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 character's 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

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 are also able to throw in the air.

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.

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 either half circle forward + P (to roll forward) or half circle back + P (to roll backward) 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

Press start (or select on the Playstation version) to have your character do a taunt. Chun-Li's can actually hurt the opponent (it does next to no damage). Taunts were quite important in the arcade version as if you got trapped in a infinite you could just lean over and hit your opponent's start button to get them to stop their combo (only advisable if you were bigger/stronger than your opponent in real life).

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.

Air combos

These work in just the same way as the previous game. Above you can see a basic Ken 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.

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.

Tagging in and out

The main feature of the game is that you now 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, or if one of your characters has been defeated.

Vitality recharging

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

Tag counters

These require one level of hyper combo gauge, and both characters have to be alive. 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.

Tag hyper combos

If you have at least 2 levels of super combo gauge and both of your characters are still alive, you can use a tag hyper combo. These involve both characters appearing on the screen at the same time and performing a hyper combo, resulting in spectacular damage and hits. Input quarter circle forward followed by fierce punch and roundhouse kick together to do them, this command is the same no matter what characters you have chosen. It's worth noting that after the tag hyper combo ends, you will switch characters -for example, in the screen above, after the tag hyper combo has ended, you would be playing as Gambit instead of Bison.

Meet the Boss

APOCALYPSE

"I am the Apocalypse! Hahahahahahaha!" Supreme mutant Apocalypse serves as the game's one and only boss. He starts off small, but after introducing himself he gets much bigger, and then the fight begins. Despite his huge size he isn't that difficult to beat. He has two weak points you need to attack: either his head, or his left fist. He will often deploy some small satellites which he can use to shoot lasers at you, plus his shoulders contain blasters.

Aiming for his fist is easier than only going for his head. Sometimes Apocalypse will slam his fist into the ground, so move back when he raises it. He can also transform his left fist into a weapon, with his most powerful attack being a drill. This attack does a lot of hits and damage, but you can always tell when he's going to use it -he'll dash back suddenly.

He may also use a spiked mace, but all he'll do with it is slam the ground, so it's very easy to avoid. The satellites that guard him can also be destroyed by attacking them. Overall Apocalypse is quite an easy boss to defeat. "Your life is mine!"

After Apocalypse is defeated, there is only one opponent left to beat: your best friend! You will take control of the character who got the last hit on Apocalypse and fight your partner. If you win, you get your character's ending, if you lose, you'll have to use a continue and try to beat your partner again.