Hm. Probably shouldn’t bother to mention this but… SNK’s Desperation Moves aren’t exactly a rubberband mechanic, at least not the way you’re thinking.
In KoF '94 or '95 maybe, since it works on the oldest of their rules (Life < 25% OR Super bar charged), but most of them didn’t have invincibility to speak of, and weren’t exactly speedy or comboable.
In KoF '96 they introduced SDMs, but that requires you to have full super AND < 25% life. Most characters have some kind of combo that would be able to do that (if they weren’t using a few of the broken things in the game), so yeah, you’d get the crap beat out of you for that.
But then in '97 and on they changed to a more “standard” super bar. Generally the attacker gets twice as much bar as the defender does in most cases. And '97-style is what was used to create N-Groove in CvS2. Works exactly the same, save that you can charge more super bar after you break stock.
In '99 they switched to a slightly different system where DMs require 1 stock, but SDMs required you be on low life (< 15%) with a stock, and this has more or less stayed close to the standard in modern games. KoF 2k1 changes it to DMs requiring 1 stock, and SDMs requiring 2, but that’s really about it for actual ongoing changes.
However please note that in NO case here is getting an SDM off done “for free”. You need meter in most cases to get them off, and in the ones where you don’t, ANYONE can kill you in one clean combo. Means that staying defensive doesn’t exactly work as well as you make it sound.
“What about KoF 2k2/Unlimited Match,” You say? In the original 2K2, DMs cost 1 stock, SDMs cost 2 stock, and HSDMs required low life and 2 stocks. In UM, SDMs require 3 stocks OR a stock break + 1 stock, and HSDMs require low life and either 3 stocks or a stock break + 1 stock. Either way you need more than one bar/stock of super to activate them. And you aren’t likely to have that charged up by blocking.
As for Samurai Shodown? Its… different. Generally supers charge up as seen in CvS2 K-Groove… except that supers in Samurai Shodown generally don’t do enough damage OR have enough priority to work as actual reversals. Instead, they’re meant to be used for the one thing they ALL have in common : Weapon “breaking”. If you want to do massive damage on defense, then you’re supposed to take a risk and hit Heavy Slash. That’s pretty much ALL Heavy Slashes are for.
deep breath
That aside, I’m still waiting for news that my old main from ST will finally get SOMETHING that will make him more competitive in Super, and with a “Better” Ultra firmly out of the way… I’m hoping at least Cr. Mk is cancellable, so that he at least gains a bit more effective pressure game.
