Special Course: Hyper Street Fighter II Combo Chronicle Vol. 1 - Type: Origin - Content Explanation

Hello everyone, it's the skill smith and your SF Seminar lecturer, Mr. Bug here.

In this lecture I'd like to explain the content of the combo video "Hyper Street Fighter II Combo Chronicle Vol. 1 - Type: Origin -" that I made as a part of the Street Fighter 30th anniversary celebration.

Introduction

The combos in this movie were performed using the PS2 version of Hyper Street Fighter II. To explain the naming and future content...

Vol. 1 - Type: Origin - features combos from Normal mode, using the original SFII characters.
Vol. 2 - Type: Dash & Turbo - will feature combos from Champ mode, using the characters versions Champion Edition and Turbo.
Vol. 3 - Type: Super - will utilize the Super and Super Turbo versions.


Since this is the Normal mode, there aren't a lot of flashy combos, but they do fully utilize the super-damaging and high stun properties that are unique to Normal mode. All combos were recorded in Vs mode and not Training, and they start with the opponent at max health and KO the opponent, with at least 1 dizzy mixed in.

The combos look simple (though the inner-workings are quite complex), and with their terrifying damage the video moves at a good pace, which makes this perfect for the first video in the series, I think.


Though you may find "for N-Type" throughout the explanations, and while this is something that is limited to N-Type in Hyper SFII, as N-Type is a recreation of The World Warrior, it doesn't mean that it's something that can only be done in N-Type Hyper SFII. If there is something that can only be done in Hyper SFII, I'll write something indicating as such. There are quite a few combos that can only be done in Hyper thanks to utilizing different character versions, such as the first combo, which is performed on S-Guile instead of N-Guile. I feel these Hyper-exclusive combos are pretty interesting, so I hope you enjoy them.

Note - N = Normal, C = Champ, T = SFII Turbo, S = Super SFII, and ST = Super SFII Turbo.

Points of Interest

Using my previous column, Getting Max Enjoyment Out of SFII Combos as a reference, there are two things I'd like you to take note of in this video.

1. Holy cow, what damage.
Just two sets of 4 normals are enough to KO. L attacks do roughly the same amount of damage as M attacks by current standards.

2. Holy cow, what stun. You can dizzy from scratch with just 2 M attacks. Jump attacks in particular also dish out a lot of stun, even L jump attacks are no joke. With the stun system in the original SF2, it's quite easy to create re-dizzy combos.


Also, while the combo dummy is usually set to Normal, but there were times when I went with something other than Normal based on my feelings at the time. But basically, the character performing the combos are Normal type.

And as a YouTube protip, once you've paused the video, you can use comma "," on your keyboard to rewind a single frame, or period "." to advance a single frame. This lets you really break down how the combos work, for all you aficionados out there.

Combo Notation

(Visually-timed) Link combo

「,」...(Visually-timed) Link combo
「->」...Cancel
「CS」...Close standing
「FS」...Far standing
「C」...Crouching
「x」...Number of times the same move is peformed in succession (ex. x2)
「RH」...Reverse hit
「SP」...Simultaneous press (press the buttons at the same time)
「Walk」...Walk to close the distance
「J」...Diagonal jump
「NJ」...Neutral jump
「Cross-up」...Neutral jump
「CJ」...Cancel jump
「()」...Number within the parenthesis will show the number of hits for the move

Note: In the combo descriptions I may use popular nicknames for the moves used in the combos, such as "Dragon Punch" for the Shoryuken.

■No. 01: Ryu Vs S-Guile

Close HP -> L Shoryuken (2) - 3 hit
Close HP -> H Shoryuken (2) - 3 hit

Not a particularly difficult combo, but getting the Close HP into Shoryuken to be a 3-hit combo only works on S-Guile in the corner. In Hyper, since every version of the character is essentially a different character, there are over 70 characters in the game...and this only works on S-Guile.

Over 50% damage into stun...now this is the true Shin Shoryuken.

■No. 02: Chun-Li Vs S-Guile

Cross-up J.MK, RH CS.MP, C.MK, C.HP - 4 hits
Cross-up HP, CS.MP, Walk, CS.MP, Walk, C.HK - 4 hits

First, we've got a 4-hit link combo with a reverse hit mixed in there. This will definitely stun them, so basically just pray that they can last until the 3rd hit at least. The combo is finished off with C.HP, which we don't see often.

After the stun, the finisher is a 4-hit sequence that includes walking. Chun's CS.MP leaves very little space, so the walking is unexpected.

