Glitch Handbook: Street Fighter II Arcade

I’ve been doing combo stuff for about a year now, and the hardest and most time consuming part of making a new combo is research. I’ve often stumbled on NKI’s old Glitch Bible and wished it had been updated with more of the information I was looking for.

It’s my intention that this will be a series of comprehensive resource articles concisely documenting fighting game glitches with pictures, videos, and all the good stuff. Today we are starting where it all began, with Street Fighter II. SF2 may have a lot of glitches, but that’s only because it invented everything. Since we don’t know what Capcom was thinking, some of these bizarre occurrences may even be intentional programming, rather than genuine glitches.

• CPS-1 Chain
  Characters with rapid fire weak kicks in all of the CPS-1 Street Fighter 2 games (WW, CE, and HF) can cancel them into any punch attack in a different position. For example to do Guile’s C.LK -> HP chain, press D+LK, and once it connects or whiffs press LK+HP. In the same way, to do Guile’s LK -> C.HP would be LK and then D+LK+HP. It is a very well known glitch and it’s easy to time because it works as a chain combo.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMGAASgcSR4#t=2m10s
      … and every CPS1 SF2 combo video ever
  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/articles/sf2chain.html

• Jump-Canceling
  In all Street Fighter II games, chainable attacks may be canceled by a jump.
  For example, to do Guile’s LP->NJ. HP, the input would be: LP, U+LP, HP
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpOq-67YHdI#t=0m31s
      … and every Street Fighter II combo video
  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/articles/sf2chain.html

• Invisible Dhalsim
  In some versions of Street Fighter II World Warrior, doing a kara Yoga Fire may cause Dhalsim to become invisible. The exact input is D, DF, Hold F, MK or HK, HP. The game is fairly inconsistent about it, but if you try for a couple minutes you should be able to do it. When invisible, Dhalsim can’t do anything. Some attacks will whiff, some will cause him to automatically block, and some moves will hit him. If the opponent presses back, it will cause him to block. Like the red Hadouken and handcuffs, Dhalsim later learns a more useful way to turn invisible with his Yoga Teleport.


Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEFPzcOK_uQ

• Red Hadouken
  In CPS-1 Street Fighter 2 games, very rarely a Hadouken will be red. It can happen for Ken or Ryu (or Zangief and others in Rainbow Edition). It’s exactly the same as a normal Hadouken except for the color. It’s unclear whether this phenomenon was intentionally programmed or a glitch, but there’s no harm in including it here. Later Ryu would lean how to make a red Hadouken with fire properties on command.
  

Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ZNf6gQWNc
In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/articles/sf2randomness.html

• Whiff Rolling Attack
  In WW, if Blanka does a Rolling Attack that is blocked or hits, and then does another one before he hits the ground, it won’t be able to hit. If the opponent is in the corner, the Rolling Attack will simply end when he hits the corner. Otherwise Blanka will do the recovery animation as if it hit.


Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPdmDJpURjc

• Ryu Dizzy Damage
  In WW, if Ryu is hit during the dizzy frame where he is leaning farthest forward, he will take more damage. Certain moves like Blanka’s Rolling Attack are supposed to take extra damage if they are hit during the move. For some reason a frame of Ryu’s WW dizzy animation has this weakness hit box.
  

  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/?p=4476

• Car Bonus Glitch
  In Street Fighter II if you break one side of the car so that it causes red hit sparks and then do a backwards jump and attack, it may cause your character to become stuck in mid air. To jump backwards you need to press Up and Back at the same time. It’s harder than it sounds. The easiest normals to get it to work with are Ryu and Ken’s HK, and E.Honda’s MK. The spot you need to hit to trigger the glitch is very small, so expect for it to take you a ton of tries. A second player can knock you out of it, but if time runs out with you stuck then the game is effectively frozen. Some special moves like Dragon Punch can also cause it if used when standing on the car.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXAHbz6Huqw

• 512 Special and 512 Guard
  In WW there is a 1-in-512 chance of a random button press doing a special move. This can cause a charge move to happen without a charge, but can’t be used to cancel a normal. There is a also a 1-in-512 chance of a move being automatically blocked without the player holding back. This is probably not a glitch.
  
