The Hit Box is arguably the best controller for Street Fighter V.  It's extremely good.  But what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?  In order to help you take advantage of the precision of this arcade controller, we are going over the basics of the Hit Box and key concepts and techniques to put you on your way to SFV mastery. 

 

Note: The Hit Box is native on PS4 and PC. If you are trying set up for Steam, please follow the information in our post "Hit Box on Steam."

If you have any questions about Street Fighter on Hit Box, please join our community on Discord and visit the #2d-traditionals channel. In addition, be sure to explore the "Hit Box" and "SFV" tags at the bottom of the post and vist our SF Index for more How-To content.

The Basics

Layout

The first thing to note is how the directional buttons are placed on the Hit Box, and what that big button in the middle is for.  Left, Down, and Right are all next to each other with the Up button being the big red one at the bottom.

 

Why not switch the Up button with the Down button?  This guide will answer this question with some hands-on experience.  (It would be rather awkward to roll a quarter circle with the Up and Down buttons switched.)

The big red button:  Think of it as a "Jump" button!  Having the Up button in the middle, and larger than the others, allows you to use Jump with whichever thumb you want.  There is still a friendly rivalry between Hit Box players who main Left Thumb vs players who main Right Thumb.  What feels the most natural for you?

Why so close?  The directional buttons are placed close to the action buttons so that both hands can be used for directions and actions.  A few techniques in this guide recommend pressing Up plus an action button with the right hand (thumb + finger) at the same time (Flash Kicks and Piledrivers).  In some advanced techniques you can freestyle a little bit!

SOCD

What's an SOCD?  This lingo may be a term you have heard loosely tossed around anywhere anywhere Hit Box controllers are talked about.  SOCD is simply means Left + Right (or Up + Down).  Since we have all buttons, we can press opposite directions at the same time!  But what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

Left + Right = Neutral

With Left + Right, we get "SOCD Neutral," meaning center is output to the game - not Left or Right.  When both directions are pressed, they cancel each other out.

Up + Down = Up

With Up + Down, we get "SOCD Up," meaning Up will always override Down, no matter what order they are pressed in.  This is an Absolute Priority:  Up always wins.

Note:  For the super nerds out there, "SOCD" stands for Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions.

How to play

Quarter Circle

 

The quarter circle motion is fairly straight forward. Start with Down and roll to Forward.

Down

Down + Forward

Forward

Perfect your quarter circles in our Hadoken guide.

Dragon Punch

 

However, there are Street Fighter V specific shortcuts that the Hit Box has access to that you can use as well. For more information on these, read our post on Dragon Punches.

 

 

Half Circle Motions

 

This motion can be tricky if you try to do it too fast - you may accidently skip the Down input. To ensure you input the whole Half Circle motion, press Back and Forward at the same time with Down. The SOCD Neutral will make sure you get a Down input. Other than that, it is a simple rolling of your fingers.

Read more in our Half-Circles guide.

Sonic Boom

 

Back (or Down + Back)
Forward

The horizontal charge on Hit Box is intuitive. Simply let go of your charging direction and then input your final direction and attack at the same time.

Read more in our Charge Motions blog.

 

Flash Kick

 

Left Hand: Hold Down (or Back + Down)
Right Hand: Tap Up + Attack

With the vertical charge motion, you can continue to hold Down (or Back + Down) while you press Up - this is due to the Absolute Up priority mentioned above. 

In addition, you can use your right hand to press the Up and Attack buttons at the same time.

This is one of the most precise and strongest techniques in the game on Hit Box.

Read more in our Charge Motions blog.

360 Motions

 

Half Circle (Forward or Back)

Up + Punch

Similar to Flash Kick, it's best to end your 360 motion with Up + Attack using your Right Thumb.  This way both buttons are pressed together by the same hand.

Non-sequential 360 motions.

There is no specific order you need to input the directions of the 360 motions.  All you need are the cardinal directions (North / East / South / West): No diagonals, no specific order. This allows you to experiment to find the most comfortable motion for you.

As a bonus, it doesn't matter whether you are on Player 1 side or Player 2 side, the motion will work the same on both Player 1 side or Player 2 side.

From here it gets very creative.

 

 

Slide 360

Slide [Left - Down - Right] - (left Index Finger)
Press Up + Punch - (right Thumb)
The quickest and most efficient way to piledrive someone uses an advanced technique called "sliding."  It's exactly as it sounds:  Take your left Index Finger and slide it left across the other buttons.  This slide will input Right - Down - Left and skip all of the diagonals.

Now all we have to do is finish the motion:  Use your Right Thumb and press Up with the desired Punch button.

There are many more ways to grab your opponent, but these two clips are the foundation of becoming a Hit Box grappler.

For a full guide, read our "Zangief Bible" for more information on 360 and 720 motions.

Critical Art

 

This is simply a double quarter circle motion.

Down
Down + Forward
Forward
Down
Down + Forward
Forward

However, if you wish to improve the speed and precision of your Critical Arts, there shortcuts and techniques on Hit Box that can input a super in as fast as 4-frames! The gif below shows the Critical Art shortcuts, and be sure to read through our Critical Art guide.

 

Walk Forward (hold Forward)
Tap Down-Back (Left + Down + Right)
Release to Forward (hold Forward)
Tap Down-Back (Left + Down + Right)
Release to Forward (hold Forward)

Press Attack afterwards.

This technique is likely to be the simplest way to input a Critical Art.  Simply think of it as walking Forward and tapping Down-Back twice. 

Remember, you have to tap and let go to finish the super!

The shortcut is:  Down - Forward - Down - Forward.

Left + Down + Right = Down (holding forward and pressing Down-Back)

Tip:  Rolling a normal quarter circle is still the first half of the super.  Try a normal QCF, hold Forward and tap Down-Back.  Now you can cancel many moves into Critical Art much easier!

Instant Dash

Dashing is by nature fast on Hit Box.  This technique will dash even faster.

A dash requires a Forward, Neutral, Forward. It is normally a slower input because you have to press and release a button, then press it again.  But we have a much better way to dash!

 

Tip:  To Dash from walking backwards:  Hold Back and tap Forward twice.  To Dash from walking forwards:  Hold Forward and tap Back twice.

 

There are many more tips and techniques for SFV.  If you have any questions about Street Fighter on Hit Box, please join our community on Discord and visit the #2d-traditionals channel. In addition, be sure to explore the "Hit Box" and "SFV" tags at the bottom of the post and vist our SF Index for more How-To content.