Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo

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Notation

Joystick Notation

• F - Forward - Tilt stick forward/towards the opponent. (X-axis)
• B - Backward/Back - Tilt stick backward/away from the opponent. (X-axis)
• U - Up - Tilt stick upwards. (Y-axis)
• D - Down - Tilt stick downwards. (Y-axis)
• QCF - Quarter circle forward/Hadouken/Fireball - Tilt stick downwards, then to downwards and forward, then forward.
• QCB - Quarter circle backward - Tilt stick downwards, then to downwards and backward, then backward.
• HCF - Half circle forward - Tilt stick backwards, then to downwards and backward, then to downward, then to downwards and forward, then forward.
• HCB - Half circle backward - Tilt stick forwards, then to downwards and forward, then to downward, then to downwards and backward, then backward.
• DP - Dragon punch - Tilt stick forwards, then to downward, then to downward and forward.
• 360/FC - Full circle - Complete a full rotation of the stick.
• 720 - N/A - Complete a 720 degree rotation of the stick.
• Charge - Hold a tilt - Hold the stick in either B or D (Depending) then move to F or U respectively.

X-axis functions can be used interchangeably with Y-axis functions and vice versa. X-axis functions cannot be used in conjunction with another X-axis function and vice versa.

Six Button Notation

• Jab - weak punch (also called LP)
• Strong - medium punch (also called MP)
• Fierce - fierce punch (also called HP)
• P - any punch
• PPP or 3P - all three punches simultaneously

• Short - weak kick (also called LK)
• Forward - medium kick (also called MK)
• Roundhouse (RH) - fierce kick (also called HK)
• K = any kick
• KKK or 3K - all three kicks simultaneously

--NKI 14:42, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Descriptors

Character Modifiers

• O. X - Where X is a character. e.g. O.Ryu. The Old version of the Ryu character.
• N. X - Where X is a character. e.g. N.Ryu. The New (relatively speaking) version of the Ryu character.

Connectors

• ~ = Immediately after, e.g "Strong~Fierce" means press Fierce IMMEDIATELY after Strong

State Modifiers

• st. - The following move should be performed in the standing position (neutral in the Y-axis). i.e. st.Fierce, perform a Fierce whilst standing.
• cr. - The following move should be performed in the crouched position (held down in the Y-axis). i.e. cr.Fierce, perform a Fierce whilst crouching.
• j. - The following move should be performed in the "in the air" position (After having held up in the Y-axis). i.e. j.Fierce, perform a Fierce whilst in the air.
• cl. -The following move should be performed 'close' to the opponent in the standing position so that the close animation of the move activates.

Miscellaneous Notation

• WW = World Warrior
• CE = Champion Edition
• HF = Hyper Fighting = SF2T = Street Fighter 2 Turbo
• SSF2 = Super Street Fighter 2
• ST = Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
• TAP = Boxer's Turn Around Punch (hold 3P or 3K, then release)
• Claw = American Vega = Japanese Balrog
• Boxer = American Balrog = Japanese Bison
• Dictator (Dic) = American Bison = Japanese Vega

Not everyone plays on the American version, and some character names are different in the Japanese version, so to avoid confusion, we should not use the names Vega, Bison, or Balrog.

--NKI 14:44, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Game Mechanics

Reversals

A reversal is defined as: any time you go from a non-neutral state directly into a move (normal, special, super, or throw), without ever going to neutral state. A non-neutral state is any state that your opponent inflicts on you: block stun, hit stun, getting up after being knocked down, dizzy, or being knocked out of the air.

For example, your opponent knocks you down, and just as you're getting up, you time a Dragon Punch perfectly, so that it comes out on the first frame possible once your character is standing. You never go into a neutral state - you go directly from your invincible waking up animation, to a Dragon Punch animation. The game will confirm your reversal, with a reversal message, and will add 1000 points to your arcade score. The reversal message only shows up when a special attack, special throw, or Super move is done as a reversal.

Normal throws, despite not activating the reversal message and 1000 points, can still be used as reversals. So for example, you are playing as Dictator, and your opponent is playing as Ryu. Your opponent knocks you down with a low roundhouse, and then walks up to while you are waking up, and does a meaty towards+strong (Ryu's standing overhead command). Built into every character's wake up animation in Super Turbo is a special frame, a frame where you are registered as standing (and therefore can throw), but are still completely invincible. That invincible standing frame, is the last frame of wake up animation for every character, and if you time a throw on that frame, you can throw your opponent out of a meaty ground normal using a reversal normal throw.

While that sounds nice on paper, it is much harder to execute in practice, and it can be dangerous especially because the risk is almost always higher than the reward. So why are reversal normal throws, coming from waking up after getting knocked down, so risky? For one, you are limited by your character's throw range, so if you attempt to use a reversal throw to beat a meaty ground normal, but your opponent was smart enough to stay out of your throw range, you'll lose that transaction. You'll lose because normal throws overlap with normal attacks, and if you whiff a normal throw attempt, a standing normal will come out and get stuffed by your opponent's meaty. Another unfortunate occurrence in Super Turbo is that even a perfectly timed reversal normal throw, that is done within the throw's range, can sometimes randomly come out as a standing normal attack anyways. So even if you had perfect timing, a random aspect of the game will put you on the losing end of that exchange.

The last reason that using normal throws as a reversal is risky, is because you lose the ability to negative edge with normal throws, meaning you have less of a chance to time a normal throw attempt as a reversal compared to special attacks or throws. Take a reversal Dragon Punch, you have six chances to time a punch command on the correct frame, you have the three jab, strong, and fierce buttons when you both press them, and when you release them. That's two chances per button, on the press and release, for a total of six. Normal throws however do not come out when you simply release, or negative edge, the buttons. And some characters can only throw with one or two buttons. So for a reversal throw with Dictator, you have two chances, when you press strong and fierce punch, to time a reversal throw. And if you mistime either of them, which is highly likely, against a meaty attack, then you are going be on the losing end of potentially huge combo.

