New to Akuma, what should I train on?

[Kjell]

Hello everyone, I'm new to Akuma, and SF3 in general.
I've decided to try to learn Akuma atleast decently to see if he's a character for me, from what I've seen so far he seems rather bad ass (Haven't seen many vids, basically just Naz's from UK RB) still, one of few characters in SF3 I like.
So, what should I train on doing? Any special juggles, anything to link into supers etc? I don't need to learn the most advanced stuff right away, just some things to make me understand the most basic play of Akuma.

Oh, and how do I do that thing where Akuma grabs (I think?) the opponent, the screen goes white or black (Can't remember) and then Akuma just stands there with his back towards the camera and the sign on his back is glowing, saw Naz do this in the UK RB and it's badass. (Bare with the newbie questions, please, I know I'm a newbie so no need to point it out ;-))

Thankfull for answers~

[HarmoNaz]

Tell me tell me tell me - was I any inspiration to you choosing Akuma

Not sure where to start - try reading through all the threads here then start making a list of questions on what you dont understand or whatever, and I'll be happy to help

That move you are talking about is the Raging Demon You'll find more than enough information on that around here

[Kjell]

Originally Posted by HarmoNaz

Tell me tell me tell me - was I any inspiration to you choosing Akuma :bgrin:

Only if you learn me how to play him! ;-)

Regarding questions, well.. I'd just like to learn the basic combos and the basic playingstyle, Not really sure how to ask the questions, but do you have any usefull combos I *have* to learn and is there anything I should think about all the time whilst playing him? Just put yourself in my situation, new to the game and to the character - What would be the best to learn in the beggining?

[HarmoNaz]

Well, if you really want to make a start on Akuma, start off with mastering his basic combos.

What characters do you use for 3s at the moment? How long have you been playing 3s? What standard would you consider yourself at?

Here's a little test - let me know how well you can do the following combo:

jump towards opponent, down + mk (divekick), standing HP, mk hurricane (quarter circle back with mk), then mp dragon (forward, down, down forward + mp).

Its a hard combo, but if you can do it with about 30% accuracy, there's hope for you

[Kjell]

I've -just- started playing 3S and I haven't been playing much fighters before, so I am about as bad as one can get. The characters I've been playing a bit is Ken and Dudley, and as I said, my standard would be as low as it gets.

Regarding your combo, I can't do it at all, but I'll start training on it right away ;-)

[JackTenrac!]

Guess I'll watch here since I would like to improve my Gouki game.

Akuma's been my alter ego since he killed Bison. His style of play is shoto, but he is more offense oriented, and an evil grouch. In TS, he is not as beast, but in the course of his electronic lifespan, he always gets a new super or an improved set of moves in each SF III to date.

...that went well.

[HarmoNaz]

Gwaan bear - YOU are MY alter ego!!!!

Akuma is just the most badass videogame character ever. I'm sorry, no one compares.

SF2 is the classic, so no characters are more important Even E Honda is paid more than Heihachi Mishima
Do you remember the vibe everyone got when they first saw the opening intro to Super Turbo with those glimpses of Akuma? Do you remember the fear everyone had when Akuma would come on screen and kill Bison before proceeding to rip you a new one?
Gill, Rugal, Zero, Orochi, Shao Kahn - all pussies when Akuma grunts

[l337v1n337]

hurricane kick your heart out!

[DaDesiCanadian]

Since you're completely new to fighters, best thing to do would be to first learn all his moves. Then you need to filter out what moves are actually practical in game, and which ones should be used when.

In the beginning, learn some basic juggles, and combos. Know your normals well. Most beginners are special/super happy, but really, your normals are the best weapons you have. I don't play Akuma, so I can't help you there, but there are plenty of other threads that can ,take some time and browse through them. Akuma is simpler in one aspect that you don't have EX moves, so you can concentrate on saving meter, and deciding when to use your super.

He has a decent mixup game with his f, qcf, f, + K, and it's many variations. Know that he has good juggle potential after his hurricane kick.

Also Akuma is one of the few with more than one option for a super. What I mean is, that when you choose SAI, you're actually getting fireball super, air fireball super, raging demon, and the ground punch super.
BTW, Raging Demon is LP,LP,FWD ,LK,HP. There are some decent setups for it, but those will come later. Don't base your game around trying to land it. There are better options.
His ground fireball super is absurdly easy to combo into. You can do it off almost every normal, and from a fireball, or c.lk x 2.

