Combo (video games)

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Liu Kang after performing a 7-hit combo on Scorpion in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
Liu Kang after performing a 7-hit combo on Scorpion in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

In video games, a combo (short for combination) is a term that designates a set of actions performed in sequence, usually with strict timing limitations, that yield a significant benefit or advantage. The term originates from fighting games where it is based upon the concept of a striking combination. It has been since applied more generally to everything from puzzle games and shoot 'em ups to sports games. Combos are either used as an essential gameplay element (more commonly), or used merely as a high score or attack power modifier, not explicitly necessary for victory or survival.

In fighting games, combo specifically indicates a timed sequence of moves which produce a cohesive series of hits. The combo requires that an initial hit connects. This hit is then followed by an often predetermined sequence of other hits, each of which leaves the opponent unable or almost unable to block or otherwise avoid the following hit(s) in the sequence. Depending on the game design, a combo can have a final, sometimes special, hit or be infinite, limited only by the player's skill, patience or finger dexterity. In some cases, each additional hit has an increasing negative modifier, in order to balance gameplay, for example SNK's The Last Blade or Sammy's Guilty Gear series.

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[edit] History

The combo (or 2-1 combo) notion was introduced with the fighting game Street Fighter II from Capcom, when skilled players learned that they could combine several attacks that left no time for the computer player to recover,[1] if they timed them correctly. Combos were a design accident; lead producer Noritaka Funamizu noticed that extra strikes were possible during a bug check on the car-smashing bonus stage. He thought that the timing required was too difficult to make it a useful game feature, but left it in as a hidden one.[2] Combos have been since a design priority in almost all fighting games,[2] hardening significantly the learning curve of fighting games. The first game to count the hits of each combo, and reward the player for performing them, was Super Street Fighter II.

[edit] Types of combo

[edit] 2-1 combo

A 2-1 combo (an abbreviation for two-in-one combo) or an interrupt combo is a combo which takes advantage of the fact that after executing a "normal attack" in certain games, you are able to immediately execute a special attack faster than you would be able to execute another normal move.

[edit] Auto combo

The auto combo contrasts the Deadly Rave technique, in that unlike Deadly Rave which requires you to constantly input correct button sequence for a complete move, Auto Combo move will complete itself provided that the initial hit from the move connects (so if the initial strike misses or is blocked, the move will only do partial damage or fail completely). Another defining feature of an auto combo is that during its execution, the multiple hit count comes from the fact that multiple moves are used, or in other words, an auto combo consists of normal and/or special attacks packed into one. An auto combo is usually a super/desperation move, an example being Iori Yagami's Yaotome. Such autocombos are sometimes referred to as "ranbus", the name originating from the Japanese words often used in the names of the super moves that are autocombos and translating roughly to "violent/boisterous dance". In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, auto combos can be done by simply just holding down the standard attack button instead of tapping it repeatedly.

[edit] Chain combo

A chain combo is a combo or a part of a combo that only uses normal moves or command moves. Although chain combos allow for a reasonable degree of flexibility, some characters (generally large ones) are unable to use chain combos. In some fighting games (Mortal Kombat and Guilty Gear being prime examples), chain combos are an integral part of the game play, and are considered special moves.

Although 3D games have "chain combos" by this definition of the word, most players never refer to them as such, instead preferring to focus on strings which may have some sub-elements of chain combos within them but may have some non-comboing elements.

Sometimes fighting game fans only refer to a combo as a "chain combo" if it is within a game which has long and widespread examples of chain combos. For example, most Street Fighter fans described the chain combo system of Street Fighter Alpha as being discontinued in Street Fighter Alpha 2, even though Street Fighter Alpha 2 and other Street Fighter games still contain some combos which are only performed via normal attacks.

Alternative names for "chain combos" are: Dial-A-Combos, Target combos, Precanned strings, Canned strings. The latter two are generally misused (e.g. strings, by definition, are different from combos).

[edit] Super combo

Main article: Super (fighting games)
Ryu performing the hyper combo, the Shoryureppa (using Ken's powers) on Captain America in Marvel vs. Capcom (arcade emulator screenshot).
Ryu performing the hyper combo, the Shoryureppa (using Ken's powers) on Captain America in Marvel vs. Capcom (arcade emulator screenshot).

Super combos, sometimes simply referred to as Super Moves, are a more powerful and/or damaging type of special move, which usually (but not always) requires a full super combo gauge or available super stock. This term is usually only applied to Capcom games (particularly in the Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha series).

