How To Play Street Fighter X Tekken(Note: in this section of the guide, explanations using directions assume that your character is facing right.)
MOVEMENTBeing a 2D game characters can move forwards and backwards by pressing
and
respectively, however characters cannot move into the foreground or background to avoid attacks like in 3D games. You can also crouch by pressing
. This allows you to avoid high attacks. You cannot move while crouching. Pressing
makes your character jump straight up.
and
makes your character jump forwards or backwards respectively. Jumping is used as an extended movement option. It can allow you to increase the distance between you and your opponent by jumping backwards, while jumping forwards will close the distance. Jumping in any direction will also avoid all low attacks, and will also avoid attacks that don't hit high enough.
In this game, there is also the option to perform a Super Jump. To perform a Super Jump you must press
immediately before jumping in any direction. Super Jumps make your jumps higher, and faster.
Another important movement ability in this game is Dashing. By pressing
(double tap
) your character will berform a backdash. By pressing
(double tap
) your character will perform a forward dash. Dashes are faster than walking and can help close down/increase the distance between you and your opponent. You are totally vulnerable during forward dashes however. Backdashes have some invincibility and can be used to get out of certain sticky situations.
ATTACKINGNormalsJust like all Street Fighter games, this game features a 6 button layout. There are 3 Punch
buttons and 3 Kick
buttons. Pressing these buttons will give you attacks known as Normals. Normals can be done while standing, crouching or jumping in any direction.
Light Punch (also known as Jab) -
Medium Punch (also known as Strong) -
Hard Punch (also known as Fierce) -
Light Kick (also known as Short) -
Medium Kick (also known as Forward) -
Hard Kick (also known as Roundhouse) -
For the most part Jabs are short, fast, weak punches while Fierces are long ranged, slow, strong punches. Shorts are short, weak, fast kicks, while Roundhouse is the kick counterpart to Fierce. Kicks generally have more range than punches. Characters like Hwoarang have no punches, therefore pressing punch buttons causes a move with a kick animation to be performed, however they're still considered punches (for example if I press
with Hwoarang and he does a kick, it will still be considered a Jab).
Unique AttacksMost characters have unique moves known as Unique Attacks (or Command Normals). These moves are similar to Normals, but are performed by pressing a single direction on the D-Pad/Joystick and one of the six attack buttons. For example, Ryu has a move which is performed by pressing
(meaning you have to press Forward and Hard Punch at the same time) called Solar Plexus Strike. All the Tekken characters have Unique Attacks, for example Heihachi has a move called Hammer Punch which is performed by pressing
. Unique attacks, as the name suggests, are unique to each character and have their own properties. They usually tend to have properties that regular Normal attacks do not share.
There are certain Unique Attacks that have more than one move to it, and are multiple hitting attacks requiring multiple button presses. For example, Heihachi's Flash Punch Combo (
,
,
). All Tekken characters have moves like this. They are sometimes known as Tekken chains. Some Street Fighter characters also have moves like these known as Target Combos (for example Ken's Target Combo performed by pressing
,
).
Special MovesSpecial moves are moves performed by pressing a specific set of directions followed by one of the 6 attack buttons. Each character has their own Special Moves. Some characters have more Special Moves than others. These moves are (usually) more powerful than Normal/Unique attacks and have their own properties. Special moves can be uppercut type attacks that hit opponents right of the air, or they can be projectile attacks that fly across the screen, or they can even be grabs that do a tonne of damage on your opponent. They can even be moves that give you advanced movement options such as teleporting.
An example of a special move would be Ryu's world famous Hadoken, performed via
(meaning you have to press Down, Down-Right, Right and any of the 3 punches at the same time).
Some characters have special moves that are known as Charge Moves. These consist of holding a direction for 2 seconds, then pressing the opposite direction and an attack button. For example, Guile's Sonic Boom would be
,
(this means holding left for two seconds, then pressing right and punch to throw a sonic boom.)
Most special moves have powered up versions called EX moves. These cost one bar of meter and usually do more damage than their regular counterparts. To perform an EX moves, do the special move motion as required, and instead of pressing one punch button, press two punch buttons (or kicks, depending on the move). For example, to do Ryu's EX Hadoken press
.
Super Arts and Cross ArtsSuper arts are powerful moves that your character can perform when they have 2 bars of their Cross Gauge filled. Super Art moves are essentially powered up versions of one of the character's special moves. To perform a Super Art, the motion is the same as with the special move it is based on, but instead of pressing just one punch you press all 3 punch buttons (or kicks). For example, Ryu's Shinku Hadoken Super Art is performed by pressing
.
