Fighting In The Street

by sweep

I'm still waiting for Street Fighter 4 . That's about all that's going on in my life right now. I continue to play Gears 2 regularly with whoever is online, big shout-outs to Discorsi, Tanuki, Brukaoru and EasyBoss . But Street Fighter is pretty central on my list of priorities - to the extent that is has completely overshadowed The Lost & Damned. Considering GTA4 is as Game Of The Year-ish as...

I'm still waiting for Street Fighter 4. That's about all that's going on in my life right now. I continue to play Gears 2 regularly with whoever is online, big shout-outs to Discorsi, Tanuki, Brukaoru and EasyBoss. But Street Fighter is pretty central on my list of priorities - to the extent that is has completely overshadowed The Lost & Damned. Considering GTA4 is as Game Of The Year-ish as I am ever likely to conclude, that clocks quite a high amount of eager anticipation on the Sweep Calendar.

I had an epic street fighter 2 HD fight the other day on XBLA. I was playing as Chun-Li in a ranked online match against a Ryu. The first round did not end well. Ryu's basic combination of fireball, shoryuken - (rinse & repeat) was not doing me any favours. My aerial attacks were all countered with lethal timing. I'm ashamed to admit the first round I conceded a perfect defeat. The second round looked like it was going the same way, my acrobatics failing to impress or impose even a sliver of damage. I managed to get a few lucky hits in where my opponent screwed up his shoryukens, but I was largely trashed by a savage barrage of fireballs. Chun-Li's charge time on her projectile simply isn't fast enough to compete. The second round ended with my opponent launching a robotic special attack and my corpse being flung to the far edge of the screen.

If anything I pride myself on a grim stubborn resilience. The third round started with a spectacularly choreographed bout of blocking and counter attacking. I managed to rally up a Spinning Bird kick which seems to completely fluster my opponent as he then seemed to forget how to cast fireballs, opting instead to attack with aerial punches. Silly Ryu. Street Fighter veterans will know Chun Li is easily superior at mid-air fisticuffs and I sent Ryu crashing down to earth faster than gravity would perceive possible.
The fourth round was relentless. I barraged Ryu with some of the most lethal kick combinations that Chun-Li could muster. His health bar plummeted, all sense of composure vanquished. The count shot up to 2 wins each.

This, as any Fighting Guru knows, is when it gets interesting. Both players are ultra tense having found a worthy adversary, both with a grim understanding of the trials that lie ahead and a tension that comes with the uncertainty of victory. The final deciding round begun, we both tentatively launched projectile attacks then quickly retreated to our respective corners of the screen. We each stood motionless for a moment, then I launched Chun-Li backwards against the flat wall of the screen, at the peak rebounding myself forward to gain maximum height and distance. Ryu had misinterpreted my jump and sent a fireball flying towards the bottom corner of the screen several virtual feet below my outstretched leg, which proceeded to stamp a hefty footprint onto his clean-shaven jaw. A low sweep tripped Ryu and a barrage of the X button flashed Chun-Li's legs into a blur of sadistic pain. Ryu fell, crumpled, only to rise groggily with stars spinning lazily around his head. A heavy throw into the center of the screen crushed another large chunk of his rapidly diminishing health points. He arose, however, in a fury. A Hurricane Kick and a heavy Dragon Punch was unexpectedly landed upon my fatal female avatar. Surprised, I attempted to retreat, only to find myself being attacked with a rapid series of low leg kicks which completely disorientated my blocking. In desperation I attempted my special attack which was harmlessly avoided. Both health bars were incredibly low, and the countdown timer was in the last 10 seconds of the match. With a last resigned effort I attempted a simple flying kick, which after the high tempo of the previous scuffle landed flawlessly without causing a stir from my opponent. The screen slowed, his corpse fell.

I don't normally get excited about winning at computer games. Usually I accept victory with a smile or a nod. I don't usually throw my controller in the air and jump around on my bed screaming "FUCK YES, MWAHAHAHAHAHA TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING CUNT, I FUCKED YOU UP BAD MOTHER FUCKER!!! HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD IT BUT LOOK WHAT HAPPENED, FUCK YES!"

*Ahem*

This blog doesn't really have any point to it. I just entered a bunch of Box Art Books into the competition on the Forums. I am also re-reading the Gears Of War novel Aspho Fields. Books about computer games are awesome. Writing about computer games is awesome. For the love of god, don't let me transcend into the murky depths of fanfiction...

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thanks
Love Sweep