Hokuto no Ken/Advanced Game Mechanics

This page covers the advanced systems and game mechanics of Hokuto no Ken. For information regarding the basic game mechanics, see here.

Player 1/Player 2 Side Differences

In Hokuto no Ken, there are actually differences between the two sides in the game, which manifest in several ways. Firstly, there can be differences in the ease of doing certain combos depending on whether you pick the 'Player 1' or 'Player 2' side when first starting the game. Mr. Heart is the only character who is affected greatly by this, having a throw infinite that is much easier to perform when he is 'Player 2.' The second main difference in the sides is that the way characters bounce off the wall when being comboed is actually different on the left and right sides. This difference is independent of whether you are 'Player 1' or 'Player 2,' and you only need to take into account the side you are facing. This causes certain combos to only be possible or require modifications depending one which side of the stage you are in.

Round Start Advanced Input

It is possible to hold down any combination of buttons before the beginning of the round and they will be executed instantly the moment the it starts. For example, if you are holding down C and D, you will perform an instant Banishing Strike as soon as you are able to act. This technique is especially useful when combined with Boost attacks like 2A+E or 2B+E, allowing you to go on the offensive the moment the round starts.

Exceeding the '3-Star Limit'

As stated in the Basic Mechanics section, the amount of stars you can take off in any given combo is capped at 3. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. The first and most common being combos from BD grabs, which completely remove the limit of stars that can be taken. Another way to remove more than 3 stars is done by making your opponent guard a max-charged Banishing Strike. This causes them to wall-bounce and takes away a star that is not included in the 3-star limit, making a 4-star combo possible. Finally, it is also possible to remove more than 3 stars when you start a combo on a dizzied opponent.

Although the 3-star limit can be exceeded, the rule that each specific star-taking move can only take 1 star per combo stays intact, meaning it is necessary to use 4 or more distinct moves(or utilize Grave Install).

Unblockable Projectiles

When a super move is executed in Hokuto no Ken, both players freeze and are unable to act, but everything else(projectiles, the time clock) continues to move as normal. Using this, it is possible to create an unblockable setup by performing a super move quickly after firing off a projectile. Technically speaking they are not truly unblockable as an opponent already guarding is able to block them - the super freeze simply makes it so trying to guard after the super flash will have no effect. For this reason there is little use in attempting this technique while already on the offensive, but it can still be a very powerful tool none the less. Juda especially can make deadly use of this and score a guaranteed combo against advancing opponents by combining a Dagar Rush with his dam super.

The super freeze time stop also has a few other uses such as in some showy combos, or slightly more practically, to kill time when the round is soon to end by time up.

Aura/Boost Related

'Chikuseki' Phenomenon

The 'Chikuseki', or 'Accumulation' bug occurs after a long uninterrupted combo that results in a knockdown, and causes the subsequent wakeup attack to increase the rate of gain of all gauges exponentially based on attack time prior to the knockdown. This includes both the Aura and Boost of the attacker, as well as the Guard Crush and unseen Dizzy Meter of the victim.

Specifically, Chikuseki is reset once the victim takes a neutral state upon waking up - Blocking an attack or doing a reversal(backstep/jump included) continues the Chikuseki state. If while in this state the player blocks or is hit while in a blocking pose(ie. being hit with a low while guarding high), all gauges will increase at an accelerated rate for the duration of the attack string. This can be especially disastrous for characters with a guard gauge, as even if they block the wakeup attack, not only will their opponent end up with max aura and boost, but they will be almost instantly guard crushed and then dizzied. For these characters the only escape is using a Guard Cancel, reversal, or in some cases a neutral wakeup(choosing not to guard and die, usually done at low health to prevent the opponent from starting the next round with max Aura and Boost).

It is also important to note that Juda is immune to Chikuseki for the most part - he is only affected by it when he uses a reversal(and is then hit before recovering).

First Round Boost Gain

Normally at the start of each round Boost cannot be gained for roughly 8 seconds - however there is one exception to this rule. In the first round before the match actually starts there is a short intro where each character says a few lines. This intro sequence can be skipped by either player by pressing any button, but if it is left to play out, both players will be able to gain Boost from the very start of the round.

Banishing Cancel

Banishing Cancel is a technique that allows the Banishing Strike's follow-up Movement Boost's startup to be canceled, and the free boost bar stored for later use. Specifically, there is a 1 frame window at the beginning of the follow-up Movement Boost in which a Banishing Cancel can be performed by doing a special/super move or Fatal KO. Raoh only is able to extend this window of time to 2 frames, by doing the Banishing Cancel when the opponent is stuck to the ground by his 'Sai' move. If successfully executed, no boost will be consumed and the free bar of boost will remain unused. Because of his ability to double the input time, Banishing Cancel is generally considered a Raoh-specific technique, although any character(except Mr. Heart who has no Boost Gauge) can perform it.