Surge of the Intent to Put Lego on Blast Awakened in Killa [SSF4 AE Hype Evil Ryu]

Not so long ago, not unlike the Treaty of Tordesillas, Legoman decided we needed to preemptively pick teams, as it were, amongst the four new roster additions of the incoming Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition downloadable content. With the same breath, Legoman called dibs on Oni. (beat)

While I naturally had a desire to investigate Oni's EX crossup, and was absolutely scintillated by the possibilities of the air Demon, I was resolved to abide. In doing so, I have begun to wrap my mind around Evil Ryu, or as our friends overseas would call him 'Satsui no Hadou ni Mezameta Ryu'. A more literal translation would be, the 'Surge of the Intent to Kill Awakened in Ryu'.

We'll stick with Evil Ryu for brevity.

First thing to note is that Evil Ryu has the same health and stamina as Akuma, so pretty goddamn bad, but not the worst. He does not have Akuma's air fireball or demon flip, but he does have the teleport and a command dive kick, but with a lower activation point than Akuma's. He also has both his normal Hadou and the Shakunetsu hadou (aka red fireball). He has a faster walk speed and a much better forward dash than regular Ryu, allowing for Focus Crumple, delayed cr.Short into dash under reset on most of the cast, allegedly. It is also widely reported that he can juggle short Tatsu to Sweep on only five members of the cast.

His crouching forward is more akin to Ryu's in 3s; it advances him, making [cr.Forward xx Hadou] combo from any distance, and making it an excellent block string. The most notable new inclusion is the standing axe kick aka Dragon Stomp (DS). You can combo into the forward version and then plink into low strong to continue the combo. The EX version hits overhead and gives an untechable knockdown. Roundhouse version gives the untechable, but can be blocked low.

Meterless staple combo should be something along the lines of [Dive Kick, cr.Jab, cl.Fierce xx forward DS, cr.Strong xx short Tatsu, Shoryu]. Three meters should allow [cr.Forward xx forward DS, cr.Strong xx EX Hadou FADC U2] for some flashy, high damage action.

More generally, I am also looking forward to God Tier Yun, Cody's three frame cr.Short, Akuma's [Fierce xx Teleport xx U2], and also the general buffs to formerly trash tier Makoto and Hakan.

Watch your back, Lego.

Odds and Ends: Year of the Rabbit Edition

First off, My man HebeGB threw down some heat to cap off 2010 on Dirtbox Radio. You can grab the recording from the Dirtbox Radio archives or directly here.


Secondly, last I battled Legoman, the impending arrival of his blushing bride and some distractions arising from his distribution gig may have taken his eye off the ball. Leave it to Killa to make the most of the situation. We played only three matches: Dudley vs. DeeJay, Makoto vs. Dhalsim, and Cody vs. Honda. I won all three.

Step ya game up, Lego.

I feel like I can maintain optimal spacing in the Honda match better than before. Fake rock and roundhouse Ruffian keeps him guessing, and I've started to take more control on the ground from midscreen, readying Bingo to punish his Focus attacks, or using Crack Kick > EX Criminal to stuff most of his other advances.


Thirdly, Phoenix and Mike Haggar were revealed today for MvC3. Looks like the Lupinko list I inscribed here is dead on. If they're going to throw a curveball, it better be soon. I think the only surprises will be the DLC down the road. The Dark Phoenix mechanic, seen at about 0:50 in the clip, seems really cool. And, as I stated before, I would've taken Alex or Cody over Haggar.




Finally, as expected, I've picked up Caitlyn, the new sniper champ in League of Legends. (Not Legal Legends, ffs. Due to my poor pronunciation a couple of cohorts assumed I was playing a multiplayer online courtroom drama, to which I objected.) Took me a little while to wrap my head around the build. At this point, she is strong, but requires a high degree of discretion. I'm running armor penetration quints and marks, and mana regen per level seals and glyphs. Masteries are 9/0/21 for cooldown reduction and movement speed. Ghost and Cleanse as summoner skills for escapes.

