Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo/O. Blanka

Introduction

Blanka had arguably received a too strong nerf in Super Street Fighter II (SSF2). His appearance in Street Fighter II' Turbo (Japan)/Hyper Fighting (World/US, HF for short) was glorious: his attacks had great priority, specially his aerial kicks, and his added special attack, the Vertical Roll, greatly improved his combo potential and wake-up pressure. In SSF2, his crouching Roundhouse kick and Fierce punch were made slower, the aerial kicks' priority were greatly reduced, the Horizonal Roll received a longer recovery animation after the knockback on hit/block (which made it be unsafe on hit on various match-ups) and his Vertical Roll active hitboxes when he descends were completely absent. His electricity attack, whose official name is Electric Thunder, also had its attack boxes reduced for the Strong and Fierce versions. In return, he gained a backstep rolling attack that happens to be the absolute worst special move in the game.

Picking Old Blanka

To select O.Blanka, choose Blanka and then press → ← ← ← Jab/Fierce, pressing Short simultaneously with the punch button for the alternate color.

Normal	Secondary

--Born2SPD

Strengths

• Some pretty good air normals.
• Good reach.
• Two specials that come out instantly.
• Great range on his throw.
• Lowest crouch height, is able to crouch under a lot of attacks.
• Fast jump descent is useful for punishing fireballs/long moves.

Weaknesses

• Slow walk speed on the ground, wide standing/crouching hurtbox.
• Has to get in to do damage, and often lacks the tools to do so.
• Incredibly hard to neutral jump fireballs.
• Ball is unsafe in most matchups, even on hit.
• Some really unfavourable matchups.
• Many normals have bad priority and/or long recovery.

New & Old Versions Comparison

Here is the list of differences:

• Obvious stuff: O.Blanka can not tech throws, does not have the hops, slide and Super;
• O.Blanka has some differences in some of his normals:
  • Close Standing Jab can not be special canceled;
  • Far Standing Jab can not be special canceled;
  • Crouching Short can not be special canceled;
  • Crouching Forward can not be special canceled;
  • Diagonal Jumping Short has outstanding air to ground priority (can beat N.Shoto Shoryukens with the right timing) but does not has crossup properties (all in all a huge loss);
  • Diagonal Jumping Roundhouse hits slightly higher and can connect back to his thighs, but has less range and priority at his feet (which makes it worse overall);
• O.Blanka's electric attacks have no recovery while for N.Blanka they have a recovery animation, the only significant nerf that N.Blanka received;
• O.Blanka's Both Horizontal and Vertical Beast Rolls have a 50% of chance of being unblockable if it hits on the first frame;
• O.Blanka's Vertical Beast Rolls have a different arc and recovery animation: it tends to go more vertically and then pull horizontally back, whereas N.Blanka's travels farther horizontally and then drops straight down. It may be more safe but it is worse as a projectile avoiding tool, though on rare occasions it's useful to bait some attacks;

O.Blanka is a waste of time, really; he loses so much for a different vertical roll, a better lightning attack and a dj.Short that may have its uses but without having a cross-up a lot of match-ups which are already hard become almost impossible.

Moves Analysis

Disclaimer: To better understand the diagrams, read this.

Normal Moves

Ground Normals

• Close Standing Jab: (Base max activation range: 40)

Damage	14[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+2
Frame Count		2	2	2	4	2	2	1
Simplified		1 + 4		2	9

Blanka slaps his opponent. This is not a good move, favor cl.Strong instead. It is okay for ticking though. Does not has special cancel properties like N.Blanka's version, but for O.Blanka it would not made too much of a difference since he can not Hop.

• Far Standing Jab:

Damage	14[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-1
Frame Count		2	2	3	4	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 4		3	11

A slap that has good priority and does good damage for a Jab, but also has a slow recovery for this kind of move. N.Blanka can special cancel this move.

• Crouching Jab:

Damage	12[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+3
Frame Count		2	2	4	3	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 8			3	7

Some kind of fang attack. It has its uses, such as waiting for shotos to land from Tatsumakis.