Reversals are primarily useful against two things: meaty ground normals, and beating tick throw attempts. There are other more advanced uses for reversals so you should refer to each character's specific article to discover more.

--VirtuaFighterFour February 13, 2010.

Normal Throw Tech

Also called "softening a throw". When your opponent throws you with a normal throw, enter a throw command (back or towards plus Strong, Fierce, Forward, or Roundhouse) within 13 frames, and you will take half the damage, and recover in the air. You can tech with buttons that do not correspond to your character's throws. For example, Chun can tech with the Forward or Roundhouse kick buttons, even though she doesn't have normal throws with those buttons. Holds (such as Blank's bite or Dhalsim's noogie), Command throws (such as Zangief's SPD or Honda's Ochio), and Super throws (such as T.Hawk's 720 or Claw's Izuna Drop), cannot be softened. Throw tech only applies normal throws.

If you do not soften or tech a normal throw, it means you will take more damage, and your character will be considered knocked down, and will recover from the ground with a wake up animation. So failing to soften a throw will leave you wide open for meaty attacks and ground ups. Only N.Characters can soften throws. O.Characters cannot soften throws. So if can O.Character throws an N.Character, the N.Character can soften that throw. But if an N.Character throws an O.Character, that O.Character cannot tech the throw, and must take full damage, and get knocked down. Not being able to soften throws is a universal disadvantage that all O.Characters share (and consequently an advantage that all N.Characters share as well).

Take notice however, when you soften the throws of some characters, such as Cammy, Fei Long, or Dictator, you could potentially be setting yourself up for a ground cross up or some other immediate attack on recovery, so pay attention even if you manage to soften a throw because you are not in the clear yet.

Escaping Holds

A hold is a type of normal throw that does multiple, and a variable amount of, hits. Examples are: Ken's Knee-Bash, Blanka's Bite, Dhalsim's Noogie, and Honda's Bear-Hug. Holds are performed the same way that throws are, by getting within range, and pressing forward (or backward) plus any button that a hold has been assigned to. So if you walk up to your opponent as Ken, and press forward+medium kick, you will initiate his Knee-Bash hold.

When softening normal throws, you have a 13 frame window in which to react, and it doesn't matter which frame you perform a throw command on within that window to get the soften. A throw can be softened on frame one after it has been initiated or on frame ten and the result will be the same (half damage taken, air recovery). Holds however are a different story. The luxury of a 13 frame window to reduce damage is not afforded to a person caught in a hold. From the very first frame you are held every input counts. In order to release you from that hold, and to reduce the damage you take, you have struggle the joystick, and mash buttons, as quickly and as early into the hold as possible.

Not only will you be struggling to escape a hold, but your opponent will also be struggling to increase the number of hits the hold he initiated will do, so both players will be struggling against each other. So what's the best way to escape, or release yourself from a hold, after you have been grabbed?

When mashing out of holds, the best directional command input is [dn/away, n, up/towards, n, dn/away, etc.]. This is the best command input because the game engine wants you to move through neutral as often as possible. By moving through opposite diagonals the game is registering you as passing through neutral twice. You get credit for moving through neutral vertically, up to down on the joystick, and horizontally, left to right, by wiggling the stick back and forth in opposite diagonals.

However, if you are playing a charge character, you will lose your charge, by struggling in all directions. Remember, when struggling out of holds, some characters might require a charge immediately after recovering, to be used for a reversal special attack. Let's take Dictator versus Dhalsim as an example. Say Dictator has a full meter, and gets held by Dhalsim's hold, if the Dictator struggles in all directions to escape the hold, then he won't have a the necessary backwards charge to use a reversal super to escape Dhalsim's slide after he recovers. However if Dictator only struggles using back, up+back, and down+back, then when he recovers from the hold he'll have the necessary charge to use a reversal Super and escape Dhalsim's throw loop. The Dictator player will have struggled only using backwards facing directions. And by doing so, he can preserve his backwards charge to prepare for a reversal Super, while simultaneously reducing damage from a hold. Watch here and here as Taira (Dictator) gets caught by Gian (Dhalsim) in Dhalsim's Noogie hold. Both times Taira performs a reversal Super immediately after recovering from the hold. He does so because he only struggles the joystick in the directions that preserve his necessary backwards charge for a Super.

Now, for mashing the buttons during holds, you have two options. You can simply just use one attack button (so for Ken's Knee-Bash you would only use foward); however, you do this by timing the fowards with dn/away and up/towards (requires some serious practice). Or you can use piano/mashing. For escaping holds use piano/mashing, but for dealing damage I stick with one attack timing inputs (it does make a difference).

All holds can be escaped in 1 hit (difficult), 2 hits (moderate to easy), if your opponent hits you more than 3 times it means that you probably didn't react quickly enough. This all takes steady practice. It is possible to escape holds without taking damage however this is prohibitively difficult and also requires that your opponent does not struggle to increase his hold damage as well. So don't expect to regularly see anyone escape holds without taking damage.

Remember, even after you escape from a hold, you still aren't in the clear. After T.Hawk's roundhouse hold he can cross both Ken and Ryu up with a jumping forward kick. Honda, after his fierce hold, can cross Guile up with his splash. Knowing what to expect after you've been released from a hold is just as importing as struggling to release yourself from the hold in the first place.