I start her with Doran's Blade and one health potion. From there I buy the new CDR boots, then Brutalizer, then Phage. I then ditch the Doran's to make Black Cleaver, then upgrade Brutalizer to Ghostblade and Phage to Frozen Mallet. This set inflicts a lot of damage on enemy champs she can outrange, as every hit lowers their movement speed and armor. While this doesn't always set up a kill, it does disincline enemy champs from trying to take her on directly.



The concept artwork is by Eduardo Gonzales, who also did the Miss Fortune concept design I liked so much.

It's Not Over Yet [Best Videos of 2010 Street Fighter]

The best videos in the Street Fighter world from the past year, for your enjoyment.

The Combonauts Zero Damage series of combo vids are very original. Credit to them for doing something no one else has done. This third one (embedded) has some really flashy stuff with double Seth, double Rose, and a great Ibuki-Juri scene. Hot.



Start this one at the 8:00 mark, there are a couple of moments in the last two matches, notably Warahk's reverse Super to Ultra, and Tatsu going taunt crazy in the final round. This may not be a big tournament final, but it's an extremely exciting and very competitive match.



Marn knocking Daigo out of Seasons Beatings Redemption. The most hype SF moment in quite some time, and it wasn't even Top 8.



Previously mentioned here on Killa Blog, Tokido's Top 8 match against Clakey D's Ibuki at SCR, including Tokido's godlike projector pose.




Happy New Year.

Better Early [Killa Blog GOTY GAME OF THE YEAR 2010]

What's Killa Blog's Game of the Year? (It's pretty obvious when you look back, just like it was last year...)

(Please keep in mind all games involved with KB GotY are games that I've played and were released in calendar '10. League of Legends was released in 2009, making it ineligible, even though I didn't play it until 2010. Starcraft II should be a huge presence, but I didn't play it, so it's not up.)

GAME OF THE YEAR: Super Street Fighter IV

Well, if this isn't a weak knock off of last year's KB GotY's, I don't know what is. Vanilla Street Fighter IV dominated last year, and its Super upgrade keeps the industry's most uncoveted award on lock. SSFIV featured ten more fighters than its predecessor, (two of which were completely new), a new Ultra combo for every single character (and two for Gen), and the relatively unnoteworthy new locales and the return of bonus stages.

I'll have to take a look, but I've likely dumped even more hours into SSFIV than I did Vanilla, and my rivalry with Legoman has only intensified as our execution and overall gameplay has leveled up considerably. While we both still enjoy some Tekken or Soul Caliber when a guest suggests it, by default, the game we play is SSFIV. I don't know how things will change when Marvel 3 drops in February, but I have a feeling if the pendulum of playtime does swing away from Street Fighter, it'll swing back right around the time Arcade Edition DLC drops. (Smart Capcom.)

Super edged out some strong contenders including BioShock 2, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and Final Fantasy XIII. I never played Mega Man 10 or Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker as I had intended, but that is emblematic of my gaming this year. BS2 and FFXIII were the only singleplayer games I chose. The rest of my gaming was devoted to competition, either LoL'ing with Big Sis Prinny or testing my Theory Fighter against Legoman and the trolls of PSN.


To review:

BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Juri (SSFIV)
BEST NEW ENEMY: Big Sister (BioShock 2)
BEST NEW LEVEL: Taejin's Tower (FFXIII)
BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC: Baroque (TvC)

You're welcome for the early arrival. Figured I'd make amends. Thoughts?

Better Early [2010 GOTY BEST NEW CHARACTER DESIGN]

Time for the Killa Blog Game of the Year Awards again. I am sure everyone is thrilled.

I'll break up what was once an extremely long post in an effort to not frighten y'all. I'll do one category each post culminating in the Game of the Year award. As if it wasn't painfully obvious.

BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Juri (SSFIV)

There was a lot of controversy internally about last year's Best New Character Design winner, with a lot of dissent in favor of Rufus. I don't suppose this makes up for the snub, but Juri really stands out amongst her peers in the category.

Her Super counterpart Hakan is also a very fresh look for SF characters, but Juri far and away has the superior and more appealing design. FFXIII's gruff protagonist Lightning, BioShock 2's Subject Delta, and LoL's Miss Fortune were all candidates, but not quite up to snuff.