• Close Standing Strong: (Base max activation range: 40)

Damage	20[0]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Frame Advantage	+11
Frame Count		2	4	2	1
Simplified		1 + 2	4	3

A great combo starter and tick move. This has really good recovery so you can link several moves after it. The downside is that you can not charge for specials since this would result in his command headbutt attack.

• Far Standing Strong:

Damage	20[0]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+9
Frame Count		3	2	2	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 5		2	7

This is an important anti-air against characters with bad priority aerial moves. It is very important against Zangief and Thunder Hawk.

• Crouching Strong:

Damage	20[0]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-2
Frame Count		3	3	3
Simplified		1 + 6		3

Frame Count	7	3	3	3	1
Simplified	17

Fang attack with decent range, but sort of slow. This can beat Boxer's Crouching Strong, if close enough.

• Close/Far Standing Fierce:

Damage	26[1]
Stun	10~16
Stun Timer	80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-3 / +1
Frame Count		3	3	4	3	10	7	1
Simplified		1 + 6		7		18

This can be used as anti-air and anti-cross-up from up close. It does good damage and stun, so it is also interesting after a successful cl.Strong punch.

• Crouching Fierce:

Damage	26[1]
Stun	10~16
Stun Timer	80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-2
Frame Count		4	4	6	10	7	1
Simplified		1 + 8		6	18

Blanka's long range crouching punch. It has good damage and stun, but relatively long start-up and mediocre priority.

• Close Standing Short: (Base max activation range: 43)

Damage	14[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-4
Frame Count		3	3	3	2	2	4
Simplified		1 + 13					4

Frame Count	3	3	3	3	1
Simplified	13

Horrible move.

• Far Standing Short:

Damage	14[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+2
Frame Count		2	2	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 6			4	7

Great spear kick: good range and awesome priority.

• Crouching Short:

Damage	12[0]
Stun	0~5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+2
Frame Count		2	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 4		4	7

A more safe version of cr.Forward but with less range. O.Blanka can not special cancel this move, only N.Blanka can.

• Close Standing Forward: (Base max activation range: 46)

Damage	22[0] + 22[0]
Stun	5~11 + 5~11
Stun Timer	60 + 60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-1 / +1(+0)
Frame Count		3	3	3	2	2	4
Simplified		1 + 11				2	4

Frame Count	3	3	3	3	1
Simplified	13

A double-hitting knee attack. Much better than cl.Short, but still worse than Blanka's headbutt.

• Far Standing Forward:

Damage	22[0]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+7
Frame Count		2	2	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 6			4	7

Some kind of acrobatic kick that can be used as a trade anti-air, but it is worse than far Strong punch.

• Crouching Forward:

Damage	20[0]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+7
Frame Count		2	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		1 + 4		4	7

This is a good attack. It can be linked into another cr.Forward or an Horizontal Roll. Only N.Blanka can special cancel this move, which hurts O.Blanka combo potential significantly.

• Close/Far Standing Roundhouse:

Damage	28[1]
Stun	10~16
Stun Timer	80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	-10 / -4
Frame Count		3	3	6	5
Simplified		1 + 6		11

Frame Count	5	5	5	5	1
Simplified	21

This can be used as anti-air and anti-cross-up. It can also be used after cl.Strong for a damaging combination.

• Crouching Roundhouse:

Damage	26[1]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	130
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Frame Advantage	+0
Frame Count		2	3	4	4	10	7	1
Simplified		1 + 9			4	18

Blanka turns his back to his opponent and performs a relatively long range sweep attack. This is a good move, but a bit slow.

Aerial Normals

• Neutral/Diagonal Jumping Jab:

Damage	14[1]
Stun	1~7(-2)
Stun Timer	40
Frame Count		2	3	20	3	∞
Simplified		5		20	∞

A pretty great move in some situations. Amazing air to air priority, and ok range in general.

• Neutral Jumping Strong:

Damage	24[1]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	50(+10)
Frame Count		2	3	12	3	∞
Simplified		5		12	∞

May sometimes be favoured over nj lp due to different hitbox arrangements. Still a decent defensive move.

• Diagonal Jumping Strong:

Damage	24[1]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	50(+10)
Frame Count		2	3	12	3	∞
Simplified		5		12	∞

Overall this is not a good move, and seems to have no noticable use, j lp outclasses it.

