Rhythm In Fighting Games (Video Essay)

Fighting

games

or a growing popular genre, the

fighting

game genre has been a mainstay of the gaming industry for a large number of decades, spawning arguably timeless franchises like Mortal Kombat Tekken and Street Fighter. They are all well known throughout the world. They have a unique competitiveness. The nature and complexity push players to reach the highest levels of gameplay with the long history of

fighting

games

as a gaming genre. Some players have been throwing fireballs like Ryu or freezing their opponents like Sub-Zero for over 20 years. The complexities of these games take years to master this is Dr.

Ryan Thompson, professor of musicology at Michigan State University, there is definitely a lot of overlap, even in the way you get good at fighting games, I can finish unexplored on almost the highest difficulty, I'm still working on the very difficult song, but like I'm a good player, but I don't practice Uncharted by going to a special practice room and learning a routine to move Nathan Drake, that's not how If you get good at that game it really isn't, similarly if I want to get good at Call of Duty as I can shoot at stationary targets in an isolated practice area but that's maybe a quarter of being good in that game, while in fighting games, and I understand that there is a completely neutral game as I could. talk to you for an hour about what it's like to play Marvel and do it well, but there's an important part of that which is going into the training room like you're practicing piano on your own, it's not the same as performing. in front of other people, but you have to put in that time or you'll never be able to play the same game well, since someone just coming in and pacing the quarters is the cornerstone of this complexity of every move you make in every combo chain you successfully achieve, pacing is an integral part of the gameplay experience in fighting games;

However, pacing is often overlooked in

video

game studies, research has not fully explained the players of these games in this

video

essay

that I will demonstrate. that pacing has a huge influence on fighting games, that it can help players reach higher levels of play, and that it can create unique gaming experiences before delving into fighting games; However, we must first understand how pacing is used in games in general and how players interact with audio within these games after introducing the basics of audio and pacing and gaming. I'll give you an overview of how the game terminology works before detailing how high-level players of these games can use pacing through this research, I hope. to show that there is a natural

rhythm

to fighting games and that a better sense of

rhythm

can help develop the player's skill.

Rhythm games test players' technical ability to recreate rhythms that are usually themed around music or dance. Rhythm games have found mass appeal in pop culture with games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero gaining massive commercial success in the states and around the world, players continue to improve themselves at these games and break the boundaries. of skills, it's not that possible games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band take this concept and have players simulate a performance like If they were the ones making the music, how do you simulate the feeling of a performance for the player in these games?

Players wield a guitar-shaped controller with buttons to simulate frets when the song begins, colored nodes fall from the top of the screen and players must press. the corresponding colored buttons on the controller while simultaneously pressing the switch which acts as a strumming much like a real performance, these two inputs must be activated at the same time to continue the musical output, if not executed correctly, the music will be interrupted by a failed note. To accentuate the player's skipped input at the end of each song, players are scored for their performance on a point system usually judged by the number of notes they played correctly, the number of notes played in succession before the a bug, players can select from a vast library of popular songs and performances to enliven virtual fans and playful elements with reality is a phenomenon Kyrie Miller calls schizophrenic performance.

Schizophrenic is a term coined by Canadian composer R Murray Shaffer that means the ability to separate sound from its source. schizophrenic meaning, split empphonic meaning, sound involves the discomfort or unnatural sensation of separation and sound from a physical object, a side effect of this is the brain's ability to re-associate schizophrenic sounds with a new source, along with movie sound theories foreigners. Michelle Shion describes it as a spontaneous and irresistible mind meld, completely free of any logic. that happens between sound and visual when the association of sounds coincide when new images give new meaning to the visual this is one of the fundamental principles of modern sound design we can hear the sound of frying bacon but associated with a strong storm or we You can hear the sounds of Celery Stock breaking associated with broken bones in the cases of Guitar Hero and the rock band The Players activating pre-recorded music and are not performing the composition in the literal sense.

The source of the sound is the original recorded performance of the music, but with this image now omitted, the sound is now associated with the player, not only are they involved in the game, but they are now physically involved with the controller maintaining the performance, players feel the effects of their mistakes and their virtual fans would recognize it. them from these mistakes with alcohol or applause every missed note means an interruption to their performance the player's skill is ultimately what determines how the performance goes Aaron Collins said that when players produce sounds in the game in the sense of who immediately receive feedback for their own actions, experience those sounds cognitively as their sounds because players receive immediate feedback tied to their own pure perceptual or kinesthetic actions.

Sounds become one part of oneself rather than another, in this way sound helps players become a character or perhaps more accurately their character. It may become part of your sense of identity, however, not all rhythm gains fall under this phenomenon of schizophrenic interpretation. Performance games like Rhythm Heaven do not simulate performance, they involve players in the music through a different means. Rhythm Heaven or as it is known in Japan, Rhythm haveku the series originally released in 2006. Rhythm Heaven uses small mini-games accompanied by cartoon images to test players' ability to keep up. These minigames can range from something tame like hidden baseballs to extravagant events like shooting peas into someone's mouth instead of using tablature nodes to visualize when the player should time their inputs.

