'If command throws were left as they were, they'd be really, really strong' - Combofiend explains why SPDs are toned down in Street Fighter 5
Posted by Steven Dreamking23 Chavez • July 20, 2016 at 7:41 p.m. PDT • Comments: 152
"That's totally off. When I think of R. Mika, there's no way that she's weak. Once she gets in, you're freaking out," Rosas was quick to say.
"Birdie, he's not really a command grab character, his buttons are strong, but he has the ability to grab you when you're blocking, that's amazing. Laura, when she gets in, same thing, people are constantly trying to get away. She has her elbow to get in close, so I don't think she's very weak, and her normal buttons are pretty good.
"Lastly, Zangief, his range is really far, and he does a lot of damage. I think the issue may be when they refer to [command grab characters being weak], they're specifically referring to Zangief, and the fact that he's a little less mobile than the other three.
"That's the only thing I'm really seeing there, I don't really think command grab characters are weak, if anything — they're really strong, because they're the only ones that can stop you from blocking. If you're continuously blocking overheads, lows and highs, and somebody just grabs you, what can you do to stop that?"
Before you shout claims of grapplers being nerfed into the ground, though, you may want to hear what Street Fighter 5 Associate Producer Peter "Combofiend" Rosas had to say on the matter at E3 this year.
We first asked Rosas if this change was a conscious design choice made by the development team.
"It was to an extent," Combofiend started. "Street Fighter 5 has fewer defensive abilities, you don't have very many options to get away from the opponent. You don't have backdash invincibility, there are less invincible reversal moves, what you have more of are V-Reversals, jumping or movement.
"If command throws were left as they were, they'd be really, really strong, especially when a person is constantly blocking, taking recoverable damage, and trying to get away. "
Combofiend went on to explain that there are many factors to take into account, and grappler characters still strike fear into opponents. He notes that even with the longer startup on some of the command throws, they're still highly effective — citing R. Mika as a character that is extremely dangerous once she gets the opponent cornered.
"The last thing you want to do is create a command throw that a person can't see or escape from," Rosas said.
