The Super SFIV devs are back with a new blog talking about the new king of Super Street Fighter IV: Dudley. They talk about the secret to his charm, his new moves, his Ultras (you're all going to be hit by so many Corkscrew Crosses you'll cry!) and of course throwing the rose! Credit as always to SRK's Azrael, and hit the jump for the full piece.

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Hello everyone. This is Tsukamoto.

This week I'll be joined by director Okada and the head battle planner Sano, as we talk about the last of the new characters from SF3 - Dudley - and things ranging from how he was chosen and what not.

-- First off, please tell us why Dudley was chosen to be added in the game.

Okada:
He was chosen for SFIV because a lot of the development staff were really passionate fans of him, and he is extremely popular overseas. He is so popular that when producer Ono went to Europe to get opinions about the next installment of SFIV, he was consistently asked or requested for Dudley to be in the game. Also, we had a lot of requests from overseas fans to see the dream match-up of Dudley vs Balrog.

-- Is being a boxer the secret behind his popularity?

Okada:
Dudley's stylish boxing fight style is definitely very popular. We also feel that with his high approval rating in Europe, many Europeans want to support a fellow countryman.

-- What do you think is Dudley's charm?

Okada:
His character charm from SF3 was to read the opponent, get in on his terms, and then take away their life in a flash - good rushdown power. Another part of his charm is that his attacks are very strategic. For example, Dudley has a lot of feint-type moves. He can get in close and counter his opponent's throw attempt with at attack. He's also got moves that are for the sole purpose of getting in close. If you are good at reading your opponent, then he becomes a very strong character.

-- Does Dudley play the same in SSFIV?

Okada:
Yes, we have emulated Dudley's "hit and run" style as well as his fight style of getting into those open spaces from SF3.

Sano:
Yes, his ability to control distance through various movements hasn't changed. For example, with his "Short Swing Blow" he moves back for a moment and evades his opponent's attack before launching his own - if you can use this well you can get in your opponent's face in an instant and really mess with them. Also, we brought back his "Thunder Bolt" from 2nd Impact, which can surprise people up close. Dudley also has plenty of target combos, so finding a way to get in close and utilize them will be one of the keys to victory.

-- How did you bring about the feel of Dudley?

Okada:
As Dudley is Mr. Gentleman, we included some gentlemanly components in his motions. His image is that of an orthodox boxer, who wastes no movements.

Sano:
Even though he's a fighter, he doesn't have that gritty Street Fighter feel, but more like that of a sports athlete. You won't find him fighting in the back alleys - he's got a strong sense of sportsmanship, and he is always polite.

Okada:
For boxers, of course we already have Balrog, but Dudley and Balrog's fight styles are completely different. Balrog just charges in like a rampaging bull*, his attacks are straight-forward and he's in your face, while Dudley is more of the "dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee" type, who focuses on footwork and keeps his distance. So Balrog wants to just land powerful single blows, while Dudley wants to use his footwork to hit multiple target combos and eat away at your lifebar.
(*Remember that Balrog's name in Japanese is Bison - so this is sort of in reference to that.)

-- Has he lost any moves?

Okada:
He's got all his moves from the SF3 series. As Sano mentioned before, he also has the "Thunder Bolt". Personally, this is a move I wanted to see come back in this title, so I asked the designers and engineers about it and now its back.

-- What kind of move was the "Thunder Bolt"?

Okada:
If you use it when the opponent least expects it, I think its a fairly useful move. Also, it does pretty good chip damage, so I think it'll be good to finish off near-dead opponents.

Sano:
"Thunder Bolt" is one way to really throw your opponent off-guard. Use it immediately at the start of the round to have your opponent moving at your pace, and then use it with good timing to really throw off your opponent's spacing.

-- As the ultras are selectable this time around, tell us about the features of both of his.

Sano:
First lets talk about the "Corkscrew Cross". The first hit doesn't have a whole lot of reach, but you can use it within combos. It has a lot of various uses - for example, after launching an opponent from EX Machine Gun Blow, or after an anti-air from a high position.

Okada:
We've made this "Corkscrew Cross" in this game as a different version of his "Corkscrew Blow" from SF3. In SF3, the Corkscrew Blow did a lot of chip damage, had a huge hitbox, and had very little startup, so it was a tool with a lot of functionality. However in this title, the Corkscrew Cross is short-range and somewhat more limited in its usage. So that gives it a different feeling from the Corkscrew Blow from SF3.

-- How about his other ultra, "Rolling Thunder"?

Sano:
For "Rolling Thunder", in order for it to be able to pass through projectiles we've given it a fairly long window of invincibility. Since there's no parry in SFIV, this is a way of dealing with fireball characters. So when you're taking on fireball characters, I'd recommend this ultra!

Okada:
When Dudley has the meter for "Rolling Thunder", this increases his mid-range options and makes it harder for fireballers to throw that fireball, so this is an advantage for him. Also, even if the opponent blocks he keeps on punching, so this can also work for chip damage kills.

-- Do you have any moves you would recommend?

Sano:
I'm going to go with his ducking. It lets him evade fireballs and get in close.

Okada:
At the beginning of development, ducking didn't have the ability to avoid projectiles. As Dudley was the first SF3 character we added to the game, at that time we hadn't yet decided on how to fit them into this game. So at that time, he couldn't evade fireballs and he wasn't very SF3-ish.

Sano:
Yes, the first Dudley was one who was based completely on SFIV's system.