Juri Han is a malevolent bloodthirsty Korean girl with a ki boosing implant in her eye, which she uses to amp up her "Taekwondo". She has a ton of interesting normal attacks, a teleport counter, a focus-breaking dive kick, a custom combo ultra and, uh, oh yeah, she throws fireballs with her fucking feet.



This pic is from Boss Logic's Street Fighter X Tron series on Deviant Art.

Anti-Honda | Part 2: Sumo's Revenge [SSFIV Casuals]

Funga!, foiled again.

Narrowly lost the Honda-Cody showdown yesterday. I was able to run the first match 2-0, but Lego came back in a big way in the second match. He was able to get in and stay in, which results in many, many, many hands slapping me consecutively.

Third match came down to the last round, and while we were both at about half health, I was able to slide my way out of the corner, and then counter-poked him with sweep for the knockdown. Heeding the sage advice I posted to myself a few days back, I walked up and threw out some normals before his wakeup, and was able to bait the Ultra headbutt, which I blocked, and then... flubbed the Last Dread Dust input. That Ultra 2 punish would have either killed Lego's Honda, or left him low enough to be chipped out by EX Criminal Upper. But, again, LDD didn't come out, Honda pushed out of the corner, and was able to get close enough to poke me out of the match.

Normally, I'm pretty sore about losing... (Last night's 11 deaths with Jungle Irelia in LoL being a prime example.) But I came away from this loss to Lego relatively buoyant. Though my technical skills failed me, my theory fighter was top notch, and I was absolutely right in the strategy I asserted last time around. (Case in point: once I have revenge meter for LDD, and just as I escape the corner, this is the time to pressure Honda, and bait a bad headbutt, as every version is punishable in the corner with LDD, when properly executed, anyways.)

Next time, Lego.

In other SF casual news, this was the first time we battled it out on the Evo monitor I recently procured, the Asus VH236H. Lego seemed to like it much as I have, and he was hitting combos with Dhalsim that I typically don't see connect. Also, I was able to keep it classy for a win in the Dudley-DeeJay matchup, and I stole the Makoto-Dhalsim pairing with a nasty Tsurugi > Seichusen Godanzuki combo.

Anti-Honda [SSFIV Casuals]

Just took two matches from Lego's Honda with Cody.

Respect.

It's probably been weeks since I beat his Honda with Cody; I've only occassionally stolen the odd match from him with Abel or Rufus. Maybe once with Makoto. This is certainly the first time in months I have scored a proper two-out-of-three on his Honda.

I'd been focusing on Rufus as a counterpick, using jump back roundhouse and Ultra 2 to deal damage while moving away from Honda. This has been somewhat fortuitous, but ultimately not very consistent.

In today's wins using Cody, I was careful to maintain wide spacing. Using b+MP to antiair, and rocks to preserve distance, I kept him out, which really prevents him from doing big damage with HHS or Oichio. Once backed into a corner, I relied on cr.MK to crossunder, and then backed off, employing back jumps with roundhouse on reaction to long headbutts.

Once Cody has Ultra, Last Dread Dust allows him to punish any blocked headbutt when Honda is in the corner, and Fierce and U1 headbutts anywhere on the screen. I'm still not positive on the vulnerabilities of jab and EX. The threat of this punish is enough (at this point anyways) to throw Lego off his game, allowing me to get a little more creative with safe jump set ups, crossups, and tick throws.

To stay ahead I'll have to work on the consistency of the anti-airs. Once I can train him to walk forward I can try to use cr.LK option select MK Ruffian Kick to knock him back out. Also, though I have felt Cody's pressure game has been too risky to spam on Honda, I believe the pressure strings will pay higher dividends just as I escape the corner, as long as I have revenge meter to punish bad reversal headbutts.

But seriously, Legoman's Honda is no joke, yo. This original post was drafted weeks ago (11/15 to be precise) and discussed the pros and cons of the different counterpicks I had been trying versus Honda. And I was literal when I said I hadn't taken a two-out-of-three from his Honda in months, which really means: since his Honda got godlike.

W00t. Nice work, Kil.

Epic Pose FTW [Tokido SoCalRegionals Victory Pose SSFIV]

At the end of a tremendous top 8 match between little known Ibuki ClakeyD and Tokido, Japan's top-notch mixup Akuma. Tokido sealed the deal with a pose mimicking Akuma's onscreen stance at the end of the Wrath of the Raging Demon, and stood blocking the image, so that the reverse Heaven character was projected onto his back.

