Street Fighter Alpha 2

Introduction

Game Versions

• Arcade
• PC
• Playstation
• Playstation 2
• Sega Saturn
• Super Nintendo

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.

Six Button Notation

Expressed in the form: Notation - Move - (PS2 Default Map)

   * LP - Weak/Light/Low/Jab Punch - (Square)
   * MP - Medium/Middle/Strong Punch - (Triangle)
   * HP - Heavy/Hard/High/Fierce Punch - (R1)
   * P - Any punch (Square/Triangle/R1)
   * LK - Weak/Light/Low/short Kick - (X)
   * MK - Medium/Middle/Strong Kick - (Circle)
   * HK - Heavy/Hard/High/Roundhouse Kick - (R2)
   * K - Any kick - (C/Circle/R2)

Miscellaneous Notation

StreetFighter Alpha2 is now playable online, www.GGPO.net

Game Mechanics

Custom Combo (cc)- Press 2 punches and 1 kick or 2 kicks and 1 punch when you have at least a lvl 1. This allows you to do multi special moves in a row, canceling recovery. Once activated you move forward very fast. The high the lvl the more invincibiltiy you get, generally for a normal sized character, at lvl 2/3 you can go thru a fireball.

Valle CC- If they opponent is standing, you can activate a custom combo and start with a low hit which is unblockable into a whatever cc.

Blowout CC- When around point blank to your oponent, when cc is activated and the opponent did any normal attack or was not blocking, they go into a stun animation. This allows you to hit them with pretty much anything for free.

Counter CC- Basically, your opponent does a cc, and you cc right back. This isnt easy but not impossible, allowing you to counter Valle ccs and blowouts.

Air super CC glitch- When is cc mode, as long as you have the meter, you can perform your air super if in the air. Akuma can super fireball from a f+mk.

Juggles- Some moves have juggle properties this move include:

Sagat's Tiger Uppercut Akuma's Shoryuken and Hurricane Adon's Jaguar DP Various Fireball supers Chun-li's upkicks, super upkicks, super puffball, d+mk in the air

Note that all fireball super only juggle for 3 hits, so best used at lvl 1 for anti air. As for Akuma's juggles after a lk hurricane you can actually do the tech roll motion in the air and the dp will miss.

Alpha counter (AC)- b, db, d+p or kick. Varies per character and some are very strong like Rose's punch ac or kens kick. Piano kicks for best result. Do this when is block stun to cancel out into a pre-determined attack, which has some invincibility and temporarily creates a freeze effect. Knock down acs cannot be tech rolled except by Sodom's Tengu Walking.

Alpha counter reversal- Delay any safe normal into any invincible move that will beat a alpha counter but will not come out unless the normal was ac'd. Ex. Shoto's c.fp, attempt to cancel it into a shoryuken right after cancel frame window is up. If the opponent ac's, your c.fp will be on the active frames since the acs freeze it temporarily and you will shoryuken the hell out of them.

Kara-cancel- Canceling any normal quickly before the hit frames come out. Ex. f+mp xx raging demon or c.rh xx fireball. This allows for quicker meter building, ex. Rolento kara c.rh xx lp roll.

Throws- Forward or back+ mp/fp/mk/hk. Not all character can throw with all buttons, ex Rose and Sagat only have punch throws.

Tech-throw- Basically when thrown, you have a slight window to reverse by throwing, to avoid most damage from the throw. Some throw do no damage at all when tech ex Rolento's kick throw.

Tech roll- After a non-ac non throw knock down, do b, db, d+lp, mp, or hp. This will roll you torwards you opponent depending on strength used, with lp getting up in place and hp rolling far. These are punishable by any low hit, so be careful when using.

High Knock Down Juggle Glitch- This is best explain by a old post from Endy 22, so I'm gonna copy and paste. Basically it is a knock down that pops your opponent WAY up in the air, allowing juggles. If you are too lazy just know easiest way to set it up is after a cc, ex Sagat does his cc, opponent tech rolls when Sagat is done, Sagat does c.rh which creates a HDK, juggles with HP tiger uppercut.

Awhile back I posted an article about how special juggle combos could be done after knocking someone down with a CC(i.e. with Sagat; couching Roundhouse, juggle with Fierce Tiger Uppercut). Since then I've learned a lot more about how the high knockdown trick works as well as a bunch of combos that can be done using it.

For those who missed the original article or have yet to see someone use the trick, I'll explain how it's done...

Basically, when you're in CC mode and you do a move that knocks down, the opponent is knocked higher than they usually are when you are out of CC mode. For instance, when you activate a CC and then do a crouching Roundhouse, your opponent is knocked up in the air higher than a normal sweep would, so it's easier to follow up with another attack during the CC(this is one reason why the Valle CC is so devastating). The interesting thing is, you can still get the benefit of a high knockdown(HKD for short) _after_ a CC ends (meaning your CC meter has completely run out, and your opponent is getting up from the knockdown your CC caused). In order to get a HKD, you must first hit your opponent with any kind of CC that ends in a knockdown. Then, as your opponent is getting up or _right_ after, if you connect with a move that knocks down(a sweep for instance) they will be knocked high in the air(much higher than they normally should) allowing you to hit them with a juggling move before they land. note: You can only follow up a HKD with a move that juggles, like Akuma's DP or Guy's HK, all non-juggling moves will whiff.