Holds do a set amount of hits if neither player inputs any commands after the hold has been initiated. So some holds have higher damage potential because they usually yield more hits by default and are naturally harder to struggle out of in lesser amounts of hits. Here is the list of how many hits each hold in the game does by default if neither player struggles or mashes:

• Ken's Forward Hold - 5 hits
• T.Hawk's Fierce Hold - 4 hits
• T.Hawk's Roundhouse Hold - 3 hits
• Boxer's Strong & Fierce Holds - 9 hits
• Dhalsim's Strong Hold - 6 hits
• Blanka's Fierce Hold - 7 hits
• Honda's Fierce Hold - 8 hits
• Honda's Roundhouse Hold - 7 hits
• Zangief's Standing Fierce & Roundhouse Holds - 4 hits
• Zangief's Crouching Strong & Fierce Holds - 4 hits

--ShinVega 18:12, 3 December 2007 (UTC) --VirtuaFighterFour - February 13, 2010

Juggles

After being hit by a juggle-able move, any juggle-able special move can juggle for up to 2 hits (except Sagat's Tiger Uppercut, which can juggle for up to 4 hits). Any non-throw super can juggle for up to 4 hits.

Juggle-able special moves:

• Akuma - Forward and RH Hurricane Kicks, DPs
• Balrog - Super
• Blanka - Super
• Cammy - Super
• Chun-Li - Upkicks, Super
• Dee Jay - Forward and RH Upkicks, Super
• Dhalsim - Super
• E. Honda - Super
• Fei Long - Chicken Wing, Super
• Guile - Super
• Ken - Super
• M. Bison - J.Strong, Super
• Ryu - J.Strong, Super
• Sagat - Tiger Uppercut, Super
• T. Hawk - none
• Vega - Flip Kick
• Zangief - none

Simply being a juggle-able move does not mean that it can juggle at any time. The opponent must first be hit by a juggle-able move, then you can follow it up with a juggle. For example, Chun can do upkicks (3 hits) to knock the opponent out of the air, then juggle with the super for 2 more hits. However, she can not follow up with a juggle super after knocking the opponent out of the air with a fireball, because the fireball is not a juggle-able move.

Kara Canceling

Kara canceling is when you cancel a normal move immediately into a special or super move. The cancel is done so quickly that you probably won't even see the normal move come out as the only the starting frames actually come out (but you will still hear it).

For several characters, you can shorten the recovery time of their strong and fierce strength fireballs by kara canceling a jab or short normal attack into a strong or fierce fireball. See T.Akiba's frame data.) Let's take N.Ken for example. If he throws a jab strength fireball, the recovery on the animation lasts for 39 frames. If he throws a strong fireball, it's 40 frames. A fierce fireball will have 41 frames of recovery animation. However if you kara cancel a strong or fierce fireball, off of a standing jab for example, a glitch game will change the recovery of a strong or fierce fireball to the 39 frame recovery of a jab fireball.

Mash moves are also often done through kara canceling. So you rapidly mash jab with Honda for example, his standing jab will come out and you'll hear it, but then the starting frames of that standing jab will be quickly canceled into jab strength HHS. You won't see the full animation for the standing jab because the starting frames will get canceled directly into Honda's HHS. Same thing applies to other mash moves such as Blanka's electricity or Chun's legs.

Kara canceling is extremely useful for T.Hawk's command throw done as an empty throw. If you try to walk up and throw someone with T.Hawk's command throw you have to have incredible timing. T.Hawk's pre-jump animation is three frames. Meaning from the moment you hit the up direction as part of a walk up command throw attempt, you have only three frames to hit a punch button to get a command throw, or else T.Hawk will jump straight up into the air. However you can hit standing jab with T.Hawk, then input the execution for a command throw, and the starting frames of your standing jab will cancel into a command throw. This technique even makes it possible for T.Hawk to do walk up 720s or walk up super throws. So you can kara cancel a standing jab into T.Hawk's super and throw your opponent with a super without buffering the super into a jump or off of a tick.

Kara cancels are very useful for things like auto mix-ups that involve special kara cancels built into whiffed normal throws. The idea with this auto mix-up is that you input a throw command and then do a dragon punch right after the throw attempt. If the throw is successful the throw animation comes out and your dragon punch never appears. If the throw whiffs, because your opponent did a reversal attack, then your throw becomes a normal attack, that normal attack is kara canceled into a special attack of your own, and depending on how good your special attack is you could beat your opponent's reversal. Dealing with O.Ken is nightmarish at close ranges because of this kara technique.

[VirtuaFighterFour]

Kara canceling is also useful when used in conjunction with renda canceling...

Chain Canceling (formerly known as "Renda Canceling")

In Japanese, "renda" 連打 is the word they use for rapid-fire chain combos, like cr.Short->cr.Short. In old school Street Fighter (in the pre-Alpha games), you can not cancel chain combos. If you chain two cr.Shorts, you can not cancel the second one. Using kara canceling however, you can get around this limitation. This is called chain canceling ("renda canceling", in Japanese).

The best example is probably the most practical example: Ken's cr.Short->cr.Short xx super. The input is D Short, D Short, D/F, F, D, D/F, F Short any punch. So in order to do TWO cr.Shorts into super, you actually need to hit the Short button THREE times. That st.Short on the end is being kara canceled into the super, which is why you never see it. Also note that you must go all the way to towards (even though Ken's super motion only requires you to go to down/towards). This is because for chain canceling, you must switch from crouching to standing (or from standing to crouching). Because you started with cr.Shorts, you have to end with a st.Short.

The reason why chain canceling is so incredibly good is because you can hit confirm (wait to see if it hits or not). If the shorts are blocked, go for a throw or a DP. If the shorts connect, just continue the combo into super.

Randomness

Unfortunately, in ST there is a fair amount of randomness. Known randomness includes:

• The amount of damage done by a move (This can be extreme)
• "dizzy meter" length. i.e. "How long it takes you to become dizzy"
• The amount of dizzy damage done by a move
• The charge times for special/super moves (Can vary up to 3 frames)
• Ryu's [cr.Short->cr.Short xx super] simply won't combo half the time, even when timed perfectly.
• Gief's standing 720 (He'll just jump half the time, even when timed perfectly)
• Who gets the throw when both players input the command on the same frame.
• Getting a normal move when attempting a wake-up throw against a meaty attack.
• Inputs windows for special moves and super attacks

Majestros has also written up a good article on randomness in the SF2 series.

