Poor Dan.

September 13, 2014 3:49 PM

Ultra Street Fighter IV ultra combos without the cinematic camera (cf. with the cinematic camera).
posted by griphus (21 comments total)

The fireball ultras are all pretty lame without the cinematic. Most of those were pretty cool though, I like how you can see how far they're actually being flung across the stage when they get hit.

C Vipers Ultra 2 was my favorite
posted by zodballs at 4:11 PM on September 13, 2014

That video has major existential undertones.
posted by grumpybear69 at 4:24 PM on September 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

Looks an awful lot like Street Fighter III 3rd strike without the cinematic angles.
posted by Violet Femme at 5:11 PM on September 13, 2014

I liked the way Makoto's Seichusengodanzuki gets the camera specially zoomed out even more to keep the whole animation in view.

I'd never noticed how janky a lot of these look without the frequent cuts and camera changes.

Also, I'm being reminded of why I have, like, four characters' voices set to English on my copy. So many terribly miscast actors (I'm looking at you in particular, T. Hawk, El Fuerte, and C. Viper, among others)
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:23 PM on September 13, 2014

It's a shame there hasn't been a real Street Fighter game released since 1999.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:28 PM on September 13, 2014 [4 favorites]

I'd never noticed how janky a lot of these look without the frequent cuts and camera changes.

There's at least a couple where both characters just snap to a totally different location on the stage.
posted by griphus at 5:43 PM on September 13, 2014

I gotta admit, that's some excellent animation, right there. I'm even more impressed by the fact that the cinematic camera is *based on* actual animations as opposed to random jump cuts (though you could argue that they're doing some janky teleports in the animations).

Some of those supermoves look less powerful than others. Are there some characters that have ridiculous finishing moves vs characters that have weaker ones? Are they balanced by non-super moves?
posted by jpolchlopek at 6:45 PM on September 13, 2014

Despite having a perfectly-functioning XBox 360 in the office with SF IV on it, we exclusively play SF3:Alpha. We have a latter set up and everything.

I dunno, maybe this says something about SFIV, maybe it says something about us.

Just a point for consideration, is all.
posted by Imperfect at 7:33 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I went to college with the guy who did the voice for the prisoner dude ~6 minutes in. We LARPed - he was Giovanni, I was a Child of Set.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:03 PM on September 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

Whatever happened to Oro?
posted by boo_radley at 8:05 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Some of those supermoves look less powerful than others. Are there some characters that have ridiculous finishing moves vs characters that have weaker ones? Are they balanced by non-super moves?

Part of it's probably because they're supposed to be viewed with the cinematics and some appear to pack less of a punch without the camera cuts.
Some Ultras do more damage than others though. It has to do with the characters other moves and the other properties of the Ultra itself. Some Ultras you can combo into to improve combo damage, some are very good in the neutral game - they're very fast or can power through an opponents attack, etc - so they get used on their own. The utility of the move is related to how much damage it does, and some characters rely a lot on their Ultras whereas other don't need theirs much at all.
posted by zodballs at 8:33 PM on September 13, 2014

The interesting about the Street Fighter series is the number of diversified answers you get when you ask which game is the best in the series. Popular answers include Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and Ultimate Street Fighter IV.

I can see arguments for all of them but I'm a SF3: Third Strike man myself. Strong mechanics, a great cast of new characters, and a bouncy drum and bass soundtrack all make it stand out amongst the rest of the series.
posted by C^3 at 10:14 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Despite having a perfectly-functioning XBox 360 in the office with SF IV on it, we exclusively play SF3:Alpha. We have a latter set up and everything.

aint tryna be pedantic but sf3 and alpha are distinct animals; i only care because sf3:3s is the only video game i'm good at

Whatever happened to Oro?

and oro is the only character i'm good with, and oro will never be reintroduced in the street fighter franchise
50 hit sa3 combo *sheds single tear*
posted by p3on at 10:17 PM on September 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

SFII Championship Edition will always be the greatest ever. None of this "Cammie" and "Akuma" and all that other shit.

That said, I do like SFIV. I haven't had a chance to try 3, but I always had the feeling it didn't really compare to 2, and that the IV series brought it back? I dunno, I'm prolly wrong. And really, nothing beats arcade controls.

That said, I super suck at it, but I still have such fond memories :)
posted by symbioid at 10:39 PM on September 13, 2014

This really needs to have "Tubthumping" as a soundtrack.
posted by happyroach at 12:00 AM on September 14, 2014

Are there some characters that have ridiculous finishing moves vs characters that have weaker ones? Are they balanced by non-super moves?

For more than you ever wanted to know about balancing fighting games in particular, and the theory of game design in general, check out the amazingly awesome series of articles by David Sirlin, lead designer of something called "Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix." In short, yes -- it's fine if some moves are more powerful than others, as long as both characters are viable choices overall.

From Balancing Multiplayer Games, Part 2: Viable Options:

Does every possible situation in a game need to support Yomi Layer 3?
Answer: no.

Does every possible situation in a game even need to be fair to both players?
Answer: definitely not.

By "Yomi Layer 3," he means: I know what to do next, because I know that you know that I know what you're going to do next. Landing a ridiculous finishing move comes at the end of that calculus, which leaves a lot of room for balance along the way.
posted by jhc at 6:17 AM on September 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

That was very cool! I was expecting a lot more cheating with the player positions.
posted by Sibrax at 10:41 AM on September 14, 2014

I think there are many recent action movies that would receive the same effect if you could stop the camera shake.
posted by OwlBoy at 3:37 PM on September 14, 2014

Not completely related but lately my wife and I have been watching the recent TV version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and long story short, this video gets to Rose and she says "wow, you really weren't kidding when you said she was based on Lisalisa."
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:25 PM on September 14, 2014

The interesting about the Street Fighter series is the number of diversified answers you get when you ask which game is the best in the series. Popular answers include Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and Ultimate Street Fighter IV

Everyone knows it's SF Alpha 3, on the Dreamcast. I'm getting all teared up and nostalgic just thinking about it now.
posted by dis_integration at 7:30 PM on September 14, 2014

Everyone knows it's SF Alpha 3, on the Dreamcast. I'm getting all teared up and nostalgic just thinking about it now.

street fighter on a dpad is for people who don't play street fighter
posted by p3on at 9:22 PM on September 14, 2014