Rhythm Heaven uses audiovisual cues to demonstrate when and where players should react in a minigame. Players watch the monkeys follow a purged monkey on the second hand of a giant clock face. They announce their counts in one, two, three, four and the Players must high five the yellow monkeys that come out of the clock. Players must press beats two and four to keep the music running successfully. Every couple of bars, this pattern of entering two and four changes suddenly two pink monkeys appear and the player has to High Five to the unusual beat of the music.

This visual difference helps the player understand the rhythmic pattern change. This is an example of how Rhythm Heaven uses visuals to help guide players, but sometimes the visuals are subtracted into a place we can see. In the Air Rally minigame, the player must throw a flyer back and forth between two planes. The game's cat character sings along with the level's music and helps guide the player when he is supposed to hit the beat at the beginning of the game. The cat counts the player, they must enter on each downbeat throughout the minigame, the player will have to switch to score two and four, which will be indicated by the cat singing a small jingle separate from the love of music after the jingle, the cat counts. out loud two three four having to guide the player further by providing an actual tempo the music to follow these audio cues becomes very important as the characters become obscured later in the game by the clouds in the sky up to this point, A player could simply look at the balls and time them with the images now visual elements are removed players have to use their internalized rhythm to continue the volley successfully another game that presents the music in a similar way is a bit trick runner bit trip runner released in 2011 is a unique gaming experience as it combines elements of an old school platformer with aspects of a rhythm game, players take control of Commander's video as he continually runs to the right side of the screen on his Along the way there are traps, pitfalls and walls, what is not evident at first is who the player is a part of. of music, each snare and obstacle can be mapped to the rhythm of the music and these obstructions are often repeating patterns.

Stephen actually calls these reciprocal patterns obstacle motifs similar to how music uses motifs to help guide the listener, this helps guide players from one level to another. By giving them a sense of familiarity with past game motifs, these score-lined obstacles can show repetition and the patterns in which they occur. The obstacles in the second area of ​​the Impulse level are spikes, traps and walls, players must jump over them to overcome them. Avoid the game over when you look at the obstacles in this level. The spikes land in Butte. One or three traps land at time one and the walls at B2.

This is what the opening sequence looks like in trap music. The strange motifs return in other areas of the level in the area. 11 As more obstacles are introduced, spikes landing on beats 1 and 3 and walls on B2 remain consistent, players learn more about the mechanics and gain muscle memory from these obstacles. Bitter Motives Runner is what I like to categorize as a character-based rhythm game. Unlike a performance-based one, like Guitar Hero or a rock band, these games players take control of the character and are confined to the rhythm. of music, indirectly involved with music, these games are often unique in that they combine gameplay elements and mechanics that are often not paired as mentioned above.

Image Runner is an old school platformer that has aspects of a rhythm game. Another game that does something similar is based on the art of the necrodancer of the necrodancer is a roguelike that combines elements of an action-adventure game with the rhythm, the main mechanic of the game is that a player's actions strictly conform to the rhythm. of the music. Every time a player moves, uses an attack or opens a door, everything should land in time with the music, not only can you hear the music based on the tempo, but there is also a display of the rhythm at the bottom of the screen if If you do not time your action correctly, you are vulnerable to being attacked.

Players navigate through different dungeons facing bosses and solving puzzles. Players can also pick up items that affect the rhythm or tempo of the music and help the player move freely through dungeons, the mechanic of actions linked to an overall rhythm is also found in a game called lightning bolts per minute, bullets per minute or BPM, is a slash-paced first-person shooter, this combination apparently does not complement each other, but the game mechanics allow for a unique experience, players select from a cast of characters with unique traits and play styles while They travel through vast dungeons fighting different creatures and monsters while trying to keep up.

The players have to keep up. rhythm of the music to do virtually anything in the game fire your weapons reload and run are all synchronized to the beat the beat indicator is in the middle of the screen players perform the action on downbeat or off beat playing syncopated rhythms allows more intense and fast-paced gameplay, however, since this game is so unique coming from a traditional first-person shooter, it's a huge learning curve, you can't just shoot everything in sight as fast as you want, you must maintain a constant time and be aware of when you can. shoot or you have to reload if you lose your rhythm you won't be able to shoot which may mean that the gameend, although Rhythm Heaven and character-based rhythm games don't necessarily replicate acting like Guitar Hero Rock Band, they can still be considered acting. the players still wield the power of their music the player loses the Q in Rhythm Heaven there is a break in the piece Ambitious Runner the player fails to avoid an obstacle the game is over This quote comes from Chris Dahlin, a former editor of Kill magazine Screen, help put this into perspective, all my apologies to those who think video games have become more and more like movies, but no matter how cinematic they become, the form they have the most in common with is music.