An interesting thing about HKD's is that you can normally only juggle an opponent knocked in the air on the way up or at the apex, as soon they start to fall you can no longer juggle. However, with a high knockdown, just like in CC mode, you can juggle an opponent no matter how high they are off the ground. This means, if you do a crouching Roundhouse that results in a high knockdown, you can wait till just before the opponent lands and still juggle them. Also, you aren't limited to initiating a HKD with a sweep, certain special moves that knock down will work, too. Another cool thing about HKD's is that they can be initiated with combos, as well. So, with E. Ryu as the opponent is getting up, you could do crouching Jab, crouching Short, Fierce Red Fireball(HKD), juggle with a Fierce Dragon Punch. It's also possible to do repeated high knockdowns. For instance, with Sagat I could do a crouching Roundhouse as their getting up(HKD), juggle with a Fierce Tiger Uppercut. Then as they're getting up from the TU, I could do another crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Fierce TU, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Fierce TU, etc. As long as you keep getting consecutive HKD's it can be repeated.

Now, landing a CC and then hitting your opponent with a knockdown move or combo as they're getting up _will not automatically_ result in a HKD. Whether you get the high knockdown or not is _completely_ determined by what your opponent does after getting knocked down by the CC. Obviously, if they just block as they're getting up, there is no way you can hit them, so there's no chance for a HKD. So, you can only get a HKD in certain circumstances(most of which involve your opponent doing a particular action as they're getting up). Those circumstances include:

1. The opponent rolls after the CC - This is the easiest and most common way to land a HKD in a match. If your opponent rolls right after getting hit by a CC, simply hit them out of it with a knockdown move or combo and you will get a high knockdown, FOR FREE. note: This will only work in regular SFA2, since you can't roll after a CC in A2Gold(and I'm assuming, Z2A).

2. The opponent whiffs a Reversal Attack("Reversal" _has_ to appear) - This means if they do any kind of Reversal Attack(including Supers), and it misses, you can hit them during the recovery with a knockdown move or combo and get a HKD. i.e. Ryu does a Reversal DP and it whiffs, if you do a knockdown move as he lands it will result in a HKD.

3. You stuff their Reversal Attack - Just like #2, except if you knock them out of the Reversal Attack with a knockdown move you will get a HKD.

4. You do an AC reversal - If you stick out an attack as the opponent is getting up which they AC and you reverse it, you will get a HKD. So with Sagat, you could do a crouching Strong(they AC), 2in1 Jab Tiger Uppercut(knocks them out of their AC and results in a HKD), then juggle with a Fierce Tiger Uppercut.

5. The opponent is holding 'back' - Meaning, if they're simply holding straight back on the stick while they're getting up and you hit them with a knockdown move or combo, you will get a HKD. I have _no_ idea why this works, especially since holding in any other direction won't result in a HKD. note: While experimenting, this happens to be the easiest way to get a HKD, and is a great way for doing repeated high knockdowns.

6. You dizzy them with a HKD move or combo - If you dizzy your opponent with repeated HKD's, then hit them while they're dizzy with a knockdown move or combo, it will result in another HKD. i.e. With Sagat, you do crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Fierce TU, repeatedly till your opponent gets dizzy. While they're dizzy you could do a combo like Jumping Roundhouse, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Fierce Tiger Uppercut. note: This is only really useful while practicing, since landing repeated HKD's on someone in a real match is just about impossible.

7. You counter them as they're getting up - This one is kinda hard to explain, since I'm not exactly sure why this sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. When I originally posted about the HKD trick, I believed that all you had to do was counter your opponent with a knockdown move as they're getting up and it would result in a HKD. Meaning, that if your opponent is entering any kind of joystick command(besides blocking) or button command, as they're getting up and you hit them with a knockdown move, you'd get a HKD. I soon found out that is not always the case. It works a lot of times when your opponent is going for a Reversal and miss-times it, and your knockdown move hits them, but not always. I guess it's something specific that they're doing that makes a HKD possible, but I'm not exactly sure what it is yet. note: This makes jump-in or crossup HKD combos possible.

8. You AC their Reversal Attack - AFAIK, this one is worthless. If you rebuild your meter through repeated HKD's then have your opponent do a Reversal and you do an AC that knocks down, the AC will result in a HKD. Unfortunately, you can't follow-up the HKD because your opponent will have that 'spinning' animation and apparently can't be hit. I only mention this one, because I haven't bothered to try it with all the different AC's, so I'm not 100% sure that none of them can be followed-up.