■No. 03: Guile Vs N-Zangief

Cross-up J.LK, C.LP, C.MP, C.LP -> Flash Kick - 5 hits
CS.LP x4 -> FS.LP x3 - 7 hits
NJ.HP, CS.LK -> CJ NJ.HP - 3 hits

N-Guile's C.LP is extremely versatile, so it can be used for a variety of hit confirms. Throw a medium in there, then go back to the jab. Generally it takes the 4th hit to stun, so again we pray for the best.

N-Guile is all about the S.LP. If you hit it deep, you can end the round with it. Against a stunned opponent you can hit it up to 8 times. If there was an option to turn stun off, you could come up with a lot of different combo variations, and that's cool to think about.

For the finishing combo, we've got a combo that has two neutral jump HPs, the last one utilizing a cancel jump.

■No. 04: Blanka Vs S-Honda

Cross-up J.MP, RH MK (2), H Rolling Attack - 4 hits
Cross-up J.HP, CS.MP, Walk, CS.MP, C.FP - 4 hits

Getting both knee hits on the reverse hit is pretty cool. Blanka only has a slight advantage after the knee, but Rolling has a 1F start-up, making for a pretty crispy link.

CS.MP is pretty versatile, but if you are holding forward from walking or charging you'll get the Head Crush, so it can be difficult to use.

■No. 05: E. Honda Vs N-Zangief

Cross-up J.MK, MP, MP, L Hundred Hand Slap - 4 hits
Cross-up J.MK, MP, HK (2) - 4 hits
Saba Ori

The interval after the MP is very small, and you can't cancel it, so you have to visually confirm the Hundred Hand Slap link. Incidentally, rapid-button input moves for the original SFII required quite a bit of rapid button press power.

One hit from S.HK delivers a truckload of stun, so two hits gets into the godlike range of stun damage. It's pretty easy for Honda to combo into stun...and another way of looking at it is, if Honda stuns you, you're pretty much dead.

In SFII, regardless of the game version, if you KO your opponent with a grab-like throw with no recovery motion, you can move a little bit after the KO. I played around with this quite a bit in this video.

■No. 06: Ken Vs N-Ryu

J.HP, C.MP, Far S.HP - 3 hits
H Shoryuken

For the first hit of the sequence, the J.HP, if you don't hit that as high as possible the final S.HP won't reach. To help out with that I had Ryu do his Close S.HP to extend his height a bit. Take a look at it frame by frame.

For N-Ryu, there is a moment during his dizzy animation where he takes 2x the normal damage. The Shoryuken in this video hits him during that moment. Man, I just love seeing that vitality gauge drain. At the time, they called it a sickness...

■No. 07: Blanka Vs C-Sagat

J.MP, CS.MP -> H Rolling Attack (Whiff), CS.MP -> Electric Thunder - 4 hits
VJ.HP, CS.MP, VJ.HP - 3 hits

For N-Blanka, when you perform his Rolling Attack from a cancel, it loses its hitbox.
Additionally, when performed against a character with a low crouch height, it'll fly over their head. When Rolling Attack gets to the corner of the screen, it'll become grounded at that instant. Taking advantage of all these properties, by performing it in the corner against an opponent with a low crouching height, it basically becomes an instant teleport move with no hitbox. This is something that's unique to N-Blanka, and unfortunately due to stun values it's impossible to get anything more out of the situation.

However, Blanka's vertical neutral jump HP, also known as the "Bush Buster," has a start-up of just 1F, same as his Rolling Attack. Aside from the cool animation, and the speed, there was a reason for the Bush Buster having a 1F startup....I'd like to talk about that reason someday if I have the chance, but for now, let's just say that the reason is why the move was given more startup after SFII Turbo.

■No. 08: Dhalsim Vs N-Blanka

Cross-Up Yoga Mummy, RH.HK, C.MK - 3 hits
Cross-Up Yoga Spear, C.HP (2) - 3 hits
Yoga Smash

Both of Dhalsim's drill attacks have no landing recovery, so even his close HK can properly combo. Dhalsim's crouching close MK, also known as Thrust, is known to be his fastest grounded move, but actually for N-Dhalsim it's not all that fast. From SFII Turbo onwards it has a startup of 2F.

Even though both drills have no landing recovery, it takes quite a bit of flourish in order to get the follow-up attacks to stack up. Similar to E. Honda's HK, Dhalsim's headbutt CS.HP deals 2 HP worth of stun, one for each hit, so if your luck is good you can dizzy the opponent with only 2 moves. From there, you just have to pray that you get enough stun and damage in order to KO the opponent.

The final part is an apology for KO'ing the opponent with a mash throw.

