Set for release on June 24, 2022, Capcom Fighting Collection is a new gaming compilation featuring the company’s most celebrated fight games released between 1994 and 2003. Of the ten retro fight games featured, Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition will be included, giving fans of the premiere fighting series a chance to revisit the game and defeat enemies using the best attack combos on record.
In Street Fighter parlance, combos are defined as a series of consecutive hits achieved by hitting a quick combination of buttons, many of which can be used to unlock a ferocious and highly devastating attack. While fans have come to know some of the more basic attack combos like Guile’s Sonic Boom or Ken & Ryu’s Hurricane Kicks, the best of the bunch tends to be far more devastating.
Ken & Ryu’s Hadoken
Anyone who has played a highly-acclaimed Street Fighter game for five minutes is aware of the blue fireball known as the Hadoken, Ken, and Ryu’s trademark attack combo that has become so popular that other fighting games that feature the character have used the technique. Easy to use and highly effective against nearly all attacks, the Hadoken is nearly synonymous with Street Fighter.
By simply moving the direction pad a quarter-circle forward while tapping the punch button, Ken and Ryu can control the AoE by firing a blistering ball of energy that delivers deadly damage. With multiple evolved variants of the Hadoken added to the series over time, it’s the single-most iconic attack combo in series history.
Ken & Ryu’s Shoryuken
The only other attack combo more famous than the highly-acclaimed fighting game‘s Hadoken is Ken and Ryu’s brutal Shoryuken melee move. By moving the direction pad in a Z-pattern while taping the punch button, Ken or Ryu will strike foes with a crushing combo that starts with a fierce kick to the head and ends with a jaw-breaking uppercut and a knee kick that sends enemies flying through the air. If landed, all three combo hits will waylay an enemy without fail.
Also known as the Dragon Punch or Rising Dragon Fist, the combo is so lethal that in the game’s narrative, it’s forbidden as an assassination technique that should only be used as a last resort. The Shoryuken has become so notorious that Tekken, Super Smash Bros., and others have appropriated it.
Chun-Li’s Lightning Legs
While Chun-Li’s Spinning Bird Kick is hard to beat, nothing tops her trademark Hyakuretsukyaku combo, better known as the Lightning Legs special move. However, in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and many games since, Chun-Li’s Super Combo includes the Senretsukyaku, which increases and diversifies the power of the iconic rapid kick attack. The sheer speed and ferocity of the combo are hard to deal with.
While the input functions vary from game to game, every version of Chun-Li’s Super Combo uses a form of her Lightning Legs technique, allowing her to dodge projectile attacks unharmed and deliver massive mid-to-close range damage.
Dudley’s Machinegun Blow
Dudley is a brutal boxing expert who can deliver an explosive punching combination with the raw power of a devastating assault rifle. Known as the Machinegun Blow, Dudley uses superhuman speed to rapidly approach an enemy and superhuman strength to stun them with a vicious hyperkinetic series of jabs to the head before delivering a knockout uppercut.
In the EX Special version of Street Fighter III, the combo is elongated to cover the entire screen by including seven deadly punches before landing the uppercut. As such, the attack combo is ideal for quick strikes in CQC.
Zangief’s Spinning Piledriver
The mighty Zangief is normally so slow and plodding that his moves become predictable. However, when he unleashes his iconic Spinning Piledriver, every Street Fighter fan knows how punishing the attack combo can be.
By pressing the punch button while moving the direction pad in a full circle (in either direction), Zangief will pick up his enemies, cling tightly, and slam them into the ground at full force to deliver maximum damage on impact, making him an unfairly hard boss to fight. The combo has become so notorious that it’s been used in other fighting games, including Final Fight Revenge.
Ibuki’s Neckbreaker
One of the swiftest of deadly attack combos in Street Fighter lore includes Ibuki’s Neckbreaker move. Known for her immense speed and agility, the ninja warrior can rapidly slide toward an opponent and abruptly snap their neck like a twig before they can even know what’s happening. Those facing Ibuki will need to be on guard with a defensive game plan, or else it’s game over.
The attack combo entails sliding under an enemy’s feet and quickly latching on to their throat from behind, breaking their neck in one fell swoop that does not waste motion or energy.
M. Bison Psycho Crusher
No matter what game he appears in, the powerful Street Fighter villain M. Bison will always use his signature Psycho Crusher attack combo. By charging backward, hitting forward, and hitting the punch button at the same time, the final boss will fly toward a foe like a flame-wrapped torpedo and literally crush them into a smoldering pile of ash. Nobody wants to face such a gnarly assault.
Part of the attack’s lethality comes from Bison’s status as the ultimate boss in the game, requiring an increased difficulty level for the protagonist to defeat and conquer the game in totality. Even when opponents attempt to block the Psycho Crusher, Bison can redirect the attack to hit foes from behind, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
Cody’s Last Dread Dust
While Cody’s Criminal Upper is pretty hardcore, his ultra combo attack in Super Street Fighter IV ups the ante considerably. By pressing all three punch buttons in conjunction with two backward half-circles, Cody will activate the Last Dread Dust, which shoots a cloud of dust at his foes and allows him to bash them to near-death with a pipe and wrench.
Unthinkably violent, the attack combo aligns with Cody’s background as a street brawler rather than a formal strained martial artist. The first part of the attack entails attacking a foe four times with a wrench before delivering a high-flying uppercut. If all goes well, Cody will then pull out a metal pipe and hit them in the back and make them crash face-first into a wall. Truly savage!
Sagat’s Tiger Genocide
While most gamers are well aware of Sagat’s Tiger Uppercut move, there’s something far more deadly about his Tiger Genocide super combo. By pressing kick along with performing two forward half-circles, Sagat will blast enemies with a forceful knee to the gut then follow with the punishing Tiger Uppercut that instantly sends them to the ground and depletes a huge amount of health.
Much like Bison, Sagat’s reign as the penultimate baddy requires a certain difficulty level in defeating his best combo attacks, but it’s the versatility the combo provides that is so valuable. Tiger Genocide can be used as an anti-air technique, a punishing offensive move, or a combo-ender, almost always leading to one of the craziest Capcom boss fights.
Balrog’s Crazy Buffalo
Also known as The Ultimate Wild Smash, Balrog’s Crazy Buffalo super attack combo allows the brash boxer to rush forward and deliver five brutal rapid-fire punches with immense force before a foe knows what hit them. The purely offensive attack is efficient as can be.
What makes the combo attack so effective is how, depending on the input commands, different punch types will lead to an endless permutation of strikes. For instance, holding the kick button during the combo will result in uppercuts. Even if some of the punches fail to land, the variability and brute force of each hit make for a wildly effective attack combo.
