Is there a definitive list of “character classes” or “character types”? Searching didn’t bring up anything. I’m thinking there are shotos, rush down characters, jugglers, chargers, grabbers, hybrids… But I was looking for a more concrete list. Who’s who and is this information useful? Do they really play similarly enough in philosophy to make this delineation?
If you like Makoto and Yang, I think Fei Long is going to end up feeling like a combination of the two in some ways. Give him a shot.
Alright, I’ve been trying to get the charge characters normal trials done lately and I’m stuck on most of their 4th trials. There are a few combos where it asks you to jump in with an attack, do another attack, cancel into charge, like Boxer’s j.HP, MK, Dash Straight, Crazy Buffalo combo. I can charge partition, so the Straight to Super is doable for me, but I just can’t get the straight to combo off the MK, I don’t get enough charge in the air to do it quickly enough.
I also have the same issue with Gen’s Crane stance combos in Trial as well, where I think it asks you to do his Target Combo, c.mp, Jyasen. I’ve been playing motion characters all my life, so charge characters tend to stymie me
Search “charge partition” in the SFIV forums, and you will see that there is no charge partitioning in SFIV. In fact, I’m not sure why you would need charge partitioning for the combos you’re talking about even if charge partitioning was possible.
If you are indeed charging as soon as you get off the ground, then the only solution I can give you is this:
Try to have the j.HP hit as late as possible. What many people forget is that there’s actually a pretty long hit stun off of jumping fierce/roundhouse for many characters. So the later you hit them in your jump, the more time you’ll have to link another attack after you land. That’s right, a jumping attack comboed into a ground attack is technically a link.
So hit them as late as possible with the jumping move, then wait just a TINY bit before doing the MK. Yeah, late j.HP, land, wait a tiny microsecond, then do the MK xx straight xx super.
Practice and experiment just how late you can do the MK.
This kind of short delay is absolutely essential for Blanka, who has a really fast jump.
Starting off a new Street Fighter era
This is my first post on here and I’ve been all over random boards trying to get the 50 posts I needed to even be able to post here. Being as this is my first post, try not to flame me too much.
Now I know this is probably not new stuff but since SFII I’ve never really had a main character as I like a lot of them and played who I felt like playing. Not that I still won’t do that, but I would like to main a male and female character (non shoto so noone can complain) along with playing a Shoto from time to time. Shoto seems to vary in definition depending on who you ask. I classify it as all chars that have the similar moveset of projectile, anti-air, kick move. This would include Sagat, Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Sakura, Dan, Gouken. I might be missing someone but I think I got all of them. I do enjoy the occasional Sagat as far as that goes and I actually didn’t like him in the older games, Sagat was a new found likable character in this game for me.
I want to say that Blanka/Cammy are my mains as of right now. I want to have a male and female respectively non-shoto to be able to take out the cast of overplayed shoto chars and still be able to stand with the people who actually branch out and pick anyone else.
Overall I seek to get better at the game in general because I’m not bad I don’t think, but I’m not spectacular either. I also want to decide on mains so I can focus on those chars. I am also open to discussion in general because after all…this is what it’s all about anyway.
- Characters good against Shotos
- Your opinion on Shotos
- Choosing a Main
- Playstyle
Just a few things to detail. I want this to hopefully be a topic not just to answer a simple question, but to debate and discuss based on my situation. I’m one of many who have been playing since the original SFII and coming back into SFIV years later, I would like to get decent at this game and get input about things in general. I look forward to everything you all may have to say.
Thanks for this. I’ve been a noob at fighting games for the longest. I’ve dabbled, but never bothered to get skilled, and now with SF4 I’m really interested in getting better.
Oh I figure I should shoot up a post here. I’m getting back into sf for the first time in a while because of this game so I figured I’d start posting here.