Super combos can either be auto combos, or chain combos. In the latter case, activating the super combo will usually make the character faster, enabling the chaining of moves that are usually too slow to be chained together.

Other names for super combos include Hyper Combo in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Overdrives in the Guilty Gear series and "Desperation Moves" in SNK games.

The super combo gauge shows stored power that can be used for executing super combos. It is also known as a super gauge or super meter (SNK games). The gauge charges up in different ways, most commonly by landing hits on the opponent.

There are many types of super combo gauges, including:

  • offensive gauge, where the gauge fills with execution of special moves (and fills faster if the move connects)
  • defensive gauge, where the gauge fills by defending attacks (and fills faster with protected blocks)
  • manual gauge, where the only way to fill the gauge is by performing a move (usually holding down a button) that leaves a player open to an attack

Similar moves are the limit breaks in the Final Fantasy series of RPG games.

[edit] Juggle Combo

A combo in which the victim is hit multiple times in midair. The move used to start the juggle is called a "launcher" or "floater." This was the second type of combo to ever appear in a fighting game, starting with Mortal Kombat.

In most games "juggle combos" are only considered valid combos if the victim remains stunned for the full duration of their time midair. Lighter characters are generally more susceptible to juggle combos, as less force is needed to keep then in the air. In the recent King of Fighters games, juggling is supported by another feature called "wire", in which a character is bounced off a wall and sent back, ready for follow-up attacks.

[edit] Air Combo

Similar to the Juggle Combo where the opponent is held up in the air by successive hits, the Air Combo differs because the character performing the combo does not remain standing on the ground, but rather uses the first hit of the combo (usually called the "launcher") to propel his opponent into the air and jumps in pursuit to continue hitting in close proximity throughout the duration of the jump. Those following hits will often give the opponent additional air momentum to keep being juggled longer, and lighter character who are less affected by gravity (such as Dhalsim from Street Fighter games or Spiral from X-men games) are often able to sustain longer air combos. Characters with the ability of sustained flight such as Magneto in Marvel vs Capcom 2 have been proven able to perform infinite air combos limited only by the player's skill, such as in this clip.

[edit] Combo Breaker

Not a combo in itself, a combo breaker is any move which prevents the successful execution of a full combination. In most games, any move which successfully strikes the opponent will become a "combo breaker", however, in some games a combo breaker is a specific move which prevents a combo, often doing additional damage for breaking the combo.[citation needed] In popular culture, the term "combo breaker" is used to refer to anything that disrupts the repetition of a theme or, in the case of imageboards, meme, sometimes simply being announced in itself with the exclamation "C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!", which clearly comes from where the term was first mentioned, the first Killer Instinct game.

[edit] Other uses

Chaining tricks together in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series gives the player bonus points and multipliers.
Chaining tricks together in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series gives the player bonus points and multipliers.

Many other types of video games include a combo system involving chains of tricks or other manoeuvers, usually in order to build up bonus points to obtain a high score. Examples include the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and the Crazy Taxi games. Combos are a main feature in many puzzle games, such as Columns, Snood and Magical Drop. Primarily they are used as a scoring device, but in the modes of play that are level-based, are used to more quickly gain levels. Shoot 'em ups have increasingly incorporated combo systems, such as in Ikaruga.

First-person shooter games can also have combo-like features (usually in deathmatch situations) such as the Unreal Tournament series in which kills happening successively in a short space of time result in a "Double Kill" or "Multi Kill".

Tecmo's Deception series uses combos in the form of traps. It's sequels such as Kagero: Deception II, Deception III, and T?APT(Kagero II: Dark Illusion), focus much on combinations from the traps you create depending on the Arks you earn.

[edit] Combos in computer and video game culture

Since combos have become an essential gameplay element, many players practice to create combos that are as long as possible. The average length of fighting combos has generally increased over time - whereas the average Street Fighter II combo was likely to be under 10 hits, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 typically featured greater than 99-hit combos.

Some critics contend that the tendency to create longer and more devastating combos has damaged the competitive gameplay in fighting games, as advanced players abuse programming flaws, such as the relaunches in games like Marvel Vs Capcom 2 to continuously juggle their opponent helplessly. The increasing complexity of combo systems, and the rules of fighting games in general, has been blamed by some for the decreasing popularity of arcade fighters since the early '90s.

[edit] Games with infinite combo possibilities

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1up.com - The Essential 50, Part 32: Street Fighter II
  2. ^ a b "The making of Streetfighter II" (2003). Edge presents Retro ('The Making of...' Special). 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links