--NKI 03:41, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Strategy

When playing ST, the three most important things are:

• knowing the match-ups
• being able to execute
• being able to out-smart your opponent

You can learn the match-ups by watching vids/reading strats, and you can improve your execution by practicing at home by yourself, but the only way to improve your mind games is to have lots of experience against human opponents. Experience is crucial.

Stable Strategies vs. Shenanigans
It is important to rely on stable strategies and not on shenanigans. A good example of this is the opening attack of the round in a Ryu vs. Dictator match. If Ryu starts off the round by throwing a fireball, Dic can jump at him and do [cross-up j.RH, st.Short, st.Short, st.Short xx Psycho Crusher] for the dizzy, follow up with [j.RH, st.Short, cr.Forward xx Scissor Kicks] for the win.

That is a shenanigan. It is not something that you can consistently rely on to win matches. Your opponent will (hopefully) wise up to the fact that opening the round with a fireball is a bad idea for him.

The most stable strategy for Dic would be to just simply duck-block and wait to see what the opponent does. In the absolute worst-case scenario, he simply blocks a Fierce fireball. Another stable strategy would be opening with [slight step forward, st.RH], which would stuff fireballs and Hurrican Kicks, but lose to DPs.

Also consider the Psychic DP. The Psychic DP is where your opponent does a seemingly safe, non-blatant move, and you "read your opponent's mind", countering him clean with a DP out of nowhere. That might work once in a while, but the truth of the matter is that if you aren't Daigo Umehara, you shouldn't try Psychic DPs, because it is not a stable strategy.

Counter Characters
There are two very different schools of thought when it comes to character selection. One school of thought is basically that because the game has counter characters, you should learn more than one character in order to do well overall. Another school of thought is basically that if you just stick with one character and learn all of the match-ups inside and out, the "counter matches" will not be nearly as hard, and you won't ever need to switch characters.

I feel that relying on counter characters is a very unstable strategy. For one thing, every match is winnable, and for another thing, the numbers are overwhelming. For every one character you play, you need to know 16 match-ups, and that can take an extraordinary amount of time to learn. If you only stick with one character, say, T.Hawk, and if you just man up and learn all 16 matches, you can beat any character, even Dhalsim (as Toutanki has shown). Obviously Dhalsim still has the advantage, but it is definitely not a free win, as a lot of people would have you believe.

Playing counter characters will only work consistently against other people who also play counter characters (people who don't know their characters 100%). It will not consistently work against people who know the matches, and that is why I would not advise relying on counter characters.

I think a good example is the Japanese player Muteki Guile (whose name means "Invincible Guile"). He has unquestionably one of the best Guiles in the world, and he also plays a little bit of Chun (in casual matches). If he were to play in tourney against a Blanka player, he could try switching to Chun (who is considerably better than Guile versus Blanka), but if he wins, then his opponent could just switch it up to O.Sagat and counter-character his Chun (because Muteki Guile doesn't know Chun 100%).

But that situation will never come up for him, because he has taken the time to master Guile, and he has no need to switch to Chun. Even though Blanka vs. Guile is an uneven match, Muteki knows exactly what he can do, and that match is still totally winnable for him, even against the best Blankas.

While the advantage of counter characters is grossly over-exaggerated by a lot of players, it is true that certain characters have inherent advantages over others. Counter characters that particularly stand out:

• Chun does well against Gief
• Honda does well against non-fireball characters
• Fireball characters do well against Honda
• Sim does well against O.Sagat, Gief, Hawk, Boxer, Ryu, Ken
• O.Sagat does well against Chun, Gief, Hawk, Honda
• Blanka does well against Hawk, Guile

Game Plan
You should never be free-styling a match. You should know before-hand exactly what your game plan is, what advantages/disadvantages you have, and exactly what moves of yours will counter your opponent's (as well as what moves your opponent can use to counter yours).

For example, if I'm Chun playing against Dictator, I go into the match knowing that Chun can get in his face pretty well, and there's not much he can do about it. Dic has no good anti-air, so I can do j.Forward a lot; Dic has no reversal other than super, so I can do meaty D/F RH for free; lightning legs will beat his Psycho Crusher and Scissor Kicks cleanly; upkicks will lose cleanly to his headstomp, etc.

Playing to Win
If you notice that your opponent has any particular weakness, you need to show no mercy and exploit it. Common weaknesses include:

• Inability to consistently reverse throws
• Inability to consistently reverse meaties
• Wanting to use the super as soon as the meter is full
• Going for the "revenge super" after getting hit by something big
• Overaggression (ex: always going for the reversal DP)
• Panic moves (ex: throwing away the super, jumping back to the corner, or blatantly jumping at the opponent when in a really tight spot)
• Lack of knowledge (ex: opponent keeps trying to Tiger Uppercut Sim's j.Forward, not knowing that Tiger Uppercut loses cleanly)
• Patterns (ex: always doing a second Shoryuken if the first one whiffs)

Stored Moves
Through a programming glitch, it is possible to do a move's motion, hold the last direction, and then press the button whenever you want, and the move will still come out. This works with Chun's super, Honda's super, Honda's command throw, and Claw's Flip Kick (kind of).

For Chun's super and Honda's super, charge back, then hit towards, back, then towards and hold it. As long as you're holding towards (or up/towards or down/towards), you can press the button at any time to do the super.

For Honda's command throw, do a half-circle from towards to down/back, and hold down/back. As long as you're holding down/back (or back or up/back), you can press punch at any time to do the command throw.

For Claw's Flip Kick, after you charge down/back, you can switch to back or up/back without losing your charge. (Note that you can not store the move with towards.)

Reversing Tick Throws
A "tick throw" or "tick" is when the opponent puts you in block stun or hit stun, then throws you immediately afterwards. Some characters have tick throw loops, such as Dhalsim (noogie, Short slide, repeat), and Boxer (throw, walk under cross-up meaty cr.Forward, repeat).

