While a lot of games are kind of “Pick up, play, put down”, fighting games are a lot more akin to learning an instrument. They’re largely practice based, where unless you’re just playing with the same static group of friends some of your sessions will probably involve doing drills or researching how to improve.
With M.Bison now available in Street Fighter 6, I feel like I’ve found a character that absolutely asks of you, “Learn to play this game seriously to have some fun”. In a sense he’s not that different from Akuma– high execution for fun rewards. The main difference though, is a core part of Bison’s identity: Charge inputs.
Look, depending on who you ask charge inputs are either the greatest thing fighting games have ever devised or the worst. Holding down while blocking a guy’s string only to interrupt it with an EX Flash KIck with Guile is a lot of fun, as is lunging across the stage as Q with his rush punch. But they come at the cost of commitment. Holding down means you are susceptible to overheads, while holding back means you’re going to be turtling until you build the charge to rush forwards or chuck sonic booms.
Yet you wouldn’t believe this watching the best players try them out- charge inputs come out smoothly and effortlessly, tempered by hours of practice in the lab to the point you can even bust them out mid-combo.
Overcome Charge Inputs With M.Bison
With M.Bison, charge inputs are the magic switch that turns his gameplay from aggressive to downright oppressive. Moves like Psycho Crusher are terrifying enough in neutral, but imagine doing it at the end of a combo? With his Psycho Mine mechanic, letting Bison touch you is a death sentence. As long as the Bison player can end it with Backfist he’s getting his mine, and from there he gets to enforce the kind of nonsense game plan you’d expect out of the versus series.
Once you’re fully familiarized with his kit, M.Bison is an absolute menace. He’s just so good at controlling space in a way that terrorizes smaller, faster characters. He’s a little more evenly matched against, say, a Zangief who can afford a few mistakes. But watch a character like Akuma, Lily or Cammy just really start to fear you once you enforce your mix.
It’s why I think it’s really funny that all of this comedy gold is locked behind his charge inputs. If you’re not ready for it you’ll find him weird and unwieldy.
Shadow Rise is a flash kick input with no invincibility- rather than using it to get out of pressure its use is in making your opponent’s day worse by making them guess where, when and how M.Bison’s next attack is going to come. Having minute details like being able to control which side Devil Reverse hits on, or extending Head Press with the Somersault are all great tools for a bully character- and once you get the hang of when you can use it you can be a proper menace.
That’s just one of his many moves- I think his Psycho Mine mechanic really teaches good habits, since 90% of their utility is behind more advanced play. Extending combos or even reclaiming your turn are powerful tools that serve as your reward for converting your hits right, and I think that’s a great tool for an advanced character like M.Bison.
Embrace Psycho Power
It should be noted that a lot of this tends to mean that M.Bison himself is a bit of a wall for newer players. His mix is technical and relies a lot on mind games with your opponent- something a newer player, especially one possibly being introduced via the Steam Summer Sale might not have on-board just yet.
But I think that if you can overcome the technical wall to M.Bison you’re not only in for a good time with the character, you’ll improve your appreciation of fighting games overall. Charge characters are incredibly complex this way, and fully mastering the high skill floor Bison asks for will allow you to appreciate the many elaborate decisions you can make mid-match.
It’s the difference of appreciation on the level of seeing someone’s gameplay and going “that guy hits buttons good” to “That guy is literally charging every free second he has which is how he’s using psycho crusher so seamlessly”. Having access to all his tools also makes you realize how simple it can all be- threaten with scissor kicks, maybe his slide, then go for the full combo once you’re in.
Even if you’re not planning to win Capcom Cup with M.Bison, getting his DLC also allows you to experience his new story in World Tour Mode, as part of the ongoing story around the revival of Shadaloo. Or you can just hang out with the man and his psycho-powered horse. Both are fun.