That's pretty much all i can help you out wiht, good luck

P.S. If you want to start taking fighters seriously, honestly forget about the storyline. Just because a character is good in the story doesn't mean he's good in the game. Find a character that's not shit tier, and who fits your playstyle.

[Kjell]

Thanks for the answers guys, it's appriciated. One thing I've noticed is that if I'm playing someone who's completely shit, I can just own them with Dudley (Since they can't parry my j. roundhouse -> super etc) but when I play people who are better, but still really poor, I do better with like Ken, just jumping around throwing out some hurricane kicks or so .. So basically I guess I have an easier time playing better (Still not anywhere near good though) with Ken. What sucks about that is that I don't really like the guy.

And DaDesiCanadian, I don't play the characters because of the storylines, I play them because they're badass basically. Dudley has a few things about him I don't like, but he's a boxer fighting karate chinamens, which is cool. Akuma's simply a deamon and that's appealing. Regarding them fitting my playstyle, I don't even think I have a playstyle yet, I know I jump around alot which is a bad habit, and especially with Dudley gets you killed within seconds.

[Just_D_it]

Akuma is not a demon! He is human! Possesed by satsu no hadou! Man, just look through some of this videos and u'll be able to ask proper questions. Keep an eye on "A-cho Akuma", this is how the true Gouki must be played

[FOBio]

since this thread is already made, i guess i'll ask a question too...

with akuma i basically rush down and try to do various throws. make the opponent block a few shorts then normal throw, i probably use his demon flip (is that what it's called?) throw way more often then need to, but the guys i usually play with can't find a way to really punish me most of the time. for combos it usually ends up with ground hurricane kick into shoryuken and/or super.

i'm just wondering if this is a decent strategy. what moves are "abusable" and what can lead from it? i try the dive kick, but i'm not too great with it. do people use the punch attack thing after the demon flip?

[HarmoNaz]

Demon flip is very easy to anti air since its just an empty jump. If you're abusing the throw from it, your opponents are obviously not adapting.

The idea is to make them try and anti air when they think you're going for grab. A dive kick at this time is useful. After this they may try to start parrying your dive kicks which is when you mix up your timings.

Use the punch version if you think they're ready to block the sweep low, since the punch version is a very strong overhead.

Hurricanes are abusable. mk and hk versions. Not on all characters - play around with it and see what works for you

[Shadowstep]

Preach that knowledge Harm then tell them to come see me about a few tricky raging demon setups

[l337v1n337]

if youre new to akuma, i highly suggest you train with demon setups last.. or atleast make sure your general game is pretty solid first. The mistake a lot of people make is that they learn how to do the demon on like the first day itself and then try to demon every game like idiots and just end up wasting valuable meter with absolutely no real setups. Play a lot with akuma, learn how your meter builds up, use short short supers and stuff and get all of that down. Later on, learn demon setups and its over

hurricanes: as i said earlier, hurricane your heart out. however, hurricane kicks are NOT safe. It is only safe on urien i believe. But for everyone else, its punishable. Most characters should be able to super right after. Its not that easy to punish though.. its what.. 2 frame start up or something? So basically RH hurricane, and RH hurricane again right after. that kind of spam sometimes saves you.. but people CAN super in between those.
also, in general.. lot of people go for low forward into short hurricane, which goes into the bnb combo.. but if you want to play safe, its not wise to through this out a lot unless its punishing something or youre playing urien. I believe its a lot easier to punish a short hurricane then a roundhouse one.

[FOBio]

thanks for your help. i am (slowly) getting better with akuma, but it's still difficult.

[JackTenrac!]

Love that footwork in HarmoNaz vs. Peaceman vid. III. The rushdown to calmness was a good switch also. Those sweepers seem to give you trouble, but the back Teleport in the corner to set up for a Masatassu Gou Hadou was a nice move. Makes me want to go back to using his SA I.

Still can't kara throw, btw. I am getting a bit more aggressive, but to cool it down the way Harm does it...that seems to be trouble for Bear.

Any suggestions?

..* watched the A Cho vid, comes back*

HarmoNaz whom? I keed I keed.

...that went well.

