Bola (Ball in Portuguese, occasionally called The Blob on SaltyBet) is an early original character by VIB depicting a shape shifting ball as it's name says. Within the English speaking Mugen Communities it is acclaimed for creativity in spite of it's deceptively simple visual design.[1] It's also noted for it's challenging AI, being one of few pre-Mugen 1.0 creations able to stand against the notorious Evil Ken, the back then benchmark of tough AI. The character was first released in 2000 and received updates as soon as 2002, and being a DOSMugen character it had issues working properly on future Mugen builds until Ryou Win gave this character a long overdue winMugen port in 2011.[2]
Gameplay[]
Bola is aided by both of his combo potential and it's assortment of gimmick moves. It doesn't start the match too powerful, but it is able to "evolve" in a hyper move (see below) to increase it's damage output.
While fighting games in general (including majority of mugen conversions) usually include throws that are performed by a command involving button presses (e.g. 
or 
), Bola grabs his opponents by simply walking into them, from then he's able to deliver his custom series of blows, in a matter more reminiscent of Beat'em up games.
Movelist[]
- Grab Mode - walk into the opponent
- Whilst grabbing the opponent, Bola can do a weak hit with a
or , a strong hit with a or or perform any of the "Arremesso" hyper moves (see below)
- Whilst grabbing the opponent, Bola can do a weak hit with a
- Quick Attack -
- A weak but quick dash attack that on contact is cancelable into a basic weak attack and can be followed into a basic combo.
- Puft -
- A multi-hit dash attack that on point-blank is one of most damaging non-hyper moves.
- Flash -
- Bola "blinds" the opponent with a full-screen flash, giving Bola random invincibility frames. The effect lasts few seconds and is indicated by a black blob on the opponent's face.
- Double Team -
- Bola splits into two in a kind of evasive warp maneuver. Doing the command again when the warp is about to end the first time continues it, with the direction held allowing Bola to travel with the warp.
- Recovery -
- Bola can heal itself at the cost of a bit of the power gauge.
- Espinho -
- Bola grows spikes. version is faster, deals more damage. Can be also done mid-air.
- Bola grows spikes.
- EarthQuake - mid-air,
- After a bit of startup, Bola drops down to the ground level, emitting an earthquake. The quake is unblockable and has full horizontal length, but doesn't hit airborne opponents.
Hyper Moves[]
- Transforma -
- Bola evolves, gaining additional damage boost. Bola's current level is visualized by a number of electrons that fly around it. Bola can level up to three times, by the last of it he's able to do combos worth of at least 45% without spending the power gauge. Power requirements vary depending on Bola's current level, with advancing to the second level costing one power stock and advancing to the fourth level costing all three power stocks. Bola's evolution level persists between rounds, altho' receiving enough hits may cause Bola to drop down in an evolution level.
- Night Shade -
- Bola darkens the background as it assumes a pot-like shape and unleashes an ublockable fullscreen attack. It does have startup times large enough the opponent would be able to hit Bola before the attack though. It only requires 0.5 of a power stock, yet all of the power reserves is used, and the damage dealth is dependent on how much power Bola had when using this move, coupled with Bola's current evolution level.
- Teleport -
- For a single power stock Bola is able to instantly teleport to any direction, depending on the direction held. Bola has to be in a second evolution level to be able to use this.
- Kamehameha -
- Bola assumes a pot-like shape and emits a beam attack. Two power stocks are required for this move.
- Demi -
- Bola summons an unblockable but slow homing projectile that takes a while to actually hit the opponent. Shall it go in contact with the opponent, the latter gets lifted into a realm of pure cosmos to get his/her health halved. Requires two power stocks.
- Arremesso1 - during the grab mode,
- Bola knocks the opponent away from the screen and proceeds to pummel him/her for few hits offscreen.
- Arremesso2 - during the grab mode,
- Bola knocks the opponent to the air, teleports and from then the player can juggle the opponent into any direction, with , or determining the strength of the launch. The move can last about as long the opponent doesn't touch the ground nor leaves the screen.
- Bola knocks the opponent to the air, teleports and from then the player can juggle the opponent into any direction, with
References[]
- ↑ http://network.mugenguild.com/rs/ddm/bola.html DokiDokiMugen review of the character.
- ↑ http://mugenguild.com/forum/topics/bola-vib-136671.0.html O Ilusionista's rerelease thread of the character at the Mugen Fighters Guild forums.