These are very effective techniques because the defender only has one frame of advantage. Timing anything with the precision of one frame is pretty difficult. The frame in question is the reversal frame, your first frame of neutral state. The defender can go directly into any attack (a normal move, a throw, a special move, or a super) without ever going to neutral (throwable) state. However, if the defender does not take advantage of the reversal, the attacker and the defender have equal opportunity to throw each other. (If both characters throw on the exact same frame, it is completely random who does the throw and who gets thrown.)

Because you can reverse out of hit stun and block stun, there is no reason to ever just "take the hit" on a tick attempt. Either way, you still only have one frame to reverse.

If the attacker tries to tick throw you but he is within your throw range, you can throw him for free because of that reversal frame. However, if the attacker has more throw range than you, and he is out of your throw range, you must resort to a special or super move. Every character in the game has a move that can be used to get out of tick throw attempts, however, some characters have much better options than others.

• Ryu: Dragon Punch, Hurricane Kick, super
• Ken: Dragon Punch
• Chun: upkicks, Spinning Bird Kick, super
• Guile: Flash Kick, super
• Blanka: Horizontal Ball, Vertical Ball, backwards dash, super
• Zangief: SPD, 360 K, super
• Dhalsim: Yoga Teleport
• Honda: Headbutt, Butt Slam, command throw, super
• Hawk: uppercut, Typhoon, super
• Fei Long: Flame Kick, Chicken Wing (his twist kick move), super
• Cammy: Cannon Spike, Spinning Knuckle, super
• DeeJay: Double Dread Kicks, upkicks, Machine Gun Upper, super
• Boxer: Buffalo Headbutt, super
• Claw: Backflips, Flip Kicks
• Sagat: Tiger Uppercut
• Dictator: super

Blanka's Horizontal Ball and Vertical Ball have no invincibility, but they hit on the first frame (they have 0 frames of start-up), so they can also be used to reverse ticks, as long as the opponent is close enough so that the ball will hit on the first frame. If Blanka is too far away, he must use his back dash. Characters with command throws can also use those to reverse ticks, because command throws have large range and are also 0 frame moves. Due to a glitch in the game, Ken, Dhalsim, and Sagat can NOT use their supers for reversals.

Multi-tap/Multi-release
Multi-tapping refers to hitting more than one button in an attempt to get a reversal. For example, if I simply hit F, D, D/F Fierce, I have to time my reversal with the precision of a single frame (about 1/60th of a second), and that's pretty hard. But if I do F, D, D/F press Jab~press Strong~press Fierce~release Jab~release Strong~release Fierce, I now have a SIX-FRAME window to work with, which is remarkably easier.

Multi-tapping can (and should) be used with throws as well. Don't simply hit one button if you are trying to do a reversal throw. Unless you are going for one specific throw (like Ken's knee bash) and you have extreme confidence in your reversal timing, you should use every button your character can throw with. With Chun, you should try to reversal throw with Strong~Fierce. With Ryu, you should try to reversal throw with Strong~Fierce~Forward~RH.

Option Select
Option select refers to doing one thing that covers more than one possible outcome. For example, I am Honda, and my opponent is trying to do a meaty attack to me as I get up. I do a half-circle to down/back and hold it, so now I have the command throw stored. I press and hold all three punches before I get up (so that nothing comes out), and with reversal timing, I multi-release the punches. There are only two possible outcomes:

1. I timed the reversal properly, and I will throw the opponent
2. I did not time the reversal properly, but I will block safely because I was holding down/back

Another good example of option select is safe jumping and safe reversing...

Safe Jumps
You can time a jump-in meaty enough so that it will force the opponent to block if they don't reverse, but if they do reverse, you can land quickly enough to block their reversal. This works because there are very few moves in ST that hit on the first frame.

Safe jumps are much more practical against moves that do not have hitting frames at the very beginning. For example, it's very easy to do safe jumps against Boxer's Buffalo Charge, because the quickest version (Jab) has a window of 11 non-hitting frames in the beginning, which gives you plenty of time to land. Safe jumps are extremely hard (or impossible) against moves that have very few (or zero) frames of start-up. Don't try doing safe jumps against:

• Ken's DPs
• Blanka's upballs and horizontal balls
• Akuma's hurricane kicks and uppercuts

Safe Reversal
Safe reversal is a very useful (but very difficult) option select technique. When your opponent does a meaty to you, safe reversal allows you to attempt a reversal risk-free. For the command of the move you're attempting to do as a reversal, rather than leaving the stick in the command's final position and pushing the buttons, if you quickly move the stick to D/B and release the buttons after finishing the motion, you will block if you didn't time the reversal correctly.

For example, with Ryu, as you're getting up, hold all three punches, then do F, D, DF, D/B release Jab~release Strong~release Fierce. If you timed it correctly, you will get a DP. If you didn't time it correctly, you will block. Note that you only have a relatively small window of time to reach D/B and release the buttons, so you must be quick.

Throw For The Win
If you have the opponent's life down to where a teched throw would not kill him, but a non-teched throw would kill him, he will die regardless of if he techs or not. You will see him visually tech the throw, but he will still take full damage and die.

This also works with dizzies. If the opponent has gotten hit by a couple of moves and is at the point where a throw would dizzy him, that throw is untechable, and the dizzy is guaranteed.

Instant Jumping Overheads
Only a few characters (Ryu, Ken, Fei) have true overheads as ground moves, but some characters can also do an overhead as a jumping attack immediately after leaving the ground, at point blank range. These typically can only be done to finish the opponent, because obviously you can't block on your way down from the jump. Good jumping overheads include:

• Chun's headstomp (will beat DP clean)
• Dic's j.Forward
• Boxer's j.Short and j.Forward

Note that Dhalsim's drills, despite being jumping moves, can be duck-blocked. In fact, if angled correctly, they MUST be duck-blocked, because they can hit as a low move.

