Hakan speculation

With the upcoming release of Super Street Fighter IV to consoles in the Spring quarter of 2010, much hype has been built around the new characters being introduced to the game. As of now, six new characters have been confirmed: from Super Turbo we have T.Hawk and Dee Jay, from the Alpha series we have Guy, Cody, and Adon, and finally a new addition to the franchise is Juri, the first-ever Korean fighter introduced to Street Fighter.

To add on to the new roster, more speculation has gone into even MORE new characters:

スーパーストリートファイターIV
4月1日 3980円
いぶき、ダッドリー、まこと、シャドウ、ハカン
シャドウはソニックブームを使う
ハカンはまんまダラン

First of all, the source of this passage is from the recent Famitsu magazine issue. It states the basics, that the game will be released in the first of April (Japanese do not celebrate April Fool's Day from what I hear), and will cost around 40 bucks. Then, it goes into the good stuff, revealing three more characters from the Third Strike Series (Makoto, Dudley, and Ibuki), another new addition to the franchise (Hakan), and a mysterious fighter so far only known as "Shadow", who throws sonic booms.

Which brings me to the main point of the post...

The one new addition that stands out the most to me is Hakan, who is supposedly and Arabic grappler obsessed with oil. The Famitsu passage also states that Hakan will play a lot like Darun Mister, from the EX series. In the picture posted to the left is the leak of Hakan.

Character design-wise, Hakan appears to have a simple design, consistent with the Street Fighter character design in the series. The phrase that he is "obsessed with oil" seems to derive from his robotic/mechanical nature, as he appears to be some sort of android or have bionic attachments. Assuming the scaling is correct, with Juri s

tanding next to him, he does not seem too big. Probably around the same size as Alex or Abel. What has been interestingly pointed out to me is that in contrast to Juri's left artificial eye, Hakan seems to have an artificial right eye. This is not certain since the quality of this picture sucks, but it is possible that Hakan works for SIN or is maybe a bad-guy turned good. But really, who gives two shits about the storyline at this point.

Game-play-wise Hakan is speculated (and informed by Famitsu) to play similarly to Da

run Mister from the EX series, who is pictured to the right. Now, I didn't play EX back in the day, but I have done my research. In the EX series, Darun played similarly to Zangief. His character design was similar, too, meaning that he was identical in size to Zangief. Hakan's specials consisted of a number of command grabs, a launcher command grab, and special attack similar to Zangief's Banishing Flat (hits twice, think of it as a double Banishing Flat).

What was most peculiar and interesting about Darun was his launcher command grab, in which Darun would lie on his back, with his arms and legs propping him up. Then, with the opponent falling on top of him, he would thrust his body upwards, launching the opponent into the sky. Darun can then follow up with a command grab which grabs the opponent in the air and tosses him across the screen.

Darun Mister's specials are as follows:

Lariat-

Essentially a Banishing Flat which hits twice. In EX this special was executed using the srk motion followed by any strength punch. In EX 2 and 3 the Lariat was executed with a quarter circle forward followed by a punch of any strength.

Ganges DDT-

A move similar to Alex's and Hugo's DDT from Third Strike. Darun throws himself at the opponent and uses the momentum of his body to slam the opponent down. This is performed with a forward srk motion followed by any strength kick.

Brahma Bomb-

This is Darun's go-to command grab, which is essentially the same as Zangief's SPD. From what I heard it did less damage. The motion for this special is a forward 360 followed by a punch of any strength.

Indra Bashi/Bridge-

This is Darun's launcher, which has command grab properties. This sets up the Air Catch, and is performed with a forward 360 followed by a kick of any strength.

Darun Catch-

This special snatches the opponent from the air and tosses him far across the stage. It is similar to Abel's falling sky, and is commonly used after an Indra Bashi. This special is performed with a backward srk motion followed by any strength of punch.

Darun's Super Combos are as follows:

Tasogare Lariat (EX 1 only) -

From what I have seen, this was Darun's go-to super combo which is hit-confirmable from a standing or crouching jab. Darun performs many Lariats/Banishing Flats in a row. Double quarter circle forwards + punch.

Super Indra Bashi/Bridge-

Darun performs his pelvic launcher many times in a row, and it seems that you can end it with a Darun Catch at the end. Performed with double quarter circle backwards + kick.

