Player Hayao rocked the entire hall with his performance.
One of the most important rules in journalism: never insult your own readership, that’s not appropriate. Only… sometimes I want to give you a gentle tug on the wrist, because fighting games on GameStar.de interest even fewer people than puzzle platformers. And that’s saying something.
But if there is a single moment in fighting game history that even genre-haters know, it is probably the famous Evo Moment 37
from 2004. The thing is famous enough for its own Wikipedia article.
Back then, players Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong competed against each other in a spectacular semi-final – and with only a measly pixel of life left, Daigo managed a comeback for the history books:
Link to YouTube content
Now – almost exactly 20 years later – Evo Moment 38
born, also a comeback for the history books. And ironically, even in the same game as back then.
EVO 2024: A comeback for the history books
Even 20 years later, EVO is still the largest and most important fighting game tournament in the world. In 2024, it took place in the Las Vegas Convention Center, and from July 19 to 21, opponents took on each other in countless games – for example in Mortal Kombat 1, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear, but also in the now ancient Street Fighter 3: Third Strike – precisely because of the 20th anniversary of the Daigo moment. During the event, Cyberpunk Lucy was also announced as a playable character in Guilty Gear:
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Street Fighter 3 is still a fantastic fighting game today: It looks timelessly good, the characters fight wonderfully differently and the high-risk parry mechanics still amaze. Because what made Daigo immortal back then is still incredibly difficult: If you push forward at exactly the right frame moment in the game, you parry enemy attacks.
In the heat of battle, this is almost impossible for normal players like me. And what’s more: a failed parry leaves you wide open to enemy attacks. But during the EVO 2024 tournament, players Hayao Don’t let that put you off.
In an incredible comeback maneuver, he parries the air attack of his opponent with a pixel of life energy, similar to Daigo. Frankiebfgto clear the table with a world-class counterattack. The hall shakes:
Link to Twitter content
Hayao is generally quite a showman and heats up the crowd throughout the match:
Link to Twitter content
Is this Evo Moment 38?
People on the internet agree: This is Evo Moment 38, based on the name of the original that was chosen completely arbitrarily. Compilations are piling up on YouTube, and the fact that Moment 38 happens on the 20th anniversary of the Daigo Moment couldn’t have gone much better. In 2044 we’ll be talking about Evo Moment 39, probably still in Street Fighter 3.
