I like topics like this a lot. I love this game and i like to discuss anything about it. I wonder why we never see the top players discussing this kind of stuff? Is they too “og” (lol) that they cant comment on what would make the game better because this gives them a scrub mentality?
Anyway,i didnt played much HDR since i dont own a modern console (the last one i bought was a ps1 10 years ago), but i think i know enough about the engine and general balance of this game so ill leave my comments (but other than the gief related comments, i think ill say some retarded shit, since i dont play HDR for years so i may have wrong memories)
Zangief: I dont agree that he is top tier in HDR, if he didnt had the simplified SPD motion he would still be a underused character. The new green hand is a welcome buff against guile and dhalsim, but when sirlin decided to tweak it he didnt noticed that the quantity of time you advance with that move is exactly the same if you walks, this is a key detail because it doesnt gives gief a locomotion buff. HDR green hand had a 4 frames smaller recovery but the same locomotion, that was a bit too good in my opinion. I would make it this way: jab is like hdr but covers less ground (worse by exactly the quantity you walk during 4 frames), strong advances the same as it is in ST, and fierce has better locomotion but added recovery. One of the uses i had in my mind for the fierce GH’s covering more ground is to punish blocked Cammys DP’s (which if i tweaked this game, they would not been changed from how they are in ST). Different damages and maybe a make the fierce version a 2 hit could be tested as well.
As for his lariats, i think the changes are lame, the biggest mistakes on the HDR gief design are for sure the lariat changes and the new SPD motion, restore these and HDR gief is legit. I would change only 1 thing about his lariats: make his head hitbox 1 pixel smaller to beat hondas Heabutts cleanly.
I like his new hop, i sincerely think the ones in ST are just shit, maybe they didnt needed to be that good, but buffing his hop is like a must change IMO. In HDR Its just a bit unfair against ryu, but its nothing worse than a 6 - 4 mu imo. It helps agaisnt guile,chun,list goes on. it helps more on shitty mus than on good ones so i think it was a good decision by sirlin.
I like the normals changes, imo are one of the most smart changes, i would change some other normals as well to deal with some other shitty situations, but nothing too radical of course.
One thing that i would do for sure is make all Suplex versions have the Rh range, and make his super have that range as well, his super range being so shitty is a mistake by capcom.
I would also remove his strong aerial headbutt (since its useless) and make the fierce one like in the jap version of St, which dizzies instantly.
T.Hawk: the biggest mistake from sirlin, for sure. I second everything DSP said. If i would tweak T.Hawk, i would make it a O.Thawk with super, and only 1 additional change: make his diagonal jump RH hit very low, so you can beat Dics low kicks from far. T.hawk would be a solid mid tier in the hands of a dedicated player if he were like that. he would still be underused since he requires excellent execution.
Bison: People complain too much about his new DR. Imo i think its fine, but just like giefs GH, if sirlin had more knowledge about the engine, he could have done it better. IMO it would be better this way: Jab DR is like in HDR but gives almost no super meter.Strong DR would have invulnerability only to “red htiboxes”, so he could still be thrown during startup (I didnt tested this but i assume DR is invulnerable to throws right?), and it would give like half of the meter it gives. Fierce would be like in ST but give like 2 px more meter. I think this would make it a more interesting design because: when bison is in the corner and with no meter, he is fucked. He got a new move that helps him get out of that situation, but is nowhere good like his super, so having his super is still better. In HDR he can attempt to escape and at the same time build meter for super… in my opinion i think this is wrong. If he is trapped, he can gamble with DR to escape, but with less super meter just to make him think about what he is doing, otherwise reversal DR is like always a good option. Fierce DR giving more super meter is just to reward the one button reversal.
His new Standing Jab is a bit too good, only the horizontal priority should have been buffed (to beat Honda headbuts and etc), but his vertical priority was buffed as well which made it a chunli like anti air, I dislike it. His new neutral jump strong is retarded, i would remove that. Im neutral about his command slide.
Ken: I agree with DSP as well. I would restore his knee bash range though. Ken is for sure one of the best rebalances done by sirlin.
Blanka: Another sucessfull balance. I would estore the electricity button presses to how it is in ST and remove the double damage thing in his rolls and i think its very good. Maybe make his Low rh with more respectable priority (better vertical priority which low strongs wouldnt be able beat it anymore, but with the same horizontal priority).
