This is a cheatsy pick, because I actually didn't enjoy or really play Art of Fighting 3, which is both Kasumi's debut game and the only AoF title she was in. Instead, I picked her up in KoF '99, where she ended up one of my surprise favorites and has remained a KoF go-to since then. When she actually shows up, that is. ._.
But what do I like about her? Well, first off, and as is the case with almost every other person on my list so far, I love her design. She doesn't have a lot of flair to her, but she also completely avoids both the ridiculous and skimpy getups a lot of fighting characters find themselves dropped into, which I infinitely appreciate. No excessive belts or crazy hair, instead she's rocking what reminds me of a kendo outfit, which I dig, a simple red headband with her hair up, and what appear to be fingerless gloves. I'm also a fan of her white and blue color scheme. As I said, it's a simple design, but I love it.
Second, while her design is nice, it's ultimately how fun Kasumi is to play that makes me love her. There are two elements of her combat style in particular I really like. First, roughly half of her special attacks are counters, a trait she shares with similar-pants-wearing Geese Howard and the man-god Krauser. You use a high, low, or mid counter, and if you guess/bait properly, you damage the enemy and knock them down. You even have a 'super' version of the counter that will stop (most) enemy supers, which is a damn nice feeling when you pull of. It's a simple gimmick that allows you to be a bit tricky, while also leaving you open to trickery as well. Outside of the counters, the other thing I love about Kasumi's moveset is how flowing it is. Most of her non-counter specials, her 'projectile' excluded, have a forward movement to them, and many are chain specials where you input multiple commands to keep the attack going -- even her single strike palm-upper special includes a forward step to it. There's a great offensive momentum to the attacks, and I greatly appreciate it.
So overall, she has a design I like and a moveset I love, with fun mindgames and a great combo flow to her, and that's why she's one of my favorites. ^_^ b
A combo demonstrating that forward movement. (SPOILER)
Because I don't think anyone else cares about full matches. XD
Dr. Wily (Mega Man)
I'd say this is a no brainer, but I actually really like a lot of Mega Man characters -- Sigma, Dr. Weil, Magna Centipede, Zero, Proto Man, Dr. Cossack, ect. It's a surprisingly long list, and I have no idea why I even like most of them, seeing that at least two of them are genocidal asshats.
But in the end Wily's the only real choice; there's something timeless about him that I just never cease to appreciate. He's a generic mad scientist, but his attitude through the games, from the eyebrows to him begging for mercy when defeated, have endeared the cranky old man to me. I mean, even thinking about my favorite scenes in the series, they almost all come back to Wily. Him beating his broken machine with a hammer then laughing at you when it starts working again in Powered Up, the 'And this time, and this time, and this time' scene in Mega Man 9, slinking away as Mega Man holds up his collapsing Skull Castle in MM5 -- the MEGAPHONE in the original Marvel vs. Capcom. Hell, I even love that SOMEHOW all the people of Mega Man world haven't gotten it fully into their skulls he's EVIL yet, as seen in MM9 where he convinces people Dr. Light is the bad guy (I wonder if MatPat is on his payroll ).
Additionally, my appreciation for the character goes beyond the elements of his personality and actions, because Wily almost always puts up an awesome fight as well. Sure, some of his fights are busts, like in Mega Man 6 and 8, but then the 7 and 9 fights MORE than made up for that. I mean, I still remember my response to the first time I saw the Wily 9 machine -- I paused the game and cracked up, because it was a SKULL FACE DINOSAUR THAT DROPPED FROM THE CEILING LIKE A TON OF BRICKS. Genius. Absolute Genius. And it was a good fight as well! I wouldn't have found the fight half as memorable if it were just an amusing design, but you have to learn how the boss fights and how to fight it, otherwise it'll just plow you under, which is exactly what a good final boss should do. Several other final bosses in the series match Wily machines here and there, MMX Sigma and X6 Gate coming to mind, not to mention MMZ3 Omega - which I consider the ultimate boss fight in the series, but, on the whole, no one else quite reaches the bar Wily sets for me.
He's got the most fights I enjoy, the attitude I love, a design I appreciate (though I saved you all the babble about that for once), and he's just that perfect mix of everything that makes a great reoccurring villain. Wily, you are my far and away favorite MM character, and you even managed to beat out the white labcoat and glasses look.
