Origin of combo's in fighting games.

[tritium]

This is an offshoot of an thread on sega-16.

I wrote a review on Mortal Kombat 3, and stated that Killer Instinct had popularized the concept of combo's in fighting games.

Several argue'd against it, voting for street fighter II (specifically Super Street Fighter II) instead.

However, my research has shown otherwise. Apparently combo counting and bonuses appeared in arcades in '94 on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Killer Instinct.

On consoles that version of Street Fighter was never released. On the other hand, KI was released on the SNES in '95.

WHere there combo's on home consoles before this? Which game did it first? Is it possible to get combo's and points for combo's in Regular Street Fighter II? SF2 CE? SF2 Turbo? or SSF2? on the home consoles?

Details and screenshots would be much appreciated so I could fix any possible inconsistancies in my writing.

I am aware that I may definately be wrong. I didnt actually own any of these consoles during the hey-days. I only have my limited experience to draw from, and I'm looking for historical accuracy.

Thank you,

[tritium]

This is an offshoot of an thread on sega-16.

I wrote a review on Mortal Kombat 3, and stated that Killer Instinct had popularized the concept of combo's in fighting games.

Several argue'd against it, voting for street fighter II (specifically Super Street Fighter II) instead.

However, my research has shown otherwise. Apparently combo counting and bonuses appeared in arcades in '94 on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Killer Instinct.

On consoles that version of Street Fighter was never released. On the other hand, KI was released on the SNES in '95.

WHere there combo's on home consoles before this? Which game did it first? Is it possible to get combo's and points for combo's in Regular Street Fighter II? SF2 CE? SF2 Turbo? or SSF2? on the home consoles?

Details and screenshots would be much appreciated so I could fix any possible inconsistancies in my writing.

I am aware that I may definately be wrong. I didnt actually own any of these consoles during the hey-days. I only have my limited experience to draw from, and I'm looking for historical accuracy.

Thank you,

[ubersaurus]

Combos were originally a bug in the original Street Fighter 2: World Warriors. In essence, you could attack someone two or three times before they could block or counterattack. Capcom liked what it did to the game, and consequently kept it in.

Super Street Fighter 2 was the first version of SF2 to actually have a combo counter(that was on home consoles), but I'm willing to bet by that time there were a couple Neo Geo fighters that did the counter thing.

[ubersaurus]

Combos were originally a bug in the original Street Fighter 2: World Warriors. In essence, you could attack someone two or three times before they could block or counterattack. Capcom liked what it did to the game, and consequently kept it in.

Super Street Fighter 2 was the first version of SF2 to actually have a combo counter(that was on home consoles), but I'm willing to bet by that time there were a couple Neo Geo fighters that did the counter thing.

[tritium]

Sources? Screenshots? There's gotta be some sort historical record out there.

[tritium]

Sources? Screenshots? There's gotta be some sort historical record out there.

[Slimedog]

A minor correction. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo was released on the consoles. It was a 3DO exclusive and was released on 11/06/94. I'm pretty sure it did count combos.

[Slimedog]

A minor correction. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo was released on the consoles. It was a 3DO exclusive and was released on 11/06/94. I'm pretty sure it did count combos.

[TheSmirk]

Art of Fighting@1992 had some combo goodness, and the power bar IIRC

[TheSmirk]

Art of Fighting@1992 had some combo goodness, and the power bar IIRC

[tritium]

Art of Fighting@1992 had some combo goodness, and the power bar IIRC

Linkage?

[tritium]

Art of Fighting@1992 had some combo goodness, and the power bar IIRC

Linkage?

[ubersaurus]

Sources? Screenshots? There's gotta be some sort historical record out there.

Does it really need it?

You can put in a copy of street fighter 2 and do a jump in roundhouse kick to a fierce punch with Ryu. Bam, there's your combo.

As for the bug part, I don't have a source offhand, but it's the story that's propogated around in magazines, the internet, and books.

Edit: here you go.

http://www.livepublishing.co.uk/retro/streetfighter.shtml

[ubersaurus]

Sources? Screenshots? There's gotta be some sort historical record out there.

Does it really need it?

You can put in a copy of street fighter 2 and do a jump in roundhouse kick to a fierce punch with Ryu. Bam, there's your combo.

As for the bug part, I don't have a source offhand, but it's the story that's propogated around in magazines, the internet, and books.

Edit: here you go.

http://www.livepublishing.co.uk/retro/streetfighter.shtml

[Balloon Fight]

Ubers right, SF2 was the first to have combos. Back in the day a lot of people called them "cross ups" though. Jumping roundhouse "cross up" to fierce punch was the most overused combo ever.

[Balloon Fight]

Ubers right, SF2 was the first to have combos. Back in the day a lot of people called them "cross ups" though. Jumping roundhouse "cross up" to fierce punch was the most overused combo ever.

[tritium]

Which actually used the term combo in the game?

[tritium]

Which actually used the term combo in the game?

[rbudrick]

Ever since thew first SFII, combos have been around, but not even the designers knew about them. Fans found these and exploited them. These anomolies became commonplace in all fighters (which often times, the designers also did not know about them).

I didn't realize that a version of SF started actually counting combos first...I always though KI was the first to do it.

-Rob

[rbudrick]

Ever since thew first SFII, combos have been around, but not even the designers knew about them. Fans found these and exploited them. These anomolies became commonplace in all fighters (which often times, the designers also did not know about them).

I didn't realize that a version of SF started actually counting combos first...I always though KI was the first to do it.

-Rob

[evildead2099]

Apparently combo counting and bonuses appeared in arcades in '94 on Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Killer Instinct.

On consoles that version of Street Fighter was never released. On the other hand, KI was released on the SNES in '95.