■No. 09: Ken Vs S-Balrog

CS.MK, C.LK -> L Tatsumaki Senpukyaku - 3 hits
J.HP, C.LK -> SP CS.HP -> H Tatsumaki Senpukyaku - 4 hits
CS.LK -> CJ.HK - 2 hits

The knee into toes (MK -> LK) part at the beginning is a combo that only works for in the original version. Balrog, thankfully, has an upside-down triangle shaped-body, so combos that aim for his torso are easy to connect. And the Hurricane Kick connects in a good way.

After the dizzy, land a jump-in, LK, HP into Tatsu and you're certainly to get a re-dizzy. This is also thanks to Balrog's thick upper body. This combo probably only works on him.

Finish it off with a backwards jump kick from a cancel jump for a flashy finish.

■No. 10: Zangief Vs N-Honda

Cross-up MK, RH.MK, C.LP, Double Lariat - 4 hits
Cross-up HK, CS.MP, Walk, LK, HP - 4 hits

Against Honda, not only does Zangief's reverse-hit MK hit, but it also causes Honda to stand - quite the delightful combo dummy. N-Zangief's Double Lariat is a special case where it can't be canceled into, but you can link it visually off the C.LP. This is an extremely beneficial move for giving your opponent's hell.

Zangief's normals are a treasure trove, and not just for tormenting opponents. You can walk off of close MP, and you can link HP and sweep off his low kick

■No. 11: Guile Vs N-Zangief

Cross-up LK, C.MK, CS.HP -> Flash Kick - 4 hits
J.HK, C.LP x2, CS.HP -> Flash Kick - 5 hits
C.LP, C.HP - 2 hits

N-Guile's MK is well-known as one of his strengths, and here we kick things off with a tight hit confirm from his C.MK.

Guile can't perform cancels off simultaneous-press moves, but he can link into his HP from his jabs, and it's a regular link that's not all that tough.

We finish things off with a combo that's only possible in the original version.

■No. 12: Ryu Vs S-Sagat

Cross-up HK, CS.HK, C.HK - 3 hits
Cross-up HP, C. LK x6, CJ.HK - 8 hits

Despite being one of the tallest characters in the game, Sagat has a fairly low profile when he crouches. As a result, the first hit of the axe kick misses - only the second hit connects, which allows us to connect into sweep.

N-Ryu and Ken's J.HP have a pretty wide hitbox, so it can cross-up normally. Their jump trajectory also plays a part (from Champ onwards, Ryu and Ken had higher and slower jumps). Afterwards, land 6 C.LK's into a cancel jump HK for 8 hits. This is probably the max number of hits for a N-character. If you've been following along thus far, you know that whether or not you get the stun is the luck of the draw. We can clearly see that Sagat can withstand it, so the only thing you can do from there is believe in your luck.

■No. 13: Chun-Li Vs S-Sagat

Cross-up HP, CS.HP -> L Hyakuretsu Kyaku - 3 hits
Yosokyaku x2, J.HK - 3 hits
CS.LP, CS.MP, VJ.HK - 3 hits

Chun-Li's palm strike is cancelable across her different versions, but as soon as you cancel it the hit stop vanishes. It's a mysterious state that I just wanted to show off with this combo.

N-Chun's Yosokyaku dishes out plenty of stun, and the regular 3rd hit probably would have re-dizzied without the HK. The showman in me used the HK for presentation purposes.

The first LP to MP is, depending on the situation, limited to her original version. Then, taking advantage of Sagat's tall body, finish things off with her flip kick.

■No. 14: Guile Vs N-Zangief

Knee Bazooka, CS.HK, Walk, C.MK - 3 hits
J.RH, Knee Bazooka, C.LK -> SP FS.HP - 4 hits
C.LP, CS.HK, FS.HK - 3 hits
Knee Bazooka

In the original game, Guile's Knee Bazooka was a unique move that could be performed in-close by pressing either forward or backwards and MK. After Turbo, it was changed to not be an in-close move. The startup was slow, but it allowed him to move forward while keeping his backwards charge, so that was interesting.

Here, the original Knee Bazooka is combo'ed into CS.HK, which is then combo'ed into C.MK after walking forward a bit. The C.MK probably won't reach without the walk.

As I said before, the Knee's startup is slow, so the J.RH has to hit really deep for it to connect. Then from there, C.LK and backfist to get the re-dizzy.

In the original game, C.LP had miraculous plus frames that allowed you to combo into CS.HK. That CS.HK into roundhouse combo never stops looking awesome. The roundhouse barely does any damage, but it does make for the 3rd dizzy of the round.

Finish things with another Knee for good measure.