Ryu: I would only change one thing from how he is from ST: i would make his j.Strong (aka stevetren special,LOL) a little worse. I think it has just too much range and priority for a attack with such damage potential and ground cover(since you can corner an opponent very easily with it). It would be nothing too radical, if i changed it it would still beat stuff like T.Hawks air jab and stuff like that, if you look at the hitboxes you will notice that its a bit retarded. I would remove his fake fireball, imo it makes HDR ryu a retarded character.
Guile: I like his overhead, i would keep that. I would make his super cover a lot more ground though, i would make it an actually good super or atleast useful like ken’s or deejay’s. HDR’s rh flash kick looks very weird and i would restore that, maybe only give it some more range in comparison to how it is in ST, but nothing too radical like it is in HDR. Also i would change the input for his knee attack so you can charge for booms and use the st.Short.
Fei & CAmmy: I dont play them and i dont face them enough so i cant comment on them. I do think that cammy really needed great buffs though. I would make the CW style motion as a yoga flame motion, same quantity of directions (so you will not be able to execute the move faster than in ST, but would not be a hard move to do). Up left and up right diagonals in special moves are retarded.
Deejay: I dunno about this character man, i think he is very solid as he is in ST. I think i would only give his super mid body invulnerability till the second hit to pass though fbs easier. This would change his super from descent to GOOD, but not too good like some other supers.
Sagat: I would only remove his juggles in the tiger knee because imo its retarded. I would also lower the stun on his J.RHs. Other than that he is perfect in HDR.
Honda: He definitely needs help against projectile chars, and he didnt received enough in HDR. I would buff him even more, but i just dont know what… Im sure Honda mainers have the right ideas.
I would make his Throwable box (white box) a little bigger so T.Hawk can throw him in a safe range easier. Nothing too radical just something like 6 pixels worst, he would still outrange all the cast minus the grapples with his oicho anyway, i belive this is one of the obvious changes that should be made. If you look at his hitboxes you will notice that he has a very little throwable box for a character of his size. I would remove his stored super and oicho because its too good (oicho) and retarded (both).
Balrog: he deservers to be nerfed more, for instance i would make his throw range fixed like all the rest of the cast, this would remove his range advantage against blanka and honda normal throws (which makes no sense at all) and would buff his throw range aginst sim and gief, which is fine imo, since it his 2 worst matchups. I would also make his super unsafe on block against everyone and remove his ability to crossunder after his grab, its just too cheap, he doesnt need that shit to win.
Vega: His ground game is legit imo, the only retarded shit he has is his dive loop. But i dont know how to really fix it, i would try this way: keep the knockdown, but make it unsafe on block, but just for 2 frames or something like that so only throws would counter it. I also think his anti aerial special move is too good but im okay with how it is.
Chunli: I would remove her stored super because in my opinion its retarded… This would be a radical change i know, every chunli player would be pissed off, but face it, that thing is retarded. So i would make her super a bit more invulnerable otherwise it will be too shitty. Maybe invulenrable till the second hit or something like that. I would also fix her throw damage because its just unfair, its does as much damage as a jab SPD… some other stuff should be nerfed as well but i just dont know enough about her so i wont go further cuz anything i would say now would be wrong…
Dhalsim: I dont think he derserves to be too nerfed, only a little. He is the best char in the game, i know, but he is so hard to be used at the highest levels so i think he deserves to be at the top. From a ST stand point, its natural to think that him being able to reversal super is too good, anyone will agree with that, but what if he could be thrown during the startup? That would fix the inbalances that it would cause agaisnt t.hawk and gief… I cant think of a better solution for making his super being far with reversal ability.
Akuma: Would be a secret character, he is just too dumb, we already got 2 shotos, we dont need a 3rd.
Old characters: i would remove them, i find no reason for them to exist. In a perfect balanced game they have no place. O.Ken’s jab dps are retarded, O.sagat is retarded, O.thawk would already be in my rebalanced thawk, and the rest is jut inferior to the new version and uninteresting. The only O character worth keeping in my opinion would be O.Honda since he is very different, but if he is kept then all the other 15 should as well, so i would just remove them all.
Lol i spent like one hour typing all that stuff, which is time that i dont have!!! Im too adicted to this game, damn.