Strongest/ Best version of Akira

I have been playing vf5 final showdown alot lately and I main akira. My first vf game was vf4 evo. where Akira was a beast. It got me thinking, which akira from all the vf games was the strongest. By that I mean damage output and overall potential.

 

VF2?

 

Akira is always been strong across every VF game, remember he's the protagonist. The only thing that's really changed it's how hard he has been to play as a character . So I would ask which version is the hardest to actually play, execution ect..? In my opinion FS Akira is the strongest because his execution is easy when compared to previous games, he's safer on block and still packs a wallop. Now this is just an opinion guys so please don't jump down my throat .

 

Having played against an akira player in various versions in passing, I'd say his strongest version would be his VF2 version simply because his spod takes a good chunk and is unblockable (or perhaps considered a throw with no wiff animation) thus hard to deal with up close. Also of note is that there is no sidestepping in vf2 so Akira's linear limitation aren't present either. Think about that for a moment before you post on FS Akira OP thread.

 

I need to learn these combos!! VF2 is so damn fun. More people need to play this

 

@cruzlink2 you stupid fuck!!! FS Akira is the strongest???! Have you even played a good vf2/vf3ob Akira? Easy to play doesn't mean strongest. FS akira is hardly OP like the shit he can pull in the old days. Harder to master, yes but once you get there... It's over for the rest.

 

kiko17,

If you're just talking about "strongest" in terms of damage output and pure potential, then the VF2 version of Akira trumps all for many of the reasons Terracrush mentioned.

But if you're wondering which version of Akira is "best," then this is more of a subjective issue which can vary from person to person, as different folks will like to use certain moves over others.

Kruza

 

Fuck you flash, I did say it was just my opinion.

 

DoA Akira though....but VF2, yo. Kid... What happened to your life bar?

 

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Lets go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

VF2 was the most broken version of the game. Everyone had some OP nonsense that would have been problematic in today's fighting game climate. Nothing in FS compares to the broken stuff in VF2.

 

I got to agree with cruzlink on this, even though I don't think that it's a matter of easier play, only that FS Akira is his strongest version, mostly due to the safer moves he got, the damage you can get from wall-splatting, the fact that any guard break gives you an easy way at wallsplats, and his teirou-kenpo was changed so you can force 50/50 set-ups.

If we talk about the best version, this is just my opinion too: VF4 had the best character design in the series, VF4 Akira, Pai, Vanessa... they were all spot on.

I'm not sure but, I recall all these combos and damage output got fixed in 2.1.

 

I miss VF4 aoi

 

Eh, no. FS Akira is possibly at the bottom.

 

Damage output = VF2 hands down!

Strongest = VF5FS... Why? Forward Guard break and GBoD. For fucks sake you DON'T want to get hit by SDE and you damn sure don't want to be standing and guarding. Sounds kind of cheap and OP to me.... And I main Akira!

Runner up... VF4EVO because of A.R.E.

 

Whats A.R.E.?

 

I definitely agree with what you said about the Teirou Kanpo 50/50 mixup, @Citrus, and think that FS Akira is stronger in the environment of his specific game, whereas mostly everyone in VF2 is crazy strong in the right hands (although half the cast - Akira, Wolf, Jacky, Kage, Lau - seems to take up at least 85% of the old tournament footage I've watched). In regards to Akira's combo ability in VF2.1, the removal of the senbon punch prevents a lot of those, but many of those combos aren't really feasible for use in a competitive match either, in the same way that you won't see many of these combos in a VF3-era Beat Tribe video. I'm also not entirely sure of the compatibility of combos between the arcade and Saturn versions of VF2. We need @GodEater on the case for that one. The lightning fast VF2 Akira onslaught could technically be countered consistently if the opponent was skilled enough in VF2. Does the SPoD hit on crouch and standing guard in VF2, or does standing come out like a whiffed throw? I know it behaves somewhat similarly to a throw, and that would certainly raise the relative strength of VF2 Akira. But, VF2 Lau certainly has combos that eat just as much if not more of the life bar with far less skill required in execution.

I wouldn't consider myself a good enough player for my opinion to hold any weight, however. I guess a different way of putting it would be to imagine if Sega made a hypothetical Hyper Street Fighter II-styled VF game, where any version of any character from any VF game could be selected by either player (wouldn't that be cool?). A skilled VF2 Akira would probably wreck an equally-skilled VF5FS Akira, but so would most of the VF2 cast iterations. I really love the idea behind this thread, @kiko17! I wonder how a discussion of the strongest character in all of VF would go...is it VF2 Akira? Hmm...

 

You cheeky man you. So you're finally going to leave Kage alone?

 

An overpowered option select technique in VF4 that basically allowed you to defend against all throws and linear attacks at same time. Thankfully not many people were well versed in performing it at the time (I know only Ryan Hart). Due to lack of record mode in dojo in VF4, I'm still unsure whether I could perform it myself.

SpoD WAS a throw in VF2. Except it couldnt be escaped. On the flip side, you needed to be super close to do it.

 

How do you perform an A.R.E? I love vf4evo, vf5fs is awesome too but there is something about vf4 evo.