Both forms combine interpretation and production, instinct, theory, repetition and spontaneity, none of the two. is completed until the job lands a player in a classic Wonder a Million Interpretations as a performance from practice to mastery to reinvention Games are a form of expression for each person who plays them, you choose how you play and what objectives you hope to achieve within yourself. In these role-playing games you can create your class to suit your preferred play style, in the shooting game you can select your loadout for the weapons you use and in the fighting game you can select from a wide list of characters with different styles of play.

Choice and individuality is what makes video games a unique form of media. The equipment used by the players allows them to directly interact and participate in the performance. Controllers come in many styles and variations in most games. The GamePad is the ideal option. Controllers like the Dualshock 4 and Xbox controller have joysticks and triggers that allow them to play any type of game. Most games are designed around these controllers. In fighting games, the most common controller is the fight stick, modeled after arcade machine controls. These controllers have a large joystick and typically have six or eight face buttons.

They are perfect for any fighting game and allow for quick and accurate inputs, as mentioned above. Some controllers are modeled after real instruments, such as the Guitar Hero guitar controller, which helps improve the performance aspect. of the game instead of just pressing buttons or triggers, you're strumming and having your hands on the frets. Another controller similar to this is the Dance Dance Revolution mat. Dance Dance Revolution is a rhythm game that revolves around dancing instead of a traditional handheld controller. Dance Revolution uses a mat or dance floor style controller. Players input commands with their feet to simulate dancing.

These controllers are the means by which players can express themselves. Enter the commands to participate in the game. They make the decisions that dictate how their game plays without the players there is no game like music without interpretation there is no music although these controllers do not actively play music they are the means by which these virtual performances are cultivated this interaction between the players and the audio within of these games makes them a very interesting way Interactive media audio is a fundamental part of video games, but many people are under the impression that it is in the same vein as audio for films or television, as opposed to cinema or television, which are static forms of media.

Video games are interactive and change from play to play. Soundtracks and sound effects can grow and evolve based on the actions happening around you in the game world. One of the defining aspects of interactive audio is dynamic soundtracks. Dynamic soundtracks are compositions that can evolve and change drastically. One place we can see this is in the Mario Kart game series, during the first two laps of the race the music plays like a tempo, but once the third lap hits the music increases in speed, this helps to allude to the players that this is the final stretch, for some players it can be stressful to hear this increase in tempo for others, it could mean relief as they are far enough ahead to have a certain victory, a common technique seen Often in dynamic soundtracks, changes in arrangement tracks and side plays can change textures or orchestration styles depending on the environment. where you are or what events are triggered within the game world some fighting games take this concept and apply it to their format in the game Tekken 4 the layout of the tracks changes depending on the round the game is in at the beginning of the game trackers in their calmest or tactically light form and will continue to increase as the match progresses.

Let's listen to the big crash test of the track from the city stage in the first round we hear Groove played by the jazz organ base and the horns will soon follow. after the player wins the round and plays the horns he will play a big hit followed by a drop where the second round begins we get a whole new section of the piece with vocals along with the group, after the vocals the horn comes loud but the melody that plays around the jazz organs plays like a gut-wrenching solo that turns the intensity down to 11. This sets the progression of the fight and allows players to connect with the music while fighting.

In some games, these changes of section are not as noticeable or not separated and garbage The arrangements change perfectly depending on the player's interactions. An example of this technique is found in the game Monkey Island 2 originally released in 1992 for PC. Monkey Island 2 is a point and click adventure game while traversing the game's environments, players can hear the music change textures while exploring new areas when a player enters a new area, two beats of the original arrangement continued to play and in B3 the new instruments or melodies will enter, this creates a perfect transition between the different ranges of music.

The Fighter game tree. 4 not only does something similar, but also provides players with useful audio cues for specific events in a match. When the player fills their super meter, the music moves to a b section. Foreign ER has low Health, the music becomes more hectic, changing parts of the music. The arrangement helps the players. understand what's going on in the match and maybe accuse them of how they should play the B section of the track here demanding to be more careful to avoid getting hit with a super in the Killer Instinct reboot released in 2013. Players control the music with Their combos Players achieve a certain number of hits in their combo The course of their character's music will play the perfect transition between different themes depending on the player's skill Players essentially become composers and change the music at will if they have the skill enough, this is very evident in At the end of the matches and the player defeats his opponent, he is allowed to perform an Ultra Combo.

An Ultra Combo is an opportunity to achieve a long, flashy stream that can last as long as the player can continue. Sound designers help develop the game. Added a level of musical interactivity and an Ultra Combo mechanic. A colossal musical motif will be played. Every time a player hits the opponent, players can directly create monumental musical moments with their own combos. This creative interactive audio technique creates a whole new level of expression for them, but now not only do players create combos, but they can also create different musical moments from those combos. This concept of the player as composer is seen in many different games.

