Street Fighter IV Character Guide: E. Honda

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E. Honda comes to the Street Fighter IV competition after defeating the best the Sumo world had to offer and has entered the competition to prove the worth of his art to the world of martial arts. Honda is able to take more damage than most of the other competitors and his attacks do a high amount of damage. Honda’s Super and Ultra Combos go right through projectiles and have anti-air priority, so use these attacks against opponents that like to sit back and use long range attacks. Honda’s main weakness is his relatively slow movement compared to most of the fighters and he has problems against some fighters that like to fight at range.

E. Honda can lay down the smack like no other fighter in Street Fighter IV but he has to get into position to execute his attacks, and fighters like Sagat and Ryu who use fireballs at range can make moving into range hard for Honda. In order to be effective with Honda you need to move into position to use your Oichi Throw, this attack lands first most of the time and delivers a large amount of damage. The Oichi Throw will take his opponent right out of their attack animation and make opponents wary to move into close range with Honda. Use EX Oichi Throw if possible; it has a greater range, and delivers move damage to your opponent. Honda’s EX Sumo Smash is his anti-air attack, especially when you have Super Combo Gauge available.

Street Fighter IV implements six attack buttons in the game; Light Punch, Medium Punch, and Heavy Punch (LP, MP, HP) and Light Kick, Medium Kick, and Heavy Kick (LK, MK, HK). The lighter attacks are executed faster but require the attacker to be closer to the opponent to execute properly. Heavy attacks have a greater range of attack and do more damage than light attacks.

Special Attacks are the fighters' main abilities, the individual moves that are his signature and indicate his fighting style. This guide will use P for punch or K for kick when talking about special attacks, and PP and KK when an attack calls for you to press the button twice.

You can execute throws by tapping LP + LK while close to an opponent, pressing the left or right directions on the control pad controls the direction of your throw. You can also counter throws by tapping LP + LK as an attacker tries to throw you, which will result in both attacks being cancelled.

Focus Attacks are a new element to Street Fighter IV that are executed by pressing MP + MK during combat. Focus Attacks are both offensive and defensive techniques depending on the situation. Hold MP + MK to charge up an attack, you can absorb one attack while in this stance and releasing the button will unleash a counter attack on your opponent. Otherwise, your fighter will unleash an unblockable attack after a few seconds. Focus Attacks with the Armor Breaking ability, as well as throws, will bypass the Focus stance.

The Focus Attack is also useful to perform the advanced fighting technique Focus dash cancelling. This requires good timing to execute, but with practice you can cancel out your attack animation and immediately into a forward dash that will allow you to execute a Super or Ultra Combo. To execute a Focus dash cancel after beginning a special attack, tap MP + MK and then right, right on the directional pad.

EX Attacks are special attacks that are executed by pressing two punch or kick buttons instead of one. EX attacks do more damage than their normal counterparts and are usually faster in execution, and will deplete one bar on your Super Combo Gauge.

Super Combo Gauge/Super Combos is the four bar gauge that fills up as you fight and are successful with your attacks, it will be emptied when you perform a Super Combo.

Revenge Meter/ Ultra Combos is the opposite of the Super Combo Gauge, this meter fills as you take damage, and does not carry over to the next round of fighting. Once your fighter has received a certain amount of damage the Revenge Meter will be released.

Note: The input directions (arrows) used for attacks and special moves in this guide assume your character is facing to the right. If you're facing to the left, reverse the left/right directional commands listed in this attacks guide. Also, when you see a directional command preceded by the word "hold", this means you should hold the specified direction for around two seconds before continuing the rest of the commands.

Sabaori – Normal Throw – right + LP + LK

Rice Bale Throw – Normal Throw – left + LP + LK

Shikofumi – Unique Attack – down/right + HK

Hundred Hand Slap – Special Move – Tap P rapidly and repeatedly to execute

EX Hundred Hand Slap – Special Move – Tap PP rapidly and repeatedly to execute

Sumo Headbutt – Special Move – Hold left, right + P

EX Sumo Headbutt – Special Move – Hold left, right + PP

Sumo Smash – Special Move – Hold down, up + K

EX Sumo Smash – Special Move – Hold down, up + KK

Oichi Throw – Special Move – right, down/right, down, down/left, left + P

EX Oichi Throw – Special Move – right, down/right, down, down/left, left + PP

Super Killer Head Ram – Super Combo – Hold left, right, left, right + P

Ultimate Killer Head Ram – Ultra Combo – Hold left, right, left, right + PPP (Armor Break)