In the most famous scene across all Indiana Jones films, Indy runs through a booby-trapped temple as it’s collapsing and encounters a pit with spikes (think Mortal Kombat) on the other side of which a giant stone door is rapidly lowering. There’s a shot of the door closing that indicates there’s no chance of Indy making under, but through the magic of editing, he winds up having time to roll under and even snag his iconic hat that fell off in the process.
This moment from an online Street Fighter match offers similar vibes, as it seems there’s just no way for the JP player to score enough damage to earn the win. Then, even without movie magic, expectations are completely thwarted.
One of JP’s most oppressive tools has been his ability to chip away at your Drive Gauge and then at your health if and when you eventually wind up in Burnout, and that’s exactly the game these two players engage in as the third round of their match ticks past the 20 second mark.
The Akuma has half a Drive Gauge and about three times as much health as the JP, but finds himself full screen against a full screen zoner. The plan? Hang out and block/parry until either a time out win occurs or the JP gets antsy and tries to go for some Hail Mary offense.
Both players opt for the former, and about 15 seconds of full screen chip exchanges ensue. Akuma doesn’t take any damage, but his Drive Gauge is whittled down to just half of a single bar. What’s worse, at the same moment JP builds just enough bar to activate his Super 2, Lovushka.
While it’s no Ysaar, Lovushka does cause four projectiles to form around the opponent and proceed to attack with overheads and lows while JP can choose remain an entire screen away. This is indeed enough to send Akuma into Burnout, effectively stripping him of the crucial ability to parry.
This makes for the exact in JP needs, and he teleports over to score a quick hit. He spends a ton of Drive Gauge for a combo that doesn’t KO Akuma, but squeaks out just enough damage in just enough time to give him the life lead.
The game’s sudden and matter of fact transition to JP’s win screen almost feels brutal as the Akuma player’s expectations and hopes of winning the round are immediately left behind. The in-game announcer declares JP’s victory and the old man proceeds into his win animation without missing a beat:
はぁ、、はぁ、、 pic.twitter.com/BlNuwc2uNz
— ガーカス (@gaakasu_2) August 22, 2024
What makes this all the worse is when you consider that Akuma’s lower health is probably the difference maker here. Had virtually any other character been in this exact same situation at this point, they would have taken the damage but likely had more health than their foe and thus won the match.