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Y88b\ d/ 888| 88| `Y88b\888| 88| 88| . 888| Y8P/' Y888|d/ Y888P/ 888| 88| `Y88888| Y8| 88|P/ 888| Y/ Y88d/ Y8P/ Y88| 88| `Y88| Y| Y8P/ Y88| ' Yd/ Y/ Y8| 88| ' ' Y/ Y88> `' Y| 8/' Y' _____________________________________________________________________________ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | |\ /| /| | | |#b\ |\ ._____ /| /d| /d#| | | |###b\ |#b\ \Y##b\_____ /d| /d#| /d###| | | |#####b\ |##b| \Y#######b\____ /d#| /d##| /d#####| | | |###|\##b\ |###| \Y##########b\_ /d##| |###| /d##/|###| | | |###| \Y##b\ |Y##| \Y###b\~\Y###b\ |###|_____|##P| /d##P/ |###| | | |###| \Y##b\ \Y#b\ |####b\ \Y##b| |###########P/ /d##P/ |###| | | |###|_____\Y##b\ \Yb\_____ |######b\_\#Y/ |#########P/ /d##P/_____|###| | | |###|\Y#########b\ \Y####b\ |Y#|\Y#####P/ |###| /d#########P/|###| | | |###| \Y##########b\ \Y####b\ \Y| \Y#P/ |###| /d##########P/ |###| | |_________________________ ________________________| +------------------------\\ //-----------------------+ \\ // \\ // \\ // \\ // \\ // \\// ============================================================================= STREET FIGHTER ALPHA FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS v3.1 ============================================================================= Current Version 3.1 by Min Sub Kim Versions 2.0 & 1.9 by Allen Kim Version 1.5 by Dan Wells Version 1.0 by Tom Cannon Please send questions or comments to : young@all.com.au NOTE : Please do not copy this FAQ. I didn't type this FAQ for a profit, nor do any other FAQ writers. This FAQ is purely for personal use. Thanks. ***Table of Contents*** 1) Introduction 1.1) Author's Preface 1.2) Changes in this Revision 1.3) Legend, Abbreviations, and Notations used 2) SFA Game Engine 2.1) ROM Options 2.2) Autoblock 2.3) Proximity Blocking 2.4) Chain Combos 2.5) Super Combos 2.6) Alpha Counters 2.7) Air Blocking 2.8) Recovery Rolls 2.9) Throws and Techs 2.10) Juggling Moves and Combos 2.11) Overhead Hits 2.12) Taunts 2.13) Reversals and Relative Safety 2.14) Jump Ins, Neck Kicks, and Meaty Attacks 2.15) Choose your own Winning Quote 2.16) Poking Attacks 2.17) Combos and Button Presses 2.18) Semi Combos 2.19) Trip Guard 3) Character Specifics 3.0) Conventions used and format 3.1) Ryu 3.2) Ken 3.3) Charlie 3.4) Chun Li 3.5) Guy 3.6) Birdie 3.7) Adon 3.8) Sodom 3.9) Rose 3.10) Sagat 3.11) M.Bison 3.12) Akuma 3.13) Dan 3.14) Note on Comboability 4) Character Specific Matchups 4.1) Ryu Vs. ** 4.2) Ken Vs. ** 4.3) Charlie Vs. ** 4.4) Chun Li Vs. ** 4.5) Guy Vs. ** 4.6) Birdie Vs. ** 4.7) Adon Vs. ** 4.8) Sodom Vs. ** 4.9) Rose Vs. ** 4.10) Sagat Vs. ** 4.11) M.Bison Vs. ** 4.12) Akuma Vs. ** 4.13) Dan Vs. ** 5) Miscellaneous 5.1) Selecting Hidden Characters 5.2) Victory Symbols 5.3) Character Histories 5.4) Endings 5.5) Code to Fight CPU Akuma or Dan 5.6) Ryu & Ken Vs. Bison Code 5.7) Special Endings 6) Glossary 7) Credits and Thanks ============================================================================= ***1) INTRODUCTION *** ============================================================================= --= 1.1 Author's Preface =-- The first owner of the FAQ was Tom Cannon. It was then passed on to Dan Wells, and then to Allen Kim. Finally, it has come to me. Tom Cannon wrote version 1.0, Dan Wells wrote version 1.5, Allen Kim wrote 1.9 and 2.0, and several months ago I released version 3.0. I thought at the time I had found out everything there was in SFA, but recently I have found several more new things and seen the Gamest SFA tape. Besides that, I decided to add a couple of other features that version 3.0 should have had. I figure that demand for this game must be rather low by now, so I'll try this time to cover every aspect of the game this time. Of course, version 3.0 wasn't very well distributed anyway... If you are still playing SFA, you're either a loyal follower of one of the greatest games ever, or you have bought it to own forever on a home system. Personally I find it a much better game and a very good example of how well Capcom can make games, in contrast to the new rehashes Capcom make to try to get our money. More specifically, it's not a budget rehash attempt at making a game like MSH Vs. SF. Furthermore, it's a game without ridiculously easy-to-do infinite combos, like X-Men Vs. SF. SFA doesn't even have infinite combos (except Rose has one in Practice Mode, but it can't be done in a real match, because in Practice Mode, your Super Meter resets to Level 3 after a while when you use it). Much of the testing for this FAQ was done on the Sega Saturn version of the game. However, where possible, I will include the differences for the arcade version as well because there were a couple of changes here and there. I credit Tom Cannon and Mr. Cheung for finding out preliminary stuff, and previous FAQ writers Dan Wells and Allen Kim for providing much more information. This FAQ is VERY long, but try to bear with me if possible. I'm sorry if it took ages to download or to load up on a word processor. It's just that there are MANY aspects of SFA that needed to be discussed. For the clearest reading of this FAQ, use a typewriter like font such as Courier. The title page (just the ASCII art) is 60 lines long. Warning : don't print this FAQ, it will use MANY MANY MANY MANY pages. Try using MS DOS Editor (60 