• Neutral Jumping Fierce:

Damage	30[1]
Stun	11~17(-1)
Stun Timer	60(+20)
Frame Count		1	3	3	6	3	3	∞
Simplified		1	3	∞

A great move thanks to the priority, range, and speed all being incredible. Can be a good counter to moves like headstomps and walldives, and a good counter in general if you can react well with it.

• Diagonal Jumping Fierce:

Damage	30[1]
Stun	3~9
Stun Timer	40
Frame Count		2	3	6	∞
Simplified		5		6	∞

Excellent priority air to ground and hits very low. It hits so low that it can beat N.Shoto's Crouching Roundhouse everytime, if timed right. The only downside of this move is that it has nerfed stun potential, similar to Shoto's Diagonal Jumping Heavy attacks.

• Neutral Jumping Short:

Damage	16[1]
Stun	1~7(-2)
Stun Timer	40
Frame Count		2	3	20	3	∞
Simplified		5		20	∞

Amazing defensive move, some characters that lack a fireball may struggle to punish this from far away.

• Diagonal Jumping Short:

Damage	16[1]
Stun	1~7(-2)
Stun Timer	40
Frame Count		2	3	20	3	∞
Simplified		5		20	∞

Canoot cross up like N.Blanka's, but the priority is much better. From far away few characters can deal with it.

• Neutral Jumping Forward:

Damage	24[1]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	50(+10)
Frame Count		2	3	12	3	∞
Simplified		5		12	∞

Has deceptively long range.

• Diagonal Jumping Forward:

Damage	24[1]
Stun	5~11
Stun Timer	50(+10)
Frame Count		2	3	12	3	∞
Simplified		5		12	∞

Individually, this move is ok, however j lk is usually favoured, though this move still has good reach.

• Neutral Jumping Roundhouse:

Damage	30[1]
Stun	11~17(-1)
Stun Timer	60(+20)
Frame Count		2	3	6	3	∞
Simplified		5		6	∞

Nerfed a lot from cps1, but still has its uses, good range and damage.

• Diagonal Jumping Roundhouse:

Damage	30[1]
Stun	11~17(-1)
Stun Timer	60(+20)
Frame Count		3	4	6	3	∞
Simplified		7		6	∞

Blanka covers a deceptive amount of range with this move. Even though the hitbox is toned down from the CPS1 iterations of Blanka it is still a key jumpin that can catch people off guard, especially if they are crouching.

Command Normals

• Rock Crush a.k.a. Headbutt: (On ground and close, ←/↖/↑/↗/→ + Strong. Base max activation range: 40)

Damage	18[0] + 18[0]
Stun	5~11 + 5~11
Stun Timer	60 + 60
Special Cancel	Yes / No / No
Frame Advantage	-4 / -0 / +3(+2)
Frame Count		1	2	4	3	2
Simplified		1 + 3		7		2

Frame Count	5	4	3	1
Simplified	13

An interesting move, the first hit can be cancelled into ball for a combo ender, or can cancel into hop for pressure. The other hits must be crouch blocked.

Throws

• Wild Fang a.k.a. Bite: (←/↖/↑/↗/→ + Fierce)

Damage		26 + 4*n
Set amount of hits		7
Holds do no stun
Range	(from axis)	64
(from throwable box)		34

This is one of Blanka's most important attacks. Since Blanka has no overhead, cross-ups or reliable ways to deliver chip damage, he needs his long range bite hold to crack the enemy's defense. The first bite deals 26 points of damage (28 if behind in rounds) and the other ones do 4 points each.

Special Moves

• Electric Thunder: (Press P five times in quick succession)

Detailed Input: (The maximum time between each input is 15/12/9f (Jab/Strong/Fierce). Every P input of the same strenght is added to the input counter and everytime the counter is updated the timer is also reseted to its maximum value. The timer is decremented each frame. If the timer reaches 0, the counter is reseted to 0. To get the move out, first you need 5+ inputs within the required frequency, then the move will come out on the 5th or later P input that is within that frequency and is also entered during a moment in which a special move can come out i.e. with no move out or during a normal move startup frames so it can come out as a kara cancel)

	Jab	Strong	Fierce
Damage	26[2]	28[2]	30[2]
Stun	9~15
Stun Timer	100
Frame Count (Jab)				3	52+
Frame Count (Strong)				5	34+
Frame Count (Fierce)				7	25+

Doesn't come into play often because it's hard to score a hit with it. If that happens though, Blanka gets a TON of offense off a hit or trade with electricity, assuming the player is holding a back-charge to start shenanigans after connecting with this move. O.Blanka recovers instantly from this attack, but he defaults to crouching position.