I looked up the definition of charge partitioning while I was trying to look elsewhere for an answer to this, the definition for it told me it was the same thing as doing charge b, f, Dash Straight, b, f, Super with Boxer. I’ve done the same thing with Blanka’s super, so maybe the place I got that definition at was wrong…?I dunno.
As for the rest, thanks for that. I actually just met up with the rest of my local scene for the first time today, and I asked them a similar question, we found that my timing of the charge when I leave the ground is suspect, I wasn’t hitting down-back quick enough.
I didn’t quite get the timing down before I left as my fingers are slow learners and I was getting embarrassed, but t least now combined with your teachings I know how to do it and will finish off the trials ASAP, as well as get better with charge characters in general, thank you!
Cool.
As for charge partitioning, also check:
http://sonichurricane.com/articles/sfterms.html
In a nutshell, charge partitioning is the idea of storing a portion of a charge even while doing other moves, so that you can use that charge a little later. And it’s been said by many that it does not exist in SFIV.
Now I can see how that Balrog combo you mentioned might be confused for charge partitioning, but that’s actually just an example of super canceling with a short cut. The same idea can be applied to Ryu doing QCF+P xx QCF+P (fireball canceled into super). He only had to do one QCF for the super because the motions for the fireball also count as the first half of the super command.
But the term “shortcut” is probably misleading because that’s actually the only way to do it. There is no “longcut.”
Focus/Saving Attack
If I am doing the focus attack, can I only absorb the hit in the ‘focus attack state’. What I mean is that when I’m FADC or when i’m in the attacking animation of my focus attack can I absorb a hit or only in my charging state.
I ask cuz I’m having a hard time absorbing on the level 1 state.
Hey guys. This is my second post here, the first being on the HDTV lag thread, which was a big help for me.
A little about me… at age 7, I was at a friend’s birthday party at an arcade, where we got unlimited tokens for a couple of hours of playing. I saw a new game, Mortal Kombat, with awesome graphics and crazy violent special moves, and some black guy in his 20’s was playing and kicking some arse. I tried to play and couldn’t do anything, but this guy was kind and patient enough to take interest in the interest of some kid, a 7 year-old white kid with overalls and a bowl cut, and show me a couple of special moves (Kano was my first character). I played that game the rest of the party and I was hooked. Within a year, I was known as possibly the best MK player in my smallish city (a legit city, but a smallish one), and I even won a tournament!
I played SF2 a fair amount, and I was a “good” player. I beat most of the people I played, but I wasn’t a truly awesome player like I was at MK.
Then, MK2 came out. I liked it, but I was never as good at it. I was disappointed that we had to move on from MK1. I enjoyed SF2 CE/Hyper Fighting. Then games like Primal Rage and Killer Instinct came out. I played them, but they never held my attention the way the original MK did, and I never advanced beyond “pretty good” at either one. Then it was MK3, SF Alpha, and a bunch of spinoffs and I just lost interest. By that point I was more into music and console RPGs.
Fast forward to college. I got into Smash Brothers, and about a year ago. I downloaded MAME and the original MK. I played it every day for a month or so and got to where I could beat the game, with a computer keyboard no less, on the hardest difficulty level without too much trouble. Then I quit (what else was there to do, really?).
I downloaded Street Fighter 2. I played it until I beat the game on the hardest difficulty level. I had fun. I kept messing around with it. Then I quit.
Fast forward to less than a month ago. I was walking my girlfriend to work and we passed a Gamestop. In the window was a big, shining white poster… a poster that called me, spoke to me, filled my brain with dopamine and fantasies of online glory… it was a poster for Street Fighter IV, which I had no idea existed. Turns out, it was coming out in just a few days. I HAD TO HAVE IT.
I started the long process of catching up on the last 10+ years of fighting game history. The level of competition is so high now, the amount of knowledge shared online is so huge… I remember having to read EGM to address rumors of Reptile and Noob Saibot… I remember move lists being printed out and sold for $5 at arcades. And now there is this website! There are national tournaments! I learned about “meaties” and “scrubs” and Evo and Daigo and tier lists and frame data and all kinds of fascinating things.