lines per page, 78 characters per line) or Windows 95 Wordpad (with Courier font). --= 1.2 Changes in this Revision =-- Changes in version 3.1 : - A couple of combos added everywhere (most of them from Gamest) - Addition to Recovery Rolls - General minor changes everywhere Changes in version 3.0 : - Whole FAQ rewritten, many sections changed significantly (If you have read older versions, it would probably be a good idea to read this version completely as there are many new bits added everywhere) - New ASCII art title - Added sections : -Juggling Moves and Combos -Reversals and Relative Safety -Poking Attacks -Combos and Button Presses -Semi Combos -Character Specific Matchups -Trip Guard - Removed sections : -Wake Up DP's -Introduction to SFA -Top Ten Lists -Query on Beta Testing -Where to get SFA Resources Changes in version 2.0: - Added ASCII logo. - Added section, "How to Avoid Getting AC'ed". - Corrected method to roll on the ground. - Auto-Block section revised. - Added section, "Wake-up Dragon Punches". - Added Japanese names for moves where available. - Added starting and winning poses. - Changed Guy's move names from "Bushido" to "Bushin". - Sodom's cheesy S. ROUNDHOUSE added. - Added how to choose winning quote. - Revised "Code to Fight Akuma or Dan". - Added glossary. - Added Top Ten lists. - General additions, revisions, and corrections all over the place. Changes in version 1.9: - Added the Ryu & Ken vs. Bison code. - Added the Fight Against Akuma code. - Moves and Strategies now combined into one section. - Changed some names of moves. Some moves also have two names; the one in parentheses is the name I made up. - Dan Wells' Top Ten list deleted. - General revisions in wording and grammar for just about every section. - General corrections and additions to the moves section. Changes in version 1.5: * Explanations of the various operator-controlled options in SFA. * Better explanations of how to link SC's with chain combos. * Expanded uses of the Alpha Counter for specific characters. * Clarification of air-blocking multiple hits. * A Moves Legend added * Corrected/added moves for: -Ken Shoryureppa SC corrected -Chun Li Mega Kikoken SC corrected -Charlie Standing ROUNDHOUSE kick clarified -Birdie Chain Grab corrected Leaping Chain Grab SC corrected Overhead Hit added -Adon Offensive crouching FORWARD kick added -Guy Overhead Hit added "re-dizzy" fully explained -Sodom Sai Grab corrected Sai Crawl added (explained) -Akuma A couple moves corrected/updated Downward Air Kick added -Dan Total information added * Official Capcom names for moves added * Expanded and re-done character strategy sections. * Updated information on Super Combos, including # of hits and damage inflicted * Verbatum endings (some of them) * Information on the new hidden character, Dan. * My Top 10 Cheap Things in SFA List * An expanded Wish List of stuff that I want changed. :) --= 1.3 Legend, Abbreviations, and Notations =-- * Joystick Motions Simple Positions : F - Forward O O O B - Back \ | / U - Up O-- * --O D - Down / | \ O O O Complex Motions : (Diagrams assume you are facing right) QCF - Quarter Circle Forwards (D,DF,F) | \ --O O O QCB - Quarter Circle Backwards (D,DB,B) | / O-- O O DP - Dragon Punch Motion (F,D,DF) --O | \ O O RDP - Reverse Dragon Punch (B,D,DB) O-- | / O O HCF - Half Circle Forwards (B,DB,D,DF,F) O-- / | \ --O O O O HCB - Half Circle Backwards (F,FD,D,DB,B) --O \ | / O-- O O O CBF - Charge Back (2 seconds), Forward O-- (2 seconds), --O NOTE : You can charge at ANY backwards direction (DB, B, or UB), but you MUST go to forward (eg. you can't charge back and then go to diagonal down forward). CDU - Charge Down (2 seconds), Up O | (2 seconds), | O NOTE : You can charge at ANY down direction (DB, D, or DF) and go to ANY up direction (UB, U, or UF). XQC - Extended Quarter Circle Forward (D,DF,F,UF) O | \ --O / O O 360 - Full Circle NOTE : You only have to cover 5/8 of the circle directions, and you can start from any direction. Personally, I have trouble using the 5/8 circle method and instead use the full circle method (experiment and see which one you prefer). 2QCF - 2 Quarter Circle Forward Motions (D,DF,F,D,DF,F) | \ --O | \ --O O O O O NOTE : Some SCs only require you to go to DF on the last QCF motion. I will list them as 2QCF anyhow since it still works and makes little difference. 2QCB - 2 Quarter Circle Backward Motions (D,DB,B,D,DB,B) | / O-- | / O-- O O O O 2HCB - 2 Half Circle Backward Motions (F,DF,D,DB,B,F,DF,D,DB,B) --O \ | / O-- --O \ | / O-- O O O O O O CBF2 - Charge Back (2 seconds), Forward, Back, Forward O-- (2 seconds), --O O-- --O CDB2 - Charge Diagonal Down-Back (2 seconds), Diagonal Down-Forward, Diagonal Down-Back, Up O / (2 seconds), \ / | O O O 720 - 2 Full Circles * Buttons PUNCHES Jab - Weak/Light/Quick Punch Strong - Medium/Middle Punch Fierce - Strong/Heavy/Hard Punch KICKS Short - Weak/Light/Quick Kick Forward - Medium/Middle Kick Roundhouse - Strong/Heavy/Hard Kick NOTE : To try to avoid confusion between Forward (medium kick) and forward (towards), I will open button names with capitals, eg. hold forward and press Jab, do a Dragon Punch motion and press Forward * Notations S.Jab = Standing Jab C.Strong = Crouching Strong JN.Fierce = Forward Jumping (jumping in) Fierce JU.Short = Upward Jumping Short NK.Forward = Neck Kick Forward (see section 