Let's begin: The basics.

I've decided to start upon the monumental task of me beginning to explain the very basic ways of playing Street Fighter 4. I know that sounds immeasurably pretentious, and it is. I realize how it sounds, but I'm going through with it anyway. What makes the game so interesting to me is how deep the system for such a seemingly simple game can be. There's so much going on and so many things to be thinking about that it's important to understand some of those more obscure elements in order to compete on a higher level.

I'll be explaining some key terms now. Use this picture of an arcade stick as a visual aid.

The Basics

• There are two different types of input. Movement and blocking is done by the joystick on the left, and attacks are handled by the red buttons on the right.
• The joystick has eight directions, the four cardinal directions and four diagonal directions.
• In order to block, hold the joystick in the direction opposite your opponent. To block high or mid attacks, hold back. To block a low attack, hold down and back.
• The top row of buttons are designated for punch attacks, and the bottom row of buttons are designated for kick attacks. They increase in strength from left to right, and are commonly called weak, medium, strong/fierce.
• The fourth button in each row, when pressed, gives the same output as if you had pressed the other three buttons simultaneously. This is useful for certain types of attacks which will be explained in full later on.
• Each character has anywhere from six or more regular attacks that are performed by pressing a single button from either a close or slightly farther away distance. Some attacks do not change with distance. Attacks that are performed without additional input on the joystick are referred to as normals
• Normals typical do less damage than specials, attacks that require specific input on the joystick followed immediately by input by using specific buttons.
• Normals also are much faster than special attacks, and are generally safer to use than special attacks because the time it takes for your character to be able to block again is much faster.

That's all for now. Expect another tutorial entry sometime over the weekend.