is Not End by adakino
- at 0:32, walking forward an entire screen's length during the course of a combo is just plain cool
- at 0:38, has Dhalsim ever had a close-range combo this long before?
- at 0:44, usually Tessa's stupid catball combos are boring as hell, but dashing under people fixes that!
- at 1:07, Red Arremer does more lots of walking!

Very impressive all in all. It's always awesome to see someone take a game that everyone had already declared dead and transform it into something fresh by adding a little love into the mix.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:04 am
by Maj
I've been putting this off because there are so many of these videos but it's absolutely ridiculous how much of a style junkie this kid is. Every single one of these videos is an absolute style masterpiece, so i'm only gonna list the three or four clips that really stand out to me.

SFIII 3rd [Q & Twelve] by 538/kysg
- at 1:09, Q gets two EX dash punches to connect backwards in a single quick juggle sequence!
- at 1:39, so many dope things here, from comboing into command grab to the midscreen transition to the overhead juggles
- at 2:19, Twelve's combo includes an air dash and that goofy upkick canceled into a super
- at 3:55, the five doublefists of death!

SFIII 3rd [Chun-Li] by 538/kysg
- at 0:23, it's cool how Chun j.D+MK stomps on Hugo's s.MK foot to start off that awesome combo
- at 0:32, everything is cool about this combo: the FB setup, the juggle setup, the side-switching, the super choice, everything
- at 0:45, a perfect example of all that the midscreen space offers
- at 1:29, we get two great uses of Chun's slow EX FB, including knocking someone backwards into it

SFIII 3rd [Alex] by 538/kysg
- at 0:14, alright so this dude is just pushing random buttons, but the thing is they're all the best buttons!
- at 0:26, not only does that combo have the weirdest links ever, but it ends with SA2 simply grabbing frontwards
- at 0:51, okay, seriously? elbows everywhere! and that second one hits so low too ... it's like magic
- at 1:02, fuck yeah bootkick him again Alex!
- at 1:53, it's just awesome how he found a place for the standard 3-hit SA1 in this video
- at 2:09, it's just awesome how he found a place for that useless DDT move in this video

Okay, sleep now, more later. Now more ...

SFIII 3rd [Ken] by 538/kysg
- at 1:24, one deadly combo, two lethal Shinryukens, all death!
- at 2:21, Ken connects two SA3's in a different way than we're used to seeing, without manipulating ender juggles
- at 3:08, Ken's EX FB xx SA3 juggle gimmick, except going the wrong way and switching sides, then LK HK switching sides again!
- at 3:17, yes i know you can combo Ken's Taunt, but can you do it after using all his meter and tallying 20 hits?
- at 3:46, this SA3 death combo is a testament to 538's meticulousness

SFIII 3rd [Gouki] by 538/kysg
- at 0:17, Akuma air super FB into ground super FB? awesome!
- at 0:24, using Raging Demon to spread apart the three hits of HP red FB to tack on a demon flip? genius!
- at 0:30, that's a lot of Hurricane Kicks
- at 2:21, he finds a way to combo two demon flips and he does it within the context of a death combo
- at 2:33, a death combo using only the air version of SA1, a great idea; midscreen, no less
- at 3:53, kinda cool seeing two different colored fireballs going at Dudley from two different angles

SFIII 3rd [Elena] by 538/kysg
- at 0:31, so much awesome packed together, because Elena combos should look like hyperactive dance chaos
- at 0:58, more cool bits including a two-hit crossup and lots of places where the combo goes on longer than you expect
- at 1:50, what the hell? awesome that's what the hell!
- at 3:49, the breakdance death combo of all time
- at 4:40, uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! uppercut! (no exaggeration)

SFIII 3rd [Ryu] by 538/kysg
- at 1:12, Ryu is strong.
- at 1:23, Ryu is strong.
- at 1:31, Ryu is strong.
- at 1:54, Ryu is strong.
- at 3:05, Ryu is strong.
- at 3:40, Ryu is strong.
- at 4:25, Ryu is strong.

Okay, lunch now, more later. Now more ...

