So the past couple days in the world of video games have been pretty dead news-wise. The only real major headline was the long awaited release of Doom 3 and not much else. Granted, there’s always stuff that’s under the radar, like the first series of Doom 3 mods, a rather interesting Miyamoto interview from Australia (thanks mostly to the writer and his comment that Seamus Blackley and Lorne Lanning are “luminaries”), some new footage of Jeff Minter’s Unity (and running on OS X, OMG!!! … just joking), news that Chu Chu Rocket is finally available on the Sega CD, and even a fairly amusing Fark Photoshop thread which asks what the NES would have been like if it was released by Microsoft.
But the only real news is a video from the recent EVO2K4 Fighting Game Championships that has everyone talking. It’s a match between arguably two of the greatest fighting game players in the world. I’ve uploaded the unzipped movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s your chance.
Now here’s the story behind the clip…
First off, the game is Street Fighter 3 Third Strike, widely regarded as the most sophisticated and complex 2D fighting game ever created. One of the key aspects which gives it so much more depth than other “button mashers” is the use of parries. For those who have never played a fighting game… when an enemy is attacking, you can protect yourself by blocking the attack. In the case of 2D games, this is normally achieved by pressing back, away from the opponent and the attack. You can block almost any attack; blocking a normal attack will result in zero energy loss, BUT blocking a special attack, or a “super attack”, which is a flurry of especially powerful special attacks, will result in some energy being loss. Even though the amount is nothing when compared to actually taking the damage head on, it can make the difference in a close match. This is a very important point.
In SF3, you can also choose to parry, which is more or less, “brushing off” the attack. Doing so will result in no loss of energy, no matter what kind of attack it was. The thing is, it’s super difficult to pull off successfully; to parry, you need to tap the control stick forward to “greet” the attack. Precise timing is key, and considering the speed of many attacks, it takes a real expert to pull of parries with any degree of consistency.
Speaking of, the players in the video is Justin Wong, who is controlling Chun Li, and Daigo Umehara, who is using Ken. As I said, both are top ranked players and have fought long and hard to reach the championships. The key to being an expert player is having a strategy or play style that works consistently. Wong has one, which manages to produce results and get under almost everyone’s skin at the same time. What Wong likes to do is “turtle” which means huddling in the corner, which makes him very hard to hit. While in that position, he likes to chip away at this opponent with very quick, and hard to defend, attacks. This almost always frustrates any opponent, which will cause him or her to act hastily, which Wong of course is more than happy to capitalize upon. Sitting in the corner and just hitting quick attacks is also a great way to build up his super meter…. which gets filled whenever a move in performed. Once full, a super attack is ready to be unleashed.
Anyway, not only does Daigo hate Wong’s turtling tactics, but he was also mad at Justin for destroying a friend of his earlier in the tourney, and did so wearing the friend’s color (you can choose the color of your character’s outfit). So the theory is that Daigo let his power get low on purpose so Wong would rush in hastily with a super move, which he did. Chun Li is an ultra swift character, and her super is lightening quick. Then, as you saw, Daigo parried every single kick…. about 17 in only 5 seconds… which requires practically superhuman reflexes. Bare in mind Daigo didn’t block because he had so little energy remaining that it would have still cost him the match.
The video shows both Wong and Daigo playing, with Wong to the right. If you look closely, you can see Wong panic just as he starts his combo; he starts slapping the buttons furiously since only then did he realize his mistake. First off, any Street Fighter player knows that mashing the buttons in such an instance does nothing, so it’s natural to think that he’s just having a temper tantrum. But others theorize Wong was simply trying to cause a distraction to throw Daigo’s timing off. Once again, the amount of concentration to pull off such a feat is nothing short of amazing, but to do so in such a crowded and loud arena, with so much pressure and pride at stake (plus a very healthy cash prize for the winner), just shows how level headed and tuned Daigo is. I should also state that there is a large amount of hate when it comes to Wong; despite being top ranked, most feel he’s an overrated player who uses a host of cheap tactics, though whether if this is simply the truth or just jealousy is open to debate.
But the icing on the cake is not only the last parry in which Daigo jumped to achieve, but how he uses that to segue into a super move of his own to finally take down Wong (and at which point the crowd goes totally nuts). Then comes the thundering adulation of every nerd… I mean spectator…. in the building. It’s up there will any game winning shot from Jordan, last second touchdown from (insert famous football player name here, sorry I don’t watch the game) or bottom of the inning home-run by (once again, insert famous baseball player name here, I don’t like baseball either).
There are many theories as to why Wong acted the way he did. Why didn’t he simply continue to turtle the rest of the match, especially so close to victory? Was it the pressure or ego? Before he got decimated, was Wong jumping around doing random moves to confuse Daigo, or simply trying to build up his power meter? If so, why didn’t he wait till both meters will filled (you get more than one), which would have allowed two super moves in a row? And if that happened, would Daigo been able to parry such a massive offense? Many believe yes, because he’s just that damn good.