Chouzetsu Kishin Bomb-

Darun performs many consecutive Brahma Bombs on his opponent, similar to Zangief's Ultra Combo in SF4. Performed with 720 motion + punch.

Darun had a few other specials, but these cover his most important ones. From the videos I have seen Darun has some sort of parry special, however I don't see this finding its way to SSF4. Also, Darun had an additional Super known as the Gamble of Darun, G.O.D for short, in which both players had to push a sequence of inputs. If the opponent matches the input of the Darun player, the Super is cancelled. However, if the opponent is unable to guess correctly, the Darun lands a large amount of damage. It is hard to determine whether or not this mechanic would work in SSF4.

Hakan = Darun?

Due to the recent passage from Famitsu, it has been speculated (and stated in the passage itself) that Hakan would play similarly to Darun. This in turn, should raise more speculation about Hakan.

In EX, Darun is similar in size to Zangief. However, in the picture posted in this blog Hakan is seen to be closer to the size of Juri, making him a smaller grappler. Assuming that the art is scaled, we would probably see another smaller sized grappler, similar in size to Abel. This would make sense, since the only other grappler similar to Abel's size is Honda, and with the addition of T.Hawk that already means we have two ginormous-sized grapplers on our roster.

Also, Darun played similarly to Zangief in EX. With Hakan's size speculated to be that of Abel's, we could have in our hands a mini-Zangief. Assuming that this is correct, Hakan looks to be somewhere in between Abel and Gief in speed, probably similar to Honda. Darun's normals are also similar to Zangief's, and I could see this translating in to SSF4, making Hakan a grappler able to play decent footsies with his opponents.

If, and saying IF Hakan plays similarly to Darun, I would not be surprised if Hakan's game involved some sort of mix-ups following his Indra Bashi command grab launcher. Of course, if they add the Indra Bashi in the game they would most likely include the Darun/Hakan Catch as well. However, the Indra Bashi may have juggle properties in SSF4, and I could see it juggling into an Ultra or Super. I could also see Hakan having good reset options off of his launcher, although he probably won't be as fast as Abel, Hakan may have options which allow him to reset his opponent and land a Brahma Bomb or another Indra Bridge. Don't be surprised if this happens ;-)

All in all I speculate that Hakan might play like a mini-Zangief, with potential reset options. In size, he may be similar to Abel, and he may have speed similar to Honda's. Darun's parry special may make it to SSF4 as to give Hakan some options to work through fireball-happy opponents (SSF4 is supposed to be more offensive-based than SF4).

This is all I can come up with for now, I'll do a little more research, and time will tell what exactly our new Arab/Turkish grappler will have in store for us. If you are further interested in Darun's play-style, there are few videos up on YouTube. If you have any other ideas or speculations, please put them in the comments section.

Edit:

Darun's parry move is more of a counter special, and is executed by pressing all the punch buttons. This leaves your opponent vulnerable for a few frames. In EX2 trial mode it is seen that you are able to perform the Super Brahma Bomb afterwards. Also, it is seen that Darun can juggle multiple Indra bridges in the corner, and follow it up with a Darun Catch at the end. Please let Hakan carry Darun's legacy! Happy speculating!

Video match analysis exercise 2 - MDR (Rufus) vs C-Type (Honda)

MDR (Rufus) vs C-Type (Honda)

MDR v Ctype

R1

- ctype guesses right twice and lands big damage on MDR, and a knock down. MDR is at a huge disadvantage because of honda's nasty ass command grab.

- intersting, ctype sees that MDR has no meter, without meter Rufus has almost no options besides snake strike, even that is risky because it is punishable. Ctype locks MDR down with a barrage of fierce hhs, which does considerable chip damage, keeps MDR close and builds a considerable amount of meter. MDR finally jumps away at the cost of another knockdown and some damage from the hhs.

- As soon as Ctype sees that MDR is building meter he closes the gap between the two, it's definitely a good move to keep MDR from building meter but puts Ctype at a disadvantage because he will be within range of dive kick pressure, which builds a shitload of meter as well.

- MDR doesn't take advantage of this, and Ctype immediately jumps back to counter any possible dive kick attempt.

- Ctype brilliantly throws a random ex headbutt, losing all of the meter building he had accomplished early in the round. MDR goes for a low fierce, usually this punishes honda's fierce headbutt but in this case Ctype threw out an ex headbutt.