SFIII 3rd [Sean] by 538/kysg
- at 0:18, if you gotta whiff something for meter, it helps a lot if you mix up those buttons
- at 0:38, that whiff tackle is dope
- at 0:48, if you can make a goofy character look really goofy, then you're doing something right
- at 2:23, because sometimes you just gotta knee fools

SFIII 3rd [Necro] by 538/kysg
- at 1:11, i've never seen that move before and he does it thrice!
- at 2:56, wow. that's how you do it kids.
- at 3:29, spin Necro, spin!
- at 3:50, if you've got a stretchy character, you really should make 'em stretch
- at 4:00, that's just silly

In summary, dang.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:16 pm
by onReload
Maj wrote: - at 2:09, it's just awesome how he found a place for that useless DDT move in this video
Sir that move is NOT useless. You can use it for weird mixups, just not often at alllll. I like to do a meaty MK and cancel to MK spiral DDT. nobody beats it (since who the hell expects it) unless they're mashing.

...

but it's pretty close to useless. My vote for most useless is EX Chun Li's overhead split kick. Incredible start up, not worth it at all.

Also I wish he had the remnants of the Yang video ;_; but you know that.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:48 pm
by Maj
A valiant argumentative effort sir, but i remain unconvinced. Its uselessness in match play is only surpassed by its uselessness in combovids.

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:07 pm
by onReload
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure DVD Combo Trailer by Meikyousisui

The whole damned thing is brimming with style, since the guys are superbly technical and the game already has so much style; I feel as though it's REALLY underrated. Plus, the soundtrack is fantastic IMO.

But check out the combo at 3:40. Two taunts in the middle of a combo, and he TWIRLS THE DAMNED BULLET on the shouryuu-input super for Hol Horse where you can guide the projectile with the D-Pad...Watch and you'll see what I'm freaking out over.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:19 am
by Maj
Indeed a great video - one of those i always enjoy (re)watching, even without a thorough understanding of the game's mechanics. Outright crazy how much talent it takes to start from scratch and end up with something like that.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:26 am
by onReload
Maj wrote:Indeed a great video - one of those i always enjoy (re)watching, even without a thorough understanding of the game's mechanics. Outright crazy how much talent it takes to start from scratch and end up with something like that.
Yeah I don't know if they still sell DVDs but I've thought of buying it a few times, just because the JoJo combos online are scarce...Again I think the game is really unexplored - lots of possibilities, especially with the Stand programming, even when I mash in that mode, the sounds of button inputs overlap so much that it gets kinda loud...I can't imagine an input per frame.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:01 am
by Magnetro
I don't know about a DVD, all I remember is this video:

http://zachd.com/mvc2/combos/JoJo%20Com ... usisui.mpg

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 3:52 am
by onReload
Magnetro wrote:I don't know about a DVD, all I remember is this video:

http://zachd.com/mvc2/combos/JoJo%20Com ... usisui.mpg
Oh god if this is the whole thing I'm gonna love you forever...

[edit] Ah, it's the trailer again, so I don't really love you forever, but I am very happy to have this on my hard drive. Thanks, sir.

[rambling edit pt. 2] I just realized that the Stand Programming system in this game basically is Capcom putting pad programming withIN a fighting game. It's just so bizarre to me. I really, truly mean it when I say that I don't think anybody really gets this game, and I've watched Japanese ranked matches...If it were really really scrutinized like the way Meikyou does here, it would be way, way more broken than Marvel2.

Well, maybe.

If you haven't played it, I recommend giving it at least one go. Many characters utilize the standard Stand system, some don't, but they're generally simpler. Where the whole "Oh, lots of characters have their own style" kind of thing puts me off about Guilty Gear, since I know the JoJo comic, this game drew me in.

...and I also think that the play styles are easy to learn...not to mention, 3 buttons with simple inputs eh I'm gonna end up hating in GG here so nevermind, get JoJo on DC or MAME...

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:21 am
by Maj
Magnetro wrote:I don't know about a DVD, all I remember is this video:

http://zachd.com/mvc2/combos/JoJo%20Com ... usisui.mpg
Hey, we already seen dis video. What a rip. New content plz.

