The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Ralf Jones

Introduction

Ralf is a poking character that has access to some of the best normals in the game. Ralf has a number of excellent midrange pokes like st.C, st.D and st.CD that allows him to control space in front of him very well. Ralf also has some excellent jumping normals to control space with as well like neutral j.A, j.B j.D and j.CD. Ralfs goal is to make the opponent to hesitate to move forward due to his pokes so he can go in and use his command grab. Ralfs combo game is fairly limited but comboing into his command grab is good as it gives him time to move in and pressure. Ralfs weaknesses include the lack of a meterless reversal and the lack of tools to fight at long range.

Changes to previous versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• Cl.C now hits all crouchers
• j.As active frames reduced from 7 frames to 5 frames
• neutral j.As active frames have been reduced, no longer stays out for the entire duration of the jump
• j.Ds downwards priority increased, can now instant overhead regular crouchers with a hyperhop back j.D
• st.Cs priority decreased
• st.CDs hitbox increased in size, it now hits all crouchers

Specials:

• Mash P can now be cancelled with ABCD to stop it.
• j.qcf+P can otg
• Increased charge time for b~f+K and b~f+P so that it's standardized with other charge moves.
• b~f+Ps hitboxes increased in size, it can now hit all crouchers

Specials:

• qcfx2+P regular and max versions damage increased

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• crouch A can now be chained into itself for a combo
• far Ds hurtbox has been shrunk towards his back
• vertical jump A has faster startup

Specials:

• b~f+P Shorter charge time, standardized with other charge moves
• d~u +P enemy can't recovery roll on hit

Supers:

• MAX QCF,HCB+K completely invincible until just after the hitbox comes out

Normal Moves

Standing

• st.A : fast standing jab. Good priority and decent reach makes it an excellent tool to stop hops. Whiffs on all crouchers. Not chainable or Cancelable.

• st.B : Fast kick with slight upwards angle. fairly good fast midrange poke. whiffs on all but the large crouchers. Not chainable or cancelable.

• st.C : Ralf swings his arm outwards. Great midrange poke with good reach and priority. Can be used as an anti air against jumps from further ranges. Whiffs on low crouchers. Not cancelable.

• st.D : Ralf does a long kick straight out. Decent midrange poke, hits Shorter than st.C and is slower but it hits all crouchers. st.C is usually the better button to hit unless they're crouching under it a lot. Not cancelable.

Close

• cl.A : Same as st.A

• cl.B : Ralf does a knee strike. Not Chainable. Cancelable.

• cl.C : Ralf does an arm strike in front of him. It comes out fast and is is his highest damaging normal to combo with. Cancelable.

• cl.D: Ralf does a funky looking kick where he swings his legs up in the air. It has a nice amount of low invulnerability. Not cancelable.

Crouching

• cr.A : a crouching jab. Fairly standard cr.A with some nice priority. since it's his only chainable light normal it can be good for some close up pressure. Chainable. Cancelable.

• cr.B : a crouching low kick. Hits low and you can link hcf+K afterwards for a combo. Not chainable. Not Cancelable.

• cr.C : a double fisted thrusting strike. It's fast, has great priority and you can cancel out of it for combos. Good to use as a meaty. Hit and whiff Cancelable.

• cr.D : Ralf does a crouching sweep. Hits low, has a nice amount of active frames. Not cancelable.

jumping

• j.A : Ralf does a downwards angled punch. The fastest of his jumping buttons but the hitbox and priority aren't great. Use it if you really need the speed for an air to air over everything else. whiffs on everyone but the large crouchers. cancelable.

• neutral j.A : Ralf does a jumping elbow attack. Awesomely big hitbox for air to airs, this normal will beat most approaches coming it's way so use it a lot to stop the opponents approaches. Not cancelable.

• j.B : A jumping kick going straight out. Fast air to air option with a good amount of range. Not cancelable.

• neutral j.B: Ralf does a kick with his legs spread out. faster and reaches out more than j.A but the priority is worse, so j.A is mostly the superior choice. Not cancelable.

• j.C : Ralf does a downwards elbow strike. A good jump in button with nice reach towards the ground. It can also cross up. Cancelable.

• neutral j.C : Ralf does a downwards chop. Great hitbox underneath Ralf. Also Ralfs most damaging jumping normal. Cancelable.

• j.D : Ralf does a long downwards angled kick. Ralfs other great jump in button alongside j.C. Has good range and a nice hitbox. Not cancelable.

• neutral j.D: Ralf does a kick similar to his j.B. Has longer startup and a worse hitbox than his other neutral jump normals so not much point in using this one. Not cancelable.

CD Normals

• st.CD : Ralf does a long ranged punch that moves him forward. Good poke because of it's great range. On block you can cancel into hcf+K to recover faster. hit and whiff Cancelable.

