The game doesn’t tell you much of what’s going on, so we’ll help with that
After five years of waiting and hard work since its initial reveal, Blazing Strike is finally available and in the hands of players.
One of the aspects we praised most in our Blazing Strike review was the varied systems with mechanical depth that becomes more open and interesting as you learn more about them, but the caveat is almost no information about the mechanics can be found in the game itself.
So we’re going to help speed up that learning curve process by breaking down all of the Rush systems and mechanics featured in Blazing Strike at release.
The controls themselves are pretty straight forward for a four-button fighting game with motion inputs, so we’re not going to go over how to do specials and Supers since those are in the move list anyway.
Most of the intricacies stem from the Rush mechanic dedicated to a fifth button (R1 / RB by default) that gives players more options on movement, offense and defense.
Using Rush also constantly drains the meter about the health bar as long as the button is held down.
Draining your Rush meter completely leaves your character in a dizzy state for a few seconds, but you can also shorten that a bit by mashing left and right directions.
Let’s dive further into what Blazing Strike has to offer below the surface.
Input: Forward / back + Heavy Punch
Every character has basic throws performed in the classic style of a direction plus Heavy Punch. Tech throws can also be used by pressing forward and Heavy Punch when an opponent attempts to throw you.
Input: Rush + forward / back / up
Instead of double pressing directions for dashing, you can only dash, back dash or run while holding down the Rush button, which can take some getting used to.
Holding Rush also allows you to perform super jumps as well.
Input: Rush + Light Punch / Light Kick
Each character has two sets of Rush Attacks tied to their light buttons that allow you to use different moves and function similarly to short auto combos if pressed multiple times.
These are very useful for combo extensions and cancels.
Input: Hold Rush while attacking / Press forward + Rush after attack
Rush can be used to create new combo options beyond Rush Attacks that aren’t normally possible in a few different ways.
Holding down Rush while performing some heavy attacks will allow you to quickly cancel into a different normal that doesn’t naturally link.
Pressing forward plus Rush right as an attack lands essentially gives your character a dash cancel to link together more attacks.
Input: Rush + Designated input
Most characters have at least one EX normal or special performed with a Rush input and designated with a white flash.
These vary among the cast, but typically make attacks stronger and give them additional properties like more hits, a ground bounce or wall bounce.
Input: Rush (x2)
Most characters except for Mateo have a Rush Ability that does something unique.
Pink refills her flame charges, MJ gets an overhead, Mochizuki teleports, and Jake pulls the opponent towards him for some examples.
Input: Rush + Critical Trigger (L1 / LB by default)
Hitting the Critical Trigger button puts your character in a Blazing Rush state where they temporarily gain infinite Rush usage for around 10 seconds.
You have to be careful when deciding to use this mechanic because your Rush gauge will remain unavailable until the start of the next round once it runs out.
Input: Forward as attack is about to land
Blazing Strike has a parry similar to that of the Street Fighter 3 series, which can be used by pressing forward within a short window of when an opponent’s attack is about to land.
We’re not entirely certain of the exact parameters of the input window or punish ability though it does feel close to SF3.
Input: Rush + forward while being hit with normal or Rush Attacks
The game also includes what is essentially a combo breaker with Rush Parry that will cause a slowdown and freeze the opponent for a second when used at the correct time.
Rush Parry does seem strong at the surface level to counter combos, but it appears there are ways to bait and punish the ability too even if it connects.