And I am obsessed with SF4. But what’s amazing is that I’m just having fun. If this had happened a few years ago, my ego would have gotten involved and I would not be having one bit of real fun. I lost all but one of my first forty games online. I seriously would have broken both of my controllers and thrown the game out the window a couple of years ago. Now I accept that it is a long road to greatness. Fast forward a week and I am competitive with most of the people I am playing online, and I am destroying some. I’m having a blast just progressing. Learning combos, trying different characters, playing the computer, and messing around online.
I haven’t played any ranked games yet, and I don’t want to until I feel like my level of improvement has leveled off. I beat the game on hardest a couple of times yesterday, and for now I want to keep experimenting with characters, working in training mode, playing the CPU, and occasionally some player matches online until I am happier with my general level of competency. I bought a Hori Real Arcade Pro that should arrive today or tomorrow, which should help my consistency.
I would really enjoy playing in a tournament this summer. I highly doubt I will be one of the top players at even a small tournament, but it would be a blast just to do it and to have fun. And if I keep having this much fun, I would love to be legitimately very good by next summer, and have a shot at mixing it up pretty much anybody. I don’t have to be the best. I don’t have to win anything. I’m not sure if I even have the tools to be the best. I just want to have fun and be a very good player, and I know I can achieve that in time.
I hope that I can both attain and share plenty of knowledge, passion, and good itmes on these forums. It’s so amazing that there is such a thriving SF/fighting game community these days. I probably would have pursued a career in professional gaming if this website and these tournaments had been around back in 92/93, but for better or worse they weren’t 
I guess that’s it. Thanks for reading and SHORYUKEN!
Real newbie question
Hi Shoryuken masters,
I’m having a small (embarassing) problem for a while now.
If I want to do a Hadoken, I get a shoryuken. If I want to do a shoryuken, I get a hadoken. I just can’t be consistent with my special moves at all, due to unco-spasticness. I’ve been playing for a while now. … but I just can’t get it right… Does anyone have any tips on how they can execute attacks correctly each time?
Secondly, I just CAN’T execute Chunli’s super or any super that needs <- -> <- -> + button.
I’ve sat in training mode for ages and still can’t execute it with any intention.
Does anyone have any tips other than just more practice?
I feel like I’m just about to give up 
If you are getting Hadokens, then you didn’t stop the stick (or pad?) in the corner, and continued to forward. If you get a Shoryuken, then you pressed the button while you were at the corner, instead of waiting till you hit forward.
For the charge super motion, make sure you are charging back. Then it’s just a matter of doing the back, forward, back, forward fast enough.
Now go back and practice. (try practicing with input display on)
Hmmm Yea I want to main Abel, but I just can’t stop doing Falling Sky, when I want to do Change of Direction… over and over and over again, especially in the heat of battle…
I’ll have a go with the input display on!
Pretty much what the guy above said. Don’t give up. Unless it’s just not fun. Everyone struggles for a while to pull off special moves consistently. You’re probably rushing your hadokens and not being quick enough on your shoryukens. It just takes a lot of practice, especially on a console controller. There was a time when I could pull off all of Ryu’s moves instantaneously whenever I wanted, but that was years ago in the arcade, and I’ve had to re-master the moves all over again with the PS3 controller. I’ve got an arcade stick on the way and I’m sure I’ll be spending time in practice mode again just to get my special moves down.
What kind of controller are you using? I don’t know XBOX, but if you’re on PS3, try switching it up. Use the D-pad for a minute and then switch to the analog stick. Try both. It’s more about the timing than anything else. The d-pad requires more strength whereas the stick is very imprecise, so try it on both.
