Melee Replay Practice Options

Practice straight from a replay, like Tekken 8's My Replays & Tips: take over your character at any moment while the opponent repeats what they did, retry it, and get frame data and advice. The first version works but goes through the pause menu. These are three ways to make it cleaner. The mockups are drawn over real captures from the game; the final version uses Melee's own font.

Built so far: Option A In game

Captured in the game from a real Falco vs Marth replay. No menu: one row of buttons, tip banners at each moment, and colored markers on the timeline above the buttons (red unsafe on shield, yellow L-cancel, blue dropped combo, grey tech).
Tips are read from the replay file when it loads, in about 5 ms. The game's own frame data replaces the file's numbers as each moment plays.
A takes over. Once you change what happened, the opponent stops following the replay and defends on its own: Smart (DI and techs), no DI or techs, your Practice CPU settings, or keep the recording.
A try has no time limit by default; it can also end when your combo drops or after 10 or 20 seconds, then shows the result and goes back to where you took over. Start retries, hold Start goes back to the replay.

Tip banner, frame data reading and timeline in game — Watching: who A takes over and the last frame data reading top left, the tip under the timer, the buttons and timeline at the bottom.

LIVE badge during a takeover — Taken over: LIVE with the player's name. The opponent has left the recording and defends on its own.

Result of a try — A try ended: its result, then back to the takeover point.

Replay settings in game — Start: the settings, in the player's practice menu look.

How Tekken 8 does it

Tekken 8 replay with a tip banner and a row of button prompts — **Watching:** a thin tip banner when something happens. One row of buttons: Train, previous/next tip, rewind/fast forward, P1/P2. No menu.

Tekken 8 takeover with a red countdown badge — **Taken over:** a small red badge with a 10 second countdown. Buttons: Retry, Return to Replay.

Tekken 8 training drill for a tip — **Train:** a separate drill for the tip, apart from the takeover.

Screenshots: TEKKEN 8 official site, for reference.

Option A: direct buttons, no menu Recommended

Its own replay layer, separate from the Practice menu. One row of GameCube buttons along the bottom while a replay plays.
A takes over at once (the player named top left; D-pad Up/Down picks another). X and Y jump to the previous and next tip. D-pad Left/Right go 5 seconds back or forward, Z pauses (Z again steps one frame), R fast-forwards, Start opens a small settings menu.
Tips are found from the replay file as it loads, in under a second: colored markers on the timeline right away (red unsafe, yellow L-cancel, blue dropped combo), and a banner at each moment as it plays.
Taken over: a red LIVE badge with a countdown (10 seconds by default). Start retries from the takeover point, hold Start goes back to the replay. When time runs out it shows what you did and loops back for another try.

Take over: P1 Fox ▲▼

P2 Fox · Tip 3 of 30

Dair on shield −10

Missed L-cancel. Press L, R or Z just before you land.

ATake overXYTip◀▶5 sZPauseRFastSTARTMenu

A1 watching: a banner at the moment, markers on the timeline, one row of buttons.

LIVE P1 Fox 7

STARTRetrySTARThold: Back to replay

A2 taken over: only the badge and countdown. Your controller plays; the others repeat the recording.

LIVE P1 Fox 0

Try 3

Dair on shield +1

L-cancelled. Hit 2 frames before landing. Last try: −10.

Again in 2 sSTARTRetry nowSTARThold: Back to replay

A3 time up: this try against the last, then it loops back.

Option B: one short panel when paused

Playback has the same markers and tip banners as A.
Start opens one short panel, not the Practice menu: Take over P1 or P2, then this player's tips in order. A on a tip jumps there.
Taken over: the same LIVE badge and Start to retry as in A.

Replay · P1 Fox

Take over P1 FoxA

Take over P2 Fox

0:09 Special on shield−8

0:14 Missed L-cancel

0:17 Dair on shield−10

0:38 Dropped: Nair+38

APickLRPlayerBResume

B: simpler than now, but you still stop and read a list.

Option C: a Review screen first

Opening a replay first shows a Review screen: the player's tips as a list with a preview of each moment.
A on a tip plays from a second before it and takes over at the moment. "Watch whole replay" plays it normally.
The most guided, but it puts a screen in front of simply watching.

Review · P1 Fox

▶ Watch whole replay

Unsafe0:17 Dair on shield−10

L-cancel0:14 Dair

Combo0:38 Nair, nothing after+38

Unsafe0:50 Dair on shield−10

Tech0:55 Missed tech

Missed the L-cancel: press L, R or Z just before you land. A: practice it

APractice itLRPlayerBBack

C: a Review screen before the replay.

Open questions

Which option feels best to use with a controller: A, B or C?
When a takeover's time runs out: show the result and loop back, freeze and wait, or no time limit?
Is 10 seconds the right default length for a takeover in Melee?