Disco: my pleasure!
Didn't Q also rely on his grab a lot? I might be misremembering.
Thanks! This was a good read. Willing to do one for Robo-Ky?
You should not take characters from SF3 as examples for this debate to be honest. As Viscant explained since SF3 has a parry mechanic that counter/weakens attacks but not throws, you have to give characters more things to open the guard and the throws are a simple way of doing it. Q and Makoto are more characters relying on offense, "coups d'éclat" and big damage that grapplers.
As for ROBO-KY it's a bit special as the character didn't changed so much. He was very, very strong in #R as it was his first apparition as a complete character and not just a skin for Ky. I know him a bit less than other characters but here we go.
So you may know that ROBO-Ky has a différent tension bar. Each special move use it like Hakumen uses orbs in BB. Except that RKY can place a field below his foot that charge the battery. He also has a special throw that steals tension and some moves like the charge taunt are doing the same. He also has a heat jauge and when he uses some of the best moves like the missiles, he heats up and explode if you don't use the 6HS to put out the heat.
In #R he was very strong for many reasons but mostly because he could do a lot of damage. His stand HS comes out fast and has a FRC point. You can HS FRC, dash, HS FRC and then air combo. The missiles on the ground acts like the big stun edge of ky but in the air if you have battery, he rocket punch and each finger becomes a search missile and they are hard to avoid, lock you down very well and do big damage. The fact he has a low standing kick like ky but lacks the good ranged sweep of ky. The standing S is also way shorter but comes out faster, he has a very useful slide and his air normals are NUTS like the air S that bounce in CH.
Oh and he has a DP that is not that good but if you land it and you have meter, it transforms into a super. And you can taunt on the ground to delay your wakeup. And you can break your limiter, gaining unlimited battery but you end up electrocuted and helpless. That character was so fun. :3 One of the best Robo Ky from this period is Arisaka who made the +R version. Watch him beat a lot of people :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_dxnCUONxo
So in #R he was a power tank with good neutral, good damage, good normal, good specials. In Slash they nerfed him a lot, making him heat way too fast and lowering his damage output.
In AC he was a kind of fair and balance character like Venom. It was little changes like the air HS that wallstick you in CH, he gained classic things like being able to FRC his throw and instead of doing HS FRC combos, you try to go to the corner so you can missile loop. He also was a bit more subtle in my memories. In neutral his normals in CH were crazy like the stand P or the stand S could lead to big damage because of the horse move that catch you right after. The fact that being in the danger heat zone gave you new properties to your normals was also cool because it changes combos and
In AC he also gained a forcebreak where he flies a bit. It's used mainly as a tool to do better mixups from the air, cancel normal moves into a short recovery move that gives you momentum. So you can for example finish a combo with air Dust, cancel it with the forcebreak to catch up with your opponent and throw him when he recovers in the air.
In +R he didn't changed much except for being more rewarded when you are in heat. I think his cr.HS missile now comes back on earth after being launched. Basically the character changed from an powerhouse to a more subtle character as time passed. A friend in France played a good R.Ky when AC was out and I had the feeling that instead of getting beaten to death like in #R, I was facing a fucking wall as the character is very good with normals.
If you want a good AC RoboKy, check Dogura matchs :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0YMla3rd8c