  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/articles/sf2randomness.html

• Knock Down Cancel
  In many Street Fighter games if a move that causes knock down, and a non knock down move hits the same character on the same frame, the knockdown will be canceled. For example in SF2, if Guile connects with his D+HK sweep at the same time as a Sonic Boom, it won’t knock the opponent down. If Dhalsim connects with a normal at the same time as a Yoga Fire, the opponent won’t catch on fire and won’t be knocked down.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzqIChnXrwg

• Float Glitch
  In all SFII games but ST, if a character gets hit by a projectile and a normal at the same time in the corner, right before they land from a jump, they will enter ground hit stun in the air. Right as they recover they can jump, block, or do any ground move in the air. Note that trying to chain light attacks will cause you to enter an air state instead. Guile, Dhalsim, and Akuma have the easiest time setting this up.
  

Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoVwfBNj1b4
In-Depth Examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JaB_2blg_o#t=3m10s

• Ryu vs CPU Ryu
  In WW if you get to Ryu’s stage and lose, then continue as second player and pick Ryu, you will fight a CPU controlled Ryu.
  

• WW Guile Glitches
  Grab a seat – this could take a while.
  • Handcuffs

  Doing an MP throw and then immediately doing a Flash Kick (as if you were doing a kara Flash Kick) will cause the throw to screw up. Instead of being thrown, the opponent will become stuck to you. During this time the opponent is invincible and Guile can’t perform special moves. If you do a Sonic Boom as the handcuffs are starting, Guile may become stuck as well, but can free himself by doing a Flash Kick. You can end the handcuffs by doing a magic throw.
  

  • Stance

  If you do a close F+HK upside-down kick and try to cancel it with a Sonic Boom, Guile may become stuck during the recovery. In this state he is invulnerable to some low attacks but can’t move or attack. It can be ended by doing a Flash Kick or being hit. This is also possible during handcuffs.
  

  • Magic Throw

  The magic throw is done almost the same way as the stance, but you need to hold Forward a little bit longer and you need to hit both buttons at nearly the same time. If done correctly, Guile will do a throw without touching the opponent. The opponent can move and attack but he will still get thrown when the throw finishes.
  

  • Reset the Game

  In some versions of WW, doing a HP throw then immediately doing a Flash Kick will cause the game to reset. Also, doing a MP throw and then doing a Flash Kick after the throw has started but before the opponent hits the ground may cause the game to reset.
  

  • Scrolling

  In some versions of WW, rather the resetting the game, doing a HP throw and then immediately doing a Flash Kick will cause the opponent to get stuck in a stun animation and constantly scroll through the floor. During this time, doing a Sonic Boom will stop the scrolling, sometimes causing an odd, often game breaking thing to happen. Once stopped, the scrolling may often be resumed by doing a Flash Kick.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3DalBIjfqI
  The video shows, in order: handcuffs, stances, magic throw out of handcuffs,
      normal magic throw, HP throw reset, scrolling into handcuffs,
      magic throw out of handcuffs, and MP throw reset.
  In-Depth Reading: http://nzism.alphaism.com/forum/index.php?topic=8.0

  • Charge Storage

  In some versions of WW, doing a MP throw and then doing a Flash Kick after the throw has started but before the opponent hits the ground will store a Flash Kick. If done correctly, it will cause Guile to walk back for a frame and hitting any kick will cause him to do Flash Kick. Holding the direction when doing a MP throw and pressing a punch button after it’s finished will cause you to throw a Sonic Boom. This Sonic Boom charge can be used to do a quick magic throw.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qlbOhttjI
  In-Depth Reading: http://old.jasongordon.com/static/sf2 (street_fighter_2_glitch.txt)

• Vega OTG
  In WW, Vega is briefly vulnerable when rising, so he can be hit after a knockdown move.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0LBdBX_QTA

• Dhalsim Juggle
  In CE, Dhalsim is vulnerable during part of his air recovery. So if hit out of the air by a move that would normally cause him to land on his feet, he can be juggled.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8_XU1wry0I

• Vega Barrel Scrolling
  In CE, on the third bonus stage, if Vega removes the left- or right-most barrel and then backflips where the barrel was, he will start scrolling all over the place.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuSEas9Ig3Y