2.14) * Abbreviations I will try to avoid using many abbreviations for the sake of clarity and ease in reading. The 3 abbreviations I will use are : SC = Super Combo AC = Alpha Counter SF = Street Fighter ============================================================================= ***2) SFA GAME ENGINE *** ============================================================================= --= 2.1 ROM Options =-- The arcade operator has several options that they can alter : * AUTOBLOCK If this is active, players will have the option of using Autoblock. See section 2.2 for details. * SPEED SELECT This can be preset to Normal, Turbo 1, or Turbo 2. If the operator allows for free select, the players have the option of choosing between only the 2 slower speeds. In my opinion, free select is kind of stupid when someone challenges you and selects Normal speed since it can be a major slow down from Turbo 1. * DAMAGE LEVEL This can be set at various levels (on console versions there are 4). If it is too low, there is little damage difference between small fast guys like Chun Li compared to big slow guys like Birdie. If it is too high, many Level 3 SCs will become VERY deadly, and there are several combos that will inflict 100% damage. * COMPUTER AI DIFFICULTY There are various levels of difficulty (on console versions there are 8). Easy levels are kind of silly, and on the hardest levels it seems like the CPU cheats (eg. Ken does a Shoryureppa SC on reaction to a jab!). CONSOLE VERSION ONLY : * TIME LIMIT This can be set at 25, 50, 75, 99 seconds or infinite time. * ROUNDS The number of rounds the match can go to can be set at 1, 3, or 5. --= 2.2 Autoblock =-- Autoblock is a feature new to the SF series and is great for beginners. Players will have the option of using Autoblock if your arcade operator has activated it. As it's name suggests, Autoblock means that every blockable attack will be blocked for you. Obviously, this cannot be when you are attacking since you can't block and attack at the same time, and it also can't block unblockables (ie. throws). It also automatically air-blocks for you as well, but again, this fails against things that can't be air-blocked (eg. normal uppercuts). It will also block for you anything that is blockable. For example, if Ken does a Hurricane Kick against an opponent with Autoblock, the opponent will automatically stand up and block the Hurricane Kick. You cannot crouch under it unless your counter is at zero (see below). Autoblock is limited to a certain number of times per round. When playing against the CPU, the counter (situated in the top corner of the screen above your character's portrait) will begin at 10 whenever you start a new credit (ie. when you start the game or continue after losing a match). The counter will go down for every time you automatically OR manually block an attack, and when it reaches zero you must block manually from there on. For every round you win, the counter will start the next round with 2 less autoblocks. This will go as far down as 2, that is, you will always start the round with at least 2 on the counter. For every round you lose, the counter will start the next round with 2 more autoblocks. Obviously you can't go higher than 12 since if you lose 2 rounds, you've lost the match (except on console versions if you set the rounds to 5). When playing against human competition, it will start at 8 regardless of rounds won or lost. The main limitation of Autoblock you will notice is the ability to only charge up to Level 1 on the Super Meter. This basically means you are very limited in the quick damage department as you can't just unleash a Level 3 SC and nail them for lots of damage. Autoblock players are given the Simple SC Operation motions. This means that they can simply press two buttons of the same strength (eg. Jab + Short) to execute a SC. This makes it very easy to do SCs on reaction to an opponent's attack. However, since it can only be a Level 1 SC, the damage is considerably limited. This simple method canNOT be used to combo in an SC however. For example, with Ryu, you cannot simply jump forward with a Roundhouse kick, do a crouching Forward, then press Jab + Short and get a Shinkuu Hadouken SC. To combo in a SC, you must do it manually. Simple SC Operation also means that Reversal SCs are made considerably easier to do, making it much easier to counter blocked assaults with SCs (see section 2.13). I guess the Simple SC Operation is most benificial to characters who have SCs with charge times since with Simple SC Operation players are able to use SCs such as the Thousand Burst Kick SC without having to charge it, therefore making it a lot less predictable. As a final note, if you complete the game with Autoblock on one credit, you don't get to see the credits. If you get a high score, your score will have an "Auto" label next to it. --= 2.3 Proximity Blocking =-- This is a feature of the game engine that makes the player go into a block stance when an attack is almost within hitting range. Basically, this allows players to back off from attacks that are out of hitting range and try for a quick counter attack after the opponent misses. Therefore, it is easier to stay away from an opponent than it was in previous SF games. It's useful in making it easier to set up jump ins from the right range since you can back