Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3/Game Mechanics/Movement

Although Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 follows a game system familiar to all fighting game fans there are a variety of differences that make this experience unique. Here we'll be covering the general movement of the characters.

Character States

There are so many techniques that characters can use in the game and so many rules and restrictions as to when these techniques are possible. That is why it will be very important to understand the concept of Character States in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 in order to understand why some techniques are and aren't possible and when. The following States all only reference the Point Character in the game.

Grounded State

The first state is the most simple: any time you are on the ground, be it just standing there, crouching, or walking, you are considered in the Grounded State. This is the most basic state because, in this state, you are given the largest amount of freedom to perform just about any action that you please. And it's the only state that you can remain in infinitely if so desired. Every other state will eventually end, and when they end they lead to a Grounded State.

Also, anytime you perform a Dash with your character, you are still in Grounded State during your Dash. So whatever you are allowed to do in Grounded State, you can also perform in a Dash. Thus, there is no real "Dashing State" as it is the exact same thing as the Grounded State.

Keep in mind that some Normal Moves and many Special Moves you perform will actually make you airborne, which means you are technically no longer in a Grounded State. Moves like Chun Li's Toward + Hard Attack and Captain America's Starts N' Stripes are examples of this.

Jumping State

In Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, there are three ways you can end up in the Jumping State. The first and very obvious way is by simply jumping from the ground. The second way is actually not as obvious: any time you recover in the air with a Tech Flip, you will be in Jumping State. So, for example, if you ever get struck by an opponent's Launcher but they do not follow up with any attacks, when you recover in the air you are considered in Jumping State. And the third way you can end up in Jumping State is whenever a new character comes into the game as a new Point Character after the current Point Character has been defeated or Snapped Out.

While jumping, you can perform as many actions as your Jump will allow you to squeeze in until you land. For example, if you jump into the air and perform an air Hadoken with Ryu, after you recover, you can still perform an attack on the way down... or even another Hadoken. Still using Ryu, if you Air Block a move at the height of your Jump Arc, right before you land you can still perform an Air Hadoken before you land. Characters with Air Dashes and Double Jumps can even perform those before they land.

Also for characters that have Double Jumps and Air Dashes, if you perform a Double Jump or Air Dash while in a Jumping State, you actually maintain that state throughout the Double Jump or Air Dash. So if you Double Jump or Air Dash with Chun Li, for example, you can still perform things you can perform normally during a Jump, such as calling an Assist. Also, if you are hit while in the air during a Jumping State and recover in the air, you stay in the Jumping State. The one exception to this rule, which is particular to Ultimte Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is that you are now unable to guard (block) during the Air Dash until you return to the Jumping State again.

Super Jumping State

There is only one way to enter the Super Jumping State in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: just Super Jump while in the Grounded State. Just like in Jumping State, you are allowed as many actions in the air as possible during the entire time you are in the air. And since you are in the air a significantly longer time than during a regular Jump, that means you can actually squeeze out quite a few moves. However, there are a few limitations.

The first limitation is that only three Special Moves are allowed per Super Jump. After performing three, regardless of which Special Moves they are, you can no longer perform a Special Move. For example, Wesker can perform three teleports in the air and Hsien-Ko can perform three Senpu Bu Swings in the air before they can no longer perform them.

The second limitation is that you will be unable to call an Assist during the Super Jumping State.

Once again, with Double Jumps and Air Dashes, if you perform either of these while in Super Jumping State, you maintain in the Super Jumping State throughout. However, if you are hit while in Super Jumping State and recover in the air, you will have transitioned over to Jumping State.

Floored State

Floored State occurs whenever you get knocked down to the ground by the opponent. There are technically three different categories of Floored States: Hard Knock-Downs, Soft Knock-Downs, and Forced Quick Rise.

Hard Knock-Downs

In a Hard Knock-Down State, your character will get knocked to the floor and be stuck there for a fixed amount of time, which is different depending on the move that knocked you down. After that time, your character will automatically get up off the ground in place. However, if you hold Towards or Back on the controller before you get up, you'll roll forward or backwards respectively. The problem is that, while you are lying on the ground before you get up, the opponent can tag you with any OTG move that will pop you up off the ground that allows them to continue comboing you. Essentially, lying on the ground is an extended Hit Stun.