Cross arts are even more powerful than Super arts, however they cost a completely full Cross Gauge bar. A Cross Art is performed the same way by every character. To perform a Cross Art you have to press
. A Cross Art consists of your main character performing a special series of attacks that always does 100 damage. Your sub character then comes in to finish the opponent off with his Super Art. When the Cross Art is completed the sub character is now tagged in making him the main character. Upon connecting with a Cross Art your opponent will lose all his recoverable life. A Cross Art is generally the most powerful move you can do. The only time it's not so powerful is if your partner finishing off the Cross Art with his Super Art is Dhalsim, who has the weakest super in this game. On the other hand Hugo has the most powerful Super Art so having him as a partner will net you highly damaging Cross Arts.
CombosStringing certain normals, unique attacks, special moves, Super Arts/Cross Arts together in combinations, or combos, is a common way of getting damage. If a player starts a combo the opponent cannot interrupt the combo, or do anything else until the combo is finished. There are a number of ways combos can happen in this game: Chaining, Linking and Cancelling.
1) Chaining
As mentioned above certain unique attacks require multiple button presses, and these are called chains. To perform them simply press the buttons required quickly. Unlike Linking, you do not need to worry about the timing of your button presses, albeit you do need to press them quickly. In a sense, you can "dial out" chains, where you just press the buttons in order for your chain to come out.
Note that there are some chains where all the hits will not actually combo, meaning your opponent will be able to defend against it.
2) Linking
Linking is when you perform a normal, and then perform another normal immediately after. Linking isn't the same as chaining because you need to time links perfectly. This is harder to do than chains due having to time it, but generally combos utilising links are more powerful and have a higher damage output. An example of a link is with Ryu linking two crouching Strongs (
,
)
3) Cancelling
Cancelling is a technique in which you perform a normal, then input a special move after the normal hits and before it finishes whereby the normal move is "cancelled" and your character will perform the special move. Not all normals can be cancelled. Some Unique Attacks can be cancelled. Moves that can be cancelled don't always have to be cancelled into Special moves; they can be cancelled into EX moves, Super Arts or Cross Arts. An example of a common cancel is Ryu cancelling his Crouching Forward into Hadoken.
Combos don't always necessarily have to be done on grounded opponents. They can also be done on airborne opponents. Performing combos on an airborne opponent is called Juggling. However you cannot infinitely juggle, there is a juggle limit, which when reached means your opponent will not be hit by the next attack and will fall to the ground.
When an opponent falls to the ground, this is called a knockdown state. When your opponent is in a knockdown state he cannot be hit. He will automatically get back up after a short amount of time.
ThrowsIn SFxT you can throw your opponent by pressing
. Throws are unblockable, but they can be "teched" (more in the Defending section). Because throws are unblockable, they are used against opponents who block too much, allowing you to open up their defences. They only work when you're right up in your opponent's face. Throws leave your opponent in a knockdown state. You cannot throw airborne opponents, and you cannont combo into throws.
DEFENDINGBlockingSimply hold
to block high attacks while standing. Blocking while standing will allow you to block a multitude of attacks, including normal moves, special moves, and even Super Arts/Cross Arts. However you cannot block throws, or special moves that are throws (such as Zangief's Spinning PileDriver). You also cannot block low attacks. To block low attacks you must block while crouching, ie press
. Most players almost always block while crouching because you can block a majority of attacks.
However there are moves known overheads that hit opponents while they are blocking while crouching. To block overheads you have to be standing. Some unique attacks are overheads, as are some special moves and some Super Arts. You have to know which moves are overheads so you know when to block standing, since most overheads have a long startup time giving you sufficient time to react. All jumping normals are overheads, therefore you have to block them while standing.
Throw TechingWhen your opponent is going for a throw, you can press
at the same time to "Tech" the throw. This means that you will avoid the throw. It is important to learn to Throw Tech so you don't get grabbed all the time.
Anti-AirsA common way to land hits is to jump in and perform a normal. To defend against this, instead of just blocking, characters have certain moves that are designed to hit opponents out of the air. These are called Anti-Airs. Most Anti-Airs are normals, however some specials can be Anti-Airs as well, especially uppercut specials like the Shoryuken.
How Do I Play Street Fighter X Tekken? 