Cross-ups and Horizontal Charge Moves
If you have a horizontal charge and the opponent crosses you up, you will lose your charge. The three exceptions to this are Chun's stored super, Honda's stored super, and Honda's stored Ochio. With those moves, you can switch the direction of your charge as your characters switch sides. (Side note: Claw can not do this with his stored flip kicks.) In general, if you're being crossed up while you have a horizontal charge, you can still perform the charge move at the moment of the cross-up, when your charge is forcibly removed. For example, Guile knocks down Honda and goes for a cross-up. Honda is already charged, holding the back direction. When Guile crosses up Honda, the back direction turns into the towards direction, and if Honda hits punch, he will get a Headbutt.

--NKI 14:45, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Throw Range Matchups

Since throws and holds are such an important part of the game, it is useful to know whether you have a throw range advantage or disadvantage in any particular matchup. For example, if I am playing Ryu against a good Blanka player who utilizes his maximum throw range after a tick, I know I will lose if I try to counter-throw, since Blanka's throw range is greater than Ryu's.

Geo posted an excellent chart on his blog comparing throw ranges by character matchup ranked from top to bottom based on T. Akiba's data.

-- Janus Gemini 01:09, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Tiers & Balance

There is no clear, definitive, universally agreed upon tier list for ST. Even a game as old as ST, that came out in March of 1994, is still evolving. New, or updated, tier lists have appeared in Japanese magazine Arcadia as recently as November of 2008. Below are three tier lists. The first tier list is from the February 2008 issue of Arcadia magazine that ranked (some of) the characters in different tiers based on player consensus and then was finalized by Gian (a top Japanese Dhalsim player). The characters are arbitrarily lumped together in the first tier list (meaning they are not listed in order within the tiers). The second tier list is a diagram, a match specific chart, that ranked every N.Character in a ten point scale across the 15 different character matches. The third list is an individually ranked matchup chart done by various players mostly from the United States.

Arcadia February 2008 Tier List:

SSS Rank:
Akuma
- extremely powerful, cannot be dizzied, red fireball can lock characters down in the corner infinitely, is usually banned in every tournament

S Rank:
O.Sagat, Dhalsim, Boxer, Claw, Chun

A Rank:
Ryu, Deejay, Guile, O.Ken, Dictator, O.Hawk

B Rank:
N.Ken, N.Honda, Fei-Long, N.Sagat

C Rank:
Zangief, Cammy, Blanka, N.Hawk

---

The second list is ordered from top to bottom based on the ten point scale. All of the characters are N.Character versions in this list. The name next to each character is the player who was responsible for assigning the overall number of points to that character. The full diagram, with more information about how this list was formed, is available at Nohoho's blog.

Arcadia November 2008 Chart

Dhalsim (Gian)+27
Boxer (Tsuji)+19
Claw (ARG)+18
Ryu (Gotoh)+15
Chun-Li (Nuki) +13.5
Guile (Muteki)+9
DeeJay (yaya)+5
Dictator (Taira)-5
E.Honda (Kusumondo)-5.5
Sagat (yaya)-5.5
Ken (Aniken)-7.5
Fei-Long (Yuubou)-7.5
Zangief (Gunze)-16
Blanka (Komoda) -18.5
Cammy (Nakamura)-18.5
T.Hawk (K)-22.5

---

The third list is far too large to put in the SRK Wiki. Follow the link to Nohoho's blog to see the full chart, plus an explanation how the chart was formed, as well as some discussions in the comments sections.

---

Super Turbo is more about matchups than definitive tiers. Every N.Character is competitive and several O.Characters are competitive as well (though not all of them). There is no character that is completely excluded from tournament level play because they aren't effectively competitive. While Dhalsim and O.Sagat are clearly better overall than Cammy and N.Hawk, the top tier characters are still beatable, and the low tier characters are still capable of winning. That being said, the odds of seeing Dhalsim and O.Sagat in the later rounds of a tournament, are noticeably higher than seeing a T.Hawk, Blanka, or Cammy player make their way to the finals. But unlike many other fighting games, the lowest tier characters in ST still make appearances in tournament finals, no one character is completely shutout. In retrospect it is truly amazing to see how ST has evolved into a more balanced game than Capcom ever imagined.

Akuma however is banned in basically every tournament because he is far too powerful. Capcom designed him as a secret boss character for a reason. His air fireball is next to impossible to deal with for most of the cast. His red fireball can be used to infinitely lock the opponent in blockstun in the corner for a perfect, inescapable blockstring, complete with chip damage. He can't be dizzied. And his normals and special moves also have ridiculously high priority hit boxes. It is extremely rare to see a tournament allow Akuma to be used.

The Characters

Old Characters
To choose the old version of a character, first choose that character, then immediately input the corresponding code. Each of the codes consists of four directions (combinations of Up, Down, Left, or Right) followed by Jab or Fierce. In order to get the 2P color, enter the code with Jab+Short or Fierce+Short.

There is actually a pattern with the old character codes. For Ryu through Guile, the code is the inverse for the character below. For example, Ryu's code is RRRL, and Ken's is LLLR. This pattern is followed until you get to the four new challengers (Hawk, Fei, Cammy, DeeJay). Instead of having top/bottom inverses, they have adjacent (left/right) inverses. The top/bottom inverses begin again with the bosses.

Old Sagat and Old Hawk are the only two characters that are clearly better than their new counterparts. Old Ken and Old Guile have a few advantages over their new counterparts, but overall the new versions are definitely better.

