-striking in this game is excellent despite what initial impressions might tell you.

-striking is heavily timing and spacing based. You must know the space/distance needed for each individual strike. This will get much easier as you get used to the various types of strikes. Timing refers to reading your opponents movement so he will be at the right DISTANCE for your strike to connect when it is fully executed. Distance refers to the length of your attack. Strikes attack at different distances just like real life. Elbows are a short distance, punches a bit longer and kicks usually have the greatest distance. See the next tip about hit boxes.

-hit boxes are very tight but very RELIABLE and LOGICAL. The offensive part of the strike is what must connect with the defender’s hitbox. A punch must connect with the FIST, an elbow strike must connect with the ELBOW, a roundhouse/shin kick/dropkick must connect with the FOOT,etc etc. that may seem like a no duh but make sure when you throw your strikes that is the part you are focused on. That is the part you must watch for when looking for timing and distance. When throwing a kick, the FOOT must connect, not the SHIN. When throwing a punch, the FIST must connect, not the WRIST. And on and on. If you DO NOT CONNECT with the OFFENSIVE PART of your strike you will ALWAYS MISS. this is fundamentally different from every other prowrestling game ive ever played. other games you just press your strike button and that gets the job done. you must recognize this fundamental difference with Fire Pro. The critical part is next.

-Here is a GENERAL RULE OF THUMB in regards to the defender’s hitbox. All the years I have been playing the series it has served me very well. There may be more nuanced specifics I can provide later when I have time to more closely pay attention when playing. IN GENERAL, the defender’s hitbox is aligned with his own feet. Imagine a vertical column extending from the defender’s feet. Typically that will align with the head but NOT ALWAYS. Always aim for that invisible vertical column extending from your opponents feet. That is where you must watch for your TIMING and your DISTANCE. This is crucial since the defender can be in many different positions. Whether your opponent is laying on the floor, crouching, running, or in the middle of his own move on someone else ALWAYS align yourself with the defender’s feet.

-Lastly, it is helpful to know that all your strikes can INTERRUPT almost every situation in the game. That is correct, your strikes can hurt your opponent at any time except in two specific scenarios. You can not interrupt opponents stuck in the strike-exchange minigame sequence and you can not interrupt double/triple team moves. It is one of the coolest aspects of the game and most gratifying. Whether you are interrupting a submission/pinfall attempt being performed on your partner, or a brainbuster being performed on someone else, YOU CAN INTERRUPT THE MOVE WITH ANY ONE OF YOUR STRIKES. This never gets old. Seriously, get good at striking so you can do this. You must still gauge distance correctly. Once again, it is fundamental that you align yourself with the defender’s feet.

When you use correct TIMING and DISTANCE the OFFENSIVE PART of your strike will connect with your opponent’s HIT BOX and it will lead to either a successful hit or your opponent blocking/dodging. Congrats you were successful!

As mentioned timing and distance, just like real life, are fundamental to using strikes in this game. Here are tips so you can really practice these items and begin to use strikes more often successfully during gameplay.

-EASY AND HARD MOVES FOR LEARNING:
Just like real life, the execution of strikes can vary wildly. Certain moves are easier to perform because of the speed of the move and reach of the move which makes it easier to read TIMING and DISTANCE. I am going to recommend a few starter moves to give you an idea of things. That’s not to say there aren’t other easy or difficult moves but this is just a starting point. Note you may have to track down or make an edit utilizing these moves.

BEGINNER EASY MOVES- Middle Kick/Rounding Middle Kick/ Muay Thai Middle Kick
DIFFICULT MOVES – Lariat Attack, Striking Lariat, Rolling Lariat, Football Tackle
Move that’s good for practicing timing - Enzugiri

I highly recommend you find or make an edit with one of the recommended beginner moves. Remember to be successful with the Middle Kick you must connect with your FOOT and it must hit your opponent’s VERTICAL HITBOX The middle kick is a fast and efficient strike, that also has decent range on it which will help you observe DISTANCE. Practice spamming this move like crazy for the following sections so you can get comfortable hitting it without even thinking about TIMING and DISTANCE anymore and its an automatic process. After you get comfortable with that…

Try the ENZUGIRI. I love this move. Its satisfying to connect with. The move execution is a bit slower but it has a very clear visual of the reach and what you need to hit with. This move is excellent for practicing your TIMING.

Lastly, you can try the DIFFICULT MOVE recommendations but the wind up is very long and the OFFENSIVE PART of the strike is not as clear of a visual. Because of the slow wind up these moves are difficult to TIME against a moving opponent and even harder because of the more vague DISTANCE required. Honestly, don’t stress out if you struggle to connect with these for a long while. However, be confident that even these can be mastered if you are willing to do the work.

