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How the super combo gauge works


The super combo gauge is placed underneath a character's life bar. By filling the gauge up to at least level 1, a character can use their super combo moves (also known as infinity combos).



By using normal or special moves, the gauge will start to fill up. If your attacks actually hit the opponent then the gauge will fill up faster. Depending on which character you are using, you can fill the gauge up several times.



For example, you can fill Juggernaut's gauge up twice, which is his maximum level.


Blocking

To block, hold back on the joystick. To block low attacks, hold down back on the joystick. You can block just about anything apart from throws and command throws. You will not take any damage whilst blocking standard punches or kicks, but you will take a very small amount of damage when blocking special moves and super combos. You can also block whilst jumping.

Jumps

Holding up on the joystick will have you character jump straight up, holding up forward has them jump toward the opponent, and holding up backward has them jump away from the opponent.

Super Jumps

These let you jump much higher into the air than usual and are great for avoiding attacks, or getting from one side of the screen to the other quickly. If you want to jump straight upwards, push down and then up quickly. To leap forwards, hold down then press up forwards. To jump back, hold down and press up back. Super jumps can also be done by pressing all three kick buttons together.

Throws

As ever, throws are done by moving up to the opponent and holding forward or back before pressing either the strong punch, fierce punch, forward kick or roundhouse kick buttons. The buttons won't work for every character (for example, some characters don't have throws activated by the kick buttons). Some characters have air throws.

Tech hits

When you are about to be thrown, you need to input as if you were going to throw the opponent, and you need to do it quickly. EG hold left or right and then press the relevant punch or kick button depending on which character you're using. When you tech hit a throw, your character will take half as much damage than usual and will recover in the air, landing on their feet.

Dashing

Double tap forward to make your character dash forward with a brief sprint. Double tap backwards and your character will dash/roll back which is useful for avoiding attacks. Dashing can also be done by pressing all three punch buttons together.

Stuns

By successfully hitting the opponents with heavy attacks every few seconds, they will eventually be stunned. When a character is stunned, they cannot move for a short period of time, meaning their opponent will have an opportunity to further beat them up. To recover from being stunned, keep pressing forward and backward repeatedly. You can tell how close your character is to being stunned by looking at their portrait, next to their life bar. Blue is normal, yellow is close to being stunned and red means stunned.

Hitting floored opponents

If you knock an opponent down, you can usually hit them again by getting close, holding down and then pressing an attack button.

Safety rolls

If you get thrown or hit with an attack that is going to make you crash into the ground, input B, DB, D+P before you land. If done correctly your character will hit the ground but then roll to their feet next to the opponent -good for avoiding taking hits whilst floored.

Taunts

The single most important addition to the game. Useless in single player, but invaluable in vs mode. To taunt simply press down twice and then press your start button. What generally happens is that a human opponent will think "They just taunted me... I MUST TAUNT THEM BACK!" and then proceed to try and do so at some point in the fight, I guarantee it. So when they do you get in there and combo them to pieces.

Air combos

These work in just the same way as the previous game. Above you can see a basic Captain America air combo: hit the opponent with strong punch to launch them into the air, then hold up to go up with them. Then press JP, SP and FP in that order.

Super combos

By filling up the super combo gauge to at least one level, your character can use a super combo. Super combos are flashy and powerful moves which can do a lot of damage if they connect.

The infinity gems

These gems are what Thanos is after, but each character can use them in the game. In the one player mode, you will collect the gems from the CPU opponents you beat. They can also be used in VS mode, with each fighter having one random gem. The gems all have various power boosting abilities, which last for a short amount of time. For example, the power gem will increase a fighter's strength. In addition to this, each fighter (aside from the bosses) has a "best" gem which has a unique ability just for them. An example of this would be Magneto when using the space gem, which activates his forcefield.

To use a gem, simply input QCB+PP. If you have more than one gem, you can cycle through them by pressing the start button during a fight. Take note that certain attacks will make you lose a gem if you take a hit -you can collect lost gems by moving over them.

Infinity Counters

These require one super combo gauge level. Whilst blocking an attack, quickly input B, DB, D+PP. If you do this correctly your character will perform an infinity counter which basically has them use a special attack before their opponent has a chance to react to it.

Meet the Bosses

"Now you face Doom." Doctor Doom is the first boss, and the seventh opponent in the single player mode. His special moves are largely that of the projectile variety, including several beam variants. His main projectile is the gauntlet blast, which is a large yellow laser.

Doom also has a few nasty air combos at his disposal, but he will frequently be using his various projectile attacks against you.

Due to Capcom toning down the A.I. of this game compared to the previous one, he isn't that difficult to beat, really. He sometimes spams his photon shock, but does nothing more complicated than that unless you play on the higher difficulty settings. However his photon array is something to be wary of as it can cover the whole screen, and his air combos are fast and damaging. "Another victory..."

"Thanos reigns!" Thanos is the eighth and final opponent in the single player mode. At the start of round one, he will take all of the infinity gems you have collected. Thanos' normal attacks are like special moves, such as one of his kicks having him stomp the ground and sending some fire you way. One of his special moves is a bubble that can trap you for a few seconds if you are hit by it.

However his super combos are what you really want to look out for, as out of all the characters, he has the most and all of them are deadly. Like Doctor Doom, he also has a few nasty air combos that he'll pull off without hesitation.

Despite all of this, he's a real push over compared to CotA Magneto. Can you beat Thanos and save all life in the universe? "Destiny awaits..."