Monday, March 9, 2009

Ultra Nitpicking [SFIV Ultra Revenge]

Hmmm... I wonder why this article is now missing from Shoryuken.com.

It's a direct rebuttal to a lot of complaints, though I don't really see the validity of the author's comparisons of the Revenge Meter to Mario Kart's elastic AI or the bullshit CPU assists in NBA Jam. These are cases of computer controlled variables sliding in favor of the losers, not quite the same as the KOF's Desperation Moves or Tekken 6's Rage bonus. (Though the fact that you can't be called for Goal Tending while On Fire in Jam is pretty uber.) I think the more relevant complaint regarding the Revenge Meter is the strength of the Ultra Combos. Why is the Ultra so much stronger (and flashier) than the Super?

The more I have played and experimented with other characters, though, I find that regarding Ultras as broken across the board is incorrect. Dhalsim's Ultra is actually pretty weak. It's slow enough that one can follow it up for some nice chip damage or mixups, but it's not much of a game changer. Cammy's Gyro Drive Smasher isn't a huge damager either. El Fuerte's Flying Giga Buster balances it's high damage with a non-traditional set up, much as Gouki/Akuma's extremely powerful Wrath of the Raging Demon is vulnerable to a lot of counters and escapes.

The Ultimate Atomic Buster is a hell of a throw, but, hey, it's a grab. It does a lot of damage, but so does the EX Spinning Piledriver. You'll never beat a good Zangief if you can't keep your distance and dodge grabs.

Then again, there's the Tiger Destruction. Big range, high priority, damaging as fuck.

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