away from your opponent much easier than before. --= 2.4 Chain Combos =-- Otherwise known as the Magic Series, chain combos allow players to cancel a normal ground move into another normal ground move. This allows players to land multiple hit ground combos that do great damage and can be relatively safe if blocked (see section 2.13). If a move is chainable, it can be cancelled into another move of higher strength, regardless of what type of version it is (except the jumping version). For example, Charlie can cancel his S.Strong into a S.Roundhouse, a C.Roundhouse, or a Stepping Side Kick. He can also cancel it into his C.Fierce, S.Fierce or his Backfist. Usually long chains are required to do relatively safe ground combos. You will find that some moves can chain into another attack of the same strength. These moves are *always* capable of chaining into themselves as well. Examples of these kinds of moves include Ryu/Ken/Akuma's C.Jab, C.Short, and S.Jab. The other Jabs that cannot chain into themselves cannot chain into Shorts. The other Shorts that cannot chain into themselves cannot chain into Jabs. Examples of such moves are Ryu/Ken/Akuma's S.Short, Charlie's S.Jab, S.Short, and C.Short. You can tell the difference between the two easily, since the first type can be repeated "continuously" without hitting, like when it appears that Ryu/Ken/Akuma holds their knee out and keeps on kicking whilst doing C.Shorts, without retracting back to the standard crouch position. While chain combos are great for the offensive player, they are bad news for the defensive player. Chain combos can be used in several ways to catch turtles off guard. Several characters have overhead hits that hit crouching defenders. Since you can chain into *any* version of the stronger move, overheads can be chained into making them much more harder to see coming. For example, Ryu can do a C.Short into his Overhead Punch. Chain combos also make ticks much harder to see coming since it becomes difficult to tell how far your opponent will go with the chain combo. However, there is an easy way out. Since chain combos are like a multiple hit move, they are incredibly easy to AC (see section 2.6). Links, on the other hand, are where 2 moves are put together without interrupting the animation of the first. An example of this is the old age Ryu link of C.Strong, C.Forward. These are much harder to time than chains. Some moves in the game recover rather quickly and allow this to happen (eg. Guy's S.Roundhouse). Note that SFA is the only game in the SF series where chain combos really dominate (X-Men Vs. SF and MSH Vs. SF are technically Marvel games, not part of the SF series). SF3 has a fair few chain combos, but by no means are they dominant as in SFA. Gen has chain combos in SFA2, but besides that, Capcom seems to like the idea of the common chain combo for every character of Jab to Short and adding a couple more here and there. --= 2.5 Super Combos =-- Super Combos are obviously the most powerful attack in any character's arsenal. SFA uses a triple charging super meter, the maximum charge being Level 3 (except with Autoblock). Each SC can be done at 3 different levels of power (except Akuma's Raging Demon). The Super Meter is built up by doing just about anything. The ways to build the Super Meter from fastest to slowest are : 1. Special move that hits 2. Normal move that hits 3. Special move executed 4. Special move blocked 5. Normal move blocked 6. Blocked opponent's attack 7. Got hit by opponent 8. Did any normal punch/kick (except Jab or Short) NOTE : There are some variations to the above list. For example, for Akuma, he will gain more Super Meter by hitting with a Fierce than throwing an Air Fireball AND having it blocked. In contrast, Charlie's Sonic Boom gains Super Meter at an incredible rate such that by throwing it he gains more than landing a Fierce punch. Guy's Elbow Drop is a normal Strong attack, but it doesn't gain any Super Meter. To do a Level 1 SC, do the motion and push any punch/kick button (depending on SC). To do a Level 2 SC, do the motion and push any two punch/kick buttons (depending on SC). To do a Level 3 SC, do the motion and push all three punch/kick buttons. If you have trouble pressing all three punch/kick buttons at exactly the same time, try holding all three punch/kick buttons, doing the motion and releasing the buttons at the end of the motion (see section 2.17). When the SC is executed, there is an animation pause where the screen darkens and your character gathers energy before executing the SC. In MOST cases, if the opponent is close and not blocking, they cannot bring their guard up after the animation pause and block the SC. This only applies if the opponent is close in (usually the range for this feature to take effect is about the length of a Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Dan C.Roundhouse). In some cases, you can actually block the oncoming SC even though you weren't blocking during the animation pause. This happens when you don't combo in the SC properly. For example, with Charlie's JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Somersault Justice SC combo, sometimes you may screw up and cancel the C.Short before it actually hits your opponent. They'll be in the hit stun during the animation pause, but as soon as the SC begins, they'll be able