Button mashing

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Button mashing (a.k.a. button bashing) is a term used in console gaming contexts to refer to quick, repeated, and generally random button pressings. It is a technique most commonly employed in two genres of games, athletic, where faster button mashing translates into better athlete performance, and in fighting games, where the technique is used often out of desperation, due to unfamiliarity with the controls and/or players relying on barraging the opponent with random blows (and the occasional accidental special move) to win, or just because the "masher" either likes the reaction he/she gets while mashing, or because they want a better chance of winning. Takahashi Meijin is considered to be the fastest button masher in the world, with a record of 16 presses of a button in one second.

Athletic games

In athletic games, button mashing is the usual way of making the athlete run or set strength. Over time, different ways of achieving this result have been tried: Epyx relied on moving the directional pad left and right (this practice is commonly called "joystick wobbling") and occasionally on 360° turns, Accolade's "Challenge" games used only one button, while other companies (such as U.S. Gold and ATD) used two buttons. In Olympic video games based on the Summer Games, usually only technical events (diving and gymnastics), archery, shooting and others that in reality rely more on skill than on physical strength are free from button mashing. In games based on Winter events, button mashing usage decreases greatly, since those events are either aerobic (such as cross country) or Alpine skiing, button mashing is reserved for starts (bobsled and luge) or in speed skating.

Fighting games

In fighting games, mashing is usually a desperation tactic. Less experienced players will button mash in an attempt to do moves that require a complex series of button presses. In some games, such moves often require combining over 10 button presses in under 3 seconds. Others require the player to mash the button to charge an attack (such as Blanka's electric attack in "Street Fighter II" or a "Kamehameha" in games based on the "Dragon Ball" franchise). In games involving swords, like "Bushido Blade", "Samurai Showdown" or "", in order to break a sword lock, the player has to press one button repeatedly.

Auto Fire controls

In order to reduce wear on controllers and allow players to gain the advantages of button mashing without having to actually mash the buttons, some 3rd party game controllers feature a turbo button. This easily allows the player to maximize performance in games where a single button must be pressed repeatedly, but gives no advantage when two buttons must be pressed repeatedly one after the other.

Some games (like "Metal Gear Solid" during the torture sequence) attempt to detect turbo buttons and end the game if it receives an unreasonable number of button pushes in a short time or a pattern that is too regular. In response, some game controllers with turbo buttons feature a lower hit frequency, closer to "human" values, but still high enough to allow passing even the most difficult sequences. (The NES Advantage controller had variable-speed turbo years earlier.) Most modern game devices for PCs have drivers and applications that allow the same, and can record complex button sequences for fighting games.

Examples

Button mashing was first popularized by "Track & Field" in 1983, while "Daley Thompson's Decathlon" (1984) used joystick wobbling (or waggling [http://www.mobygames.com/game/daley-thompsons-decathlon] ).

Probably the most recent button mashing sequence in a console game is "The Warriors" produced by Rockstar Games (which is based on the movie of the same name), where one can increase one's fighting stamina by performing basic gym exercise.

Eddy Gordo, a character in Namco's "Tekken" series, has been criticized in the past for his useful, low hitting capoeira attacks. This has been toned down somewhat in more recent games.

In "Final Fantasy VIII", the strength of Guardian Forces can be increased by repeatedly pressing the square button during the sequence showing the GF powering up. Although if square is pressed during certain intervals, the GF’s power is set back to the lowest level, causing the player to boost from scratch.

Several reviews of "Kingdom Hearts 2" say that it is possible to simply button mash through the game, while occasionally using a reaction command. A notable example is during the final battle, when Xemnas surrounds Sora and Riku with lasers and in order to survive, the player must repeatedly hit the "X" and "Triangle" Buttons.

Capcom's "Resident Evil 4" featured several sequences of button mashing incorporated in the gameplay.

"God of War" used several instances of this, such as when trying to finish off the 1st boss, the Hydra, and when dealing with the various minotaurs throughout the game.

As of 2006, there has been something of a resurgence of games relying extensively on button mashing, two examples being "Fahrenheit" ("Indigo Prophecy" in the US) and "".

"Sonic Rush" for the Nintendo DS features a boss (the Sonic vs. Blaze fight) which has an intense button mashing finale. This intense mashing of the A and B button causes actual pain, and many gamers have had to pause during the button mashing part to let their hands recover. What's more, before this boss, there is another boss requiring the player to button mash to avoid being blown off the battle platform by a pair of huge fans.

Many minigames in the "Mario Party" series utilize button mashing of some sort, usually in a competitive setting (i.e. the person who can mash the most before time runs out, or who can hit a button multiple times the fastest, will win the minigame). In the first game, there were also some minigames that required the player to rotate the analog stick very fast in order to win. This forced gamers to rotate with their palm, causing severe damage to the stick and themselves. As a result, the stick rotation games were discontinued immediately; there were none in "Mario Party 2" or any subsequent game in the series.

There are many microgames in the "WarioWare" series which require the player to mash buttons in order to clear the microgame.