Fatal Fury 1/Joe

From SuperCombo Wiki

Introduction

Joe.png


Move List Showcase

Although Joe's place of origin is Japan, he spent the majority of his time in Thailand, where he trained in the art of Muay Thai. When Joe left Japan to travel abroad, that headband was given to him by his grandmother, so that no matter where he went, he would never forget his homeland. It was through his victories that he earned the nickname "Hurricane Upper" Joe Higashi. He seems to have a running gag of sorts where his legend is "just beginning" in his endings throughout the series.

After Joe earned his title as the Muay Thai champion, he heads to South Town to prove himself in the King of Fighters tournament. On his way, he spots Andy and Terry Bogard, who were on the hunt for their father's killer, Geese Howard. As soon as he informs them that Geese is hosting the tournament, they became steadfast companions. In the tournament, he met with a bitter Hwa Jai and was able to defeat him. After this, they eventually became friends and rivals back in Thailand.

Joe got probably the shortest stick with Fatal Fury 1 in terms of kit design, but he isn't without his strengths. Slide allows for Joe to completely duck under and bypass certain moves, or in general perform a great get off me attack that is difficult to punish. It also allows him to slide under jump in attempts and then punish the opponent behind them, and since it's fast, he can chain a few in a row for solid pressure. His hurricane upper fireball is nothing special for zoning. It's mainly good at gating the opponent from jumping over it as opposed to fighting for space. If it's too close, then the opponent will get knocked back by the height of its hitbox and receive damage for it. In fireball wars, it's nothing special, but good enough for Joe to use it. It's very slightly better outside of Japan thanks to being a 236 motion, but if you're used to the input interpreter, it's a tiny difference at best. His buttons are otherwise decently long, and his jump kick attack is his best jump in with a good angle and okay hitbox, but it lacks range. Past those good points, Joe's specials aren't very good. His slash kick is a fine punish tool but has a huge gap below it and a pretty small hitbox to boot, making it more committal, especially in Japan where it's a charge move. Other versions changed it to a 214 motion, making it a lot easier to rely on... but in turn he also loses his DP as compensation. Rather than slash kick being the charge move, western inputs changed his tiger kick to be the charge move instead. It isn't used much and seems questionable as an attack, but nonetheless complicates Joe's design. TNT Punch may as well be non-existent since it does practically nothing for him. There are possible advantages Joe has over Andy and Terry when you remove Zaneiken from the equation, and his slide is a genuinely great point of his. It is worth keeping in mind, however, that it's possible Joe slighlty loses the matchup against Terry, if nothing else because his attacks are more committal, though it also shouldn't be a big deficit, either.

Move List

cl.A

cl.Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
st.A

st.Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
cr.A

cr.Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - +7~+10 -
While Jumping A

While Jumping Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
While Falling A

While Falling Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
dj.A

dj.Kof.lp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
cl.B

cl.Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
st.B

st.Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
cr.B

cr.Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - +7~+10 -
While Jumping B

While Jumping Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
While Falling B

While Falling Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
dj.B

dj.Kof.lk.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
Throw

Kof.sp.png
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
Hurricane Upper

Hurricane Upper
Japan: 41236A
US: 236A
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
Slash Kick

Slash Kick
Japan: [1]~9B
US: 214B
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
Tiger Kick

Tiger Kick
Japan: 2369B
US: [1]~9B
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -
TNT Punch

TNT Punch
Mash A
Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Advantage Block Advantage
- Mid - - - - - -

Game Navigation

General/Characters (Arcade)
FAQ
System
Andy
Joe
Terry