The King of Fighters '98/Mature

Introduction

Colors

Gameplay overview

Mature is a zoning/rushdown character. You can either get far away and (ab)use her powerful Ebony Tears to zone your opponent and punish attempts to evade them, or try to get in-close and mixup/force chip damage.

In-depth analysis

Normal Throws

b or f+C - Breakable, forward knockdown, face forward, rollable.

b or f+D - Breakable, reverse knockdown, back turned, un-rollable. No blue grab effect at startup.

Normal Moves

Standing A - Fast, decent range, cancellable. Misses most crouching characters.

Command Normals

f + B - Like Vice's Standing B, but slower. Un-cancellable. Not very useful.

Special Moves

Death Row (qcb + P, up to 3 times) - Your main combo move. Deals a lot (nine bits, three for each) of chip damage when blocked, so forcing your opponent to block it after a Standing or Crouching A can be useful way to get 'free' damage. Be aware of Guard Cancel Rolls if your opponent has stocks, though. It also builds a LOT of meter.

A version is faster, and has less reach. C version moves you forward a bit more, so it's easier to combo.

Metal Massacre (qcb + K) - A dashing slash that hits three times. You can use it to punish people rolling through your Ebony Tears if you don't have meter for a Heaven's Gate, to change from a zoning to a rush strategy aided by the hitstun of a blocked E. Tear, or to put pressure/chip cancelling it from a crouching D.

Despair (qcf + P) - A leaping slash. Can go over low projectiles and I guess can be used as an (uber crappy) anti-air, but it's really slow and has huge recovery. Avoid using it.

Decide (hcf + K) -

Ebony Tears (qcf,hcb + P) - Awesome. A version will be the one you will be using the most; it travels very slowly and you recover from it fast, allowing you to either punish anyone trying to evade the Tear or gain positional advantage using the Tear's pushback (move forward so your opponent can keep getting pushed to the corner). You can also use a Metal Massacre to get in close (while dealing some extra chip damage) while your opponent is still in block stun.

C version comes out slower, but travels very fast. You can throw one of these every now and then to catch people expecting a slow Tear off guard.

Sacrilege (f,d,df + P) -

Desperation Moves

Heaven's Gate (qcb,hcf + K) -

Nocturnal Lights (qcf,qcf + P) -

Combos

• cr.B, cr.B, cr.A, Death Row / Nocturnal Lights

• j.B, cl. B (2 hits) /cr.B, cr.A, Death Row / Nocturnal Lights

• cl.D (2 hits), Heaven's Gate

The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest