History Main / Combos

* ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 3'' lets you feel like a superhero by the simple measure of allowing you to {{cancel}} out almost any move ''into'' almost any move at no cost, racking up devilishly large combos limited only by the monster's ability to absorb damage. In most games, this would break the game right in half. In ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 3'', [[NintendoHard it was a necessity]].

* Juggle combos. Love them? Hate them? Either way, ''MortalKombat'' is their progenitor. Juggle-centric games like ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' have this series to thank.

Combo is a term that can be used loosely out in the wild; many uses of the word likely do not fit on this article (but perhaps on the CombinationAttack article). However, feel free to add parodies or other examples that contain some aspects of combos (just be sure to label them as such). Rhythm game chains and puzzle game chains are not combos, nor are the combination attacks found in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combos delicious cylindrical snack crackers with cheezy filling]].

Combo is a term that can be used loosely out in the wild; many uses of the word likely do not fit on this article (but perhaps on the CombinationAttack article). However, feel free to add parodies or other examples that contain some aspects of combos (just be sure to label them as such). Rhythm game chains and puzzle game chains are not combos, nor are the combination attacks found in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. [[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combos delicious cylindrical snack crackers with cheezy filling]].

* The PSP ''StarOcean'' games, ''[[VideoGame/StarOcean1 First Departure]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory Second Evolution]]'', automatically string attacks in a set of three; if the first hits, the rest can't be blocked. However, you're more vulnerable after a combo than after a single attack.
** The third game, ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', also had a combo system which encourage you to pile on the hits in order to activate the Bonus Gauge and take advantage to it. If you wanted to get particular bonuses (Triple EXP and Double Fol), doing combos was the way to go and you'd grind quicker if you were lucky enough to get the Triple EXP bonus. On top of that, you gain [[BraggingRightsAward Battle Trophies]] depending how long a combo you managed to reach. Combinations with the charcters' special attacks can make such combos possible against meaty enemies with lots of HP.
** Unfortunately, simply tapping the attack button at a specific rate will give an easy infinite combo, circumventing any need to play with the system present.

* ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' 3 uses combo moves known as "Command Attacks" which the characters do 3D fighter style combination attacks. Although many of the other {{SNK}} games have 2D fighter style combs that can be implemented.

* ''MagnaCarta2'' has something like this. Your attacks get more powerful, which builds up Kan. After a while, you have enough Kan to perform a skill, which can then go into Overdrive mode, another skill, a Chain state with the next character, and then ''even more skills'' in Chain Drive mode.

* VideoGame/MachinaOfThePlanetTreePlanetRuler: The battle system utilizes a combo system where "arts" can be chained. Using non-repeated arts will increase the damage multiplier while repeating arts will lower the multiplier and not refill the combo time limit. The "Over-Art" version of an Art is considered a different skill in the combo.

* Not only does ''Pinball/GameOfThrones'' feature numerous combos, there is a separate ScoreMultiplier t increase their value.

* ''ValkyrieProfile 2'' has an attack system that can be abused for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsWFnqY9Vkc some truly ridonkulous combos]].

* Every ''[[Franchise/TalesSeries Tales]]'' game lets characters combo beyond their basic attack sequence by chaining skills together, offering bonus experience among other things for players who can cooperate to make extended hit chains. ''Symphonia'' gave a title to anyone who pulled off the most basic combo in the game (Lloyd's hit combo into Majinken) as well as an additional string of titles for ever-mounting combos (up to 100 hits). ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Remake'' and ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' have battle systems geared around combos -- any ''Innocence'' character can generally get to at least 20 or 30 hits ''on their own'' by endgame, and the AI tends to be very helpful in driving the number into the hundreds against some bosses.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' takes it to another level with Ludger. ''Xillia 2'''s combo mechanics operate around a damage multiplier which increases as you hit enemies with various elements in a "weakness combo" (triggered by an element they're weak to. Once in this state, even an element they're normally resistant to will count as a Power Hit as if they were weak to it). Using attacks they're resistant to won't even hitstun them. Ludger is easily able to hit every single weakness in the game single-handedly with no link-artes, thanks to having THREE weapon types and thus '''three''' movesets on the fly, which can be switched mid-combo. This gives him access to '''forty-eight''' attack hotkeys (VS 16 for everyone else).

* ''KingdomHearts'' games allow you to string attacks together (abilities let you extend the combos to a preset number), after which you can pull off a finishing move which does extra damage.

* Every ''{{Tekken}}'' character from the beginning of the series has had a 10-hit combo deliberately programmed in. When the Tekken character Heihachi appeared in ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur II'', he had three moves that were just called "10-Hit Combo."

* PS2 brawler ''VideoGame/UrbanReign'' has the usual sort of combo counter that action games have, which counts hits in a relatively quick succession that weren't interrupted by an enemy attack as a combo. However, genuine, inescapable fighting game-style combos are possible by hitting an opponent with a LauncherMove then following it with a meter-dependent Special Art.

* In the anime ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}}'', Tomoyo has a [[SignatureMove trademark]] rapid fire [[KickChick sequence of kicks]] that juggles her opponent in the air, and a combo meter actually appears every time she uses it (on [[ButtMonkey Sunohara]]). At one point, she and Tomoya do a chain combo that bumps the meter to over 1000 hits. In the VisualNovel, she chain combos with almost everyone on the cast.

* The ''SuperSmashBros'' series has these as well, though most prominently in ''Melee''. The first game had fighters fly too far after each attack for easy follow-ups, while ''Brawl'' tweaked the physics engine to make escaping combos much easier. The fourth game tries to strike a happy medium between ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''.

* Every ''{{Tekken}}'' character from the beginning of the series has had a 10-hit combo deliberately programmed in. When the Tekken character Heihachi appeared in SoulCalibur II, he had three moves that were just called "10-Hit Combo."

* The ''SuperSmashBros'' series has these as well, though ''Brawl'' has very few due to physics changes intentionally made to remove them.

Commands for special moves are not combos (eg. down, diagonal, toward + punch).

* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has plenty of short combos, it's just the variety - on the ground, off the wall, in-between with bullet-time or in the air - that you want. You can also link the combos together for even more damage.

* ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' was the first game to use its specially designed combo system as a selling point, and after it took off, virtually every game had it's own unique combo system built in. ''Killer Instinct'''s system was notable for having automatic combos launched by ButtonMashing, and for the game's announcer enthusiastically announcing when a player managed to launch an extremely long ''"ULTRA COMBOOOOOOO!"'' ''KI'' also created the "C-C-C-{{Combo Breaker}}!", which [[MemeticMutation infests imageboards to this day]].

* ''VideoGame/NinetyNineNights'' has a system where the higher your number of combos, the more likely a Mook will drop a rare(r) item (i.e. dropping a lvl 4 item instead of a level 1 item). And just to make things easier for you, each character has at least one stage where you will face a very large number (getting close and probably surpassing the 1000 range) of Mooks at once.

[[folder:MMORPG's]]

** Then of course there are Taekwon Rankers, the 10 best Taekwons (sorta) on the server gaining the ability to - when he can get in a kick - make infinite kicking comboes limited only to the mana pool of the Taekwon. A kick is 2 sp, a normal Taekwon has ~2-300 max. mana.

** The ManaShield spell turns this into a GameBreaker in that it allows you to take blows without penalty to your combo. Find an area with unlimited monster spawn (eg Grey House), activate the shield, and it's not too difficult to get the meter above 300 or so (at about which time you might as well stop, 'cause your experience counter just maxed out...).

* The action RPG ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' has a fairly complex combo system, which rewards you with healing items if you make a long enough combo of attacks.

** In the sequel, Combo Finishers are one of the only ways to finish off bosses. (The other ways being {{Limit Break}}s and Magic). If Sora/Roxas doesn't perform a combo on the boss, it will continue to retain it's last hit point indefinitely. (It should be noted that party members, and playable guest characters like Mickey and Riku cannot perform combo finishers. Only Sora can. Because he's apparently [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the only one allowed to kill the bosses]].

* The PSP ''StarOcean'' games, [[VideoGame/StarOcean1 First Departure]] and [[VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory Second Evolution]], automatically string attacks in a set of three; if the first hits, the rest can't be blocked. However, you're more vulnerable after a combo than after a single attack.
** The 3rd game, ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', also had a combo system which encourage you to pile on the hits in order to activate the Bonus Gauge and take advantage to it. If you wanted to get particular bonuses (Triple EXP and Double Fol), doing combos was the way to go and you'd grind quicker if you were lucky enough to get the Triple EXP bonus. On top of that, you gain [[BraggingRightsAward Battle Trophies]] depending how long a combo you managed to reach. Combinations with the charcters' special attacks can make such combos possible against meaty enemies with lots of HP.

