Fighting games are no stranger when it comes to super moves. These are often the signature attacks that many fighters have in their arsenal which they turn to put the exclamation mark on matches. When players hit these Supers, it usually means the end of the round.
Whether in casual couch melees with friends, local tournaments, or even in high-stakes international Esports, Supers in fighting games are iconic for their association with popular characters, or notorious for their significance in shaping or influencing the fighting game community. Which are such iconic super moves in fighting games? Here are the best examples.
8 Shinku Hadoken: Ryu
Ryu is the staple martial arts master who uses the most recognizable projectile in fighting games: the Hadoken. This ki blast is his go-to move to either zone opponents or pressure them as he closes in for the knockout blow.
Shinku Hadoken is the super variant of Ryu’s Hadoken. It is depicted as a bigger ki fireball in most Street Fighter games, or a ki beam in the Marvel vs Capcom titles, but it is still a solid Super Move that can be relied on to deliver damage and zoning.
7 Buster Wolf: Terry Bogard
Most Super Moves in fighting games usually have a visual or auditory cue from the character that will execute them. This makes Terry Bogard of Fatal Fury and King of Fighters fame a prime candidate for having an iconic move.
Given that Terry has a knack for naming his moves, it’s no surprise that he also named his Super Move, the Buster Wolf. Terry winds up and strikes his enemy with a haymaker. This is then followed up with a large explosion around him that deals further damage.
What makes this iconic is that before Terry unleashes this move, he exclaims, “Are you okay?” to his enemy before he hits them with the move. Terry shouting this question has even become a meme within the Smash community and fighting game circles.
6 Genei Jin: Yun
Genei Jin is Yun’s Super Move in Street Fighter 3 series and also in Street Fighter 5. This Super Move is iconic as it is deadly since instead of Yun executing a combo or projectile, Genei Jin lets players create their own combo so long as their Super bar has a meter to burn.
Genei Jin offered players to customize their combos since Yun’s normals get Super Move priority during Genei Jin’s timer. In tournaments, this is especially deadly since Yun players essentially had a Super Move that renders their opponent to block for the duration of the Super because getting hit with a Genei Jin-powered normal attack can lead to devastating combos that deal massive damage.
5 Raging Storm: Geese Howard
One key element of Super Moves in fighting games is how easy players can execute them during matches. Pulling off a Super Move at the right moment often spells whether a player wins or loses a pivotal round. While most Super Moves are easy to pull off, Geese Howard’s Raging Storm Super Move is iconic for its notorious input.
To unleash Raging Storm, players have to execute the dreaded “pretzel” movement input. The “pretzel” input is extremely difficult to do for most players since it feels clunky on controllers and fight sticks. This is why when players manage to execute it, especially in tournaments, it’s always a crowd pleaser.
4 Shun Goku Tatsu: Akuma
Akuma is the secret boss in Street Fighter 2 and has become one of the popular characters in the franchise. Being the first character to throw Hadokens mid-air, Akuma is also known for his iconic Super Move, the Shun Goku Tatsu.
Known for its more sinister name, the Raging Demon, Akuma dashes forward to an enemy, and if he catches them, the screen turns black and players hear a vicious flurry of strikes. Then, after a flash of light, Akuma, with his back turned on the screen, stands above his downed opponent. The Raging Demon is a notorious game-ending Super Move since it deals tremendous amounts of damage: most Akuma players execute the Raging Demon when their opponent’s HP bar is almost depleted.
3 Dark Phoenix: Phoenix
The Marvel vs Capcom games have tons of over-the-top Super Moves that are easy to execute. One of the strongest Supers in the game is Phoenix’s Dark Phoenix Form. She goes to this powerful form by being the final character in her team and has a full meter.
Once her HP bar gets depleted, if she has a full meter, Phoenix will transform into Dark Phoenix. During this form, all her attacks emit flames and deal massive damage, on top of faster movement speed to overwhelm her opponents. Her transformation is a nice nod to her comic book roots, and her power is also depicted nicely in a fighting game.
2 Hoyokusen: Chun-Li
Fighting game tournaments see players compete at the highest level and pit their game knowledge and execution to the ultimate test. Back in Evolution Championship Series 2004, during a semifinals match between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong, Chun-Li’s Hoyokuen Super Move became iconic.
Daigo and Justin Wong were competing against one another in a Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike semi-final match. In the deciding round, Justin Wong, using Chun-Li, unleashed her Hoyokusen Super Move, thinking that the chip damage would be enough to defeat Daigo.
But Daigo had other plans: he managed to parry fifteen consecutive attacks of the Hoyokusen and managed to beat Justin Wong to advance in the tournament. This was an awe-inspiring moment since it takes extremely high game knowledge to know the parry windows of Chun-Li’s Super Move, and execute it flawlessly. This legendary moment in fighting game history came to be known as “EVO Moment #37” and has lived on and is revered by many in the fighting game community.
1 Spine Rip Fatality: Sub-Zero
The Mortal Kombat series is known for their violent Fatalities where Kombatants would rip and tear into their defeated opponents to add more emphasis on who won the fight. One of the notorious Fatalities included in the game was Sub-Zero’s infamous Spine Rip.
Back in 1993, when American politicians caught wind of the graphic violence Mortal Kombat included in its gameplay, they had to step in and created the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to regulate video games which are still being used today.
In a game where blood splattered with every hit, and hearts were being ripped from bodies, Sub-Zero’s Spine Rip was the Super Move that was deemed too violent. When a Super Move is so violent that it led to the creation of a ratings board to screen video games moving forward, that is an iconic Super Move.