Single-button throws vs. Multi-button throws

[Domayv]

I've always had this question: In some fighting games (particularly the older ones such as Street Fighter II, and any games from the Guilty Gear, Marvel vs. Capcom and King of Fighters franchises, and Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax), they have a single-button input for a throw that has no startup and whiff animation (whiffing will have the respective normal come out instead) and involves pressing forward or backward a button (usually a heavy-type attack) when up close against a character. In other fighting games (such as any Street Fighter game from Street Fighter III and beyond, as well as newer fighting games like BlazBlue, Melty Blood, Skullgirls, UNIEL, P4U and Arcana Heart), they have a multi-button input for a throw that has a startup and whiff animation and involves pressing two buttons and can be done anywhere on the screen and not up close against a character. That being said, which one is better?

 

[Pickles]

of course you're gonna get some skewed results posting in a forum for a multi-button throw game lol
but I personally am more of a fan of multi-button because of the whiff animation, instead of the game choosing what you get depending on how close you are which usually leads to some option select shenanigans. With "whiffable" throws it's a bit more of a commitment.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I've always preferred the multi-button throw with an animation for whiffing, that can be punished. It adds a bit more of a risk to grabbing, and to me, it's easier to input.
I dislike the Guilty Gear type of throw, which is back or forward plus an input, because a lot of times I would be dashing forward and the throw input wouldn't register. I feel like it is a bit more fidgety and unwieldly.

 

[Mike_Z]

I'm not participating, but I would like to correct the original post:
Single or multi-button has nothing to do with startup+whiff animation or not. CvS2 has single-button throws which have nonzero startup as well as a whiff animation, and SSF2T THawk has a command throw, which is the same class as multi-button throws, with with no startup or whiff animation. SSF2T Gief and Hawk also have 720s with no startup or whiff animation.

 

[Domayv]

I dislike the Guilty Gear type of throw, which is back or forward plus an input, because a lot of times I would be dashing forward and the throw input wouldn't register. I feel like it is a bit more fidgety and unwieldly.

Same with me (I have Accent Core Plus R BTW). The worst part about that is, as shown in this article from Dustloop, throws are actually the core mechanic of Guilty Gear (and the developers think first and foremost about the throws in nearly every decision they make), and that the professionals in those games are always masters with the throw. Personally, the only way Guilty Gear's mechanics would change is if ASW makes that hypothetical crossover with Guilty Gear and BlazBlue (which would involve blending in mechanics from both series, as well as some from the Persona 4 Arena series) once the fourth BlazBlue game comes out (which would be 2016 at the earliest).[/QUOTE]

 

[PaperBag_Sniper]

I prefer multi-button throws since they feel more intuitive and I feel less likely to accidentally do that input, than I have historically with single button throws.

 

[Domayv]

I'm not participating, but I would like to correct the original post:
Single or multi-button has nothing to do with startup+whiff animation or not. CvS2 has single-button throws which have nonzero startup as well as a whiff animation, and SSF2T THawk has a command throw, which is the same class as multi-button throws, with with no startup or whiff animation. SSF2T Gief and Hawk also have 720s with no startup or whiff animation.

Don't forget, some fighting games just have a dedicated throw button (complete with a startup and whiff animation), like Super Smash Bros and Mortal Kombat.

 

[RemiKz]

I've always disliked when fighting games don't have throw whiffs. Not sure how true this is for other games, but in stuff like vsav, my throw attack is also a pretty good anti-air, which acts as an option select that I don't think I should really have.

 

[ClarenceMage]

Both are cool, it just depends what you want out of the game and how both are implemented.