- Ctype jumps in for no reason, and gets hit. Doesn't block the galactic tornado and gets knocked down. Disadvantage for Honda because MDR has one stock of meter and has honda set up for divekick pressure. Ctype has no meter.

- MDR lands rufus bnb divekick->fierce->galactic tornado-galactic tornado in the corner, and builds tons of meter.

- Honda breaks pressure with ex buttslam, however this gives MDR two stocks of ex meter.

- momentum shifts for a bit as Ctype guesses right and lands a command grab. Keep in mind rufus player still has two stocks of meter. watch out for messiah kicks.

- MDR makes the mistake of using ex galactic tornado, Honda makes the mistake of not following up after landing a nj fierce. Messiah kick comes out to punish honda.

- MDR at disadvantage, tries to build meter in corner and honda player throws out ex headbutt to stop MDR from doing so.

- Honda takes the round, MDR elft with one stock of meter.

So far Ctype is doing a good job, however he needs to manage his meter better. He could have gone throughout that whole match using only one stock of meter, and still having two left over.

r2

- Ctype fails to mix it up, goes for the same j.strong cr.jab command grab tick throw but MDR sees through this, punishes with ex messiah kick.

- MDR gets Ctype to waste his meter.

- Don't jump in on rufus when he has meter. MDR catches CType in the air with EX snake strike, ouch. Honda is in the corner now, at this point Ctype should play patient, pay attention to MDR's dive kick pressure and find an openning aka don't push buttons.

- MDR mistimes his divekick and CType catches him with a buttslam. Without meter, advantage is to honda.

- MDR knows Ctype wants to command grab, punishes him for it.

- MDR finishes Ctype for the round

r3

- MDR builds meter discreetly, CType seems afraid to stop him.

- MDR should look for when CType loses charge, and go in for the kill.

- MDR mistimes a ex snake strike and loses his one stock of meter.

- CType has MDR in the corner! Hands pressure on MDR in the corner, Ctype goes for the damage option and focus cancels hands to oicho grab. IMHO bad idea because this puts himself in the corner, and loses two stocks of meter, let's see how this pans out. MDR should back dash out imho.

- Ctype gambles by throwing out hands again, when MDR has meter. MDR catches Ctype with ex messiah kick.

- Don't jump again Rufus blindly. Ctype play a terrible game on MDR's wake up by jumping and getting caught by Rufus' two hit j.rh which juggles into ultra.

- Messiah kick is blocked, but Ctype fails to make anything out of it.

- Ctype needs to rtsd, as MDR has half a stock and is behind in life.

- right when i said that MDR gets a stock, Ctype jumps in and gets EX snake striked by rufus.

- MDR gets crossed up, Ctype guesses right and catches rufus as he attempts to jump away (thinking Ctype was going to command grab) with a nj. fierce. Upon recovering Ctype mixes it up one final time and lands a command grab.

Overall pretty good game. Ctype wastes too much meter but shows he has excellent ways of setting up big damage. hhs pressure on characters with poor wake-up options will be something i will have to adapt. Kudos to Ctype at the end of round 3 for guessing that MDR would jump. Great clutch performance, esp when MDR had such a big life lead.

edit: after rewatching the match, I noticed that MDR is scared of honda's command grab. Many instances when honda attempt to pressure him he jumps out and performs a divekick. He even jumps 2:26 after honda whiffs his command grab off of his backdash. Ctype picks this up and punishes MDR at the moment it matters, when he is low on health on the very last round. Good shit C-type!

Video match analysis exercise 1 - Pamyu vs White Boxer mirror match

Pamyu (Boxer) vs. White (Boxer)