That's style.

CONFIRMED: Guile's Theme Goes with Pumpkin Latte [Guile's Theme Goes with Everything - Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Latte]

Yep, tested it this morning. Guile's Theme, in this case the Combat and Service (Guile Stage) track from Overclocked Remix's Blood on the Asphault compilation, absolutely does go with pumpkin latte, in this case a Dunkin Donuts large, hot pumpkin latte.

I think I kept the track on repeat until I finished the bev. I suppose I should have had the 'Combat and Service HD (Guile Stage: Heavy Damage)' track queued up for the last couple of sips...

Further evidence that Guile's Theme does indeed go with everything.

Fight! Fight! Fight! [Upcoming Fighting Games]

It's like a late Aughties fighting renaissance.

Super Street Fighter IV

The game du jour as it were. Even with Lego's new work schedule, we still manage to get in some ferosh matches here and there. His freetime at night has allowed him to refine his skills online, particularly his Honda and Dhalsim. His Honda is better in every aspect, and a real threat. I'd say definitely his best now, and it is worth noting that his advancement started before Mike Ross's Top 8 Evo finish and Honda's top tier status on the new JPN rankings. Likewise, as a solid alternate, his Dhalsim is crafty, and he's moving the Yoga master around the screen much more smoothly.

I've been trying to smooth out my new additions when I have time, though right now I think most of my focus should be on Cody and Bison. I thoroughly enjoy using Cody, and I know I am only scratching the surface of his potential. While I'm connecting bigger combos, and countering more approaches, I've yet to tap into the strength of his pressure strings and frame traps. I had been of the opinion even a month ago that my Guile and Rufus were my strongest overall chars, but the reality of my inability to reliably execute certain elements (notably Guile's Flash Kick FADC Sonic Hurricane and Ruffie's Short-Fierce link) has led me to think I may have more luck in competition with the mighty Bison, as my technical insufficiencies are much less damning.

I keep entertaining the idea of making an appearance at Baltimore's Xanadu Wednesday night Xanbats, or Fairfax's CyberGround Tuesday night Ranbats, and my relaxed work schedule looks like it will accomodate this. Though, of course, I can't take Lego as my wingman... Wah wah.

Allegedly at least two new characters will be revealed in September, and hopefully made available as DLC soon after. Sounds like Alex (3s) and Rolento (FF/Alpha) are the strongest candidates, with Elena (3s) and R.Mika (Alpha) close behind. I would be sated with Alex's addition, but, for 900th time, I'd really like to see Charlie.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3

Hypewise, MvC3 is dominating the digital blog waves. Super Skrull's moveset looks flippin' tight, Dante's movelist if f'n Riddick Bowe, and Silver Surfer is now rumored to be in. And, you know how rumors work, Silver Surfer is in, so that must mean Galactus is the final boss, which must mean Dormammu is playable, and so on, and so on. Still, should be the next big thing on Killa Blog for the next 18 months or so... (Just to warn ya.)

And for the record, since last time we spoke, DMC's Trish, Okami's Amateratsu, SF's Chun Li, Marvel's Thor, Super Skrull, and Doctor Doom have been shown. Amateratsu doesn't gel with the Best One Yet list I relayed here, so I guess we don't really know who's in and who's out. Still no sign of any Mega Man or Spiderman chars... And I am still hoping Dictator makes it in as the third Street Fighter, if not Charlie.


Arcana Heart 3

You know I've never delved in Arcana Heart, another obscure fighting game that has a passionate following stateside. Apparently the third iteration is also coming to XBL and PSN which will mean an unprecedented amount of exposure for the series. Don't know about price point, but this could potentially be very far reaching.

Third Strike Online Edition

And speaking of downloadable fighters, I think if 3sOE can even move half the digital units that MvC2 has, it will have been a smart choice on Capcom's part, regardless of how long it takes to release. It's catering to the 3s die-cores, which is a very wise choice since they (and the MvC2 crowd) are the ones that kept the fighting game scene alive during the MvC2-SF4 drought.

