Frank West - Capcom

"There's gotta be a scoop around here somewhere, and I'm gonna find it!"

TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM BIO

Sensing the scoop of a lifetime, freelance photojournalist Frank West grabs his trusty camera and heads to Willamette, Colorado by himself to investigate a mysterious disturbance. Franks shows a fortitude and resourcefulness during crisis situations not found in the average person.

CHARACTER ORGIN

Frank West originated in Dead Rising, an early Xbox 360 game with elements of action adventure, survival horror, and even a few RPG elements. Dead Rising's story centers on Frank West, a photojournalist who ends up trapped in a shopping mall in the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is infested with zombies. Frank must defend himself from zombie attacks, rescue survivors, contend with crazed psychopaths, and stay alive while still attempting to uncover the truth behind the incident. 

Gameplay Details:

Frank West may seem goofy, but in fact he is quite possibly the most technical and difficult character to play effectively...at least if you don't take his infinite glitch into account. His normals seem laggy and awkward and he has poor mobility due to his short jump and bad air dash. Frank has a hard time dealing with up close pressure, and his ability to combo might seem flawed at first. However, once a player realises some of the more unique properties of Frank's attacks, he suddenly stops being a joke and becomes a true threat, able to deal incredible damage with his powerful air-to-ground re-launch combos, devious tricks and array of deadly unblockable command throws. Playing Frank requires a sense of creativity and dedication, but like Tekkaman Blade and Karas, the rewards will show themselves to those who are prepared to put in the effort to learn him.

Of course, at high level play Frank probably is going to be using only one 'combo' over and over again. He is able to 'glitch' his launcher by doing a hard Giant Swing as soon as it hits, which will cause his opponent to fall helplessly to the ground where Frank can just repeat the process, juggling them until they megacrash out or are KOed. It's a shame that this interesting character would be limited by such a cheesy tactic but hey! Anything to survive, right Frank?

CHARACTER STATS

Difficulty: advanced

Style: mixed grappler

Defensive power: Has very high HP, and his dive rolls make him a very defensively solid character, but he lacks some key self defense tools such as a fast anti air.

Offensive power: Through the roof. Frank can 0-death just about everyone in the cast even without using his infinite. Actually doing his more complicated combos is another thing entirely, but the infinite is very, very easy.

Approach strength: Very poor. Frank has a hard time landing hits and often needs to rely on his partner to initiate the offensive for him or to cover him if he's on point. His Zombies can be useful but they take too long to set up to be truly reliable.

Combo ability: Very high. Frank has air-to-ground-to-air-to down-to air combos that never seem to end. His glitched infinite also never seems to end, but for an entirely different reason.

Meter Usage: Frank will mostly be wanting to use meter for both his level 1 hypers, which are very useful moves. He builds meter quite fast with his combos and his infinite, so he should usually have plenty to play around with. Due to his high defense he doesn't need to megacrash all that often.

Key Techniques: Learning how to combo off Zombie Spree on a downed opponent is a big part of Frank's combo game. Comboing air D+H into Zombie Spree and dash-under air D+H is also important for those tricky positional nuances Frank needs to keep his combos going. And then there's the infinite, which sadly is probably the easiest combo Frank can do.

Partner Options: Casshern and Roll are Frank's best combo partners, but Frank probably benefits more from a partner who can get hits quickly and then Crossover Air Raid into him so he can start his infinite. Most speedy jab characters such as Yatterman-1 are good for this job.

SPECIAL MOVES

ROUNDHOUSE KICK

   
CHARGE BACK, FORWARD + ATTACK

Frank makes a quick dash at the opponent followed by a kick. The button pressed will determine the nature of the attack. The light version is a fakeout and does nothing. The mid version hits high and must be blocked standing. The Strong version hits low. This can be used as a mixup to confuse defending opponents. It can also be used in combos, as it knocks down airborn opponents.

ZOMBIE ATTACK

    
FORWARD DOWN DOWN-FORWARD + ATTACK

Frank will look around and exclaim "oh my gosh!" or "go get 'em!" and a zombie will appear from one of three places depending on what button was pressed. The light version calls a zombie from behind Frank, the mid version calls one from behind the opponent, and the heavy version causes one to fall from the sky. The zombies will shamble slowly around the stage and grab onto anyone they touch (including Frank), holding them in place for a moment. They can be blocked and destroyed with regular attacks. Hitting a zombie will cause it to become a projectile, and Frank can also use his Giant Swing to grab a zombie and attempt to attack the opponent this way. Blocking your own zombies is a good way to give yourself a small amount of chip damage and red life, which is  useful for many things. Otherwise they can be used as interesting distractions to help Frank get up close to the opponent and pin them down.