-UTILIZE STRIKES ON A HORIZONTAL PLANE:
Striking is already difficult enough as a beginner. I highly recommend that as you first start to really explore striking in this game that you keep your opponent on the HORIZONTAL PLANE. What I mean by this is in reference to the angles. One of the most distinct visuals with the game is the isometric viewpoint. What I mean by this is that the gameplay POV makes the ring look like a diamond rather than a square like in any other wrestling game. If you pay attention the visual angle of your character and your opponent change based on their relation to one another. If your character is further into the background than your opponent, you will see your opponents back, if you are further into the foreground more of your opponents front will be showing. If you guys are both fairly even on the HORIZONTAL PLANE than your characters will be shown from a side angle.

the Blue Masked Man is angled toward the camera at a diagonal



the black masked man is angled away from the camera at a diagonal




PERFECT - Observe the side view



For beginners(and even more advanced players) it is most beneficial to keep the striking combat on the horizontal plane because it gives the clearest VISUAL of your STRIKES as well as the DISTANCE needed.

When you and your opponent fight on the diagonal it is significantly harder to see the full visual of your strikes and even harder to gauge distance unless you are really really familiar with the game. Either move your own character or manipulate your opponent’s movement so you guys remain engaged on the HORIZONTAL PLANE when you are going to utilize strikes. How do you manipulate your opponent’s movement? Just like in real life boxing, or even street fighter 2 your opponent will display momentary patterns of movement in response to your movements. In fire pro your opponent will either stand still, move away, chase you down, or circle you. Use that movement to your advantage. Throw your strikes when you and your opponent are displayed from the side angle and are on the SAME HORIZONTAL PLANE.

-ALIGN WITH THE FEET:
When you are going to throw strikes ALWAYS align with the defender’s feet. It is the best way to gauge distance and to figure out where your opponent’s INVISIBLE COLUMN is for his HITBOX. The best time to do this is when your opponent ISNT MOVING. When isn’t he moving? When he is laying down on the floor. Use that time to prepare for your next strike attempt. When the defender finally stands, whether face down or face up, he will always be aligned with his feet positioning. Take advantage of this opportunity to properly align yourself and gauge distance.

-PRACTICING TIMING AND DISTANCE:
There are two main ways I recommend doing this versus a cpu opponent. The PICK-UP method and the walk away method. The Pick-Up method flows from what I previously mentioned about aligning with your opponent’s feet. This method will help you learn appropriate DISTANCE for your particular strike. First, choose one strike and one strike only to begin with. Throw that strike ON THE HORIZONTAL PLANE a few times even if you miss so you have a VISUAL of what the strike fully looks like. Next, The more and more beat up your opponent is the better it will work. Knock your opponent down. Now pick your opponent up. “HOW THE HELL DO I DO THAT?” To do this I use what I call the FACE/HEEL method. If your opponent is face up press SQUARE by his head and you will stand him up. If your opponent is face down and his HEELS are up then stand by his feet and press SQUARE to stand him up. The defender will now be momentarily dizzy. The more beat up he is, the longer he will stay dizzy. Now as he stands up use this opportunity to gauge distance since we know in advance to ALIGN HORIZONTALLY with his FEET. Since he is standing still we don’t need to worry about timing. If our distance is correct we will successfully hit him. PAY ATTENTION ON WHAT THAT DISTANCE WAS. If we miss, use this opportunity to readjust our distance and when we successfully hit him PAY ATTENTION TO THAT DISTANCE. Even a tiny shift in distance can make a strike miss. If you knock your opponent down, then pick him back up and practice again. Rinse repeat until your opponent stops being dizzy. This really works great far into a match when your opponent is really beat up. Ideally, you really want to use one strike enough so the distance becomes automatic for you against a motionless opponent.

The WALK-AWAY method will help you learn the timing for your strikes. Since there is a limited default roster there is no recommendation I can give you on your opponent but it shouldn’t matter too much(with limited exceptions.) Essentially this method requires you to maintain the HORIZONTAL PLANE with your opponent, and to just walk away from him as much as possible. When your opponent mindlessly chases you down you throw your chosen strike while being sensitive to the TIMING and DISTANCE. This works best further into the match when your opponent is very weak because then any single strike will knock him down which will give you more time to register what solid TIMING and DISTANCE look like for that specific strike. If you hit your opponent, or he blocks/dodges with an animation then you connected successfully with your strike. PAY ATTENTION to the TIMING and DISTANCE. It will always be the same for that specific strike no matter what is going on in the action. . Remember, that each strike has its own TIMING and DISTANCE.

In progress

in progress