■No. 15: E. Honda Vs. N-Zangief

Cross-up J.MK, LP x3, C.LP - 5 hits
J.FP, CS.RH (2), C.FP - 4 hits
Saba Ori

This combo might not look all that impressive, but the links are quite strict, as is the dizzy. I think the chance of dizzy is even lower than Ryu's 8 hit combo.

The 2nd combo isn't all that hard, but it was a real pain getting the dizzy. It made me dizzy instead.

And a bit of flourish for the finish.
Incidentally, this is the combo that took the longest time to record.

■No. 16: Zangief Vs S-Guile

Double Lariat, Walk, C.LP x2, CJ.HK - 4 hits
Cross-up Body Press, C.LP -> CS.LP -> C.LP, C.HK - 5 hits

N-Zangief's Double Lariat doesn't knock down, so if you can get that last hit to connect well you can get the combo started. From there, walk as much as possible to get two hellish stabs in, then a cancel jump drop kick. It's a very trendy sequence.

Then open the second part with a cross-up Body Press and finish with a sweep. I said so before, but Zangief in SFII was a combo character. You can work in the sweep from a variety of setups. There was more I wanted to do, but N-characters dish out massive damage, so that was that.

■No. 17: Blanka Vs C-Ryu

Cross-up H Rolling Attack, RH.CS.MP -> Electric Thunder - 3 hits
J.HP, C.MK, H Rolling Attack - 3 hits

There's a lot going on at the start of this combo. Allow me to explain.
When used against an opponent who is in an invincible state (such as being knocked down), N-Blanka's Rolling Attack will rebound - however, if it doesn't it, the rebound will also have a hitbox. I wanted to use this hitbox, but the concept of this video is to one-touch kill the opponent from max vitality, so I couldn't do something like knocking them down with a sweep beforehand.
That's where C-Ryu's Tatsumaki Senpukyaku comes into play.
C-Ryu's Tatsumaki Senpukyaku is invincible during the ascent and decent animations, so by performing the Rolling Attack during the descent invincibility, I could get the rebound part of Rolling Attack to cross-up Ryu in a pristine state. From there, the CS.MP is a reverse hit, giving us an especially great state to be in, but N-characters dish out stun very quickly, so while regrettable, it is what it is.

N-Blanka can only cancel his CS.MP, but as I said before, Rolling Attack starts up very quickly, so we can link into it from C.MK.

■No. 18: Guile Vs N-Zangief

Sonic Boom, CS.HK, C.HK - 3 hits
J.HP, CS.HP, H Sonic Boom, FS.HP - 4 hits
Sonic Boom, Bazooka Knee, LK -> C.LK, HP - 5 hits

A combo that starts off with Sonic Boom in the corner. I did sweep from CS.HK as something I hadn't done before.

The uppercut-Sonic Boom-backfist combo is one that's well-known for SFII Guile. It's not particularly difficult nor does it include any special gimmicks, but as it was discovered around the same time as cross-up uppercut DP, I was really into it, and this is one of the combos that lead to my love of combos.
This is only for characters in the corner, but if you jump in too deeply you'll switch places with the opponent for an instant, and you'll lose your back charge.

Sonic Boom, Bazooka Knee, LK into backfist. This all connects beautifully.
This is why I wanted to make a combo with Sonic Boom as the star.

■No. 19: Ryu Vs S-Guile

J.LK, CS.LK -> SP C.MP, C.HK - 4 hits
Cross-up LK, C.MK -> H Shoryuken - 4 hits

A combo featuring juicy normals, simultaneous button presses and links. The CS.LK can be easily confirmed from a low attack, and you can change the link depending on the situation, making it a very versatile tool in battle.

From there, a cross-up on S-Guile into a medium attack, into the 2-hit Shoryuken. The first combo in the video features the 2-hit Shoryuken performed off the uppercut, but that's exclusive to S-Guile with his back in the corner. This time we get the 2-hit Shoryuken off a cross-up into a medium attack.
I wanted to use a H attack for either of the combos, but then the opponent would lose too much life and would die to the first hit of the Shoryuken. I primarily want to show off the 2-hit Shoryuken here.

Having begun things with the 2-hit Shoryuken, it's only fitting to end things with the 2-hit Shoryuken. Thanks for watching, and reading!

Conclusion

Well everyone, what did you think?

I am happy beyond words to be able to release this combo video, much less using SFII.

The combos featured here may not be usable in a real match, but you can take parts from them, or the essence of what was done, and apply them to your gameplay. Kind of like how you can take things you see from a martial arts demonstration, and integrate them into your style for a nice accent. The most important thing though, is for you to find your own way to enjoy these combos.

It may take a little while, but please look forward to the next installment, Vol.2 - Type: Dash & Turbo, which can be found here in the SF Seminar.

Writer