[l337v1n337]

kara grab.. well just think of it as if youre pressing f+jab+short+strong.. except you have a twitch in your finger that causes a millisecond delay for the throw input. well ok i dont know exactly how long it is, but start with the smallest possible delay you can. f+strong throw. The way to know you have it down pat (and not just doing a regular throw while holding F) is to hear a grunt (the grunt he would normally throw out after a f+strong which isnt there for a normal throw)

[HarmoNaz]

Originally Posted by Bear Ryoma

Love that footwork in HarmoNaz vs. Peaceman vid. III. The rushdown to calmness was a good switch also. Those sweepers seem to give you trouble, but the back Teleport in the corner to set up for a Masatassu Gou Hadou was a nice move. Makes me want to go back to using his SA I.
HarmoNaz whom? I keed I keed.

...that went well.

SA1 is his most useful super and the other two dont even compare. That vid is quite old though, haven't you seen the more recent video of me playing Peaceman in the finals of the last UK ranking battle?

I keed?

[JackTenrac!]

Originally Posted by HarmoNaz

snippin it up
I keed?

I keed
http://www.triumphtheinsultcomicdog.com/

It's really, I am kidding.

Where's that video and is Peaceman a rival of yours? and why does he keep getting owned by you if that's the case?

I agree on the SA I comment. Quite useful and holds an extra super, giving Gouki 4 supers on SA I alone( Massatsu Gou Zanku and Massatsu Gou Hadou).

I don't have a rival yet.


...that went well.

[HarmoNaz]

Peaceman is one of UK's old skool Ken players and indeed one of my main rivals. And he does NOT get owned by me - I'll post the vids I talked about where I lose to him 3-1 in the finals.
Also check out
hosted.filefront.com/RankingBattles
where there are casual vids of our main players on arcade cabinets, and a few games of me playing against Peaceman. Bear in mind that I'm not (neither are most of the other guys) very used to those arcade sticks

[JackTenrac!]

Originally Posted by HarmoNaz

Peaceman is one of UK's old skool Ken players and indeed one of my main rivals. And he does NOT get owned by me - I'll post the vids I talked about where I lose to him 3-1 in the finals.
Also check out
hosted.filefront.com/RankingBattles
where there are casual vids of our main players on arcade cabinets, and a few games of me playing against Peaceman. Bear in mind that I'm not (neither are most of the other guys) very used to those arcade sticks

Sorry. The first few games looked that way. I apologize for the assumption.

btw: you guys should really look into fixing the links page for your site. You chose to relative link outside links instead of absolute linking them( i.e. hadoken.org is http://www.rankingbattles.co.uk/www.hadoken.org now). Because of this, the site generates errors on sending people to their desired destination.

...that went well.

[JackTenrac!]

Is Normal Lvl 8 training not a good idea?

...that went well.

[HarmoNaz]

I'll mention that to the site admin

Heres something I just found in the general strategy section and found it incredibly enlightening. I'll post it in anyways:

umm.. hi Dime_x here... ive been playing sf since ww first came out. i think i might be able 2 help u dude cuz i went through the same thing u are. first let me saythat ALOT OF THIS IS GOING 2 BE THEORY FIGHTER. second, i'm a scrub. well at least i was till i started pioneering a new wayof thinking of my game. i had the same probs as u, i poked but had no idea why i was poking, i would lose and not know why i lost other than he hit me more than i hit him. my problem was i couldnt learn just by playing cuz i couldnt remember everything that happenedexactly as it happened so i had no idea of what patterns i was using or how 2 change them. in short iwas random and it got me used as a punching bag. sound familiar??? i think so.


what i needed was video of myself playing so i could break my style down. but i dont have a camera. so that option was out. then i came across a remarkable idea: study vids of daigo and other top japs,then if i could find any patterns in there game i'd likely find something similar in mine.

iwas right.


