Click here to see the legend page if you aren't sure about what the commands mean.


How the hyper combo gauge works


The hyper combo gauge is located at the bottom left corner of the screen for player 1, and bottom right for player 2. It starts off at level 0.


Filling the gauge up is as simple as ever -whilst it will increase slightly for your character taking damage, it fills up much faster by attacking the opponent.


Once the bar is filled once the gauge goes to level 1, meaning you could do a hyper combo move (moves marked "HYPER COMBO" on a characters' move page).


Level 3 is the maximum level the gauge can go to.


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 small amount of damage when blocking special moves and hyper 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

To jump much higher than usual, press down then up to leap directly above you. Press down and then up forward to jump towards your opponent. Press down then up backward to leap away from your opponent. Alternatively, press 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). Most characters have air throws.

Tech hits

If you get thrown, you need to quickly hold forward or backward and press either strong punch, fierce punch, forward kick or roundhouse kick buttons depending on which character you are using. You will land on your feet instead of your back and take less damage.

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

If you repeatedly manage to hit your opponent with attacks, they will be stunned. This means that they will briefly be unable to move or block, so you've basically got the chance to get in a free combo. If you are stunned, press every button to shake off the stars quicker. New to Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter is the stun meter -it is located behind the timer (the green squares grid). You can tell how close your character is to being stunned as it will start to fill up when they take hits. It goes to the left for player 1 and right for player 2, both starting from the middle.

Safety rolls

If you get knocked down, quickly input a reverse QCF motion (back, down back, back) followed by any punch button. 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. Hold left or right to roll in that direction.

Taunts

Like in the last game, press start to taunt. Completely worthless unless you want to cheese your opponent off.

Push back

Whilst blocking an attack, press all three punches together to push the opponent back. It doesn't hurt them, but it does put you in a much better position to attack, especially if you push back someone who's using a super move or a move that lasts several seconds.

Launchers

By pressing the jab punch and short kick buttons together, your character will do an attack that will launch the opponent into the air. You can then follow it up with an air combo (see below).

Air combos

These work in just the same way as the previous game. To the left you can see a basic Sakura air combo: hit the opponent with a crouching fierce punch to launch them into the air, then hold up to go up with them. Then press JP, SP and FP in that order. Alternatively you can now use launchers to get the opponent up into the air (see above).

Hyper Combos

By filling up the hyper combo gauge to at least one level, your character can use a hyper combo. Hyper combos are flashy and powerful moves which can do a lot of damage if they connect. Some characters have hyper combos which require 3 levels of hyper combo gauge to do.

Tagging in and out

The main feature of the game is that you select two characters to form a team. Whilst the game is still strictly one on one, you can tag in and out with your partner by pressing the fierce punch and roundhouse kick buttons together. What will happen is your second character will leap in with a flying attack (usually a kick) and your first character will leap out. Be warned though as as soon as the "in" character does their attack they will taunt, leaving them wide open. You cannot tag out whilst taking damage, and obviously if one of your characters has been defeated.

Vitality recharging

When you take damage, the yellow vitality gauge will decrease but part of it will also go red. You can restore this red chunk by swapping character and letting the damaged fighter rest a bit. If I aren't clear, look at the screen above. You see the red parts on Blackheart's vitality gauge? The red part can be recovered and turned back to yellow for as long as Ken and Zangief keep fighting. If Ken was to tag out now though and Blackheart was brought back on, the red part of his vitality gauge will disappear completely, and he'd have little life remaining.

Assists

You can now call on your partner to perform an attack. Press the strong punch and forward kick buttons together and your partner will jump onto the screen, do an attack, then leap out. When you do this your first character will taunt to signal them on, making them vulnerable. The character who jumps in is also just as vulnerable if their attack misses. As long as your partner has not been KO'd, you can use assists whenever you want. See this page for the full list of assist attacks.

Tag counters

Known as variable counters in the Japanese version, these are the same as the tag counters from X-Men Vs. Street Fighter and are done in exactly the same way: whilst blocking input a reverse quarter circle motion (back, down back, down) and then press fierce punch and roundhouse kick together. What happens is your second character will jump in and do an attack, whilst your first character leaps off the screen. Each counter requires 1 level of hyper combo gauge to do.

Cross-over combination

This is the new name for the tag hyper combos from X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. This is where both characters will perform a hyper combo at the same time, to do this you need your hyper combo to be at level 2 or 3 (requires 2 bars) and then input quarter circle forward followed by fierce punch and roundhouse kick together. It's worth noting that after the cross-over combo ends, you will switch characters -for example, in the screen above, after that combo has ended, you would be playing as Blackheart instead of Dhalsim.

Meet the Bosses

APOCALYPSE

Apocalypse is back, but he hasn't changed that much. After a brief conversation with your first character, he will grow big and the fight begins.

The only places you can hit him are his head and his fist. He has all of his attacks from the previous game, including the drill and satellites. But he has got one new attack, which is very powerful -twin lasers which he shoots from his eyes. He'll back away for a second and then charge forwards when using this attack.

Other than that thought his other attacks are the same as they were in X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, so this boss isn't that difficult to beat. But after you have beaten him, the game isn't over yet. The final boss then appears:

CYBER-AKUMA

Cyber-Akuma is the result of Apocalypse's experiments on Akuma. He has all of Akuma's moves, but they look flashier and do more damage. He's much faster than normal Akuma and his moves have priority over everything.

His air fireball consists of two projectiles instead of one, and he can also dash around the screen very quickly. If you make a mistake, Cyber-Akuma will punish you for it badly, such as with his scramble gou punch hyper combo.

As long as you don't leave yourself open and wait for him to make a mistake, he's not that difficult to beat. He often uses his dragon punch even when it clearly won't hit, so get in there and counter-attack as he's landing from it. Watch out for his shining gou shock (shun goku satsu) hyper combo though as he can use it in the air and catch you out. Defeat Cyber-Akuma and you will get the ending for the character who got the last hit on him.