Some characters just have moves that will cause these Knock-Downs such as Wesker's Cobra Strike. But where you'll see it the most is from Air Combo Finishers. These cause Hard Knock-Downs that last a very significantly long time because you hit the ground and bounce first. During that entire bounce and through the entire time lying there, you can be hit by any OTG move. So if you can find a combination of Hard Knock-Downs and OTG moves, you can perform some very long combos.

Soft Knock-Downs

For Soft Knock-Downs, your character will bypass the entire portion of lying on the ground and, the instant you touch the floor, your character will perform a mini roll backwards and be standing right away. That means you cannot be comboed by any OTG attacks. Also, if you hold Towards or Back before you hit the ground, you'll go into an immediate Roll.

Many Sweeps, such as Akuma's, cause Soft Knock-Downs. Also, anytime a hit tags an opponent out of the air very close to the ground and their air Hit Stun drops them to ground level, a Soft Knock-Down kicks in. And there are just some moves that cause Soft Knock-Downs, such as Ryu's ground Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.

Forced Quick Rise

In Forced Quick Rise, you'll hit the ground and immediately perform the short Backwards Roll, but you won't be able to do anything else. So it's just like the Soft Knock-Down, but you cannot roll forwards or backwards when you hit the ground. There aren't a lot of moves that cause this, but an example of this is Wesker's Light Attack version of the Mustang Kick. Once you hit the ground, you are forced into a small backwards roll and immediately stand up afterwards.

Attack States

There are various levels of Attacks in this game and they go in increasing priority in this order: Normal Moves, Special Moves, and Hyper Combos. Anytime you perform any of these Attacks, you are in the State of that Attack. So if you perform a Normal Move, you are in a Normal Move State. If you perform a Hyper Combo, you are in a Hyper Combo State.

The reason this is mentioned is because these different Attack States all allow you to cancel into each other in the order of lowest priority to highest priority. For example, at any point that you are in a Normal Move State, during the startup or recovery or a Normal Attack, you can cancel the Normal Attack into a Special Move or a Hyper Combo. At any point during a Special Move, you can cancel your Special Move State into a Hyper Combo. Hyper Combos can also cancel into themselves, but technically that is a Delayed Hyper Combo and those follow their own sets of rules.

It does not matter if the move is connecting on your opponent or whiffing, whether the move has reached its first Active Frame or not or if the move is in recovery: as long as you are considered in that Attack State, you can cancel into a higher priority Attack State.

For example, if you perform a Hard Attack with Morrigan where she does the four hit bicycle kick, you can actually cancel that move at any point, before it hits, during any of the four hits, or even during its recovery into a Special Move or Hyper Combo. This rule applies on hit or whiff. As another example, if you perform Ryu's Shoryuken, as long as that move is going, you can cancel it at any point into a Hyper Combo. This can be on the way up or on the way down and it doesn't matter if the move connected or if it whiffed.

There are quite a few exceptions to the rule, of course. Some moves are just deemed unable to cancel into certain attacks. Wesker's Low Samurai Edge where he shoots at the ground with his gun, for example, cannot be canceled at all into any Special Moves or Hyper Combos. Amaterasu, if she is in Rosary Mode (Whip), her Standing Hard Attack Chain Combo cannot be canceled into Special Moves or Hyper Combos. Also, there are a lot of Normal Moves that just won't let you cancel them early on in their start up. For example, Thor can cancel his Crouching Hard Attack before it hits for extended range on his command grabs. However, you can't cancel it immediately. You can only cancel it after it has traveled a very short distance. There are lots of Normal Moves like this, and, again, you'll have to experiment with your characters to learn which ones have restrictions and which ones don't.

Special Moves are a bit more picky, however, as some moves cannot be canceled the instant they start. For example, Deadpool's Hard Attack Katana-rama can only be canceled into a Hyper Combo after a few frames. It actually isn't able to be canceled the instant you start it. For each of your favorite characters, you will have to learn the specifics of which moves have these exceptions.

Character Abilities

This section will cover all the various techniques and abilities that are available to the characters in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 ranging from your most basic of abilities such as Walking, Blocking, Super Jumping, and Launchers to the more advanced abilities like Delayed Hyper Combos and Aerial Exchanges.