Take, for example, the fighting game Skull Girls. In this game there is a playable character called Big Band. a jazz saxophone playing robot that uses text based on musical instruments. One of the most iconic moves of his is when he comes out of the trumpet play. The player can enter commands to play his notes on the trumpet. The notes span the full 12 tones in multiple octaves. and the players take advantage of this creative musical freedom and encompass pieces that the big band can play at games. Please watch this novel. It simply adds a level of creative depth to the character and allows the player another form of expression, one of the most infamous examples. of players since the composer is in The Legend of Zelda series, one of the main mechanics of the games are the playable instruments, eh, which players use to advance the plot in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time link receives a Ocarina, but in no way is this.

Regular Ocarina, as the name suggests, is Ocarina of Time. The Ocarina is one of the main gameplay mechanics of the game. Players will learn to play different tunes throughout their game to help them navigate new areas, view puzzles, or travel between different timelines displayed. fingering chart for the Ocarina, as you can see, can be played from B3 to F5, turning the controller into a means of creation. A quest within Ocarina of Time allows the player to create their own melodies instead of playing the pre-existing one they have been given. Players travel to Lake Hyla and counter-scarecrows on the field.

Players interact with the scarecrows. They will be given the task of playing a song. The player can create an 8-0 composition that becomes the Scarecrow's song. This is unique as it gives creative expression to players. In the gaming world in sound design there is a concept of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Digital sounds are in the media universe or any sound the character can hear. An example is if a character in a movie plays the piano, the song the character is playing. is a diegetic sound the characters in that film hear the music within the world of the film a non-diegetic sound is any sound we hear that does not come from the universe of that medium think about any background music a character has been playing What happens in Ocarina of Time it's a completely different concept as it essentially breaks the fourth wall.

Players are actively creating composition that comes from reality and exists in the game world. Let me consider it the highest form of player expression, they don't just create original compositions. but now it directly affects the game. The game takes all of these concepts of rhythm and interactive audio and uses them to create unique gaming experiences for its players. As we delve deeper into fighting game examples, it's important to understand the intricacies of the genre to avoid confusion later. The games are complex, players need to mask the move sets of individual characters while also knowing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.

Fighting games are packed with various unique techniques and gameplay mechanics that players must master to play at the highest levels that fighting games have. a lot of specific terminology that players use to identify and communicate these techniques in game terms, having names for fighting game techniques or situations allows us to better and consciously understand the achievements in which we spend so many hours on one way of doing that our minds understand the infinite number of actions performed by our characters, very similar to music, nomenclature is what artists use to give life to the pieces. The same can be said for fighting games as players use these techniques to perform competitive matches now as we delve deeper into the examples of fighting games you need to understand. the terminologies and mechanics that players use daily within these games.

Some fighting game terminology is used across multiple franchises and types of games. I'd like to start by detailing some universal language and what better place to start than part of every fighting game. starting players What is called neutral play, neutral play sometimes called foot season refers to when both players are trying to figure out what their opponent is trying to make a neutral state for both players, the necessary players are hit or combined , both will use movement and launch attacks. To gain an advantage over the opponent, Street Fighter focuses heavily on neutral players trying to reduce their opponent's health while waiting for them to make a mistake.

Once they catch the opponent off guard, they can capitalize and strike with the heart in an attack. Players also try to control the space around them. Players will launch projectiles to take control of the space and force their opponents to change positions. Each character plays neutral very differently and is at an optimal distance from their opponent. Some prefer to be up close and personal. his opponent, while others take a more Moss approach and try to keep the opponent at bay while moving away from his health. Short combo combos are arguably the most essential mechanic in all fighting games.

Combos are chains of attacksthat come together to deal massive amounts of damage. In the original Street Fighter 2, players discovered that certain moves could be trained together to maximize damage, and combos have since been an integral part of fighting game characters' move sets. Combos are what separate casual players from high-level professionals. Combos can range from three hit chains to 30-second long sequences that can deal significant damage to your opponents. Combos have a wide execution range, meaning how difficult it is to successfully connect the string. Each character has their own unique combos, so it's crucial to have a full understanding of which moods they work together.

Succession series like Marvel vs Capcom and Tekken focus heavily on the strengths of long-running, high-running combos - you can quickly lose half your health on an opponent's combo - while others like Street Fighter focus More on McDonald's gameplay, such as using projectiles to maintain space between you and your opponent or undermining their health with small hits and jabs, animation and science fiction, games are one of the most essential concepts that players must understand, but fighting games are not called animation, but frame data. Frame data is one of the cornerstones. In fighting games, few players understand what it really is.