to block it since you didn't combo it in properly. Another example, is using SCs that just cannot be put in a combo. For example, with Chun Li, if you do a C.Forward and cancel it into a Power Storm SC, it won't combo anyway. They'll be in hit stun during the animation pause, but then they'll be able to block it once the SC begins. It just cannot be combo'd in through buffering. However, there are other ways of comboing these SCs in (with Chun Li's Power Storm SC, follow up a Thousand Burst Kick SC in the corner with it to juggle). As a general rule, Level 1 SCs are mediocre. They usually have decent priority and do fairly small damage. You will see many Level 1 SCs get beaten by normal moves. Examples of this include Chun Li's Thousand Burst Kick SC, which at Level 1, seems to get beaten by sweeps and slides all the time. Ken's Level 1 Shoryureppa SC has a very small gap in between the Dragon Punches ... long enough to stick a Reversal Dragon Punch in between and hit him out of it if you block it (although I have not been able to do this trick very often). Level 1 SCs also get beaten by ACs much easier than higher Level SCs. Level 2 and 3 SCs can be beaten by ACs in some cases, but usually the higher priority SCs such as Ken's Shinryuken SC, Charlie's Somersault Justice SC, and Akuma's Messatsu Goushouryuu SC are totally invincible on their rise at Level 3. Most Level 3 SCs can do about 50% damage, and they are VERY deadly when put into a combo. You keep your Super Meter between rounds, so if you haven't won a round, try to avoid finishing your opponent off with a huge SC since that could be a big waste. Conversely, if your opponent hasn't already won a round, you might want to save your Super Meter for the next round if you are near losing. If you are near losing and decide to throw a Level 3 SC, note that you are taking a big gamble here since if it hits, it will lead a considerable comeback. If it gets blocked or misses, you could have thrown away the whole match right there. Logically, you should conserve your Super Meter rather than constantly using SCs as soon as you get the Levels to do it. If you do, either your opponent is stupid and keeps on getting hit by them or you are just wasting them and missing or seeing your SC blocked. If you use an SC for block damage, it's probably best to only use Level 1 SCs (unless finishing an opponent off for the match). Don't throw SCs unless you think it will connect, especially if it will leave you open! There are a few SCs that can be used effectively for block damage : if your character doesn't have one, don't throw an SC for the sake of it. If you really got nothing better to do with your Super Meter, use an AC (see section 2.6). So overall, there is one main rule in using SCs : "Make sure it connects!". The key to using SCs well is not to throw more than your opponent, but to make your SCs count for more than pitiful block damage. --= 2.6 Alpha Counters =-- A guard reversal system that allows you to break block stun and quickly try to nail the opponent with one of your own moves. ACs require one Level of your Super Meter, meaning that you can't just use them all the time. ACs are considered one of the "cheapest" aspects of SFA. To do an AC, block an attack and quickly roll the joystick from back to diagonal down-back, to down, then press punch/kick (depending on character). You have to do it fairly early in the block stun. To AC a low attack, block it low and quickly do the full AC motion. It's tricky, but it helps considerably in close combat since people are usually very reliant on sweeps at close range. Block stun is shorter than in previous SF games, so you will have to be pretty fast. ACs are invincible for a very short period of time. Therefore, if Akuma tries to kill you with block damage from his Messatsu Gouhadou, you can block it, AC it, and the AC will go straight through the SC fireball. ACs are designed to be a quick counter, but they don't always work. Some are slow and gives your opponent enough time to recover from their own attack and block. Some have short range making it difficult to AC long range poking attacks. You have to be very careful with this because even with Ryu or Ken, your opponent with a very late jump in can land in time and block your AC, and you'll be left wide open. Therefore, like SCs, you have to know when it's the best time to use your own character's AC. ACs don't necessarily guarantee a hit, and if blocked, they cause no block damage, translating into a waste of Super Meter. The following is a list of notes on each character's AC : Ryu : Very short range, fast, leaves open Ken : Short ground range, decent aerial range, fast, leaves open Charlie : Good range, slow Chun Li : Good range, fast, low sweep Guy : Decent range, fairly fast, low sweep Birdie : Good range, slow Adon : Short range, fast, leaves open Sodom : Good range, fast, can be crouched under Rose : Short range, fast, no damage but sets up for another attack Sagat : Decent range, average speed Bison : Decent range, fast Akuma : Decent range, fairly fast, low sweep Dan : Decent range, fairly fast, low sweep NOTE : I list if it's a sweep because there are several SCs that will be missed by these ACs (eg. Ryu's Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, Ken's Shoryureppa SC, Charlie's Somersault Justice SC, Akuma's Messatsu