first of all let me say that i define MOVEMENT in my patterns as well as attacking.its all the same 2 me. let me ask u a question: canu define the difference between offensive zoning and defensive zoning??? i mean can u tell me or anybody else in concrete terms the actual things u do??? there very different and knowing one from the other gives u EXTREMELY valuable info about your opponent. heres the definitions of them both from my point of view. offensive zoning:is where u zone MAINLY at the range where u can land w/e your primary poke is. defensive zoning: is where u uzone MAINLY just outside of your opponents primary poking range 2 bait a wiff. the differences are subtle yet extreme. while i was watching daigo play i noticed a fairly distinct pattern that alot of japs as wellas valle (2 a lesser extent) use, they abuse the hell out of defensive zoning. but its very subtle which is why few people catch on. it is also the basis of what i think is 1 of the most least understood techniques in all fighting games: 2s.a.s. ( more on this later)


let me tell u something, which help u out in many facets in life not just in fighting games. "if u wanna learn something DONT ask a prodigy" the reason why??? cuz they dont fukkin know thats why. they just feel it. if u wanna learn something learn it from the guy who was crap at what youre trying 2 do but through sheer maniacal perseverance he's mastered it. cuz he's already been down the road your travelin he can tell u how 2avoid the mistakes he' made and SAVE YOUR ASS SOME TIME!!! dude experts and scrubs dont play the same game. they travel different paths. that havin been said what would an expert say 2 u if u were 2 ask him : how do i know when somebody is gonna jump at me??? he'll say all u gotta do is get more experienceplay more and youll "figure out " etc. well that aint my answer my answer is teh fukkin TRUTH! youll know when some bodys gonna jump at you cuz:youve been telling them 2. yep its that simple NO ONE randomly jumps they do it cuz they think youre gonna leave yourself open 2 one. an example does well here: lets say im dhalsim vs. blanka, ive just standing stronged you 4 times in a row... welll lets see is there a braindead easy counter 2 my strat?? yes. jump over my PREDICTED strong and combo my ass. gg no re.ive gotten a bit off of subject srry.


about 2s.a.s. : 2 second attack sequence.

this si the foundation of most high level expert play in most fighting games. not just 2d fighters. an example once again is prime here: im ken versus gen on a3 (alpha 3) i jump in crossup mk (blocked) i then launch into uber scrub poke "combo" namely:cr.lk cr.lp cr.mkxxhado (blocked) well what do i do now?? i have pretty much my entire move list 2 choose from but so does gen so how do i figure out what hes gonna do and then counter it??? first ive played against this gen as well others before so he doesnt actually have his entire movelist at his disposal second he has consistently done 1 of 5 or 6 things after blocking my "SCRUB string" 1.IMMEDIATELY jump at me or 2. zone me for approx. 2secs then stick out standing forward trying 2 make contact.(im leaving out the other things he con do cuz they arent relevant to the point i'm discussing) so ne ways i see him walking back and forth just out outside of my sweep range after approx. 2 secs I KNOW he's gonna try 2 make contact with something so I
dp that shit!!!! thats the power of good 2s.a.s. skills it literally tells u what your opponent is gonna do and better yet WHEN theyll do it.


oh and just in case anybody missed it i just catalogued and defined the infamous "PSYCHIC DP" and EXACTLY how its done!!! what expert ever did that 4 anyone? dime_x is the fukkin TRUTH lol. jk.

kinda.



oh and heres a disclaimer: i aint sying that im the only person who knows this but i am saying that that i would like credit where its due ie. as im the only person who has ever defined 2s.a.s. and then taught it.( i was SERIOUSLY gonna keep this 2 myself)

2.if u dont beleive me dont do it.(this goes 4 everyone)



3 i know the ramifications of this and how it can change a scrubs game into something SOLID im doing this 4 the betterment of the fgc (WE need more and better players period).


4 i cant type 4 shit, like 5 wpm or something. so most replies will be brief.


5. ill post more on 2 s.a.s. and other things ONLY if people ask( it took me like 3 freakin hours 2 type this!!!!) lol


ill reply 2 both positive and nagative feedback AS LONG AS IT IS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.



one love 2 the fgc dime out

[Ludo]

Harmo -- Thanks for that!

I'm an Alex player trying to expand my horizons, to play a little Akuma. I started playing 3-4 months ago and due to wasting a tooooon of cash in the local arcade, I think I'm progressing pretty fast. I think Alex is a fairly easy character to play, as far as there are no real combos, besides the knee into everything, and jumping fierce into knee ex'd slash. I'm still not good but I've eliminated atleast one letter in Scrub, I'm officialy a crub. So the thing is, I just got a stick at home which doesn't have a competition stick in it yet, and I can't combo Mk. hurrican into Mp. Uppercut. Any suggestions?