Round 1

From the start of the first round we see both players jump backwards. Within the first few seconds of the match we can say that both player play a fairly opportunistic and defensive game. Getting a feel for each other, Pamyu (P1) seems to jump up and down and observes what White (P2) does in reaction. White doesn't seem to realize what Pamyu is doing and plays an expected zoning game with max-range dash punches. Pamyu seems to observe that White likes to throw dash punches after he jumps and takes advantage of this to score some early hits. Once Pamyu thinks that White catches on he throws a few dash punches himself, White reacts by advancing after each max-range dash punch that Pamyu throws out. Nothing happens for a few moments, footsies are nearly non existent as both players spend a lot of time sitting full screen away from each other. Pamyu makes the first mistake by jumping in and getting caught by White's focus attack. White takes advantage of this moment and scores a significant amount of damage, yielding a decent sized life lead. At this point White should play a more patient game and have Pamyu come to him, but instead decides to throw a few more dash punches to chip Pamyu. The two exchange chip damage and the round resets several times. White, still being somewhat aggressive scores a trade in his favor with a max-range dash punch. White then weaves in and out, realizing the significance of his life lead and attempts to make Pamyu come to him. Pamyu cautiously dashes over to make some knockdown attempts but fails. The two weave back and forth between offense and defense and White scores another lucky knock down by catching Pamyu as he attempts to dash forward. Then, White makes the mistake of lingering too close to Pamyu and gets knocked down. Pamyu takes this opportunity to score additional knockdowns and gets a decent amount of damage in. White focus absorbs a jump in and leaves Pamyu at a disadvantage. Pamyu backs off on the offense and seems to attempt to lure White in. White accepts the invitation and scores a lucky max-range dash punch, along with a standing strong. Pamyu seals the round by throwing an unsafe turn punch in which White punishes.

Round 2

Pamyu is seemingly trying to lure White in, and is succeeding to an extent as White is jumping in to push Pamyu back. Pamyu convinces White to press on and scores a knockdown. The momentum is instantly shifted again after Pamyu makes the choice to jump in on White during his wakeup, White throws an ex-upper dash punch and focus absorbs the jump in while scoring a knockdown on Pamyu. Pamyu resets the round by teching White's throw attempt. Pamyu risks his health to throw an offensive on White and White scores good damage and a knockdown. However, White makes a bad attempt at continuing pressure by mistiming an empty cross-up and gets thrown. With White having a life lead this is Pamyu's opportunity to score more damage, Pamyu catches White's counter dash punch and knocks White down. Pamyu, now with the slight life lead seems to want White to come in, which White does. Pamyu catches White with a dash punch and a few normals, widining the life lead. Pamyu at this point makes the right decision to turtle. White attempts an offense which fails, and Pamyu takes the round.

Round 3

Early in the round Pamyu scores a knockdown and takes full advantage of it, dealing additional damage and keeping the momentum. White scores a knockdown but fails to follow up, allowing Pamyu to escape. Pamyu at this point seems to want White to come towards him, which White does as he eats additional damage. At this time, White gets a bit reckless and seals his own fate.

Thoughts:

I don't watch too many Boxer mirror matches but it seems as if the strategy is to lure your opponent in and catch some good damage. In this specific match, a lot of time was spent with both players full screen apart, damage seemed to have been dealt on the basis of luck. A lot of guessing was involved in the wake-up/knockdown game. Although White won the first round, it seemed he had done so because he got a few lucky hits to seal the deal towards the end of the round as he was advancing. Pamyu had a good run of damage on the first round and almost could have came back but dropped his momentum, which I personally felt was a mistake because White was in the corner. In this case, Pamyu should have turtled aggressively, locking White in the corner while dealing damage to White as he attempts to escape the corner. In round two momentum shifts back and forth as both players escape each other's knockdown game. White takes a few good risks and gets a knockdown but fails to follow up, which is a key turning point as Pamyu takes full advantage of this. From this point on, White dives in a bit aggressively and pays for his mistakes. The third round displays White's loss of composure, as he simply plays too recklessly and impatiently, which costs him the entire match. All in all, Pamyu didn't let the first round get to him and seemed to have acknowledged that White had a few lucky shots at him, Pamyu seems to have stick to his plan which was to lure White in on the offensive. He seemed to have a sense of White's tendency to get impatient which works in Pamyu's favor. By the third round, White seals his own fate by attempting to rush Pamyu down.

Patience seems to be the theme of this match.

Adaptability exercise part 1

Before I get to the point of this post, I'd like to offer a bit of background...

Prior to sf4, I was never into the competitive fighting game scene. Sure, I enjoyed mashing in fighting games ever since I had the necessary motor skills to press buttons, but I never went to tournaments or played with a specific purpose in mind. My competitive experience runs at just less than a year, and I am still learning many, many new things.

One of the most important things that I have come to realize is the contrast between casuals and tournament play. The main component for this contrast is what is at stake when playing in a tournament setting. Casuals is a good time to test out new shit, whether it be a combo you came up with or exploiting a new glitch in the game. Losing is alright, since after the rotation comes around you'll get your turn again.

