Reality is not always stranger than fiction
PostPosted:Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:29 pm
Hi Score Girl is a manga that primarily focuses on fighting games and, in particular, Street Fighter 2. Akira, the main female, is at a minimum stronger than the strongest TAS human. One of her earliest feat is beating Street Fighter 2 with Dhalsim using only weak kick without walking forward or block (direction pad was broken), which is well beyond the possibility of even a TAS.
In one of the major matches, Hidaka, who is quite a bit stronger than Haruo who is described as an entry level tournament player, picked Akuma against Akira's Zangief in Street Fighter 2. Despite having an overwhelming advantage in matchup (Akuma is banned in tournament competition), after getting one round off Akira, Akira decided to play for real and pulled off equivalent of 2 consecutive perfects after getting knocked down to an inch of her life on round 2. None of the actual fights are shown since what Akira does is clearly beyond human capability, but that didn't stop a lot of fighting game experts saying how people like Daigo can do this. Note that Hidaka is a high level tournament player by the game's setting. If we're in the universe of Hi Score Girl she might even be able to beat Daigo.
Recently, I found a video where Daigo is attempting to beat Akuma on Street Fighter 2 using Balrog, and generally gets owned by air fireballs. So I posted on that thread saying that's pretty much proof nobody can do what Akira does in HSG. Of course, people immediately post back saying that nobody can possibly be stronger than Daigo, and that this CPU controlling Akuma is much harder than the scenario in HSG. Now, Balrog can actually close the gap somewhat, but if you look at the video whenever CPU Akuma jumps back and air fireball all Daigo can do is block. There's a reason why Akuma is banned in Street Fighter 2 tournament because he's way too strong. The only reason Daigo was able to do something is that CPU occasionally does walk forward where you can punish him. A human player playing Akuma will never walk closer to Zangief. HSG avoided showing what kind of footwork you'd need to approach an expert using Akuma because it's likely not even possible. Remember, Akira got 2 perfects, so she didn't even block an air fireball once she decided to get serious.
Now it's true that Hi Score Girl isn't meant to be a rigorous discussion of advanced fighting game techniques, but it did its homework and the author clearly knows what feats are actually superhuman. It's true that a lot of manga might be over a topic that the author isn't exactly an expert, but it feels like they manage to find an audience that knows way less than even the author himself. Sometimes I wonder if you get these kind of reaction because people are mad their real life heroes are no match to people who are clearly superhuman.
In one of the major matches, Hidaka, who is quite a bit stronger than Haruo who is described as an entry level tournament player, picked Akuma against Akira's Zangief in Street Fighter 2. Despite having an overwhelming advantage in matchup (Akuma is banned in tournament competition), after getting one round off Akira, Akira decided to play for real and pulled off equivalent of 2 consecutive perfects after getting knocked down to an inch of her life on round 2. None of the actual fights are shown since what Akira does is clearly beyond human capability, but that didn't stop a lot of fighting game experts saying how people like Daigo can do this. Note that Hidaka is a high level tournament player by the game's setting. If we're in the universe of Hi Score Girl she might even be able to beat Daigo.
Recently, I found a video where Daigo is attempting to beat Akuma on Street Fighter 2 using Balrog, and generally gets owned by air fireballs. So I posted on that thread saying that's pretty much proof nobody can do what Akira does in HSG. Of course, people immediately post back saying that nobody can possibly be stronger than Daigo, and that this CPU controlling Akuma is much harder than the scenario in HSG. Now, Balrog can actually close the gap somewhat, but if you look at the video whenever CPU Akuma jumps back and air fireball all Daigo can do is block. There's a reason why Akuma is banned in Street Fighter 2 tournament because he's way too strong. The only reason Daigo was able to do something is that CPU occasionally does walk forward where you can punish him. A human player playing Akuma will never walk closer to Zangief. HSG avoided showing what kind of footwork you'd need to approach an expert using Akuma because it's likely not even possible. Remember, Akira got 2 perfects, so she didn't even block an air fireball once she decided to get serious.
Now it's true that Hi Score Girl isn't meant to be a rigorous discussion of advanced fighting game techniques, but it did its homework and the author clearly knows what feats are actually superhuman. It's true that a lot of manga might be over a topic that the author isn't exactly an expert, but it feels like they manage to find an audience that knows way less than even the author himself. Sometimes I wonder if you get these kind of reaction because people are mad their real life heroes are no match to people who are clearly superhuman.