--NKI 17:16, 11 April 2006 (CDT)

Playing as Akuma
Akuma is playable as a secret character. To choose him, input the following code at the character selection screen:

• Start with the character selection cursor over Ryu or Ken. Wait a small period of time. (Three seconds should be plenty.)
• Move the cursor to T.Hawk. Wait in the same way.
• Then move the cursor to Guile. Wait a short while again.
• After that, move to Cammy. Wait.
• Finally, move the cursor back to Ryu or Ken. Wait one last time.
• At this point, you may optionally move the cursor to any character. There's no real reason to take this unnecessary step unless you're afraid you might get the code wrong and want to choose a specific backup character in such a case.
• Now press start, and then very quickly after pressing start (within about 0.3 seconds is suggested), press all 3 punch buttons simultaneously.

Since Akuma is considered an overwhelmingly-strong character, he's banned in virtually every tournament. Choosing him outside of tournaments may also be frowned upon if the games are being played with any kind of seriousness. Playing as him should be done for entertainment value only.

--Raisin (May 6, 2007)

In-depth Strategies

• Akuma
• Balrog (Boxer) - Old character code: RLLR
• Blanka - Old character code: RLLL
• Cammy - Old character code: UUDD
• Chun-Li - Old character code: DDDU
• Dee Jay - Old character code: DDUU
• Dhalsim - Old character code: DUUU
• E. Honda - Old character code: UUUD
• Fei Long - Old character code: LLRR
• Guile - Old character code: UDDD
• Ken - Old character code: LLLR
• M. Bison (Dictator) - Old character code: DUUD
• Ryu - Old character code: RRRL
• O.Sagat - Old character code: UDDU
• T. Hawk - Old character code: RRLL
• Vega (Claw) - Old character code: LRRL
• Zangief - Old character code: LRRR

--NKI 17:16, 11 April 2006 (CDT)

Game Versions

CPS2 (arcade)
This the original release of Super Turbo.

What follows is a list of ports and differences from the original arcade version.

Dreamcast
The size of the screen is slightly off (it's a little too narrow), making the character sizes appear to be slightly too thin. There is no evidence to show that this affects gameplay in any way.

The Dreamcast version occasionally suffers from 1 frame of input lag (possibly more if you're using a PSX->DC controller converter), though this is undetectable by most players.

During "Round 1/2/3, FIGHT!", the game suffers from noticeable slowdown, regardless of the speed setting. In the arcade version, if you start counting from the moment the background becomes visible until the moment your can control your characters, the elapsed time is almost exactly two seconds. In the Dreamcast version, it's almost exactly 3 seconds. This means you must slightly alter the timing of your opening attack.

In the arcade version, O.Chun can not control the strength of her reversal fireball. (The game "stores" the strength that you previously did.) This was corrected in the Dreamcast version. Strangely, T.Hawk and O.Dictator suffer from similar problems with reversal uppercut and reversal Devil's Reverse, respectively. There is a DIP switch to correct O.Dictator's, but T.Hawk's remains in tact.

By default, there are a few other slight gameplay differences as well (such as Dhalsim/Ken/Sagat being able to reversal super), but aside from the above mentioned reversal glitches for Chun and Hawk, all of the tested and known differences can be corrected using the in-game DIP switches.

Playstation 2 (Hyper Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition, only the ST characters will be addressed)
This version has not been thoroughly tested, but the known differences are:
-O.Sagat's Tiger Shots have been toned down considerably
-Ken, Dhalsim, and Sagat can do reversal supers (which they can not in the arcade version)
-Due to an error in porting, Claw's wall dive (ST versions only) must be performed Charge D, K, U (pressing Kick before Up, instead of the normal order)
-if an ST character is facing a non-ST character, the ST character can not tech the throws (in ST, New characters can tech Old characters' throws)
-Holding start when selecting Super Turbo or Super seems to allow access to the original arcade versions of each character.

X-Box (Hyper Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition, only the ST characters will be addressed)

No information is documented at this time.

Playstation 1
Known differences in the PS1 version:
-if the opponent blocks Dictator's Fierce Psycho Crusher mid-screen, Dic lands right next to the opponent
-Ken, Dhalsim, and Sagat can do reversal supers (which they can not in the arcade version)
-there is a slight delay between "Round 1, Fight!" and when you can actually move (speculation, untested)
-Chun Li falls extremely slowly after her medium upkicks (Short and RH are correct, though)
-Guile regains CPS1 chains
-only two buttons are required for three-button moves (ex: Zangief can do a lariat by hitting only Jab Strong or Strong Fierce or Jab Fierce)
-inputs must be done more quickly (speculation, untested)
-comboing into Ryu's super is exceptionally difficult
-tapping two buttons one right after the other counts as hitting them simultaneously
-when a character has zero life left, it takes two blocked specials to kill him/her
-characters don't seem to get dizzy as easily (speculation, untested)

Sega Saturn
The Saturn version's characters appear to be too big because the screen is stretched. Again, this technically shouldn't change anything in the game, but no thorough testing has been done. One other notable difference is that Guile regained his CPS1 chains. This version is not thoroughly tested, and most likely contains more differences.

Playstation 2 / X-Box: Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2

-The custom code used in this version fixes many inaccuracies found in other common emulators such as MAME and Kawaks.
-This version was emulated from the original arcade ROM's, unlike any other version.
-Some stages are known to cause slowdown or speed changes.
-Sometimes sound effects are known to play at random times, especially the ones for special moves.
-"time warps" where the game will suddenly "jump forward in time" by about 5 to 10 frames.
-There have been many claims of input lag from a large number of arcade players, these claims were later verified in the test seen here.
-Every once in a while, buttons will spontaneously remap themselves, even in the middle of a match.
-The emulated settings were altered, causing the AI to be extremley difficult, even when the collections' settings are set to easy. -Using the "Easy Special Move" cheat, the AI seems to become harder than on the same settings without the cheat on.

XBox 360 / PlayStation 3:

Remixed version. Has 1080p HD graphics, rebalanced characters, and online play. It also comes with the Classic game.

3D0
The most glaring problem with the 3D0 version is that the Old characters are completely missing. It also has lots of missing animation. For example, all of Zangief's ducking punches are the same animation in the 3D0 version.