Frame data is a term referring to the animation frames in single motion frames. The frames are the still images within an animation because together we obtain the complete movement. A frame is 160 of a second, this comes from the standard frame rate of most fighting games being 60 frames per second. Frame data decides how fast moves are executed and how quickly an opponent can attack after being hit by a move. The movements are divided into three sections. The starting frames are the wind. of a move, think of it as the action before the move makes contact with your opponent, the longer the start, the longer it will take to make contact with your opponent and vice versa, going back to frames and when the attack actually makes contact with your opponent. opponent, this puts you in a stun state when you or your opponent are not hit, Sun, you cannot perform any actions, you are stuck until the hit ends, finally, once you have finished hitting your opponent, you go into what is called recovery.

Frame recovery frames are when the character retracts from the attack and returns to a neutral position. All of this culminates in a game of who gets the frame advantage. Take this example where I use Crouch and strong or Street Fighter 2. Ryu has four starting frames once. he makes contact with the dolls, he has four active frames. The dolphin will be placed on the tombstone for 15 frames on Ryu's active frame 1. Then Ryu will have six frames of recovery if we check the math. Ryu will cover six frames before Dolson is hit. stun, this gives Ryu a frame advantage, meaning he can launch any attack of six frames or less and Dolson would not be able to block it.

We would say this is more six on the punch, on the other hand, if Ryu were to throw any other move like the close and strong stance from him. once he hits him, he will have -7 frames per hit, now he is at a frame disadvantage and the opponent can take advantage of the attack faster. There is a different frame advantage for when an opponent blocks an attacker, if the opponent blocks, he doesn't have to. enter the hit trick state from him, meaning they can recover faster. We'd say this is pretty much on the block. We're talking about fighting games.

It's hard not to mention the pacing. You could talk about some players in the combo sequence and say it has a strange rhythm. execute or players might say that the pacing is off when they lose a match. Pacing plays a big role in fighting games, but it's often not explained to players. Let's take a look at this gin combo from Tekken 7. The notation does not precisely indicate when the player should or should not press a button, what happens if I enter All the commands are as fast as possible for women and as we can see, this It's not a speed game.

Commands must be entered with specific times. Let's see how it is done with the correct timing, but Dick takes the rhythm of his combo box. Dana plays a very important role. in the rhythm of moves and combos framed as a division of time just as the rhythm within the frames of the animation is what dictates the speed of the movement, the more frames the smoother the animation will be when looking at the Gin combo, This is what the frame data looks like for each one. movement in total we have 132 frames in terms of time this combo is 2.21 seconds from start to finish if we wanted we can figure out how the frames line up for the rhythm to do this we first need to find the frames per minute multiply 60 frames by 60 to get 3600, which is our frames per minute.

Next, you want to find the BPM of your chosen song. Let's take the BPM of the track Infinity Azure, which is 174 BPM. Now divide 3600 by 174 and we get approximately 21 frames per time. let's take a look at the combo notated on the score all the notes are button presses on the controller here it is lined up for the first eight bars of the infinite blue track a player wouldn't see this and use it in a match, it's just impractical, but seeing where the base impresses compared to the rhythm helps us better understand what is happening within the combo.

First, we can see that the button presses are quite syncopated. Rarely does the player press the downbeat, so try to align the button presses with the rhythm. Beating the music is not something the player does regularly. Secondly, we can see a recurring rhythm in this combo. Jin's back three on four, one occurs twice in this combo. On both occasions we have the identical black doll between them. The program is a Consistency of rhythm within the ropes, players must wait the same amount of time each time they want to use those movements in successions. Combos that have the same sequences of moves repeated are quite common.

A good way for players to practice these ropes is with a concept called chunking. Chunking is defined as the reorganization or regrouping of movement sequences into smaller subsequences during performance. The fragments are believed to facilitate the fluid execution of complex movements and improve motor memory. Players who separate combos and isolate individual strings can gain motor memory more effectively. For example, how musicians separate pieces and practice seconds individually, if a part of the combo is giving you trouble, practice it individually and then try putting the pieces back together. Let's look at a more complex input and see what the quarter circle special motion movement looks like rhythmically. common in many franchises when executing this move the stick moves from first down, down, forward and then forward plus an attack button with my front stick, we can hear a different rhythm of the stick switches on the line of buttons, this up to a 120 BPM click. we can hear that the rhythm is two thirty-second notes and a sixteenth note.

Now of course for different tempos this rhythm could be notated differently, however the same fundamental feeling still applies. Charging moves are unique in that players must hold the input for about a second before finishing the rest. command, an example is Guile's Sonic Boom from Street Fighter. Time control is quite complicated when I started. I know I struggled with it a lot as it's completely different from all other fighting game commands while playing this guy in Street Fighter 4. I tried to align the hold release with a particular music beat. I found that you could release a charging move on beat three of a stage's music if it is in the 120 BPM to 130 BPM range.

