Thanks for the tag shib!
Rainfall Karnov's Revenge is a lot like Street Fighter 2, but with 4 buttons. Inputs aren't difficult except for a few hidden moves (they weren't listed in the arcade) such as Lee's palm blast (b, f, db, df+AB). Every character has light normals that can chain into any other normal, and all of them can be special canceled so combos are simple. Typical random dizzy has been replaced with an intuitive weak point system where you can deliberately dizzy someone by attacking part of their outfit, like a headband or boots.
There's also plenty of unique character functions, like Karnov's Balloon or Mizoguchi's rekka kicks. No one is literally Ryu with a fireball, dp, and tatsu. Every character feels like kind of a take on an existing character at first, but they end up playing uniquely. There's also no Dhalsim clone, conspicuously.
Here are some characters that share a lot in common with SF2: Ray, Mizoguchi, Jean, Matlok, Marstorius, Samchay
Ray and Mizoguchi are the closest to shotos
Jean and Matlok are vaguely like Guile, but Jean's buttons and 100 hands make him resemble Chun-Li and Matlok has a special move called Overhead Kick (guess what it does)
Marstorius is the best Zangief clone ever but he has a KOF hop for a normal jump
Samchay kinda resembles Sagat but he has only 1 fireball, still a mid-tier fan favorite
Meanwhile, most characters try something different
Feilin is kind of weak, but her normals are solid and her sliding uppercut is interesting. She has an air fireball that travels at a steep angle and can be strong with the right setup
Ryoko is funny because she's small and pretty fast, but has a short range incredibly strong grab and a much weaker one at a range.
Lee might fit the same rushdown type as Balrog (Boxer) but he's really more of a predecessor to Yun.
Yungmie doesn't really play like anyone but she has an air-only fireball that travels straight like a Sonic Boom and only attacks with kicks (even her punch buttons)
Zazie is another ridiculous bruiser, he might look even more like a take on Boxer but his throw deals pitiful damage to try and balance things, and he's got really long kicks.
Clown has Blanka Ball and kind of Bison (Dictator) head press but also has a projectile
Karnov is probably the most unique character. Balloon feels like something you'd see in an anime game, he can chain his jumping jab, he has a charge kick move that's safe on block and hits high, mid, and low so it's great at whittling them down to stun...
The real meat of the game comes in the form of a few things:
- P1 and P2 differences where P1 typically gains exclusive corner crossups, while P2 has 1 extra frame of advantage on all but projectiles. Some examples include Feilin's Sliding Crane Strike (below) and Lee's Super Dagger Punch (HP)
Stance Shifting - between hits in a combo, you can change between standing and crouching. This can be crucial for avoiding dizzy but some characters can combo you really hard if you're crouching (Jean, Zazie)
Learning to take advantage of resets. Unlike most games, when a special hits you out of the air it will reset you no matter what, which often leads to cross-under mixups
The wiki here is fairly detailed, though not 100% to the level of ST with matchup guides... maybe soon. https://wiki.supercombo.gg/w/Fighter's_History_Dynamite
If you want a (relatively) quick window into high-level play of this game, check out top 8 of the tourney I streamed last year with Art:
Or last year's community-run tournament:
I've been making an effort this month to stream more than just tournaments, so I tried to put together a casual lobby night. While people didn't join VC, a lot of regular players hopped into twitch chat to give me advice while I played a bunch of Ft10 sets
I plan on doing this again at 8:30 PM EST on Nov 11, 20, and 25 unless something comes up. But the Karnov's Revenge room will always be there, as will the discord.