Goushouryuu SC, Sagat's Tiger Genocide SC, etc.) ACs have various uses according to it's characteristics. They are usually effectively used in keeping an opponent in the corner, or smacking out of a corner trap. They can also be very annoying when a good offensive player balances out their offense by countering anything thrown at them. Usually, using ACs against attacks that annoy you is a good idea since it will discourage your opponent from using them all the time if they keep on eating an AC whenever they do it. Particularly useful against poking assaults (see section 2.16). --= 2.7 Air Blocking =-- Air blocking is a handy new feature that comes in useful all the time. Air blocking is limited in that you can't air block everything. Below, I will list everything in 3 categories : definitely not air blockable, usually not but sometimes air blocked, and usually air blockable. 1. DEFINITELY NOT AIR BLOCKABLE - All normal ground based moves (eg. normal uppercuts), except those listed below in list #3 - All ground based special moves (ie. the character doesn't leave the ground, such as Birdie's Headbutt Rush) - Super Combos (except Charlie's Sonic Blade SC and Akuma's Tenma Gouzankuu SC) - Guy's Rising Spinning Kick - Sagat's Tiger Crush - Guy's Bushin Leap throw - Rose's Soul Throw - Akuma's Hundred Demon Attack throw variations 2. USUALLY NOT BUT SOMETIMES AIR BLOCKABLE - Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Dan's Dragon Punches - Sagat's Tiger Blow - Chun Li's Rising Spinning Kick - Adon's Jaguar Knee 3. USUALLY AIR BLOCKABLE - All normal air based moves - All normal projectiles - Ryu's Hop Kick, Hurricane Kick (ground or air) - Ken's Hurricane Kick (ground or air) - Charlie's Jumping Back Kick, Flash Kick, Sonic Blade SC - Chun Li's Knee Flip, Head Stomp, Split Kick - Guy's Elbow Drop, Bushin Leap Elbow Drop, Roundhouse Bushin Run - Adon's Jaguar Kick, Jaguar Tooth - Bison's Knee Press, Head Stomp, Demon Flight - Akuma's Hop Kick, Hurricane Kick (ground or air), Tenma Gouzankuu SC, Hundred Demon Attack air variations, Downward Air Kick - Dan's Gale Kick - The last hit of Sodom's Level 3 Mega Jitte Slice SC Personally, I always jump in holding an air block. This makes it safer since you will block any quick forward jumping attack, and if you have a character who uses charge up moves, you'll be ready to perform a special move when you land. The stun time on an air block is always the same, but this stun automatically finishes if the character lands beforehand. This allows you to counterattack after air blocking certain attacks that you wouldn't have been able to counter if you had blocked in on the ground. For example, against Dan's Roundhouse Gale Kick, if you block it on the ground, you won't be able to hit him back after your block stun. However, if you jump up and air block it, you'll land and recover faster than from a normal block stun, setting up a quick SC. If a move is air blocked, the defender is unable to move until they reach the ground. When air blocking, you also get hit up a little bit in the air. Therefore, if you air block Ryu's JN.Roundhouse in the corner, he can usually land a DP before you land, since you were hit up a little bit by air blocking, giving him too much time. Conversely, after your opponent attacks you in the air, they cannot air block for the rest of the jump. Therefore, against old style players, they might throw a Hadouken, and seeing you jump forward, jump forward themselves with a Roundhouse kick straight away (this was a mighty effective fireball trap in old SF games where there was no air blocking). Since you are on the way down in your jump at this stage, you will land rather quickly despite the hit up effect of the air block. Since you land before he does, you can get him with a Flash Kick or something that he would have normally been able to air block. It is possible to air block an infinite number to air blockable attacks, and if you choose to air block, you will continue to air block for the rest of the jump and will be unable to move or attack. I haven't quite seen how this can be used to one's advantage besides in the Ryu & Ken Vs. Bison mode (see section 5.6). With my friend, we like to corner trap Bison and make him constantly air block our Hurricane Kicks. Since he is unable to drop due to the hit up effect, he just keeps on being juggled in what is essentially an "infinite block combo". It's not an infinite "combo" since the hit count meter hasn't turned up at the side of the screen, but there is nothing he can do to get out. --= 2.8 Recovery Rolls =-- Recovery rolls are in SFA to allow players to try and get sneak attacks against an opponent. Normally, when a player is hit out of the air by a normal move, they will land on the ground. If they are hit out of the air by a special move, they will be floored. If you think your opponent is going to set up a good corner trap, just do the AC motion with punch as you hit the ground, and your character will roll about half the screen forward. There are moments when you can't recovery roll from a knockdonw. One time is when you are stunned/dizzied. Also, there are two moves in the game from which you can't recovery roll from. These are Akuma's Great Air Fireball SC, and Raging Demon SC. The Great Air Fireball SC hits you down so quickly and pushes you back straight into