This concept applies to all cargo movements. on street food 4. like any of the Vegas or DJ special moves, but not all stages have 120 BPM music, if the BPM is faster than 120, it will land on a later beat, for example on stage , beautiful bejas, the music is at 170 BPM in In this case, players without the launch in Beat 4. Another example similar to this is the game Super Smash Bros. Melee, considered the most competitive technical of the series. Melee has many unique techniques that make the game still appealing to players more than 20 years later. a technique that has established itself as one of the best and most iconic in the game.

Players choose the Ice Climbers character. They can use the stagger technique. This is done by grabbing them and pressing the a button. It has a beat of around 200 BPM. This technique is actually banned in many tournaments due to its inescapability. The player gets caught in the wobble. It's an instant kill if done correctly. Ice climbing players should be able to do it. remembering this tempo and executing it constantly under high pressure one question is how we remember tempos and rhythms from our muscle memory Oliver Sacks in his musical book Ophelia recalls a story about how he injured his leg in a mountain climbing accident without the use of his leg and needed to return down the mountain, his only option was to crawl on the ground.

He fell into a rhythm once he began to synchronize his movement with a song similar to how the rowers sank his movements into Vulcan's responses once he fully recovered from his injury. his leg still didn't move his brain apparently he had forgotten how to use the leg recovered after 15 days he tried to walk on it but his motor function was not completely there only after listening to Mendelson's Violin Concerto in E minor he used internalization of music to regain what he calls the natural rhythm and melody of walking with the rehabilitation of these injuries, it is often the case that music and rhythm help patients in recovery.

Research has shown a link between auditory rhythm and support of motor functions. In their article titled When the Brain Plays Music, Auditory Motor Interactions, Music Perception and Production, Robert Sator, Joyce Chang at Virginia Penhu, uses brain imaging to find the effects on the brain of rhythm and music when test subjects participated in rhythm synchronization, like tapping. to a beat they would find activity in the basal ganglia and cerebellar regions of the motor cortex of the brain, even when not physically tracked for a beat, the brain still has activity in the Premier cortex and motor cortex. Motor imagery may not explain all examples of premotor recruitment. are enlisted even when listeners do not have explicit sound-motion associations, such as when passively listening to rhythms in a naive condition with no prior knowledge of any motor task, they still show recruitment of premature cortices and the supplementary motor area of ​​the SMA.

These findings suggest that the SMA and premotor regions can track rhythm simultaneously, so although imagery may play a role in auditory motor interactions, it does not appear to be essential for such interactions to arise and is a study by Daniel Levington and Perry Cook to test human abilities to remember. Rhythm and Tempo accurately subject with a wide range of musical skills ranging from no experience to 10+ years of experience his place in the room with a shelf full of CDs there was no CD player in the room and the CDs were never played for the most difficult Participants were instructed to select a CD with songs they were familiar with but had not listened to in the last 72 hours.

Once selected, their task was to visualize the song in their head and hum it once they had it in mind. To see how accurately the subject could hum the chosen song, the results showed that all subjects were within four to eight percent of the actual tempo and rhythm. This indicates that humans have an incredible memory regarding tempo and rhythm. It also shows that humans are innate to quickly remember some tempos. What's fascinating is that the brain is activated in a similar way while playing video games. Other action-focused video games have the ability to increase brain activity in the premotor and parietal cortex or premotor skills.

Quick thinking and control of sensory movements are all required auditory functions and the motor functions of games go hand in hand, although the link between rhythm and games is very evident, there may not be a correlation with games that improve the player's sense of rhythm in a study by Kiri. Miller in 2009 tested whether there was a correlationbetween the scale and Guitar Hero in a better sense of rhythm and player subjects for men aged 25 to 31 who had minimal or no musical experience when half the group were advanced Guitar Hero players. 2 of the other half were inexperienced players, the subjects tested their skills in the game by playing randomly selected songs or increasing the difficulty once a skill level was established, the subjects participated in a rhythm synchronization test, they had to tapping along with the metronome click and eventually the click was removed, but they had to continue tapping on the surveys.

The test was to see how accurately they could play the metronome tempo without the clicking sound. The study showed inconclusive results connecting Guitar Hero skill to a better sense of rhythm. Study of the busybody. shows that players do not get a significant improvement in rhythm with more playing, although rhythm games may specifically appeal to those who are already musically inclined, as Miller's survey suggests. It is interesting to note that even despite the mapping routes towards distinctively non-traditional musical forms, this study does not support the theory that players are improving their sensitivity to either, rather it suggests that experience implies better performance in the two. faster levels of perception and action, although the results of the study were inconclusive, the presentation is quite interesting, players may not gain a better sense of rhythm, but we are getting higher levels of play with continued practice.

Does this principle apply to all games or just rhythm games? Well, fighting games rely on greater skill and knowledge, just like rhythm games, players have to practice the same combos and moves for hours just to understand the character. Totally similar to how rhythm game players have to spend hours and hours perfecting songs and challenges in a sense, a combo is a rhythm game level or a solo. Going back to our previous example, we can see how our brain helps us remember rhythms and tempos. of inputs in fighting games becomes muscle memory if we practice it constantly.