ZOMBIE SPREE

   
BACK DOWN DOWN-BACK + ATTACK

Franks projectile move -- he looks surprised as a Zombie rides past him in a shopping cart. Though a bit slow to start up, it is a fairly agressive projectile that can help in both pressure and combos. The light version summons a blue cart which moves slowly, the mid version summons a yellow cart which moves at mid speed, and the heavy version summons a red cart which moves very quickly. All versions can hit hit downed opponents, and the heavy version inflicts wallbounce, making it a vital part of his difficult but damaging combos.

GRAND SLAM (air ok)

   
QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + ATTACK

Frank pulls out a baseball bat and swings it at the opponent. The button pressed determines the startup speed, with the light version being fastest, the mid version causing knockdown, and the heavy version being slowest and knocking the opponent back into a wallbounce. This attack has great range and can be used to poke and in corner combos. It also reflects projectiles if timed correctly.

GIANT SWING

    
HALF CIRCLE BACK + ATTACK

Frank grabs his opponent, swinging them by the legs and tossing them across the stage. The button pressed will determine the damage, with heavy being the strongest. It has quite good range for a command grab and can be fairly easily set up for with clever play, but it doesn't deal a lot of damage. If Frank grabs a zombie with this move, he can attempt to hit the opponent with it while he swings around, which builds a lot of meter and deals decent damage.

ESCAPE ROLL

  DOWN, DOWN + ATTACK

Frank does a quick dive roll across the screen. This is an evasive move used to avoid incoming attacks and get in on the opponent, as well as keeping Frank's otherwise laggy normals safe. The light version dives forward, the mid version dives forward and through the opponent (and non-beam projectiles), and the heavy version dives away from the opponent. Frank is completely invulnerable during the roll, but is vulnerable for a short period afterwards as he crouches.

HYPER COMBOS

THE REAL MEGA BUSTER

    
QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + ANY TWO ATTACKS

Frank dons his Real Mega Man outfit and blasts his opponent with a huge wide beam. Very fast startup and can be used to punish from anywhere on screen.

DEAD RISING

     
HALF CIRCLE BACK + ANY TWO ATTACKS

Frank pauses for a moment before initiating a super flash. He grabs the opponent, spins them around his head and throws them into the air before hitting them with a baseball bat. The opponent will be gone from the screen for about a second before they come plummeting in from the other side to slam into the ground while on fire. This grab is special in that once the super flash has activated, the opponent CANNOT escape it by jumping, so it is incredibly valuable for pressure. Once it hits, Frank can use a heavy Zombie Spree to pop the opponent back into the air and can continue the combo into a launcher, making it one of his better tools for dealing damage.

ZOMBIE CHARGE

   
FORWARD DOWN DOWN-FORWARD + ANY TWO ATTACKS

Frank slaps a Servbot mask on his opponent and grabs their head, ramming them through a horde of zombies before slamming their face into the ground. This has some startup time and can snag airborn opponents. It hits overhead but can be blocked standing. When it does hit, hit does very poor damage for a level 3 Hyper, but it isn't bothered too much by damage scaling, making it a decent way to end a combo. It also makes a fairly good anti-air.

Assists

Assist

Frank pulls out his camera and takes a shot. This does no damage and only stuns very briefly, but it fills almost the entire screen. It's a godsend to any character who needs just that little break to get in on the opponent, and can be used for a variety of tricks

Variable Counter

Frank uses his Grand Slam. Not a very good Variable Counter due to it's slow speed and lack of invincible frames.

Variable Hyper combination

Real Megabuster

Combos

BEGINNER COMBOS

Light, Medium, Crouching Medium, Launcher -> Light, Medium -> Light, Medium -> Medium Grand Slam

(Start this one holding back to charge the roundhouse kick) Light, Medium, Crouching Medium, Crouching Hard, Round House Kick cancel into Real Mega Buster.

Hard Grand Slam, Zombie Spree, The Real Mega Buster.

Japanese Tatsunoko vs Capcom Blog Combos (Advanced)

Source: http://www.capcom.co.jp/blog/vs/blog/20100129_1590.html

The 'Frank Infinite'

L > M > Launcher > HCB H > pause > Launcher > HCB H > pause > Launcher > HCB H > etc