Originally posted by Kinopio:
<strong>Can anyone give me some tips on how to improve at KOF? I normally play '98 and '96. Is there anyway to get better other than playing for 2 hours a day? I've been playing for awhile now, and I don't seem to get better. I also have trouble doing some movements with the stick, mainly consecutive counter-clockwise quarter circles. can anyone offer any advise?
thanks!</strong><hr></blockquote>
To get better, you should probably focus on a few specific characters (if you're not doing that already). '96 and '98 both have single-character survivor modes, so that should help.
'96's quarter circles were easy to do, though its half-circles were a little more tricky. Just do them a little more slowly and they'll come. '98's control is a little tighter (and overall much better). To get your quarter-circles and half-circles out consistently, try holding the very last joystick position, so for a qcf, do down -> down-forward -> forward (hold). This is especially true for DM's.
One of the easiest ways to buffer DM's with quarter-circles and half-circles is to partially perform the motion while you're entering in the normal move before it. (That sounds confusing, I know). Use characters that don't have overlapping special moves.
So if you want to get a qcbx2 motion down, use King, (who doesn't have a qcb+K move). Her close standing D can be cancelled on both hits, so in survivor (or practice, which is even better), the next time you do a close standing D, try doing qcb + D. She should just do her close standing D as normal; it won't look any different. Then try doing qcb + D, qcb + B/D. If you do it right, she'll combo her qcbx2 DM from the standing D.
You can do the same for characters with qcfx2 DM moves. An easy character to do this with is Shingo. He doesn't have a qcf+K special, so an easy way to combo his qcfx2+P from a close standing D is qcf + D, qcf + A/C.
This skill isn't just useful for performing combos; it's also become a very important part of KOF strategy in recent years. A lot of DM's have extra priority or autoguards at the very beginning of their animation, so you can actually use them to counter your opponents. (A good example is using KOF 98 Goro's hcfx2 + K DM against a cornered opponent.) Basically, you'll eventually want to master partially performing DM motions slowly if you anticipate an opening, and if you do get that opening, you finish the motion and press the button. Goro's autoguard DM is great for this, and so is Kim's aerial qcb,f+K DM (if you think your opponent will jump or whiff an attack, do a qcb, ub; Kim will hop backwards, and if your opponent left himself open, just do a fwd + K to finish the move).
Hope this was relatively clear. Good luck and have fun.