Other known differences :
- All characters get CPS1 chains
- Gouki/Akuma's Red Fireball has lesser recovery and can throw another fireball again at the 2nd hit !

PC
The PC version contained such colossal bugs as entire moves being inexplicably missing, and the game randomly crashing for no apparent reason.

Game Boy Advance
-The character sizes and animations are totally different. Way too many differences to try to list.

-Potential to crash the game (forever) if Akuma is fought.

--hagure 22:02, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
--NKI 21:40, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

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Regional Differences

Please note that the Japanese arcade version is not the same as the American arcade version:

American Version	Japanese Version
Secret character = Akuma	Secret character = Gouki
Boxer character = Balrog	Boxer character = M.Bison
Claw character = Vega	Claw character = Balrog
Dictator character = M.Bison	Dictator character = Vega
Speeds are listed as Turbo 0, Turbo 1, Turbo 2, and Turbo 3.	Speeds are listed as Turbo 1, Turbo 2, Turbo 3, and Turbo 4.
Zangief's jump straight up up Fierce has no special properties.	Zangief's jump straight up up Fierce is practically a guaranteed dizzy.
Can put the game on Free Play.	Has no Free Play option.
No dialogue before you fight Akuma/Gouki.	Has a short dialogue before you fight Akuma/Gouki.
Akuma/Gouki has no endings.	Akuma/Gouki has two endings (depending on who you fought as the last boss).

Miscellaneous

-In the arcade version, Dhalsim, Sagat, and Ken can not do reversal supers. If they successfully time a reversal super, they will simply get the last special move they did.
-After getting up from being knocked down, you are unthrowable for 13 frames.
-Old characters have the exact same walking speed as new characters.
-Not all characters get dizzied at the same rate. In order from easiest to dizzy to hardest to dizzy:

• Sim, Claw
• Guile, Cammy DeeJay
• Boxer, Blanka, Chun, Honda, Fei, Ken, Dictator, Ryu, Sagat, Hawk, Zangief

-Blanka's stage is the widest, and Claw's stage is the shortest.
-Boxer's Strong throw has more range than his Fierce throw, even though they're the same throw.
-After being knocked down, different characters get up at different speeds.

Some additional details on miscellany can be found in T.Akiba's game data:
Japanese text / English text

--NKI 14:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

The Yoga Book Hyper

What Is The Yoga Book Hyper...?
Simply put, The Yoga Book Hyper is the Super Turbo Bible. It contains frame data and hit boxes for every move in the game, in addition to tons of strategies, tricks, glitches, oddities, and a wealth of other information.

Included with the book is an excellent best-of-the-best tournament DVD featuring Japan's best 16 players, hand-picked by Daigo Umehara. In addition to the tourney, the DVD also features ST casuals, AE casuals, and a CD of remixed Street Fighter tracks.

Help, I can't read Japanese!!
Once you know what the numbers and different colored boxes mean, you don't really need to know Japanese in order to get a lot out of the book. You can view a translation of the basics here.

The only parts that really require Japanese are the stratagy section (the black and white section towards the end) and the interviews (the color section towards the end).

Where Can I Buy It?
If you're in Japan, you can order it directly from INH's website, or pick it up at your local gaming store. If you're outside of Japan, it can be ordered from several online stores, such as Play-Asia.

Ammendments/Corrections
When dealing with such a massive amount of information, there are bound to be some typos and mistakes. Here is a list of the mistakes that have been caught. Most of them are very trivial, but for the sake of correctness, here is the translation:

On the DVD staff list, there is a name spelled incorrectly. 北条大吾　小島慎治 should be 北条大悟　小島真志.

On page 23, Guile's Short color is shown as yellow/gold, but it should be red.

On pages 38 and 54, the hit boxes for Zangief's and T.Hawks splashes (jumping down Fierce) are incorrect. Please see official corrections page for images.

On page 70, the name of Zangief's move is incorrectly listed as "Quick Double Lariat", when it should be "High Speed Lariat".

On page 81, the amount of meter gained for Boxer's TAP's are all listed as 7 dots. It should be:

• Level 1: 7 dots
• Level 2: 8 dots
• Level 3: 9 dots
• Level 4: 10 dots
• Level 5: 12 dots
• Level 6: 16 dots
• Level 7: 20 dots
• Final: 32 dots

On page 156, under A7(3), DeeJay's move is listed as "far Fierce", when it should be "far st.Fierce".

On page 164, under Claw's "Other: One Point Technique" section, the "Flying Barcelona Attack" is incorrectly listed as "Barcelona Attack".

On page 175, under "Moves that can juggle up to 3 times", it only lists Claw's Forward and RH flip kicks, when it should list all three (Short, Forward, and RH).

On page 185, under X-MANIA Gaiden Player Introduction, kusumondo's tournament history lists him as the winner of X-MANIA 2000, but he actually got 2nd.

On page 192, under the Daigo Umehara SPECIAL INTERVIEW, the photo cuts off a line of text. It should read ウメちゃんのストリートファイターIIX（以下：X）での強さも再認識できました。

--NKI 14:47, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Downloads
From Geo's Grand Master Challenge blog:
"Over on Shoryuken, NKI and MrWizard have said that since the YBH (Yoga Book Hyper) is out of print, that it's OK to post scans."

Ryu
Ken (N.Ken)
Chun-Li
Guile
Blanka
Zangief
Dhalsim
E. Honda
Cammy
Dee Jay
T. Hawk
Fei-long
Boxer
Claw
Sagat (N.Sagat)
Dictator

-- Janus Gemini 00:36, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Other ST Links

The ST Thread on Shoryuken's forums
T.Akiba's site (entirely in Japanese)
NKI's translations from T.Akiba's site (thanks to BlazeD of ComboVideos.com for hosting)
NKI's random Japan log

--NKI 14:46, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Nohoho's Blog
Street Fighter Dojo
Geo's Blog

--Janus Gemini