A technical, also known as a tech or tech hit, is a term used in the Street Fighter games and other fighting games that describe the act of canceling out the effects of certain attacks. As such, the technical can be used to describe many aspects of gameplay.
In the Japanese community, it's often tied with the term ukemi (受身, lit. "Passive Landing"), a martial arts term for falling safely. This is due to the most common form of tech being used to recover from a variety of knockdown situations.[citation needed]
Quick Stand
A quick stand is when a character stands up immediately after knockdown. It is usually executed by pressing "Down" or hitting any two buttons at the moment the character hits the ground. With the exception of KOs, throws pre-Street Fighter V, and attacks that inflict untechable knockdowns, the quick stand can be done anytime the player is knocked down.
Throw Tech
Rose teching Seth's throw attempt.
A throw technical is used to escape throws. The execution varies by game. Introduced in the Street Fighter III series, a throw tech can be executed by throwing around the same time as the opponent. Both fighters will be pushed back an equal distance and rendered inactive for a certain amount of frames, depending on the timing. If one player's throw was executed before the other, they gain a frame advantage and come out of the 'pushed' state faster.
The mechanic returns in Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter X Tekken, and is referred to as a Throw Escape in the latter. Street Fighter X Tekken also has a Gem that will automatically perform Throw Escapes for the user at the cost of some of the Cross Gauge.
Throw Reversal
In the arcade version of Street Fighter: The Movie, it is possible for the player to either escape a throw and receive no damage, or counter it with a throw of his own. However, it is possible to counter a Throw Counter by performing a Throw Reversal, and the latter can ultimately be countered with a Slammaster technique.
Throw Escape can be performed by pressing a direction and four buttons at the same time. Throw Counter, Reversal and Slammaster require a different input depending on the player's opponent.
Trivia
- The first game in which the term Tech-Hit was used was X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994) and it was followed by almost every Capcom versus fighting game, like in the Street Fighter Alpha series, SNK vs. Capcom series and Marvel vs. Capcom series.
- In Street Fighter V, the term is no longer used, being replaced by the words "Throw Escape", as the player character avoids being grabbed by his opponent.
- The "Slammaster" technique in Street Fighter: The Movie is named after the Slam Masters game series.