Before the Street Fighter series counted combo hits in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it counted them in Super Street Fighter II (The one that preceeded SSF2T).

Super Street Fighter II Turbo was released for one console (The Panasonic 3DO) as well as for the PC on CD-ROM format. I've heard that a Sega 32X port was in the works as well, but that obviously never went through.

Combos were always an important component of any half-decent fighting game. Older fighting games (Mortal Kombat 1, Samurai Shodown 1, Fatal Fury 1, etc.) may not count the number of hits you land in a combo, but comboing is nevertheless a very important aspect of those games.

I agree that Killer Instinct really put a heavy emphasis on comboing. Hit and run techniques just don't work well in that game (especially since you can't throw your opponent should you happen to jump in close range). Unfortunately, Killer Instinct promotes the worst kind of combos: it encourages players to memorize and execute dial-a-combos, as opposed to encouraging players to learn how to chain moves and do two-in-one attacks in order to pull off skillful assaults.

[Ze_ro]

Before the Street Fighter series counted combo hits in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it counted them in Super Street Fighter II (The one that preceeded SSF2T).
No, it didn't. This was a new feature added in Super Turbo. This was also where they added in bonuses for stuff like getting the first hit in the round.

Incidentally, SSF2T seems to have been released Feb 23, 1994. Darkstalkers (released just over 4 months later) also counted combos. Killer Instinct was also a 1994 release, but I don't know when in 1994 (I'm pretty sure SSF2T was first though)

Art of Fighting does NOT count combo's as far as I can tell. I'm not sure what SNK's first combo counting game was, but it seems that this feature wasn't added to King of Fighters until KOF 96.


Combos were always an important component of any half-decent fighting game. Older fighting games (Mortal Kombat 1, Samurai Shodown 1, Fatal Fury 1, etc.) may not count the number of hits you land in a combo, but comboing is nevertheless a very important aspect of those games.
Agreed. But perhaps there are games out there that reward you with extra points for combos without actually displaying it on the screen? I'm far too lazy to research whether there are any games that do this.

--Zero

[Ze_ro]

Which actually used the term combo in the game?
I'm not entirely sure, but I think the first time any of these games actually used the word "combo" in the game might be Super Street Fighter 2 (NOT Super Turbo), where Deejay had a victory phrase that went something like "Were my killer combo's too much for you, mon?"

The term was in common use WAY before that though.

--Zero

[tritium]

Which actually used the term combo in the game?
I'm not entirely sure, but I think the first time any of these games actually used the word "combo" in the game might be Super Street Fighter 2 (NOT Super Turbo), where Deejay had a victory phrase that went something like "Were my killer combo's too much for you, mon?"

The term was in common use WAY before that though.

--Zero

Which is the one that not only counted combo's on the screen, but also had like 5-15 hit combo's? I think its a toss up between SSF2Turbo & KI

[ubersaurus]

SNK games usually use "RusH" for their combo counting, don't they? At least most of the major ones seem to use that or the ever popular "hit".

[Ze_ro]

Which is the one that not only counted combo's on the screen, but also had like 5-15 hit combo's? I think its a toss up between SSF2Turbo & KI
Well, they both did that. I think KI generally had longer combos than SSF2T (In fact, KI had some some bugs that would allow infinite combos if I remember correctly... might have only been with Eyedol), but SSF2T still had some pretty long combos nonetheless.. especially when you ended with a Super Combo.

--Zero

[robotriot]

Super Street Fighter II Turbo was released for one console (The Panasonic 3DO) as well as for the PC on CD-ROM format. I've heard that a Sega 32X port was in the works as well, but that obviously never went through.

It also came out for the Amiga CD32, which in turn was of course only a port of the Amiga version of SSFII Turbo.

[Lord Contaminous]

Correct me if I'm wrong if y'all are mentioning SSF2T console ports made before the 32-bit consoles, but it's also on PSX, Saturn (the original Street Fighter Collection) and a DC version that could play online.


But I for all these years think Killer Instinct came up with the "long combo" system.

I do have to add this though. It was either Fatal Fury or Art of Fighting on Neo Geo that was the first fighting game to have a story mode.

[evildead2099]

Before the Street Fighter series counted combo hits in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it counted them in Super Street Fighter II (The one that preceeded SSF2T).
No, it didn't. This was a new feature added in Super Turbo.

I don't know what to tell you except that I think you're wrong.

[Lord Contaminous]

I gotta go with evildead2099

Regular Super SF2 pioneered the on screen combo register.

[evildead2099]

REGULAR Super Street Fighter II (NOT the improved "Turbo" edition) was ported to the SNES and Genesis consoles, and I distinctly remember those REGULAR ports telling me how many hits I'd land in combos.

[MegaDrive20XX]

What about Fatal Fury/Garou Densetsu? Copyright Oct 1990?

[Sosage]

Which is the one that not only counted combo's on the screen, but also had like 5-15 hit combo's? I think its a toss up between SSF2Turbo & KI

This is more advice than answer, but I think you better just stick to figuring out where/when the combo meter element started and drop the 5-15 hit combo question for now. 5+ combos were going on way before Super Turbo guys (redizzy combos in World Warrior anyone?). Stick to your original intention, which seems to be: When did combos start becoming something the game tried to reward the player for, on top of simply winning the match? Asking for games with big combos is going to muck up your answer.

The Killer Instinct series is a good example of this phenomenon (it blatantly shoves this reward system in your face). As others have mentioned, try checking home versions of Super Street Fighter 2 (turbo and non-turbo) as a good starting point. Fire up the emulators. Dust off the carts. Get your hands dirty and find the answer to this crucial question. =)

[Avatard]

Hah! I made my own combos long before that.

Karatae Champ: Flying kick to the head, crouching punch to the nads. POINT!