Street Fighter x Tekken :: Tekken x Street Fighter

A fun announcement and everything, but these are so far off in the distance it has barely bleeped my radar. I hope TxSF doesn't preclude Namco from working on Tekken 7...

Here Comes (Two) New Challengers [SSF4 Japanese Arcade Release New Characters DLC]

Gootecks relayed this Twit Pic from @marika_j. The Japanese SSF4 arcade release indicates two new fighters are inbound. The common held expectation is that they will be DLC not too far in the future for us on Team NAH.


Gootecks predicts one to be an Alpha fighter, and also that Urien will not be included.

I am rooting for Charlie (from Alpha), as I have mentioned repeatedly in this space. Guile is so revamped now, I think a clone version would be warranted. My pick for the other slot is Alex (from SF3). There are already, you know, plenty of grapplers, but, like Abel, he has a diverse arsenal. Although, and I'm speaking without any specific knowledge, I don't know how the SF4 engine would handle his back-turned shenanigans.

Otherwise, my guesses would include Rainbow Mika, Yun, and possibly another Final Fight character, even possibly one that has never appeared in a SF game... namely Mayor Mike Haggar, who is rumored to be in MvC3. You know, Poison would be cool too, actually.

Marn-Ma-Geddon [Evo2k10 Marn Ed Ma SSF4]

Viewing Enjoyment [SSF4 Option-Select Godsgarden 4th Strike Vids]

Flash Metriod demonstrates high level Makoto in this Option-Select.com video.



In case you don't know 3rd Strike very well, most of the things in this video were not possible or are completely new moves. It's a source edit apparently, likely on a CPS3 emulator. Click through to see the other characters.



Probably the bext Godsgarden Online match I've seen.

Odds and Ends: Killa Blog Is Not For You Edition

Ryze has gotten me pretty damn far in LoL... Been sticking with a pretty reliable Ability Power build, and going for champion kills early. I'm up to Summoner Level 13 thanks in no small part to his Rune Prison. Just recently switched to using Ignite (instead of Ghost). My normal abmbush goes something along the lines of: Desperate Power > (Lich Bane)Attack > Rune Prison > (Lich Bane)Attack > Ignite > Overload > (Lich Bane)Attack = Kil Initial is on a Rampage.

This week's upcoming available champion rotation includes a couple of champs I am looking at maining next, including Karthus, but most notably werewolf Warwick the Blood Hunter. Apparently, he's best as a "jungler", soloing buff mobs and pulling off egregious ganks. Seems like a natural fit, seeing as I'm a junglist myself, partially lycanthropic, and prone to fits of ganking.

MvC3's roster is slowly being revealed... Marvel's Deadpool and Captain America, Devil May Cry's Dante, and Darkstalkers' Felicia join the fray officially now. I hope Deadpool's inclusion doesn't disclude the possibilty of a slot for Cable. It really shouldn't be either/or; they work so well together! I expect Mag-fuckin'-Neto and Chun Li to be in the next batch of revelations. Anybody think there's a chance for any newer Street Fighter characters to make it? (Say Rufus? Maybe Alex?)

Lego's DeeJay has been pissing me off royally. His time with Honda has taught him the charge inputs well... too well. EX Jacknife Maximum, or whatever the fuck his 'Upkicks' are called, owns a lot of my Rufus pressure. Beginning to think Abel may be a better matchup, as his crossup is a lot safer. Also may try to use Guile more, as I had a really solid set versus Lego's Sagat last night. (Man, is that charge fast now!)

Lost is almost over... This week's episode "Across the Sea" will allegedly reveal Flocke's purpose finally, "What They Died For" will air on May 18th, and five days later (Sunday 5/23) they'll show the 150 minute series finale. Can't wait. I'm pretty sure Jack Shepherd will replace Jacob, though I keep wondering what role Desmond Hume will play in the conclusion of the standard timeline, and also in the alternate scenario.

Angry Scar FTW [SSFIV Sagat New Abilities]

Three Strikes and They're In [SSFIV Roster Third Strike Additions - Ibuki, Makoto, Dudley]

As reported on Kotaku, based on alleged scans from the new Famitsu, as expected, Dudley, Makoto, and Ibuki are confirmed to be in Super Street Fighter IV.

