I’m a beginner to SSF4, and have only been playing fighting games for about a month. I attempted all the trials on the characters, and I really liked Makoto. I’m trying to learn the game, but I’m a bit overwhelmed. I’ve looked at VesperArcade’s tutorials, and been reading the Rindoukan Bible (awesome resource). I’ve also been reading these forums, and especially the incredibly relevant recent thread about how to train with Makoto. I know she’s tough to learn for noobs like me, but I really enjoy her look, the idea of her playstyle described on EventHubs and on these forums, and that she has strong normals (since I can execute them.)
I had a few questions:
1.) Where the hell do I start? I keep hearing people talk about fundamentals, such as spacing, footsies, etc. But I don’t know how to learn them against the CPU =\ Every time I go online I get dominated, so it’s difficult for me to learn fundamentals. I know the basic definitions, I’ve been watching as many tutorials as I could for the last week and have been watching SF4Tube alot.
2.) My friends don’t play fighters or SSF4. So I’m basically learning via the internet. How did you guys learn the game, and learn Makoto? Do you have any advice for me? Should I jump into training mode and just do the 2 frame combos listed in the Rindoukan Bible over and over till I can do them consistently enough in a match? What worked for you guys? Which players should I watch online?
What “training regimen” would you suggest for new players? I guess I’m just asking for free coaching.
I know I’m never going to be pro in this game, but I think the challenge of Street Fighter is intriguing and I have been having fun learning about fighting games. I just want to be competent, and it’s tough starting out. Any help or advice, especially Makoto specific, would really be apprecated it. Thanks in advance!
I don’t recommend online if you start learning Makoto,you must learning Makoto’s do&don’t before,playing online without fundamentals you only bring frustration and give you bad habits. Much better the endless before the ranked matches. I started played Makoto since April '11 coming from using another character for years and yes,knowing the fundamentals is very important with her. Luckily the Makoto’s thread here have all the info you need to start. Doing the trials in the game helps too, those gave a summary glance about the Mak playstyle. IMO the Makoto’s goal is find an open in the opponent guard,she’s a rushdown charcter,but don’t be too aggressive,must be patient;when our opponent start blocking the karakusa comes to play. You must force your opponent to block first taking some pressure on them. Knowing our normals are very important with Makoto because her defense is bad and know their reach helps a lot even for the offense (i.e. crouching medium punch is good to keep the opponent at the right distance from us). Looking at the hitboxes and frame data charts you gonna learn the speed of Mak’s normals and where she hit. After learning this,you can start with the specials and combos,training mode gonna be your friend,put the dummy in “auto-block” for improving your timing. Repeat the same moves over and over takes time,but is necessary for learn this gorgeus character. When you get down a technique,test it online or against the cpu,don’t worry about losing the first times,I can’t count how many matches I lose when I started with her. Keep training,is the only way to improve. Where you live? Even if your friends don’t play SF they are too many players around and some of them just starting like you: if u find some gamers in your city is much better,starting playing offline before online is truly recommended. Sadly online isn’t perfect (lag),playing offline helps you a lot,talking about the game directly with some SF players too. Lets us know how it goes,hope helps.
I’d say makoto is not really well designed to start up.
Every time someone starts SF4, I tell him to at least try Ryu. Maybe he is not fun, maybe he is overplayed, … But this guy is the source, the reference point. All the other characters are created in response to this character. You have to understand how to play with him to be able to beat him. You have to beat hadoken, shoryuken, and footsies to stand a chance. To learn how to beat that, you have to try them.
Try to learn how to confirm with ryu, then all the doors will be wide opened.
Also you wont learn anything versus a computer.
Use who ever you have fun with. Although losing a lot with Makoto doesn’t seem fun and can be a turn off, if you keep at it she’ll start being incredibly fun.
Knowing and understanding the game does help when learning Mak.
You’re going to be all over the place with no clue what to do in which situation. That’s okay, that comes with experience. Your job is to learn how to play at a basic level and build upon that.
As for what the basic level is? Understanding spacing is a nice start, remember to keep it simple.
I remember watching this: [media=youtube]YkEle5LSG9I[/media] and it really helped me ages ago. Sure I was playing Japanese in ranked games and winning but it still helped me a lot. It taught me a lot about the basics. Several times when I hit a wall I go back to the basics and work my way up again and it really helps.
You’ll learn how the computer chooses when you win or lose unless you outsmart it with Zangief Lariats…
Ryu is a good choice because you can learn offense and defense at the same time. He’s pretty ok at everything. Every time someone wants to learn this game I tell them two things that they need to learn until they feel like they can beat me:
Don’t jump. Ever. Follow this rule. In Street Fighter, jumping causes you to lose complete control of your character. Your BP is going to be so low that you’re going to be playing against new players. Jumping is going to work on them. IT’S BAD. Don’t just do things because they work on people that don’t know anything about the game. Jumping is an advanced tool. Don’t try to use it until you really know the game.
You want to learn footsies? This is what you have to do. If you don’t have people to play against in person go online and pick Ryu. Win entirely with sweep. That’s the only thing you can do. Straight up, you will have insane footsies by the end of it. Play that way for like a month and then slowly incorporate other normals in. Like, first month only sweep. Second month, Sweep and cr.forward. etc etc etc. Then after you’ve mastered his normals start using fireball. The last thing you learn is SRK and jumping. I swear on everything holy if you do this you will have insane footsies. Once you have amazing footsies you can ALWAYS fall back on that in a match even if you dont know the matchup that well.
Yo whats your gamertag or what do you play on? I can help you out if want. Im not the best makoto. But I am a Makoto user. If anything you can ADD me on xbox live imakugotnext or my psn I_Maku. Be sure to leave me a message to let me know its you also. Otherwise I wont add you. We can go into a endless lobby and Ill show you everything I know about makoto. Makoto is fun to use but expect to lose a lot with her at first. She’s a very rewarding character once you know how to use her properly.
