I thought of this topic as I was playing a few PS2 action games today. There are different methods and definitions of combos in various games, be it a hit count or meter, and also different ways to maintain combos, such as a timer or varying your attacks.
In some games there is neither timer, meter, nor hit count, but even in such games you can still launch combination attacks because enemies (though maybe not all) will go into hit-stun and you are freely able to follow up before they recover, though this is still the case for games that have actual combo displays.
I like to focus on the lesser known titles but feel free to add absolutely anything that fits, and we might as well add the rewards for comboing.
Take Lollipop Chainsaw. It's definition of a combo is called Sparkle Hunting. This is when you connect a chainsaw attack with 3 or more dizzy zombies, which instantly kills and decapitates them. Due to the range on the chainsaw, you can in only get so many zombies in one swing, max is 7. Although you'll see the number on screen, so let's just say it was 7 zombies, this isn't a 7 hit combo, it's actually 1 hit, so technically LC only has one hit combos.
It's possible to get another Sparkle Hunting combo right after the first. For those who haven't played it, the screen goes into slow mo on the chainsaw hit and the zombies heads all pop off at once, while the background turns to outer space with rainbows. It's almost a small cut-scene. But say you were doing one of the bigger chainsaw special move strings, (there's one where she swings all over the place while flipping forward) if you're in a large group, the next part of that string will continue into the group and cause another Sparkle.
This isn't rated as a combo, but technically you could say it was a double. You are rewarded with zombie medals and platinum medals, which are currency. The more zombies, obviously the more you get. Including the special named and more powerful zombies in your Sparkle will result in insane amounts of medals.
Outside of Sparkles, you have combo attacks, but there's no hit count or any kind of display. Physical attacks (non-chainsaw) cause zombies to become dizzy, so there is some sort of invisible counter/meter for those.
Managed to find this video that contains all examples. You'll see a 7 combo, a special move that continues after one sparkle and starts another, and at the end shows the player use a regular special move on the remaining zombies.
In some games there is neither timer, meter, nor hit count, but even in such games you can still launch combination attacks because enemies (though maybe not all) will go into hit-stun and you are freely able to follow up before they recover, though this is still the case for games that have actual combo displays.
I like to focus on the lesser known titles but feel free to add absolutely anything that fits, and we might as well add the rewards for comboing.
Take Lollipop Chainsaw. It's definition of a combo is called Sparkle Hunting. This is when you connect a chainsaw attack with 3 or more dizzy zombies, which instantly kills and decapitates them. Due to the range on the chainsaw, you can in only get so many zombies in one swing, max is 7. Although you'll see the number on screen, so let's just say it was 7 zombies, this isn't a 7 hit combo, it's actually 1 hit, so technically LC only has one hit combos.
It's possible to get another Sparkle Hunting combo right after the first. For those who haven't played it, the screen goes into slow mo on the chainsaw hit and the zombies heads all pop off at once, while the background turns to outer space with rainbows. It's almost a small cut-scene. But say you were doing one of the bigger chainsaw special move strings, (there's one where she swings all over the place while flipping forward) if you're in a large group, the next part of that string will continue into the group and cause another Sparkle.
This isn't rated as a combo, but technically you could say it was a double. You are rewarded with zombie medals and platinum medals, which are currency. The more zombies, obviously the more you get. Including the special named and more powerful zombies in your Sparkle will result in insane amounts of medals.
Outside of Sparkles, you have combo attacks, but there's no hit count or any kind of display. Physical attacks (non-chainsaw) cause zombies to become dizzy, so there is some sort of invisible counter/meter for those.
Managed to find this video that contains all examples. You'll see a 7 combo, a special move that continues after one sparkle and starts another, and at the end shows the player use a regular special move on the remaining zombies.
Last edited by Birdman on Mon Sep 30, 2019 7:10 am; edited 1 time in total