Not a shocker, but just to keep up on it, ja, that's they. This is still in line with the supposed roster screen I've already relayed. Hakan should be next, likely to be announced or some images leaked in late March, I'd guess.



Let's see if I can get all this FPS out of my system before the end of April, 'cause I'll have some fighting to do.

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 [New Marvel Versus Capcom Game Roster Speculation]

(This is the height of fanboy-ism, I know.)

So, Capcom has said that the response to the North American release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom could merit the production of a new Versus game. I personally would love to see another Marvel crossover, but in lieu of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, I think an X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 would be a nice intermediary step. Sticking to only SF and X-Men properties obviously discludes a lot of favorites, but I think it would be wise to focus on a smaller roster while bringing tag battles up to date.

Marvel Vs. Capcom (1) had an interesting implementation to consolidate the roster. Ken and Akuma weren't included, but Ryu could spend a super bar to change his style (and palette) to something akin to his shoto-clones. I'd really like to see all three in a new crossover game, as differentiated as possible.

Another interesting quirk of X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (1) was that the characters from each side were generally paired up based on similarities. Ryu and Cyclops, Magneto and Dictator, Zangief and Juggernaut, etc. So, I says to myself, I says, "Self, if I were to pick a trilogism of X-Men to align against Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, who would I pick?

The Summers Brothers, natch. Cyclops is a match for Ryu's familiar stoic template, Havok shares the brash, reckless traits of Ken Masters, and Vulcan brings the same dark, mysterious elements to the table as Akuma. This would entail completely new designs for Havok and Vulcan, as they have never appeared in a Capcom fighter, which is a lot of work, but something I think would payout huge dividends with fans and fanboys alike.



That's a good start for a roster, but to expand on this...

Magneto		Dictator
Juggernaut		Zangief
Storm		Chun-Li
Psylocke		Cammy

These eight all have a history in the Crossover games, so they're a pretty solid way to flesh out the sides. And with the exception of Chun-li/Storm, it's in keeping with established pairings. Obviously the Marvel characters would need to be completely modeled, and animated, but their earlier incarnations should provide a framework for revision.

Gambit		C.Viper
Spiral		Dhalsim
Wolverine		Rufus
Sentinel		Sagat
Cable		Charlie

This next batch provides some fun pairings, and would include Rufus and C.Viper in a VS. series installment for the first time. Of the new SFIV characters, I find Ruf and Viper to be the best fit for the high-flying frenetic style of the crossovers. El Fuerte definitely has an exciting fighting stlye, but his reliance on wakeup mixups would not translate too well, I don't think. It would also mark Sagat's first outing against the Marvel universe, which would necessitate some retooling, especially if he is Sentinel's counterpart. Cable (along with Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel) is included due to his popularity and superiority in MvC2 and I've paired him with Charlie just for the hell of it.

Deadpool		Ibuki
Jubilee		Sakura
Polaris		Juri

And then here are some fun characters that aren't exactly necessary for a full game, but would always make great secret or DLC additions. Deadpool is included, of course, due to his immense popularity, and he's across from Ibuki, the best match for him in the SF world. And just as Deadpool rides in on Cable's coattails, Polaris does likewise slipping in with Havok, though I thought her and Juri shared some interesting elements. Jubilee and Sakura aren't characters I'd like to see per se, but they make for a natural pairing.

So yeah, a ton of glaring ommissions, I know. If you need Rogue in there for some reason, swap out Polaris. (It'd be less work that way anyways.) Sabretooth likewise didn't make it, though if you could part with Juggernaut or Sentinel, he makes for another big Marvel character. (Oddly, Sabretooth was paired with Dhalsim in XMvsSF, but for teleportory reasons, I feel Spiral is stronger.) If I felt the urge to include Omega Red, I'd probably make the case that Birdie (with his Murderer's Chain standing in for Red's Carbonadium Coils) should also be included.

And yes, again, this is just rampant fanboy speculation, and I haven't seen data yet on how fast Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is moving. It may be a moot point, but I know I'm not the only one with a jonesing for a modern Marvel crossover.

Audiology [OMG Your Ears!]