A good type of player needs to constantly practice in wild lands and perform in the blink of an eye and a clever player needs to ingrain the rhythm of charged moves to successfully win a tournament as a player. Sort of an aside, another aspect of rhythm and fighting games is the tempos of the game, each player is unique, no matter what character they select, they have a specific way of playing. If you watch two different players play Gin from Tekken 7, you can see the big differences in their playing styles, some players like to play super offensively, launching a bombardment with taxes, is their opponent and rounds quickly, while Others like to play more defensively, being patient with their opponent and taking advantage of any mistakes they make, something that can be compared to a real-life boxing match.

The games are exaggerated and fictional, but they take away a lot from the real-life fighting styles of boxing. The temple refers to the flow in which a fighter chooses, throws, strikes, defends or evades. Steve Coleman describes it as three different general rhythmic forms, setup, rhythm, preparing to hit or waiting to counterattack, depending on the style of the boxer, the rhythm of the offensive movement and the rhythm of the defensive movement, take, for example, Floyd Mayweather, one of the most decorated boxers in history. May Weather is best known for its ring defense. He is constantly swinging and weaving his opponent's attacks, he is trying to read his opponent while also trying to tire him out, evading an attack and responding with his own.

The fighting game is very similar, players must find the template that best suits their character and react to the opponent's attacks. and your opponent tries to hit you with a slow overhead block and hooks him to start a combo or maybe your opponent is playing passively step back and wait for an opening, neutral play becomes an improvisation based on The events surrounding you and your opponents are like jazz musicians locked in a solo battle. They both throw licks at each other and try to show each other knowing that pacing is a considerable aspect of fighting games.

Some fighting games take advantage of rhythm and use it to create unique gameplay. mechanical slap Happy Rhythm Busters is a fun game released in 2000 on PlayStation One, a pretty dark, very heavy game. Rhythm Busters is a super stylized game that takes inspiration from the culture shift of Millennia Street, the game is your average 2D fighter until players use a fever attack a fever attack is when a player completely fills their super bar, places players in a rhythm game style minigame where the player has to press each beat to lower their opponent's health bar while this happens you can probably press buttons that unbalance the rhythm to ruin the opponent the minigame is in the style of games as stands Revolution were two-point bars that must be pressed in the empty spaces Rhythm Heaven curiously has a fighting game concept the fighter of the Rhythm minigame is a fight between two Boxing robot players do not strictly fall into the established rhythmic pattern as any other Rhythm Heaven minigame.

The minigame becomes a basis for you and your opponent to take turns laying down rhythmic patterns and each of you must repeat it successfully or lose the round. This concept is quite peculiar because it is a fighting game without neutral gameplay what we have is a Fighting game. Simon says that players are not using movements or rhythms of play to challenge their opponents, but rather they are trying to outdo them in their sense. rhythmic. Fighting games have been climbing the ladder of popular esports with thousands of tournaments a year, there is no shortage. of high level fighting game the players who compete in these tournaments are masters of their craft, they know all the ins and outs of the games they play and some of these players have been playing since the arcade era the first examples of fighting game tournaments Competitive We can go back to that time, but one tournament has established itself as one of the most prestigious of all: the Evolution Fighting Game Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, also known as Evo, is an annual event that draws thousands of players from all over the world. compete to be Evo Champions in their selected games Evo has been the birthplace of some fighting games' most iconic moments, the most infamous being Evo's 37th moment.

At Evo 2004, Daiga Umahara and Justin Wong would face each other in the Street Fighter Third Strike tournament. Justin Wong was one of the most promising street fighting players in the US, Daigo, was known as one of the best players in Japan. Daigo, a master of timing and execution, and Justin, a tactician, a fighting gamer proud to be able to dominate any game. the game he chooses this was a showdown for the ages Daigo played his Ken against Justin's Chung Li both players have one round of the piece this was an anyone's game Justin took charge and led Daigo in the final round, he went all the way the ending like Daigle's health was almost zero if daiko was hit with any move even if he blocked it he would have lost the match.

Justin used his super to take advantage of this, but then this happened overseas. What happened here was almost impossible. Daigo used parries to keep from doing so. taking any damage from Chungli Super, this is impressive in itself, but he needed to do it 15 times to parry each hit from Chun-Li Super, he proceeds to perform a devastating combo to win the match. This moment is a masterclass and perfect timing execution. To begin with, Daigon needed to enter a parry before the attack even came out. He completely read Justin and knew exactly what he would do before he even did it.

This comes from pure knowledge of the game. Second, you must enter the parry in the same box as the attack. This is a 160 second window. You can't run this by chance. Daigo had the rhythm of each blow, the super until the box. This could only come from hours of intense practice. He was able to remember the perfect rhythm at the most critical moment. Timing Rhythm plays a master role even at the highest levels of play in fighting games, from hyper-difficult combos to advanced movement techniques. Professional players use trained rhythms to gain an advantage over their opponents.