Okada:
But then during development we had a lot of people experiment with him, and when we also tried him out we felt that as-is, there was no point in adding him to the game at all. So then we thought about the Dudley that players wanted to use, and how to bring that about, and that's how ended up with the ducking's current function.

-- Why didn't it go through projectiles at first?

Okada:
Ducking doesn't just avoid opponent's attacks, it's also a dash is it not? So at first, we worried that no one would use his regular dashes. And that this would be unbalanced. On that note, ducking is a move that we had to continually adjust right up until the end.

Sano:
If we think about it, Dudley is a SF3 character that we are trying to put into the SFIV series. So we went through a trial and error process with him, and the direction we settled on was to keep as much of the SF3 feel as possible. We also did this for Ibuki and Makoto.

-- Are there any other moves you would recommend?

Sano:
While it's not technically a move, I would recommend his rose throw. Since this was a taunt in SF3, its formal name is "The Rose of Victory". Okada said we absolutely had to have this, so it was added in. Of course, that wasn't the only reason (laughs). In order to add the rose throw we had to add a completely new system, and it took a lot more work than expected.

Okada:
We had proceeded without the rose throw through the middle of the development stage, but it just didn't feel right not to have it. The rose throw is one of the more memorable taunts from the SF3 series, and it's also one of the most trademark aspects of Dudley. I'm glad we were able to get this in as a special move.

Sano:
This was also touched upon on Ms. Shiozawa's blog, but after throwing the rose Dudley can close the distance on his opponent. So its not something you can really exploit, but its not useless either. Also, the rose homes in on the opponent's head without fait.

Okada:
Yes, it even homes in on them during a jump.

Sano:
If you're in close and you time it carefully against your opponent's jump, you can whack them pretty good. So this can keep your opponents grounded, which is where Dudley likes them.

Tsukamoto:
The rose only makes contact with the opponent, it doesn't take away damage right?

Okada:
Right, it doesn't do damage. We thought about making it do 1 point's worth of damage, but we figured anyone who got KO'ed from the rose throw would be pretty pissed off so we gave up on that (laughs).

-- Who out of the existing SFIV characters would you say is similar to Dudley?

Sano:
That's a really hard question. A SFIV character who plays like Dudley...I don't think there is one. Balrog is also a boxer, but their playstyle is completely different. So for fighting style, maybe the closest would be...Dhalsim?

Okada:
Yeah, Dhalsim's stretching arms control the distance, and with his Yoga Teleport he can get in close and attack you, so in that regard maybe they're kinda close.

-- What is Dudley's best distance?

Okada:
For options, that would be mid-range. For doing damage, up close.

-- Is Dudley a difficult character to use?

Okada:
His actual controls aren't that hard. However, his playstyle really requires a psychological warfare, so in that sense he may be suited better for tactical players. If you are the type who likes to do what you want to do and hit a good combo to decide it all, maybe he's not for you, but if you like to think "Well, in this situation he'll do this move" or "if I do this I can irritate him and bait out this move" - the type who really likes to read your opponent, then I believe Dudley is right up your alley.

Tsukamoto:
For games as well as real fights, good players are able to utilize these mind games. If you can get caught up in that aspect of Dudley then he'll be an interesting character to use.

-- Last week you also said that reading your opponent was necessary for Makoto's gameplay - does that mean that they are similar characters?

Okada:
Well, both characters require reading your opponent, but how that plays out differs between then. For Makoto, more than countering she's more about reading in order to land her moves. For Dudley, if you make a mistake in reading your opponent's options then they will evade your attack and Dudley gets countered, so he has to think about about which move he wants to make the opponent do, or how he's going to pressure. He matches up with his opponent's moves and then decides his, so that point is different.

-- Do you feel Dudley is suited towards beginner, intermediate, or expert players?

Okada:
I'd say from intermediate to expert. I think he's harder to use than fireball characters, but as for the feeling of play itself I think he's quite normal.

-- Which matchup would be the most interesting for Dudley in this game?

Okada:
Of course, that would be Balrog!

-- Based on what we've just taked about, Dudley seems like he'd have the advantage over the straightforward rushing Balrog.

Okada:
Nah, they both have their distinctive flavors, so I think it would make for a pretty good matchup. Dudley with his light footwork and target combos seems like he'd have the advantage, but once Balrog starts pressuring he brings a lot of power. So its hard to say which is better, and I think it'll make for a good fight. If nothing else, seeing two boxers duke it out is just cool (laughs).

Tsukamoto:
Ducking the opponent's attack and trading blows looks really cool, and if you see your opponent is Balrog you can think "Okay, let's settle this!" and get really into it.

-- Do you have any final words for the players looking forward to Dudley?

Okada:
For Dudley, same as with the other SF3 characters, while there may be some differences here and there, we've done our best to preserve his feel from that time, as well as add a SFIV playstyle as well, so please look forward to that. I'd like to new players to try out SFIV Dudley, and even for those players from SF3 I think you'll find a new way to play him. It'll be pretty interesting.

Sano:
As Okada said, we've done out best not to disturb how it feels to control him, so I think you can play him with the same sense you did in SF3. And of course, there's the revived "Thunder Bolt"! If you can find cool ways to use this, I'll be really happy!

Tsukamoto:
Including the new move, train up and polish your moves as well as your individual playstyle! Then take it to the ring to develop your fighting spirit and guts. I'll also give it my best!

Well then, we've covered the SF3 characters over these past three weeks, and I hope you enjoyed it. As we've been hearing a lot of opinions about this, I think we'd better cover some of the existing characters as well. We're just getting started with preparations, so please look forward to it!

See you next week!