• Zangief Magic Reversal
  In SSF2 930911 USA, if Zangief does a reversal with 360+MK, and the opponent is on the ground and throwable, he will grab them no matter where they are. The same trick works with O.Zangief in SSF2T 940223 World, using 360+HK instead.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV0qYi2ueHg

• Zangief Magic FAB
  In SSF2T, Zangief may perform a backwards super without actually grabbing the opponent. He will teleport to the opponent when doing the suplexes, and the opponent will be knocked down at the end. An interesting side effect is that shadows will follow the other character until he enters an idle state, even if Zangief is hit out of it during start up. There is no consistent way to do this glitch, but the easiest way is to knock Zangief out of the air with dictator’s S.LP and then walk under him as Zangief does a reversal FAB.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3s-eLeBAsA
  In-Depth Reading: http://nki.combovideos.com (NKI-glitch.bible.txt)

• Super Special Reversal
  In SSF2T, Dhalsim, Sagat, and Ken can’t do reversal supers. If you try, they will do the last special move they performed instead. If the last special move was an air Hurricane Kick, Ken will a quick one hit air Hurricane Kick on the ground. If your last special move was a super, you can actually do a reversal super. If your last special move was a projectile, you can still do it even if you already have a projectile on the screen.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngWmAF8wV4c
  In-Depth Reading: http://nki.combovideos.com (NKI-glitch.bible.txt)

• T.Hawk C.MP Stray Hitbox
  During T.Hawk’s C.MP recovery, his head hitbox ends up way in front of him for a frame.
  
  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/?p=4476

• Dhalsim’s Yoga Blast Stray Hitbox
  The first active frames of Dhalsim’s Yoga Blast appear behind him.
  
  In-Depth Reading: http://sonichurricane.com/?p=4476

• Bypass Hitstop
  Normally when an attack connects in Street Fighter games, the game pauses for around ten frames. If the move is canceled, the followup will come out after the pause. Certain special moves ignore this pause, and will come out without delay if special-canceled. This applies to Bison’s Headstomp in CE, HF, SSF2 and ST with O.Bison only. Blanka’s Vertical Rolling Attack bypasses hitstop in HF, SSF2, and ST with O.Blanka only. And Dee Jay’s Machine Gun Upper works throughout SSF2 and ST.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHBGExAlcuQ

• Selecting Original Colors
  Normally in SSF2T, a character’s original colors can only be selected if you are playing the old version of the character. There is a method for playing with the new version of the character with the original colors.
  1) Choose an old character.
  2) Lose to the CPU.
  3) On the continue screen, have the other player join in.
  4) Wait until the character select screen loads, then press Start to continue. Your character will revert to the new version, but keep the old palette.
  5) Don’t press anything until the timer runs out and your character is automatically selected.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2f9gY-pKTE

• Continuous Crazy Kicks
  If Ken ends a round with his QCF+K crazy kick, he may cancel the recovery with another QCF+K indefinitely. This works both with kayo and time over.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2JhE-vfQms
  In-Depth Reading: http://nki.combovideos.com (NKI-Vol9.Evo2006.Special.txt)

• Time Over Super Flash
  If you connect a super move as time expires, and the super would’ve inflicted enough damage to kill the opponent, it will still cause a super flash. Furthermore if the opponent won the round, the super won’t be able to kill them, so the hits won’t stop juggling even after they should’ve died. In the case of a draw game, there is no super explosion.
  
  Video Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knwmKYZfQ5Y
  In-Depth Reading: http://nki.combovideos.com (NKI-Vol9.Evo2006.Special.txt)

Note that at the moment this is only a list of Street Fighter II Arcade Glitches. Many new glitches exist in the console ports. While this article attempts to be as comprehensive as possible, I purposely left out backwards moves and renda canceling. If you have any information on glitches I may have missed please post them in the comments.

Special thanks to NKI for all the documentation and transcripts; Dammit for making input display, hitbox viewer, and I stole some of his images; and desk for finding the float glitch and explaining how it worked.

Check out http://code.google.com/p/mame-rr for the scrolling input display and hitbox viewer used here. A playlist of all the videos can be found here. Some of the clips are tool assisted.