Revision as of 17:58, 15 August 2009

Introduction

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Notation

Joystick Notation

                    .- up (u)
                    |
  up-back (u/b) - 7 8 9 - up-forward (u/f)

       back (b) - 4 5 6 - forward (f)

down-back (d/b) - 1 2 3 - down-forward (d/f)
                    |
                    `- down (d)

Note: These numbers can be easily referenced by looking at your keyboard numpad. Think of it as a joystick/controller that is facing to the right. "5" is used to signify "neutral".

Motion Abbreviations

qcf - 236 - Quarter circle forward/Hadouken/Fireball motion - In one smooth motion move to down -> down-forward -> forward.

qcf - 214 - Quarter circle backward - In one smooth motion move to down -> down-back -> back.

hcf - 41236 - Half circle forward - In one smooth motion move to back -> down-back -> down -> down-forward -> forward.

hcb - 63214 - Half circle backward - In one smooth motion move to forward -> down-forward -> down -> down-back -> back.

dp - 623 - Dragon Punch motion - In one smooth motion move to forward -> down -> down-forward.

rdp - 421 - Reverse Dragon Punch motion - In one smooth motion move to back -> down -> down-back.

Charge - Hold the given direction (usually back/down) for around 1 second, before moving to the next command (usually forward or up a button).

tk - 2369 - Tiger Knee Motion - qcf, then move to up-forward.

Attack Notation

A - LP - Light Punch

B - LK - Light Kick

C - HP - Hard Punch

D - HK - Hard Kick

CD - Blow back attack, press C and D simultaneously.

P - Any punch

K - Any kick

Other common abbreviations

j. - Jump/jumping - Press up-back, up, or up-forward.

sj. - Super-jump - Tap down, down-back, or down-forward, then quickly press up-back or up-forward.

sh. - Short hop - Lightly tap up-back, up, or up-forward.

hh. - Hyper hop - Tap down, down-back, or down-forward, then quickly and lightly tap up-back or up-forward.

cl. - Close, as in a close normal attack.

cr. - Crouching, as in a crouching normal attack.

st. - Standing, as in a far standing normal attack.

Other useful terms

Whiff - an attack that completely misses; does not come in contact with the opponent altogether.

Connect - an attack that coming in contact with the opponent (hit or blocked). Not to be confused with actually hitting the opponent.

Counter-hit - interrupting the opponent's attack with yours before your opponent's hits you. Usually the result of using a faster attack, having a timing advantage (frame advantage), or a combination of these.

System Mechanics

Blocking - Simply hold back to block high and mid attacks, or diagonal down+back to block low moves. Like most 2D fighting games, you will still take a tiny bit of damage from special and super moves.

Backdash - Tap back twice quickly. Normally, backdashes in KOFXII are quite long, but most characters can be controlled. During a backdash, press any direction other than u, u/b, or u/f, and your character will stop early. Depending on when you press a direction, the backdash can cover many different distances. Some characters do not have a controllable backdash.

Run - Tap forward twice quickly. Hold the second tap to keep running. In KOFXII, when you simply tap f,f to run, you will run a certain distance before you stop. This can be canceled by jumping, crouching, or attacking, but not by blocking. You can use this period to buffer moves such as command throws. For example with Ralf or Clark, you can tap f,f, then do the hcf motion for their command grab while you are moving forward, without having to keep holding forward over that first couple character spaces.

Also, there is a small recovery when you release f to stop a run. When running in to attack, keep holding forward if you're going to do a standing attack, or move to d/f for a crouching attack. This makes attacking from a run seamless. You can also hold d/f to keep charge a charge-down special move while running.

Throw - In KOFXII, throws are performed by pressing f+A+C or b+A+C. The direction will control the direction in which the opponent is thrown. Like most 2D fighters, they cannot be blocked. There is a whiff animation if the throw misses. during which you are vulnerable. Some characters have special and/or super command throws, which are performed with various motions depending on the character.

All throws in KOFXII follow a couple rules. First, no throws can be broken, not even normal throws. Secondly, all attacks are invulnerable to throws during their start-up time. This means that even if your throw is just about to connect, if your opponent starts a very slow heavy attack, your throw will not connect and you will be hit. This is similar to rules in the 3D fighting game Virtua Fighter. So keep in mind that throws (outside of combos) should be used exclusively vs an opponent is blocking.

Roll forward - Press A+B, while neutral or holding forward. Rolls are invulnerable from the very start, and vulnerable at the end. You can be thrown out of rolls as well. Since they are invincible at startup, you can use rolls as a wakeup 'reversal'. Running and then rolling will cause you to roll a greater distance.

Roll backward - Press b+A+B to roll away from your opponent.

Recovery roll (tech roll) - Press any button as you are touching the ground from getting knocked down. Some moves/knockdowns are not rollable. You can mix this up with staying on the ground to mess with your opponents setups on wakeup.

Guard Attack (CD Counter) - An old mainstay of KOF's defensive system, now altered for KOFXII. Press back b+C+D to perform it. Unlike in the past, it requires no meter to perform. This is used to absorb your opponent's attack, then hit them back, getting them off you. There are 2 parts to the GA. The first is the actual 'parry', during which attacks can be absorbed. The second part is the actual attack, which is similar to any other attack, in that it has startup time, recovery, etc. It cannot be canceled, knocks down, is unsafe if blocked (or whiffed), and can even be interrupted. The attack will always come out when you execute the GA, no matter if it whiffs, or under any other condition. It cannot be comboed from in any way (except during a Critical Counter combo).

Roll Cancel (no, not like CvS2) - Any attack that can be normally canceled or chained can also be canceled into a forward roll by pressing A+B when the move connects. This can be used to bait a GA, by canceling the move that is absorbed by the GA into a roll, thus avoiding the followup attack and allowing you to punish.

Characters

Kyo Kusanagi

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 Also, there is a small recovery when you release f to stop a run. When running in to attack, keep holding forward if you're going to do a standing attack, or move to d/f for a crouching attack. This makes attacking from a run seamless. You can also hold d/f to keep charge a charge-down special move while running.
+'''Throw''' - In KOFXII, throws are performed by pressing f+A+C or b+A+C. The direction will control the direction in which the opponent is thrown. Like most 2D fighters, they cannot be blocked. There is a whiff animation if the throw misses. during which you are vulnerable. Some characters have special and/or super command throws, which are performed with various motions depending on the character.
+All throws in KOFXII follow a couple rules. First, no throws can be broken, not even normal throws. Secondly, all attacks are invulnerable to throws during their start-up time. This means that even if your throw is just about to connect, if your opponent starts a very slow heavy attack, your throw will not connect and you will be hit. This is similar to rules in the 3D fighting game Virtua Fighter. So keep in mind that throws (outside of combos) should be used exclusively vs an opponent is blocking.
 '''Roll forward''' - Press A+B, while neutral or holding forward. Rolls are invulnerable from the very start, and vulnerable at the end. You can be thrown out of rolls as well. Since they are invincible at startup, you can use rolls as a wakeup 'reversal'. Running and then rolling will cause you to roll a greater distance.