the ground such that you just can't roll back (if you could, it would be a very stupid suicide move made more so considering Akuma has a damage handicap). The Raging Demon SC just pummels you and leaves you there, and you can't roll from it, so you just have to lie there for a while whilst Akuma does his little taunt and then is free to move. Recovery rolls are best used as surprise attack leads. Normally, a player setting up a trap would expect the opponent to be knocked down so that they have the most time possible to set it up. However, recovery rolls will get you out of it very quickly, and sometimes you will end up behind your opponent ... a good setup for a sneak attack before your opponent can reverse their guard since you swapped sides. I usually go for a throw or a very quick combo after rolling (usually a semi combo since the opponent is usually surprised and simply holding block until they comprehend what's going on). Certain moves will make the opponent recovery roll automatically. Unlike the normal recovery roll, the automatic recovery roll is invincible. You can tell if it's automatic since it always goes backwards and never forwards. Examples of moves that do this are Ryu's Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC and Charlie's Level 2 Crossfire Blitz SC. So for example, after nailing them with Charlie's Level 2 Crossfire Blitz SC, you can't just trip them out of their automatic roll and add another hit to your combo. The player who is hit CAN still recovery roll forwards instead of the automatic roll backwards ... in that case, they are NOT invulnerable. So in the previous example, if they skipped the automatic recovery roll and opted for the forward recovery roll, Charlie's trip WILL connect, but it won't be part of the combo (ie. it won't count on the hit count thing that appears at the side). Other than the automatic recovery roll, players canNOT recovery roll backwards. The one exception is Sodom who can recovery roll forwards or backwards, or do his Tengu Walk. To recovery roll backwards with Sodom, just do the roll motion from forward to down (ie. F,DF,D) and press punch. Sodom's backward recovery roll is NOT invincible, unlike the automatic recovery roll. There are moments during the game though, when they are definitely great (or a mistake Capcom made). When Guy hits you with the Level 1 Bushin Rage SC, you can roll out as soon as the uppercut hits you, avoiding the last big kick. Many Ryu/Ken/Akuma players will always go for C.Roundhouse, fireball for safe block damage. Get tripped, recovery roll under the fireball, SC from behind. Now this one is definitely my favourite : Rose gets you with a Soul Throw (or an Aura Soul Throw SC), recovery roll, combo her insanely because SHE CAN'T RECOVER IN TIME! Makes her Soul Throws a *GREAT* suicide move (especially the SC version since it's ever so easy to see coming). Recovery rolls should be used anytime it looks as though a juggle combo has even the slightest bit of a gap in it, if you think it will help. For example, Sodom can hit a jumper with a Level 1 Mega Jitte Slice SC for 3 hits. However, if you try to recovery roll after the first hit, you should find yourself temporarily invincible to the juggle, and you'll hit the ground rolling, and avoid the rest of the SC. Recovery rolls are in essence, a dangerous move. It will go through fireballs, meaning that corner fireball traps are essentially eliminated. However, you can be combo'd out of a recovery roll pretty easily, as it's not invulnerable to low attacks like sweeps. Also, the player who is standing is ALWAYS able to throw the player who recovery rolled before the player who did the recovery roll. Therefore, you will get thrown or combo'd out of recovery rolls if you use them too much. Be careful when using them. --= 2.9 Throws and Techs =-- The target of many whiners, the throw aspect of the game has been changed to lessen the importance of the throw in the game. Throw ranges have been decreased considerably. You basically have to be right next to your opponent to get a throw. This is supposed to make ticks easier to see coming. However, due to the introduction of chain combos, they can be relatively hard to see coming. Just try tapping Jab repeatedly if your opponent tries to tick too much. This will work since during the block stun, your Jab won't do anything since you can't block and attack at the same time. As soon as you are free from block stun, and your opponent is walking in, you'll land your Jab. Try chaining this into a huge combo to learn them a lesson (then, try ticking THEM ... sweet revenge!). Just watch out if your opponent deliberately leaves a gap to try to nail your counter with a Dragon Punch or SC. Block stun is shorter than in previous SF games, giving you more time to get that Jab out. To do a Tech or soften a throw, you just have to simply reverse the throw motion. This is done by holding back or forward, and pressing any of your throw buttons (Strong and Fierce will work with everyone). You have to be pretty fast to do a Tech ... you basically have to do it as soon as you are thrown. You can usually Tech a throw if you can see it coming, but otherwise it's usually a fluke. Certain characters are also able to do air throws. These can be done by holding in ANY back or forward directions, and pressing Strong or Fierce, whilst