Fighting EX Layer/Gameplay

Controls
One player may compete against the computer, or two players may simultaneously compete against each other. Each player has an 8-way joystick and 6 buttons.

Buttons
The buttons on the arcade are typically laid out in the following fashion: The L, M, and H stands for light, medium, and hard respectively. In general, light attacks are less powerful and faster, and hard attacks are more powerful but slower, with medium attacks in between.

Joystick
The joystick works intuitively in that pressing left will generally move your character left, and pressing right will generally move your character right. But it is more important to think in terms of relative direction. For this reason, all instructions are given with respect to forward and backward since the left and right directions change purpose when your character switches directions.
 * If your character is facing to the right, then pressing left on the joystick means backward, and pressing right on the joystick means forward.
 * If your character is facing to the left, then pressing left on the joystick means forward, and pressing right on the joystick means backward.

The following directions assume that your character is facing right, the starting direction of every fight for player one, who begins on the left side:

Rules
Each battle consists of a best-of-five round match between you and your opponent. At the start of each round, both player's life or health bars are full. The first player to drive the other player's health bar to zero wins the round. The first player to win three total rounds wins the match and moves on to the next opponent. If a single player loses to the computer, the game is over and the player must continue to rematch the recent opponent.

Attacking
To win a round, the player must use his or her character's attack moves to damage the opponent, and block or dodge the opponent's attacks. Each player may attack from a standing or crouching position, or they may jump in to the air and attack. To attack from a standing position, press any single attack button. To attack from a crouching position, pull the joystick in a downward direction (including both diagonals) and press any single attack button. To attack from the air, direct your character to jump straight up, or jump in a diagonal position, and press any single attack button in mid-air.

Blocking
To block an attack, a player must push backwards on the joystick when the opponent attacks (otherwise, pressing back on the joystick moves the player away from the opponent.) Blocking can be done standing which blocks middle and high attacks, as well as attacks in the air, but does not block attacks which are low to the ground. Blocking can also be down crouching by pressing the joystick diagonally down and back. A Crouching block will successfully block low and middle attacks. High attacks will usually go over your character's head if they are crouching, but a crouching block does not defend against air attacks or attacks known as overhead attacks which start high and travel down.

Chain Attacks
Characters have the ability to cancel weaker normal attacks into stronger normal attacks. For example, a player can perform a chain of attacks in successive order by pressing →  →. There is only one guideline to chain combos: You must go from weakest to strongest (for example, →  is acceptable but  →  is not). You can chain combo while standing or crouching.

With the Berserker gougi deck equipped, it is possible to trigger the "6 Chain" gougi, which allows you to go from the same strength to, but not the reverse (in this case,  →  will work but  →  will not). This way you can perform a full 6-hit combo with →  →  →  →  →.

Special Attacks
In addition to normal attacks there are attacks known as command moves and special moves. Command moves are special combinations of a joystick direction and a particular attack button that produces a different attack than when the button is pressed alone. A special move is a move that requires a more complicated joystick motion and an attack button to perform. For example, Allen's fireball attack, called Soul Force, is performed by sliding the joystick in a circular sweeping motion from down to forward, and finished off with any punch button. In this example, the strength of the punch button used happens to dictate the speed at which Allen's fireball attack travels across the screen. Special attacks can be blocked like any other attack, but they do what's known as "tick damage." That is, even when blocked, they removed a single hit point from your health bar. Most special moves have a pause associated with them that leave you vulnerable to attack if you miss the opponent, or "whiff".

Super Combos
In addition to the health bar shown at the top of the screen, each player has a super meter at the bottom. As the player attacks and damages the opponent, and as the player takes damage from the opponent, the super meter fills up incrementally. The super meter fills up to three distinct levels of power. A player may execute a Super Combo as long as the super meter is filled to at least one level of power. (Terry has two Super Combos that require the full three levels.) Super Combos are activated by inputting slightly more complex motions than special moves. When they are successfully executed, the game will freeze for a brief moment, and then the animation and attack associated with the Super Combo begins. If the Super Combo connects and is not blocked, it will do substantial damage to the opponent. Super Combos can be used to turn the tide of a battle. Every player has more than one unique Super Combo.

Canceling
Canceling is the act of immediately interrupting one attack with another. Only certain moves can cancel in to other moves. Canceled moves are very difficult to block if the first move connects. Normal and command attacks can cancel into other normal or command attacks, special moves, and some Super Combos. Special Moves can also cancel into Super Combos. To cancel one move into another, you must input the motion required for the next move while the animation for the first move is still going. If performed correctly, the animation for the first move will instantly stop, and the animation for the second move will instantly start.

Just about all Super Combos can cancel into other Super Combos (known as super canceling), provided all preconditions are met (i.e. you can't super cancel into a Super Combo that must be performed in the air unless you are off the ground when you input the motion.)

Overhead Attacks
Overhead attacks are attacks that you must block standing up, even though the attack looks like it hits low. If you try to block them while crouching, you will be hit and take full damage. Try mixing them in with low attacks to take your opponent by surprise. Every character has at least one overhead attack by pressing.

Throwing
The last form of attack available in this game is a throw. Throws are executed by standing immediately next to your opponent and pressing. By holding the joystick back as well you can throw your opponent to the other side. Some characters are even capable of performing throws in mid-air. If performed correctly, your character will grab the opponent and toss them to the ground in a manner specific to your character's fighting style. Throws are unblockable, but they are escapable (see Tech Hits below).

Tech Hits
Tech Hits are performed by pressing at precisely the moment you are about to be thrown by your opponent. If you enter this command at just the right time, you will interrupt the throw attack being performed on you, and push the opponent back, preventing them from completing the throw. You can not Tech Hit out of air-throws, or throws that are considered Special Moves (such as Darun's Brahma Bomb).