* Every ''[[Franchise/TalesSeries Tales]]'' game lets characters combo beyond their basic attack sequence by chaining skills together, offering bonus experience among other things for players who can cooperate to make extended hit chains. ''Symphonia'' gave a title to anyone who pulled off the most basic combo in the game (Lloyd's hit combo into Majinken) as well as an additional string of titles for ever-mounting comboes (up to 100 hits). ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Remake'' and ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' have battle systems geared around comboes - any ''Innocence'' character can generally get to at least 20 or 30 hits ''on their own'' by endgame, and the AI tends to be very helpful in driving the number into the hundreds against some bosses.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' takes it to another level with Ludger. Xillia 2's combo mechanics operate around a damage multiplier which increases as you hit enemies with various elements in a "weakness combo" (triggered by an element they're weak to. Once in this state, even an element they're normally resistant to will count as a Power Hit as if they were weak to it). Using attacks they're resistant to won't even hitstun them. Ludger is easily able to hit every single weakness in the game single-handedly with no link-artes, thanks to having THREE weapon types and thus THREE movesets on the fly, which can be switched mid-combo. This gives him access to FOURTY-EIGHT attack hotkeys (VS 16 for everyone else).
** Combine this with the resulting HUGE damage multiplier (more than 600% on the highest difficulty, 450% on the second-highest), and combine THAT with his exclusive Chromatus ability (during which he is invincible, gets powerful new moves and can combo INFINITELY) which you can whip out when running out of AP and to stop the weakness combo fading, then finish it with his Chromatus Mystic Arte, and you can literally deal hundreds of thousands of damage in a single combo with no assistance. It's not unheard of for a boss to go down in one combo even on Unknown difficulty setting, but actually getting that combo going is where the difficulty lies, as bosses tend to one-shot you later in the game and have tons of iron-stance preventing hitstun.

[[folder:Stealth-Based Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' uses combos extensively. You get vastly more experience for racking up a combo, and even more for a combo that uses all of your different moves. During several of the combat challenges going for large combo's is pretty much the only way to get 3 medals.

* In ''Creator/SternPinball's'' ''[[Pinball/XMenStern X-Men]]'', making combos of various X-Men team-ups will give assorted bonuses, along with IdiosyncraticComboLevels for the pair. Examples include "Savage Animals" (Beast and Wolverine), "Teacher's Pet" (Cyclops and Xavier), "Brain Freeze" (Xavier and Iceman), and "Lover's Triangle" (Storm, Phoenix, Cyclops, Wolverine).

* The side-scrolling action RPG ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' has a fairly complex combo system, which rewards you with healing items if you make a long enough combo of attacks.

* ''RagnarokOnline'' two martial artist classes, the monk and the Taekwon has combo moves, the monk must charge up his spirit orbs in order to unleash something beyond the 3 hit comboo to follow it with deadlier blows but can only land up to 10 hits with a full skill set in his trascended class. The Tae Kwon is more traditional with him preparing kicks and pressing the skill when he can use it.

* Tales of Xillia and its sequel make it ridiculously easy to rack up huge combos for a number of reasons. For instance, pretty much every single attack ("artes") can link into any other attack, there's no tier system or restriction. If you have enough Action Counter points, you can link any attacks you want. Secondly, the game's linking system enables two characters to attack an enemy in sync, allowing the partner (CPU or otherwise) to attack in the player's cooldown (when they ran out of AC), preventing the enemy escaping the combo. Furthermore many attacks simply hit more times than would be normal by the series' previous standards.
** Xillia 2 takes it to another level with Ludger. Xillia 2's combo mechanics operate around a damage multiplier which increases as you hit enemies with various elements in a "weakness combo" (triggered by an element they're weak to. Once in this state, even an element they're normally resistant to will count as a Power Hit as if they were weak to it). Using attacks they're resistant to won't even hitstun them. Ludger is easily able to hit every single weakness in the game single-handedly with no link-artes, thanks to having THREE weapon types and thus THREE movesets on the fly, which can be switched mid-combo. This gives him access to FOURTY-EIGHT attack hotkeys (VS 16 for everyone else).

*** Combine this with the resulting HUGE damage multiplier (more than 600% on the highest difficulty, 450% on the second-highest), and combine THAT with his exclusive Chromatus ability (during which he is invincible, gets powerful new moves and can combo INFINITELY) which you can whip out when running out of AP and to stop the weakness combo fading, then finish it with his Chromatus Mystic Arte, and you can literally deal hundreds of thousands of damage in a single combo with no assistance. It's not unheard of for a boss to go down in one combo even on Unknown difficulty setting, but actually getting that combo going is where the difficulty lies, as bosses tend to one-shot you later in the game and have tons of iron-stance preventing hitstun.