One way professional players can think of rhythm is as distinct patterns. Humans are very good at recognizing patterns and actively looking for patterns in our environment. The same goes for fighting games, players can see rhythmic patterns and how players move or attack. Fighting games are a mental chess game where you make moves that are anticipated but will come. of our opponents our observations inform our expectations, but if our opponent subverts those expectations it can mean checkmate these observations influence their decision making and how we conduct a match players can create rhythmic patterns and choose to break them and destroy preconceived expectations of his opponent.

For example, in Street Fighter, if Riley throws fireballs at a constant meter, say 60 BPM, which is faster to move, a player can read this and jump to avoid the projectile and counterattack, however, if Ryu decides to delay one of these speeds. his opponent still decides to jump. Ryu has now broken the rhythmic patterns that he is expected to now have the advantage of taking advantage of that anti-air move. Some of the fun games have built-in delayability, allowing for different timings on when the opponent should block a combo breaker 2019 Cherry Berry mango and aru faced off in this match Cherry Berry mango uses Jen's 4-3, Gen 2 was called Zen stands, standard tool that gym players use to attack or initiate combos, however, you can hold this stance and choose to attack or cancel.

All told, Cherry uses him quite often in this match and usually attacks once he enters the stands. It establishes the rhythmic pattern of adopting a Zen stance followed by an attack, a quick exchange that can be easily blocked or even punished with a well-timed jab. After several instances of him repeating this pattern he chooses to delay his attack to wait for Ari's reaction, she evades back assuming he would continue on the offensive for an attack and wanted to evade the handle Cherry Berry read this cancel stance Zen to follow aru, this aru caught aru completely off guard, allowing Cherry Berry mango to take advantage with a big combo, so our observation is that Cherry Berry Manga always attacks after taking the Zen stance.

Influence his expectations to avoid it. Create rhythmic patterns and break those patterns. Keeps your opponents in place. toes wish to strike a balance of rhythmic predictability with uncertainty to achieve this composure in his opponent in the evil 2019 chair bear mango found quick kicks in the top 128 of the tournament these players are considered some of the best in the world in their respective characters CherryBerry The manga from Korea plays a highly technical gin and fast kicks from the United States plays a hyper aggressive horong. June is a very versatile character. However, her toolbox contains a bit of all sorts of places, but most players tend to play her defensively and patiently.

Harang is a purely offensive character, he can maintain constant pressure on his opponent with devastating kicks. These two different playing styles can be considered two contrasts and tempos. Players have to change the tempos of matches to find a rhythm that helps them overcome their opponents, much like real-life boxing. As the match begins, both players choose to play it safe and waiting for an opening time is crucial and being able to react as soon as you see the opening is what can help them win the match during the third round of the first game. The quick kicks begin to increase.

As he increases his fight in tempo as if taking a metronome and breaking several notches, he unleashes a flurry of kicks that overwhelms CherryBerry mango Cherry Berry mango UPS up to his point he has been waiting for an opening to attack, but now there are no opening speed kicks . launching the constant mirage of attacks, this increase in the speed of the game is the recipe for immediate success of quick kicks in this match. The CherryBerry handle doesn't seem to have a response to this tempo change. What's going on here? Well, let's think about it this way, let's think about the chronochrome piece composed by Oliver Messier.

This piece is a disorienting amalgam of disjunctive tempo changes that leaves the listener in a state of bewilderment. These sudden changes never allow the listener to feel comfortable or at ease. taste one second like a slow jog the next a rapid hodgepodge of conflicting runs thisJuxtaposition is a perfect example of tempo changes leading to confusion Quick kicks Changing from a slower, more patient tempo to a higher octane one results in an immediate advantage in the match Cherry Berry mango can't hold back the pressure, but realizes that maybe his style needs to change to suit his opponent, but his trick is that he changes tempo back and forth just like the messian piece, you can go from Fast to slow, this now exposes the fast kicks and keeps him guessing how the Cherry Berry handle tackles fast match kicks. he decides to stop pressuring CherryBerry mango to play safer.

He understands how the flow goes. This finally means your starting point as Cherry Berry mango advances in the tournament. In conclusion. This research shows that there is a clear link between rhythm and fighting games. high-level play from consistent rhythmic patterns for strings and attacks Tempo and synchronization of input mechanisms or individual playing tempos Rhythm can help players reach higher levels of play Rhythm can also create a sense of competitiveness and can be a tool for the player's expression and creativity with this I hope that this video

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helps shed light on the topic of rhythm and science fiction games and contributes to the study of rhythm and games in general.

I would like to especially thank My Capstone Coordinator, Dr. Sharon. My Capstone committee, Dr. Gennaro and Dr. Bertos and a special thank you to my Capstone president. Dr. William Ayers, thank you for all your help and support.