Like most Street Fighter V fans, I’m not exactly shocked that Balrog, the mad Boxer, is coming soon. Except unlike everyone else, Balrog’s release elicited a feeling of dread for me, as opposed to excitement.
I don’t want a repeat of Street Fighter IV‘s version of Balrog.
When it comes to Balrog’s design, I’m a purist. I prefer the pure rush down of the boxer’s Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting and Super Street Fighter II Turbo roots. In Street Fighter IV, this playstyle transformed into something more passive and annoying.
Capcom’s Peter “ComboFiend” Rosas gave me a chance to do a quick playtest of the Street Fighter V version of Balrog, while checking out Street Fighter V’s new and improved story mode. It was a quick 2-3 minute test at most, and Rosas had to stay tight lipped about the details of the character, but I can at least detail what little I discovered.
No more jabbing out of trouble
One of the more obvious changes to Balrog in Street Fighter V is that Jab Punch (light punch) has been toned down. In Street Fighter IV, Balrog’s standing and crouching Jab were some of the quickest moves in the game, with a fairly decent reach as well. This allowed a Balrog player to counter other characters’ pressure set ups simply by slapping crouching Jab.
Even worse, or better if you’re the Balrog player, crouching Jab often led to larger combos in Street Fighter IV.
It’s not that the Street Fighter IV version of Balrog’s Jab was “cheap.” Like any decently designed element of Street Fighter, Balrog’s Jab could be baited and punished. The larger problem is that SFIV’s Jab made playing Balrog from a defensive position a much more lucrative strategy than adopting his classic offensive rush down play style.
Balrog’s new Jab in Street Fighter V is slower, but it can still 2-in-1 into some special moves.
It’s definitely not the monster it was in Street Fighter IV.
I instantly told Rosas that I liked that change, and he nodded.
“A less Jabby version” of the Balrog design, is how Rosas put it.
Buffalo Headbutt is gone! So what’s taken its place?
Balrog Street Fighter IV Buffalo Headbutt Chun-Li
Buffalo Headbutt was an attack introduced to Balrog’s moveset in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and this enabled Balrog to both attack diagonally upward while passing through projectiles at the same time. It had a duel purpose, acting as both an anti-air move, and a way to move Balrog forward to apply positional pressure against projectile heavy characters like Ryu and Sagat.
In Street Fighter IV, Buffalo Headbutt took on an even more deadly trait, as it allowed a player to juggle an opponent into a guaranteed Ultra. The good part of that situation is that it rewarded Balrog players for catching their opponent throwing a fireball at the wrong time, from the wrong place. The frustrating part was that crouching Jab could combo into a Buffalo Headbutt, making any offense against Balrog incredibly dangerous.