• Horizontal Beast Roll: (Charge ←, → P)

Detailed Input: (Charge ←/↙/↖ for at least 60f, [7~14f] → [10/9/7f] Jab/Strong/Fierce. It is needed to wait at least 1 frame after leaving the charge direction to enter with the P button)

	Jab	Strong	Fierce
Damage	28[3]	30[3]	32[3]
Stun	9~15
Stun Timer	100
Frame Advantage	-23	-24	-25
Frame Count (Jab)				25	1	2	2
Simplified (Jab)				25	5
Frame Count (Strong)				25	1	2	3
Simplified (Strong)				25	6
Frame Count (Fierce)				60	1	2	4
Simplified (Fierce)				60	7

O.Blanka can use this as a semi unblockable similar to old shoto air tatsu. Make sure it hits on the first active frame, and on the correct side, there is a 50/50 chance their block will fail. Though this doesn't mean a whole lot since many characters can punish you afterwards.

• Knockback:

Frame Count (Jab)	40	1	2	2
Simplified (Jab)	40	5
Frame Count (Strong)	40	1	2	3
Simplified (Strong)	40	6
Frame Count (Fierce)	40	1	2	4
Simplified (Fierce)	40	7

Has some good qualities, but is usually not too useful as it is quite unsafe. Has instant startup, but has no invincibility, it will beat ground throws/command grabs though. The poor priority allows characters to jab you out of it with ease. Here is some info of how it can be punished.

• Ryu - Fierce fireball
• Ken - safe
• Guile - safe
• Gief - safe
• Chun - super
• Dhalsim - st hp
• Blanka - fierce ball
• Honda - fierce headbutt
• DJ - Fierce fireball
• Cammy - drill
• Hawk - safe
• Fei - jab rekka (whiff)> fierce rekka (hit)> fierce rekka
• Boxer - any rush move, or super
• Dictator - fierce psycho, scissor kick, super
• Claw - walk up far hp/ cr mp
• Sagat - hk tiger

• Vertical Beast Roll: (Charge ↓, ↑ K)

Detailed Input: (Charge ↓/↙/↘ for at least 60f, [7~14f] ↑/↖/↗ [10/9/7/4f] Short/Forward/Roundhouse/any K if you are at a jumpable state. It is needed to wait at least 1 frame after leaving the charge direction to enter with the K button)

• Active:

	Short	Forward	Rh
Damage	26[2] / 28[2]	28[2] / 28[2]	30[2] / 30[2]
Stun	9~15
Stun Timer	100
Frame Count (Short)				21	12	3	4	4
Simplified (Short)				21	15		8
Frame Count (Forward)				23	12	3	4	4
Simplified (Forward)				23	15		8
Frame Count (Rh)				12	12	3	4	4
Simplified (Rh)				12	15		8

• Recovery:

Frame Count (Short)	4	4	4	2	1	2	4
Simplified (Short)	14				7
Frame Count (Forward)	4	4	4	4	1	2	5
Simplified (Forward)	16				8
Frame Count (Rh)	4	4	4	6	1	2	6
Simplified (Rh)	18				9

Old Blanka can use this to try a semi unblockable in the same fashion as horizontal ball. Suffers from the same issue as 99 times out of 100 they can punish you after it hits/gets blocked.

• Knockback:

Frame Count (Short)	40+	1	2	4
Simplified (Short)	40+	7
Frame Count (Forward)	40+	1	2	5
Simplified (Forward)	40+	8
Frame Count (Rh)	40+	1	2	6
Simplified (Rh)	40+	9

This is a very good anti-air and anti-cross-up move. The first damage value applies for the rolling part of the move, while the second value is the damage done by the aerial kick Blanka performs just before falling.

