Taunting has been part of fighting games since the dawn of Street Fighter II. Hate it or love it, someone out there is talking trash to the person they’re playing against, hitting the taunt command just before finishing them off or sending others bitter messages over XBOX Live or PSN. In the right context, I think there’s absolutely a place in the scene for taunting, whether that be to mentally guard break your opponent or as a means of celebration. A lot of people do it the wrong way, which gives taunting a bad name, but when done right, I’m all for it.
Below is an example of it done right. So right. In fact, this might be the most epic fighting game celebration to date.
This match took place recently at SoCal Regionals. The players involved are Tokido, my favourite Akuma player, versus ClakeyD, who came out of nowhere to break into top 8. Unfortunately for ClakeyD, Tokido was setting him up for this one moment of awesomeness.
What I saw on the live stream and that this clip doesn’t show is that he actually takes off his jacket at the start of the round, meaning he had this planned all along. If I was in ClakeyD’s shoes, I’d be bitter about the loss, but I can’t hate on the celebration. That was one of the most epic Street Fighter moments of all-time.
In Third Person 