Oh, this is neither here nor there, and I don't know where everyone stands on comics in general, much less Archie comics, but they have been doing a GREAT job with their Mega Man series (barring that headache of a crossover), and I'm liking how they've done Wily thus far. If you have any interest in the Mega Man series from a story point of view, I'd suggest checking the series out.
Now, anyone who recognizes this character instantly understands this pick after the Wily gush. Iris is RKS' Dr. Wily, right down to the eyebrows and UFO, but she's also a character in her own right, being more of a perverted mirror image of the mad doctor than a traditional clone. Where Wily is a cranky old man, Iris is a sing-songy little girl. Where Wily strives to rule the world, Iris strives to destroy it. Where Wily seeks the power to enact his will, Iris already has it. Dr. Wily is evil in the Saturday morning cartoon sense, more amusing than dangerous (Zero virus and that whole mess notwithstanding); Iris is more traditionally evil. Nothing and no one else matters to her, everyone else is below her, and all that matters is her amusement.
And what is it that amuses her? Why, open warfare, of course. Like Wily, she's very intelligent, and in the original RKS she feigns an assassination attempt and stages her own kidnapping in order to incite a war between the magi and the church for the sole purpose of her entertainment. She even turns the main character against her (Tia's) friends and kills her own father, the man who started the war to protect her, because, well, why not. It's not like any of these people matter, anyway -- she's basically the rebirth of a God, why should she care about them? You even feel the condescension in her voice, and her eyebrow waggle takes on a slightly different feel when you know just how below her she thinks you are. Unlike many villains I appreciate, Iris is one of those characters that is evil without a reason. She is unchecked chaotic evil with a cute grin out to set the world ablaze.
You know what else she's out to do? What evil demi-gods are also really good for? Boss fights. And I have to say, like Wily's absolute best days, both Iris boss fights are amazing. I mean that. A m a z i n g. I don't mean they visually blow things away either, I mean I'm a putz that ONLY fights Mega Man bosses with my buster, and these Iris fights keep you on your toes and feel super satisfying to complete. She isn't cheap, but you have to pay attention, ESPECIALLY in the second game -- and her music in the first game!Ahhhhhhhh!
So, ultimately I end up liking Iris for similar reasons to why I like Wily, her attitude and how it manifests to the player, her design I avoided babbling about, and her great boss fights. RKS is still a very small, very high quality series, and I reeeeeeeally hope a third game comes out, but until it does Iris is my clear cut favorite from the franchise. Cute psycho who has mastered the eyebrow waggle, I salute you.
Sagat's an interesting pick for me because he isn't my favorite character in any of the games -- that always changes. T.Hawk in SFII, Dudley in SFIII, Skull-o-Mania in EX, Gen (Or Sodom) in Alpha, Balrog (Or Hakkan) in SFIV. But where my overall favorite shifts around, how high up on my list Sagat is never really does, and as an overall pick he actually comes out ahead.
So what do I like about him? Well, there is, of course, his design, which is the simple trunks and muscle combo most male fighting game characters grace the world with. It's simple and looks good, and I like it.
What I end up really liking about him, though, is his reach. He doesn't have Dhalsim reach, but it gets the job done, and his kicks are great for keeping people at bay. They also feel so good to land and look like they have so much power to them. His crouching heavy punch is also pretty nice, especially in CvS2, dealing good damage with odd priority. I seriously get so many clean hits with that thing that should have been trades. X_X I'm really waiting to pit Bruce and Sagat against each other in Tekken X Street Fighter, assuming that title is ever released. It's one of those odd dream matches I suspect I'm the only one dreaming about. Oh well.
Normals aside, I also like his simple special set. It's not much beyond the standard Shoto fare, but there isn't much wrong with that. The Tiger Uppercut has good priority and deals with jump-ins your kicks won't catch in time, the Tiger Shot is a simple projectile that does its job well, and the Tiger Knee catches a lot of people off guard. He's got the basic tool kit for every job. Well, almost any job . . . no command throws, but that's not much of a concern. It balances well with his normals and makes him the stand-by, go-to character that neither Ken nor Ryu ever managed to be for me.
Beyond that, I have almost nothing else to say about him, honestly. He's got good specials, great normals, a nice design, and I always enjoy using him. Go, Sagat! ^_^ b
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