Hit stun not as long?

Hey everyone I'm new here! But a long time fan of SoR/BK.

I've been trying to research a bit about the settings for the game. I can't seem to get the hit-stun to behave more like SoR2 where I can jab a few times, then walk up to grab and attack more.

It seems that the enemies back up way too fast for me to catch up to them for a grab after a jab.
They retreat and don't stun long enough to be able to perform a full combo of: jab, jab 1 2, grab knee knee, flip side and then suplex.
Instead it's more like jab, jab 1 2 -- and then they always seem to recover out of the stun faster than I can walk over for the grab to complete the combo.

This was a huge staple for me in SoR2, and honestly what made the fighting and combos to fun for massive damage if uninterrupted. So it's quite the let down.
I even did a comparison play on Genesis and the combo works as well as ever on there even into the later stages.
Am I missing something in the settings? I've tried a few different combinations.
Is it because some are SoR1 enemies? Or are the AI just that much different to a flaw? It just feels like the AI is moving way faster then I would like and Y Signal slide is extra brutal and almost always breaks combos.

Any help on restoring or explaining the difference here would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

Yeah I have noticed this problem as well, you could possibly slow down the enemy walk Y-X axis in the AI editor in order for you to do a long combo just like the original streets of rage 2. you should download a mod called streets of rage 3 collection mod which will give you a list of the difficulty you wish to apply when you edit the AI in-game. I hope this helps.

Hey there, welcome.

The hit stun is definitely briefer than the old games, actually, it's slightly closer to BK3 than any other. My advice is 1) get used to the hit stun style and 2) mix and match with the pause delay at the Miscelaneous part in Options. I usually play with SOR3 delay input which make the characters hit faster, therefore, it's easier to keep a hit stun combo but with faster input (I don't have problems locking certain enemies like that, especially Bongos).

I really don't have an issue with a 1 1 1 hit stun then RUN into grab, guess it's all about timing. Now, this won't work in Mona, Lisa and Robo X since they back off while being hit (just like in the original SOR3/BK3). Also, careful with enemies with grabs since SORR has a wider grab range from the enemies (Barbon and Abadede will definitely get you first before you could get any close, so this combo won't work).

But besides that I have no problems doing a crazy damage combo with Max, once again, works best with SOR3 Delay Input.

Oh, and for fuck's sake, I recommend you play v5.1 instead. Somehow the gameplay is more refined there than in v5.2.

Don Vecta's advice is solid. SoRR is not SoR2, especially with respect to enemy AI at higher difficulties. It plays best when you take advantage of the faster, more dynamic toolset SoR3 introduced where you can evade roll and run. 2 or 3 hits and double-tap to run forward will still get you grabs when you get the range and timing down.

Because of SoR2's far more limited mobility, it was more about memorizing enemy positions and planning accordingly at high level play. If you want it to feel like SoR2 and set it to use the slower attack speeds as well as disable rolling and running it's simply not going to play well at Mania difficulty, but should work fine for Normal and Hard.

If you want to get the best experience out of SoRR at Mania difficulty check this out (it also helps explain what each setting does as some are a bit unclear):

https://sorr.forumotion.net/t201-sorr-5-1-options-recommendations