• j.CD : Ralf does a forwards kick with both legs. Has good range and a nice angle for both air to airs and jump ins as a pressure tool. Cancelable.

Throw

Dynamite Headbutt: b/f + C (close)

Regular throw, techable. Ralf grabs the opponent, headbutts them and sends them flying almost full screen away.

Northern Lights Bomb: b/f + D (close)

Regular throw, techable. Ralf picks up the opponent and slams them down behind him, they land 3/4 screen away

Special Moves

Vulcan Punch: press A or C repeatedly (and move forward), press A+B+C+D to cancel

• Ralf does a series of explosive upwards angled punches.

• In this move there's 2 alternating punches, one hitting diagonally above Ralf and the other straight ahead of him. With good timing the upwards one can function as a great anti air as it has a lot of priority.

• The middle hitting punch doesn't serve as much of a purpose as it doesn't have a lot of horizontal range. If the first punch upwards angled punch is blocked the opponent will be pushed out of range of the second one.

• Can be made safe on block if you cancel after the first hit with the ABCD cancel.

• Causes soft knockdown

Gatling Attack: charge back to forward + A/C

• Ralf does a series of punches carrying him forward and then ending with an uppercut.

• A version travels shorter, slower and deals less hits than the C version.

• A versions first hit will whiff against low crouchers. If the first hit of the A version connects the uppercut at the end will whiff.

• The C version doesn't whiff on any crouchers, and all hits will connect fine. For these reason it's recommended to always use the C version.

• Has low invulnerability on startup throughout the entire first hit and halfways to the second hit.

• Good combo tool when used after cr.As

• Causes soft knockdown

Kyukohka Bakudan Punch: charge down to up + A/C or qcf + A/C in air

• Ralf does an upwards punch into the air followed by a diving punch ending in an explosion. If the upwards punch connects the downwards strike will not.

• A version has a few frames of invincibility on startup. The C version has no invincibility.

• Both the upwards punching part and the downwards explosion punch cause hard knockdown.

• Can be used as an anti air.

• The aerial qcf+P version is only the downwards explosion part of the move. This can be used as an otg.

• Very unsafe on block or whiff.

Ralf Kick: charge back to forward + B/D

• Ralf does a flying double leg kick.

• B version goes 60% of the screen and D version goes full screen.

• Has invincibility in the latter part of the startup frames, though it ends before the active frames.

• The move has amazing priority, making it very hard to challenge when the move is active.

• Causes a guard crush on block, making it a bit tricky to punish even if done point blank.

• Causes soft knockdown.

Super Argentine Backbreaker: hcf + B/D (close)

• Ralf grabs the opponent, throws them in the air, catches them on his shoulders and throws them to the ground.

• 1 frame command grab

• One of ralfs main mixup tools. Useful to catch people blocking after they start respecting his good buttons.

• His main combo option after a low.

• Causes hard knockdown.

Desperation Moves

Galactica Phantom: qcf,qcf + A/C

• Ralf leans backwards and charges up a devastating punch for a long time. The punch that follows goes 60% of the screen for the A version and 80% for the C version.

• DM version does 60% damage. SDM version does 90% damage and has super armor.

• Can be set up to hit as a unblockable meaty after his qcb,hcf+K super.

• Unblockable

Baribari Vulcan Punch: qcf,hcb + A/C

• Ralf moves forward and deals out a series of fast punches ending in an uppercut. Ralf will do this entire sequence regardless if it hits or whiffs.

• SDM version is the same as DM version but does more hits and more damage.

• the forwards moving part of the move will whiff against small crouchers,

• Ralfs best tool to deal chip damage, so useful if you only need some chip to kill.

• causes hard knockdown

Umanori Vulcan Punch: qcb,hcf + B/D

• Ralf runs forward and tackles the opponent to the ground, then he punches them repeatedly in the face ending with a big punch that pushes them away.

• Ralfs main combo super as it hits on everyone and enables him to set up any kind of oki he wants including Galactica Phantom setups.

• Has invulnerability on the startup of the run and low invulnerability during the entirety of the run.

• Causes hard knockdown

Combos

• cr.Ax2 b~f+P

your main combo from a cr.A string.

• cr.B hcf+K

Ralfs main low combo, cr.B is not cancelable but it is + enough on hit that you can link his 1f command grab afterwards. You can buffer the hcf+K motion and confirm if it hit or not.

• (j.C/D) cl.C hcf+K

Basic meterless combo ending in his command grab.

• (j.C/D) cl.C qcb,hcf+K (qcfx2+P)

Ralfs main metered combo, gives you a lot of time to set up oki afterwards. For 1 extra bar of meter you can do Ralfs Galactica Phantom setup, this will deal around 80-90% damage if successful. Due to characters having different wake up speeds you will need to time the Galactica Phantom slightly differently depending on who you're fighting.

Videos

King of Fighters 98 UM FE: Ralf Guide by Mash It Out