It was 4 years ago when my friend introduced SF4 to me. I've known and seen older SFs in arcades but never once did I actually tried playing the game. I've always thought SF is a game in which you spam buttons and unleash ultimate moves as soon as possible to finish off your opponents. Boy, I've never been so wrong. I got trashed hard. It seems very difficult to execute a second hit successfully without the opponent blocking them after the first hit connects.
Back then, I did some research on the Internet and I've found that combos are very time (frame) restricted. This is where the difficulty lies. For every successful punch/kick, there a specific time frame in which you can continue with another punch/kick without the opponent being able to block. Practicing this took me a long time as I play with a Xbox 360 controller instead of a portable arcade stick.With the Xbox 360 controller, you will have to time every button pressed accurately in order to continue a specific combo. Failure to do so will result in the opponent blocking an attack with high recovery time. During this recovery time, your opponent will be able to "punish" you in return. As my friend uses an portable arcade stick to play, he showed me ways to be able to time the attacks by pressing the buttons in a patterned manner. Basically, after the first attack connects (first input), the player needs to input another attack (second input) but this serves to time yourself so that the next attack (third input) will be within the specific time frame to allow for combo continuity. If executed properly, you will successfully attack your opponent with first input and third input. It is however difficult to do this using a Xbox 360 controller due to the bad default positioning of our fingers when we hold the controller.
Sako - a Japanese player with flawless combo execution.
Pulling off combos when punishing your opponent is crucial as you may not have another chance to do so. Reading your opponent's moves is also essential to predict his next move. Lastly, knowing how to block all attacks from each character is also a must. Although the gameplay mechanics are difficult to grasp , the process of learning them will be a very satisfying experience once you've managed to see improvements and executing flawless combos! I've stopped playing SSF4:AE a year ago and missed it a lot. To date, there are still international tournaments held for SSF4:AE. It's great to still see some of the tournament players 4 years ago participating to decide who is truly the best STREET FIGHTER!
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