Also tell that fool to set up a u2b account and upload some Guile combos already. Tired of hearing about all this crazy unreleased material. (Blurry flash) screenshot (video) or it didn't happen.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 2:55 pm
by Magnetro
Sorry guys, I meant to edit the post after I DL the video. I do have the other one he sent me, but it's not a DVD-size video. It's just like 4 minutes. I uploaded it:

http://magnetro.com/JojoComboMovie.mpg

joo sent me this link: http://arichon.sakura.ne.jp/jojo/cm.htm

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:56 am
by Maj
He made a six-minute trailer for a four-and-a-half-minute combo video? Awesome. (That can't be right. Some of it must have gotten lost in translation.)

Btw, Kamui forgave me for the confusion recounted above, but i guess he was too busy to crosspost here about it.
Kamui wrote:LOLOLOL. It's cool dude, I had never heard that story before. What's funny is that I can't stand looking at that video anymore, it's hard to watch. The editing was so bad, haha.
For the record, i still think it's awesome - bootleg 70's NBA broadcast style editing and all.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:59 am
by Maj
Not that i know the first thing about Mortal Kombat (except that hit stun is a lie), but i thoroughly enjoyed watching all of these when they premiered.

MK Ninjas Exhibition 01 by sicdic and MrWizard
- at 0:13, Reptile combos four bubbles and a launcher without any unnecessary filler inbetween
- at 0:18, Rain sends Johnny flying off the right edge of the screen three times and combos four roundhouses, without moving
- at 1:13, Reptile runs clear under Raiden thrice in a row in the middle of a juggle combo (then spits at him)

Ermac Exhibition 01 by sicdic and MrWizard
- at 0:03, Ermac combos two teleport punches
- at 0:33, Ermac combos three telepot punches
- at 0:44, Ermac combos three teleport punches and three jump kicks; nonstop bouncing side to side

MK Trilogy Act 3 by sicdic and MrWizard
- at 0:03, Sonya is so dreamy ...
- at 0:18, Kung Lao whiff divekick combos are easily one of my all-time favorite Mortal Kombat trademarks
- at 0:29, Raiden combos together everything i want to see in a Raiden combo: electrocution throw, teleport, wall slam
- at 0:34, Scorpion is so badass ...
- at 0:43, air throw has got to be the coolest way to end a Smoke combo
- at 0:48, usually playing/watching MK desensetizes you to violence so it's outright amazing how painful this Jax combo looks
- at 0:56, the video ends with an elegantly designed Cyrax combo ending in an air throw from nearly full screen away

Mofojo Volume 3 by mofojo
- at 0:20, it's dope how Wolverine drives off on his bike after beating up Cyclops; fits the music great too
- at 0:25, Wolverine takes a long walk forward after that jump-in; Colossus does it at 0:50 as well
- at 1:03, it's pretty funny what Spiral does to Psylocke, teleporting her into the air lying down

Can't find the first two volumes on u2b, but i remember watching all three of those COTA combovids way back in the day and they were all extremely groundbreaking and innovative. And fun.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:29 am
by onReload
Maj I don't know if you ever noticed this, but take another look at that 538/KYSG video of Ken, around 2:34 there's a dudley combo. He throws a Hadouken, then does j.HK against his EX Cross Counter - the Counter gets stuffed by the fireball, but he already takes the double damage from the first j.HK (since EX Cross Counter receives 200%, but deals 300%). Happens really fast, but when I first noticed it, I was amazed at that planning. Maybe not a stylistic tick, but certainly an example of his meticulousness.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:39 am
by Maj
Can't say i watched it that closely but i did notice Dudley flash yellow and automatically assumed it was a Cross Counter damage bonus setup, since he'd already displayed the death combo warning beforehand. It's cool that the fireball hit Dudley while he was still in hitstun, cuz that makes it an actual combo. I've seen some clips in combo videos where they'll trigger Dudley's Cross Counter with an attack then jump out of the way, then grab him with a super and consider that whole sequence a combo. It's kind of a gray area like Hyper Armor combos and Galactica Phantom combos, and i'm glad he avoided it.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:07 pm
by onReload
Maj wrote:Can't say i watched it that closely but i did notice Dudley flash yellow and automatically assumed it was a Cross Counter damage bonus setup, since he'd already displayed the death combo warning beforehand. It's cool that the fireball hit Dudley while he was still in hitstun, cuz that makes it an actual combo. I've seen some clips in combo videos where they'll trigger Dudley's Cross Counter with an attack then jump out of the way, then grab him with a super and consider that whole sequence a combo. It's kind of a gray area like Hyper Armor combos and Galactica Phantom combos, and i'm glad he avoided it.
Yeah, I mean it's weird because Dudley is incapable of blocking/parrying/stopping the attack during the CC sequence, but it's not really what is usually considered a combo, and still a different thing from armor combos.