A common complaint about Killa Blog is the lack of auditory stimulation, so in your travels around the internet today, be sure to swing by:

Gootecks.com. They've converted Justin Wong's Q&A into a podcast. It's an hour and six minutes of relaxed banter, answering tons of SFIV and fighting scene questions, and making me feel a little bit better about my own struggles with Rufus' short, Fierce link.

Dirtbox Radio, a more rhythmic arena, delivers another HeBeGB live set in the Dirtbox Archives. Haven't had enough commute time to listen to the whole hour and a half, but it sounds pretty flippin' tight. You can download it from Dirtbox here.

Team Teamwork for their Vinyl Fantasy 7, an album's worth of hot lyrical tracks mashed with the classic themes of Final Fantasy VII. Just caught this on Kotaku this morning, so I haven't delved in too deeply, but it seems forrealistic. Jay-Z's Lucifer crossed with the Mako Reactor BGM? Fuck yes.

Could this be the framework for a future Killa Blog Podcast?




... God, I hope not.

Better Late [Killa Blog GOTY]

What's Killa Blog's Game of the Year? (Pretty obv, when you look back.)

(Please keep in mind these are games I've played and were released in calendar '09. Bioshock and Resistance 2, for example, are not eligible.)

GAME OF THE YEAR: Street Fighter IV

Huge game especially for fighting fans, really rejuvenating the tournament scene in a big way. I personally spent hundreds of hours playing, and am eagerly awaiting the Super update this spring. Why so popular? People love a good Street Fighter, and Capcom went the right direction, bringing in everything great from Super Turbo, learning from the mistakes of III, all while combining graphics and an art style that updated the franchise.

Compared to MGS4, the game that ultimately trumped Fallout 3 for 2008 KB GOTY, '09 proved to be more of a competitive year. Fighters dominated my playing time, and therefore, Killa Blog.


BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Luna Himeki (VanPri)

Vanguard Princess's provocative, futuristic gunslinger takes the cake. Stiff competition from the likes of SFIV's Rufus, BlazBlue's Ragna the Bloodedge, Tekken 6's Alisa and L4D2's Coach, but a true gem shines through. Terminal Emission Libery Art FTW.


BEST NEW ENEMY: Freakin' Chainsaw Guy (RE5)

Ah, the Freakin' Chainsaw Guy from Resident Evil 5 got a lot of chatter on KB earlier this year. I don't think any enemy presented such a monument to mechanized equipment and close-quarters terror.


BEST NEW LEVEL: Dead Center - Atrium (L4D2)

Oooh yeah. The opening campaign of Left 4 Dead 2, while primarily indoor, is a great contrast from the original L4D that showcases the more colorful and open environments, the clever use of vertical space, and the realistic, often humorous attention to detail.

The final stage is the Scavenge segment, tasking players with collecting gas cans to fuel a stock car on display in order to make an exciting escape. The Atrium is so well designed that it plays great after dozens of rounds and is eagerly anticipated by survivors and special infected players alike. Total classic.


BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC: Saving Attack (SFIV)

AKA the Focus Attack in North America, pressing medium punch and kick simultaneously will execute this technique that significantly consolidated the landscape of Street Fighter. Why 'consolidated'? The Alpha series' Alpha Counters, SFIII's parries, Guilty Gear's Roman Cancels, and Namco's unblockables all rolled into one. Yes, the Focus Attack is a revelation.

Street Fighter IV is so playable because of its take on its own fighter heritage. Eliminating air blocking could have returned the SF world to a jump-punishing dark age, but the Focus system accomodates more modern styles of ground fighting, particularly zoning and poking, allowing walking speed and backdash attributes to flourish as character strengths.



Sorry for the late arrival. Figured now or never. Thoughts?

Killer Bee Assault WANT [SSFIV Ultra Combos]

So, as you can see in this video, characters in Super Street Fighter IV will have access to two Ultra combos, which isn't new news, but illustrated for the first time for the general public. As enticing as Gief's Air Ultra grab may be, the more pressing speculation is...

Will Cammy get the Killer Bee Assault?!


...Or are we gonna get the [Reverse] Shaft [Breaker]?

UPDATE: What the fuck random giraffe torso? Just kidding. Go check out the hippos in the new Afrika stage.