A tournament is not a good place to test new shit and show off. It's not a place to laugh at yourself after you get double perfected in both sets. A tournament is somewhere you go to with a purpose, someplace you drive 3 hours to and throw down your hard earned money and expect a profit. You didn't come all this way, ditch an evening with your girl and waste your money just to make yourself look like a fool and prove to yourself and everyone else that you suck. At a tournament, people are watching; your friends will be cheering you on, strangers talk shit, and opponents will be studying you, looking for any possible weaknesses to exploit or tricks to take note of. You have to block all the other bullshit out and stay focused, keep your cool when you get knocked down and find yourself cornered, keep your mind fresh throughout the entire five hours of waiting and playing.

Tournament matches hold value, while casuals hold shit. If you find yourself beating Alex Valle two games in a row at casuals, well good, pat yourself on the back but don't brag about it. Chances are Valle's going to study up on the matches he just had against you and find a way to counter your game, and when the moment comes and you find yourself facing off with him in a tournament setting more than likely the shit you pulled at your last meeting together will no longer work. You'll scratch your head and ask, 'well what the fuck happened?' Well it's too late now you should have thought of that while he was beating your ass down.

Which brings me to the point of this post...

Adaptability. Of all things regarding tournament play, adaptability is one of the most important tools you must acquire. It is a tool that all top players utilize. The ability to read your opponent and find a counter to his or her game is a concept that fits within the category of 'problem solving'. It is also one of the tools that I lack. Although my tournament results show that I have been improving, just 'playing' the game can only get me so far. My best showings at tournaments have placed me within top three at two tournaments, however both these events had very poor to mediocre competition. Usually, at events such as AI ranbats I can only manage within top 20. As I pondered upon this for quite a while, I tried to understand what it would take to bring myself to the next level. I would like to think of myself already as a solid player, however I also have come to realized that I am a poor tournament competitor. I lack the nerves of steel to face against top players, the endurance to make it through the five hours of waiting and playing, the confidence and cool to keep myself from making stupid mistakes, and the ability to adapt.

While I have come up with solutions to address these problems, after thoroughly pondering on what I needed to work on I realized that learning how to adapt would be the most time consuming and would involve the most work. Just how does one learn how to adapt in the middle of a tournament match? First of all, one would need to be able to understand what the opponent is intending to accomplish. This is known as being able to read your opponent. Reading your opponent not only involves being able notice what he or she is doing, but also encompasses understanding the reasoning to each of your opponent's movements and their state of mind.

So, if you're reading this and feeling me, then how the fuck do we learn how to read our opponents? The answer is to watch videos. Ah, but it's much more complex than that. Just watching a video isn't going to instantly make you a Justin Wong. Some of you have probably figured it out by now; you need to watch the videos and understand them. Instead of watching a match going "oh that's a wonderful combo", you need to understand what the players are feeling and thinking and why they did what they did. You need to be able to separate randomness from purpose; be able identify when a player does something because he's freaking out, or if it's because he's setting his opponent up for something big.

Theoretically, analyzing match videos is a good way to improve reading your opponent, and the first step to being a more adaptable competitor. Feel free to try this out, and let me know if you notice some improvement. Of course, this exercise probably won't yield results in the short run, but in the long run if you feel yourself understanding your opponents much easier, pat yourself on the back. I'll be doing these exercises myself and if you're like me and suck at taking mental notes, then get a paper and pen or take notes on a word file. I'll be posting an example on this block in a few days.

Happy video-analyzing!

edit:

Streetfighterdojo.com has a good amount of match videos classified by specific matchups, however lordaboriginesf4's channel in youtube has a HUGE amount of japanese matches.

I am...

A scrub. I am low-tier, walking, breathing, button mashing trash.

I am that guy who sits on the other cab while you ask yourself, 'Who is this scrub?' I am that guy who eats your fireballs, one after another while he stumble on his controls. I am the guy who falls for all your tricks, who forgets to block cross-ups and who punishes your whiffed uppercuts with just a throw. I am the guy who presses buttons while you mash reversals, the guy who you tell to 'Pick a fucking new character' after you beat him 20 games in a row, and the guy who jumps into your Ryu repeatedly even though you have full super and ultra.

I am a fucking scrub. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be better.