...Actualyly, upon further inspection, the reason why it works perfectly well is because he was 99% stunned before the j.HK landed, and apparently, Dudley will get stunned and not finish the Cross Counter - I was weirded out by your saying "It's cool that the fireball hit Dudley while he was still in hitstun", because I don't believe Cross Counter grants any hitstun.

So, through training mode's "STUN - ON" option, Dudley takes the hit like normal (with hitstun), and still takes the double damage effect. All this really amounts to is "Wow, 538 is really, REALLY smart".

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:52 pm
by fullmetalross
your mortal kombat vids all link to Tosaka vol 3. Unless this is a clever joke, you should fix your links! I need some ninjas in my life.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:03 pm
by onReload
fullmetalross wrote:your mortal kombat vids all link to Tosaka vol 3. Unless this is a clever joke, you should fix your links! I need some ninjas in my life.
Uh

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:09 pm
by Maj
onReload wrote:So, through training mode's "STUN - ON" option, Dudley takes the hit like normal (with hitstun), and still takes the double damage effect. All this really amounts to is "Wow, 538 is really, REALLY smart".
Yeah it was pretty cool, but to be honest i was way more impressed by the Shinryuken setup at 1:25 and the way he got j.LP to work as a crossup at 2:48 against Elena. And of course the whole backwards SA3 combo at 4:08 against Alex. Where does an idea like that come from? I dunno, it's something you don't see that often. On the other hand, bonus damage setups are easy to find because you know you're looking for them. As soon as you decide that you're gonna include 100% damage combos in your videos, that's the first thing you look for - especially if you want to diversify combo dummy selection throughout your video like he clearly did. I'm sure he had that Dudley setup in his list when he started working on his first volume even though he didn't use it until this fourth.

It's always easier to find damage than it is to find style, because you never have a clear first step when you go looking for style.

fullmetalross wrote:your mortal kombat vids all link to Tosaka vol 3. Unless this is a clever joke, you should fix your links! I need some ninjas in my life.
What the hell? How did that happen? Sorry sir, links fixed.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:55 pm
by onReload
...I'm shocked those links actually existed, and despite your sarcasm I actually really liked those MKT videos.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:13 am
by Maj
Dude i love those videos. It was honestly an honest mistake. I must have copy/pasted the Tosaka post as a template and somehow screwed up the URLs. The sarcasm thing is funny though, cuz i think i'm secretly good at setting up that mixup. Someone once give me credit for "accidentally posting the most sarcastic-sounding honest post in the history of written language." So i got that going for me, which is nice.

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:18 am
by onReload
So I can assume your timecode commentaries ARE purposely inane, right? RIGHT :?:

Re: The Encyclopedia of Combo Style

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:03 am
by Maj
Um, i guess there's usually a joke or two in there but mostly i'm being serious - at least regarding the actual timecodes. For example i thought a lot of those Ermac combos looked dope, but found it difficult to explain why. Also Scorpion is my favorite MK ninja so it's probably fair to say i went out of my way to namedrop him, and probably did the same to avoid mentioning Sub-Zero who is a stupid jerk.

Sorry if the words next to the timecodes are unclear. They're less important than the timecodes themselves. And even those are only one man's opinion. It's hard to quantify style. Plus many of the videos in this thread are really old so it's hard to find bits that don't look outdated compared to what's been released since. But considering how influential they were and how cool it was watching them for the first time, i feel like it's important to cite them anyway. Even if i have to talk about Wolverine's motorcycle.