• Backstep Beast Roll: (Charge ←, → K)

Detailed Input: (Charge ←/↙/↖ for at least 60f, [7~14f] → [10/9/7f] Short/Forward/Roundhouse. It is needed to wait at least 1 frame after leaving the charge direction to enter with the K button)

• Startup:

Frame Count (Short)	2	4	2	3	5	5	2
Simplified (Short)	11				12
Frame Count (Forward)	1	3	1	3	5	5	3
Simplified (Forward)	8				13
Frame Count (Rh)	1	2	1	1	5	5	3
Simplified (Rh)	5				13

Frame Count (Short)	3	6	3	3	3	3
Simplified (Short)	12			9
Frame Count (Forward)	2	4	2	3	3	3
Simplified (Forward)	8			9
Frame Count (Rh)	1	2	1	3	3	3
Simplified (Rh)	4			9

• Active + Recovery:

	Short	Forward	Rh
Damage	(12[0] * 3) / 28[1]	(12[1] * 3) / 28[2]	(12[2] * 3) / 28[3]
Stun	(1~7 * 3) / 1~7
Stun Timer	(30 * 3) / 30
Frame Count (Short)				4	3	2	11	1	2	2
Simplified (Short)				4	3	13		5
Frame Count (Forward)				4	3	2	14	1	2	3
Simplified (Forward)				4	3	16		6
Frame Count (Rh)				4	3	2	16	1	2	4
Simplified (Rh)				4	3	18		7

• Knockback:

Frame Count (Short)	28+	1	2	2
Simplified (Short)	28+	5
Frame Count (Forward)	28+	1	2	3
Simplified (Forward)	28+	6
Frame Count (Rh)	28+	1	2	4
Simplified (Rh)	28+	7

This is a very bad move, in general. It has a too long start-up and a too slow active part. Finally, the recovery is not as good as one would expect for such a slow move.

Misc Animations

Jump Animations

• Prejump:

Frame Count (Neutral)	1	1	1	1
Simplified (Neutral)	4
Frame Count (Back)	1	1	1	1
Simplified (Back)	4
Frame Count (Forward)	1	1	1
Simplified (Forward)	3

• Neutral/Back Jump, Airborne + Landing:

Frame Count (Neutral)	1	10	4	4	6	4	4	6	1	7*
Simplified (Neutral)	1	38							1	7*
Frame Count (Back)	1	10	4	4	6	4	4	7	1	7*
Simplified (Back)	1	39							1	7*

• Forward Jump, Airborne + Landing:

Frame Count	1	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	1	7*
Simplified	1	38										1	7*

Blanka is the only character in the game that doesn't have the same prejump speed on all 3 forms of jumps. On his Neutral and Back Jumps, the prejump takes 4f to finish, which is considered slow. On his Forward Jump, it takes one frame less, so it's of average speed. With all that said, Blanka has the second quickest overall jump duration on the game (losing only to Claw's, draws with O.Sagat's).

The landing recovery has a special property which allows it to be canceled into certain actions. At the first landing frame, you can perform throws (including command throws), and on the second landing frame, you can start another jump, attack with a normal or special move, or block. Blocking not being until the second landing frame, as well as hitbox-hurtbox interactions having priority over throwbox-throw hurtbox is why sweeps work as anti airs in this game.
Things are different when jumping over your opponent, however. In that situation it's possible to walk back/forward, to jump again or to even block on the first landing frame! Strangely, if a throw is timed on the first landing frame of a jump that crosses over, a throwbox will never come out, even though that input will result in a normal coming out 2 frames later (like it normally would). Anyway, being able to block on the first landing frame can help a little bit on some safe jump crossup setups, or maybe in other situations as well if your character has a huge jump arc.

The Basics

Plain and simple, old Blanka sucks really badly. Normal Blanka already struggles a lot as is. There is nothing of value you gain, the j lk buff is sometimes nice, but not having a crossup really doesn't justify it. That said, other than j lk, and less cancels, he plays more or less the same as regular Blanka, so he should be used as such. (Basically, just use N.Blanka instead).