9. You link a knockdown move at the end of a non-knockdown CC - This is a special circumstance where you don't actually have to knock your opponent down with the CC before getting a HKD. Basically, if you do a CC consisting of all non-knockdown moves(like a bunch of standing normals or stream of fireballs) you can link a knockdown move at the end of the CC, and get a HKD. So, with Sakura you could activate a CC, do a bunch of standing normals(lame, I know), then just as your meter runs completely out, link a normal crouching Roundhouse while they're still in hit stun(results in a HKD), and then juggle with a Strong DP.

Here's a list of moves for each character that will cause a HKD after a CC ends.

Ken: Crouching Roundhouse Ryu/E.Ryu: Crouching Roundhouse/Crouching Roundhouse, Fierce Red Fireball Chun Li: Crouching Roundhouse(close) Rose: Crouching Roundhouse, Soul Spiral Zangief: Crouching Roundhouse, df+Roundhouse Sakura: Crouching Roundhouse Akuma: Crouching Roundhouse, Fireball(close), Red Fireball(1,2 or 3 hit), d,db,f,uf+Punch move Sagat: Crouching Roundhouse, Jab Tiger Uppercut Charlie: Crouching Roundhouse Rolento: Has no moves that will HKD Dhalsim: db+Roundhouse, Strong/Fierce Yoga Fire, Yoga Flame Guy: Crouching Forward, df+Roundhouse Adon: Crouching Roundhouse M. Bison: Crouching Roundhouse(slide) Sodom: Crouching Roundhouse(slide) Gen: Has no moves in either style that will HKD Dan: Crouching Roundhouse Birdie: Crouching Roundhouse

Ok, now there are two basic types of combos that can done using the HKD trick...

Normal HKD combos: Combos that can be done by characters who have specials that juggle(Akuma, Chun Li, Guy, E. Ryu, Sakura, Adon, Sagat) and can be done after any CC that knocks down(every other character has to rebuild meter so they can juggle with a SC). Examples:

(pardon some of the generic names for moves)

Adon - Jumping Fierce, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Roundhouse Jaguar Kick

E. Ryu - Crouching Jab, crouching Short, Fierce Red Fireball(HKD), Short HK, Fierce DP. (vs. Zangief, corner only)

Chun Li - Jumping Roundhouse, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Triple Up-Kick

Sagat - Crossup Short, crouching Strong, Jab Tiger Uppercut, Fierce Tiger Uppercut

After Rebuilding Meter: Combos that are only possible after you rebuild your meter through doing repeated HKD's. Basically, there is no way you'd ever, EVER get this type of combo off in a real match, but do indeed work with some setting up. Examples:

Charlie - Jumping Roundhouse, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Level 3 Somersault Justice (corner)

Guy - Jumping Roundhouse, crouching Forward(HKD), Level 3 Air Punch Super

Ken - Jumping Fierce, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), 2in1 Short Roll, Level 3 Shinryuken

Rose - Jumping Roundhouse, crouching Jab, crouching Short, crouching Strong, Short Drill(HKD), Level 2 Aura Soul Catch (corner)

Akuma - Jumping Fierce, crouching Roundhouse(HKD), Short HK, Short HK, jump towards Level 3 Air Super Fireball or Level 3 DP

Dhalsim - b+Fierce(headbutt), Jab Yoga Flame(HKD), Level 3 Yoga Inferno (corner)

Zagief - Crossup d+Fierce, bd+Roundhouse, Level 3 Air Catch Super(A2Gold, Z2A only)

There's a bunch of other combos that can done using the trick, but the examples should give you the idea. Also, it's possible to juggle with a CC after a HKD when you rebuild your meter.

Well, that's about all I have to report on the high knockdown trick. I hesitated to post all this, since A2 is such an old game, but figured someone may find it of interest. There's also another little CC trick I found that I was thinking of posting in the future, but this should be enough for now =).

Tier List

1996 USA:
1) Ken
2) Chun-Li
3) Rose
4) Ryu
5) Akuma
6) Adon
7) Sagat
8) Charlie
9) Rolento
10) M. Bison
11) Guy
12) Dhalsim
13) Sakura
14) Sodom
15) Zangief
16) Gen
17) Birdie
18) Dan

1996 Japan:
1) Chun-Li
2) Charlie
3) Rose
4) Adon
5) Birdie
6) Rolento
7) Guy
8) Dhalsim
9) M. Bison
10) Ryu
11) Ken
12) Sakura
13) Akuma
14) Sodom
15) Sagat
16) Zangief
17) Gen
18) Dan


Modern Tier List:
Top Tier
Chun-Li
Rose
Ken
Ryu

Second Tier
Zangief
Rolento
Sakura

Middle Tier
Akuma
Sodom
Charlie
M.Bison
Adon
Sagat
Dhalsim
Guy

Bottom Tier
Gen
Dan
Birdie

The Characters

• Adon
• Akuma
• Birdie
• Charlie
• Chun-Li
• Dan
• Dhalsim
• Gen
• Guy
• Ken
• M. Bison
• Rolento
• Rose
• Ryu
• Sagat
• Sakura
• Sodom
• Zangief