A while back, for the first (and possibly last time) I completed the arcade mode for Third Strike, using Akuma. The final boss of Third Strike is Gill. Gill has a bit of a reputation. He is one of those old fighting game bosses. The bosses that input read, do more damage – the old Capcom, SNK special. Regarding bosses like this, I have occasionally seen comments, mainly from older fighting game fans that fighting bosses like this, with AI like this made them better at fighting games. I…somehow, maybe… could see that. Perhaps. Maybe not.
In theory, it should take extreme skill to beat a tough boss. The AI should make me pull out all the stops. Optimal combos, precise parrying, immaculate footsies and neutral. Or I could just spam heavy jumping kick because for some reason Gill could not handle that. In total, it took 5 or 6 items to get past Gill. 4 or 5 attempts or so of trying to fight properly and then the cheesing. I noticed on the previous attempt it was sort of working so I decided to run with it. Apparently at some point Gill will start laughing, and that brings the difficulty down. Maybe he laughed at some point? I don’t know. Whatever happen, the man who would be God couldn’t handle jumping heavy kick.
The idea that this triumph has somehow improved my ability to play fighting games is… well, it’s certainly something. What I did was find one specific pattern (and nothing else) and exploit it. Granted, spotting patterns and learning how to deal with them in fighting games is a skill. But not like this. This is locking down one specific thing, that the opponent is never going to counter (it’s a gap in their AI) and repeating it over and over. Most folks in a fighting game will change something. I mean, I learned how to jumping heavy kick a lot. I would need my opponent to never, ever anti-air. Not even once, for that knowledge to be useful. Moment they do, nothing to fall back on. Because Gill has taught me heavy jumping kick is the most amazing thing I can do.
The only thing I have learned from fighting, and watching other people fight over tuned boss fights (hello again SNK), is that you hold out until you find one specific pattern and then abuse it. Which is all well and good against an un-reactive AI. Against a person though, that’s of limited use.
Did feel good beating Gill though. Not going to deny that. Not the most elegant of exploits, but I can say I knocked the dude over. It’s a worthwhile achievement.
It’s far more thrilling to fight and overcome a human opponent. A lot more rewarding too. The process goes back and forth. One person presents a problem, the other person tries to solve it. This process can go back and forth, almost infinitely. The problems and solutions keep changing. Could be a change in neutral, could be a new move being presented, could be a change in play style (someone decides to rely more on their zoning then their rush down, as an example). These changes can be gradual or moment to moment. It’s all incredibly exciting. Particularly when compared to a boss who if I tried anything outside heavy jumping kick would murder me just because.
As an aside, a worked-out AI opponent can still be fun to fight. Hell, I’ve played so much Sekiro in boss rush mode, despite the boss fights not changing because I enjoy it so much. However, I struggle with replaying Dark Souls sometimes because the bosses aren’t that dynamic, so they aren’t as much fun to fight over and over. Same applies to fighting games. I don’t have much of an urge to fight Gill again. There might be a fighting game boss out there I would be down to fight over and over again. We’ll see if one turns up.
It’s a bit of shame. Some fighting game bosses are visually incredible, with glorious animations. It’s just that they input read you do death and remove the chance for a dynamic fight by punishing anything but the optimal strategy, which can be incredibly boring. A good enough human will do that, but at least you know it’s by skill and experience, honed over a good number of matches. Matches that have seen them change and adapt, over and over again. That process is a lot of fun.
The two sets that follow are from the Park. One versus a Faust player, and one versus a Ky player. Two opponents that both present different challenges. Faust with his items and range with his Scalpel and Ky with his ability to zone with fire balls. Both sets see me slip into a 3 – 0 hole, and something has to change.
In the Ky set, the problem was getting caught out by fireballs. I was too eager to jump in, often from too far away. Ky had time to launch his projectile and recover in time to throw out a 6P. I was also not disguising my jumps in general, resulting in a lot of 6P. Too many jump ins against one of the game’s best 6P’s isn’t going to end well. I eventually start to either empty jump more, or neutral jump. This allows me to clear fire balls, and not take a 6P to the face. Both welcome changes. There are still mistakes made, but a lot less of them. Towards the end I time my jump ins a lot better. I’m catching Ky as the fireball is launched, thus not allowing anytime for a 6P to follow. It alters how the match plays out. Also, throughout this set I got a lot better at hitting 2S. It was getting spaced and punished a lot early on. I cleaned that up and got more combos as a result.
Not that this was gameplay related. But I got teabagged too, and it’s clear by the final match that ticked me off a little more than I thought it did. That last set was cranky Baiken. I do love cranky Baiken.
Also, one more thing before I forget, and possibly the most exciting thing. I’m teching throws. Long time readers might be familiar with my colossal struggle with dealing with strike throw. It became a big mental block. Still is. But, I’m finally having the confidence to try and tech. To read (best I can) when the throw is coming and dealing with it. There is much progress to be made, but this progress alone is incredibly exciting. I even got in some throws of my own. Wonders never cease.
With the Faust set, initially my thinking was that I made a whole bunch of alterations based on Faust’s items and playing around his scalpel. Watching the set back however, it seems like I just started playing better the longer it went on. Sometimes the adaption isn’t specifically technical, it’s a cleaning up of what’s been put out there already. Prior to the set finishing 3 – 3, there were some close rounds. I think it finishes 3 -3 because I clean up my act, and those close loses become close wins. The Faust matchup is tough though. Baiken gets a lot out of 5S. It’s one of the best pokes in the game. Faust is one of the few characters that can out poke it. Baiken likes to attack from the air. Faust is one of the few characters that not only has a good 6P but seventeen other buttons that also anti-air well.
All of this makes it a fun challenge to navigate.
Fighting games are full of fun challenges to navigate and learn from. One of the reasons they are so much fun to play.
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