As for the charge ultra/supers, they are tough. I don’t typically play charge characters but I had to in order to unlock the hidden characters, and I was only able to pull off a couple of the charges. The above guy correctly said that you might not be charging long enough. Also, it’s very very easy to accidentally hit down, down forward, down back, or jump while you are quickly jumping from back to forward to back and to forward again. The thing is, you have to do it quickly, but if you do it too quickly you’ll mess it up.
Try doing the motion very slowly to where you know you probably won’t pull off the move, but do it ACCURATELY. Gradually increase your speed. This is how people learn difficult passages in music - start off slowly but accurately and in time, you will be able to increase your speed and retain the accuracy.
Just have fun with it. Don’t get too frustrated. Like me and just about everyone else here, we are a long way from being tournament champions. Don’t worry about mastering it - just improve and have fun along the way 
Hi all. New to the forums. I haven’t played Street Fighter since the early 90s and nostalgia brought me back. I’m trying to get serious about my SFIV gameplay and had a couple of questions.
I ordered a custom joystick, but due to the popularity of SFIV the stick is going to take quite awhile to get here. I have the game on PS3 and have been playing with the regular PS3 controller while I wait for my joystick. Is there a certain strategy or tactic I should be using in order to best simulate joystick play? I don’t want to have to re-learn too much.
I’ve gotten a basic feel for all the characters and beaten the game with each one on every difficulty, but now I’m going to try and really delve into one or two in order to get competetive against actualy players. Any suggestions for a beginner?
Hmmmm… no there is no way to simulate stick play on a pad, period. You will have to learn to control from scratch. No way around it.
For your second question, just play against real people.
People gotta understand, the only way you’re going to improve or be able to decide on a main is to keep playing against real people, preferably those who are better than you. The only way to improve on stick is to play. The only way to learn to block correctly is to play. The only way to learn footsies is to play.
Play play play play play.
Then analyze.
Thanks for the help eoneo. Any suggestions on a newbie choosing their first main?
Well, you’re a beginner, but you’re not a super super n00b if you’ve already beaten the game with every character on the hardest difficulty. So, I don’t think the suggestion for you would be different from the suggestion for anyone else. What style of play do you prefer? Offense, defense? Projectiles, throwing, jumping? The general consensus seems to be that Sagat, Zangief, Ryu, Dictator, Blanka, Ken, and Boxer are the best characters, in roughly that order, but of course this is subject to change. People have had success with Rufus, El Fuerte, and even Dhalsim. Do you want to play as someone most people have little experience with (like Dhalsim) or more of a standard character like Ryu or Dictator? You might want to pick one shoto/fireball character like Ryu or Ken, one big throwing character like Dictator or Abel, and one weirder character like El Fuerte or Dhalsim and see how things go. You don’t have to pick one right now.
As for the stick thing, you can learn a ton besides just the physical motions of the stick while you play. A lot of it is about timing, psychology, strategy… and these things won’t really change. I wouldn’t bother to try to master really difficult physical moves, but there is a ton to learn other than just that. Spend more time studying the characters and forming strategies until you get your stick because that stuff won’t change, and you can really hammer in the special moves and difficult combos later.
Have fun
You can sort of emulate the stick by gripping the analog stick with 2 or 3 fingers from above, it will be a ton more accurate than just holding your thumb on top of it. Specially with special moves that require semicircle moves like quarter circle forward/backwards.
Only thing is that you then have issues reaching the left shoulder buttons (that are mapped to PPP and KKK for ultras on the 360 pad at least).
The motions are the same no matter what, so you can learn them on the pad and they will easier flow over to the real arcade stick when you get it. But it’s quite difficult to move over to a full-size stick when you’re used to playing your games on a joypad for years. You need to learn how to use more than 2-3 fingers with your right hand for starters, so you can reach all the big buttons without moving your right arm all over the place.
Here you can see up close how a top tournament player uses the joystick on a custom stick. The buttons have less space between them on that stick (since it’s a double stick I guess), but you still see he uses all 5 fingers.
[media=youtube]iJLTa_eBLAo[/media]