you and your opponent are at about the same height whilst jumping. The characters who have air throws are Ken, Charlie, Chun Li, and Guy. Special move throws are now less useful than before. In previous SF games, Zangief was an absolute terror with his Spinning Pile Driver. However, in SFA, Sodom's and Birdie's special move throws have a bit less range and are a little easier to see coming. Birdie can still do a couple of good ticks, but Sodom's is now pretty slow as he must hop forward before he can Power Bomb someone. --= 2.10 Juggling Moves and Combos =-- SFA has a very limited but notable juggling system. There are very few moves in the game that can juggle opponents, and only in certain frames of your opponent's falling animation. Juggling is defined as hitting an opponent in the air after they have already been hit. Juggle combos cannot be recovery rolled from. Most SCs can juggle, but not all. Juggling also seems to be limited to a certain number of hits, eg. Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken SC can only juggle for a maximum of 2 hits, regardless of what number of Levels you use. The following is a list of juggling moves for each character. Ryu : *JN.Strong (2 hits) - an air uppercut with a couple of uses *Shinkuu Hadouken SC - maximum of 2 hits, limited uses *Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC - very poor juggling as opponent will be bounced up and out Ken : *Shoryureppa SC - VERY poor juggling move, OK at Level 2 *Shinryuken SC - OK, but you'll miss the early hits (the most damaging hits) Charlie : *Somersault Justice SC - good at Level 2, otherwise don't use it *Crossfire Blitz SC - it's a rushing SC, OK? Chun Li : *JN.Roundhouse (2 hits) - good in air battles *Head Stomp - maximum of 3 hits, can only really put 3 in a string of Head Stomps *Rising Spinning Kick - standard anti air *Power Storm SC - good anti air *Supreme Rising Spinning Kick - anti air Guy : *Rising Spinning Kick - slow anti air *Bushin Jump SC - useful anti air Birdie : None Adon : *Jaguar Knee - anti air *Jaguar Revolver SC - middle range anti air Sodom : *Mega Jitte Slice SC - good anti air with some uses (at Level 1 anyway) Rose : *Aura Soul Throw SC - good anti air with MAJOR drawback (see section 3.9) *Aura Soul Spark SC - Rose's SC fireball can juggle OK (not Level 2 version) Sagat : *Tiger Blow - reasonable anti air *Tiger Genocide SC - limited juggling abilities *Tiger Cannon SC - maximum of 2 hits Bison : *Knee Press Nightmare SC - VERY limited *Psycho Crusher SC - useful juggling attack as mid range anti air Akuma : *Dragon Punch - very useful *Hurricane Kick - useful *Flaming fireball - I've found 1 use for this *Messatsu Gouhadou SC - limited *Messatsu Goushoryuu SC - limited but can be used effectively Dan : *Shinkuu Gadouken SC - limited *Kouryuu Rekka SC - reasonable juggling SC In the character specifics, I will try to list all those juggle combos that I have found, but only the ones with reasonable practical use, eg. I won't list Ryu's C.Roundhouse, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC combo since it gets very few hits. Note that some juggle combos can be recovery rolled from. --= 2.11 Overhead Hits =-- Overhead hits are kind of like throws but much more widely accepted. Certain characters have moves that must be blocked standing. These are VERY useful in nailing crouching defenders. Overheads can not be combo'd into another move (except Ken's, with very precise timing), that is, they are neither chainable or interruptable. All overhead hits have a delay before coming out. You can spot them with enough experience, and hit them out of it. If you can insert overhead hits into chain combos and constantly make your opponent have to switch between standing and crouching block, you should get many "free" hits all over the place. Just watch out since some people won't just block your overhead; they'll SC it when they anticipate the gap. --= 2.12 Taunts =-- Finally, us big ego players have been given the ability to taunt! To taunt, just press your START button. Most characters have more than one taunt. These other taunts can be accessed by holding forwards or backwards and pressing START. Taunts do not hit (except for Chun Li's), cannot be cancelled into a special move, do not build up any Super Meter, and essentially just leaves you open for a while. Whether a taunt is a special move or a normal move, I haven't figured out. I have been able to get a "Reversal" bonus with a taunt, thus meaning it's a special move. However, when finishing off an opponent with Chun Li's taunt, I get a "V" for normal move finish. Hmmm. Also, you can only taunt once per round, except for Dan who can taunt infinitely. I find that the most lethal time to use a taunt is after a tick. Since there is a general instant negative reaction to a tick, this will peeve opponents off very very very much. You can also taunt after big combos, but personally, I find the tick-and-taunt tactic by far the most effective way to incorporate the taunt. Just make sure you don't repeat too much since in most cases your opponent can recovery roll and SC YOU whilst you are taunting them (then they'll probably taunt YOU ... that's a mighty big, stinging insult!). --= 2.13 Reversals and Relative Safety =-- I think it's important to note that many moves in the game are only RELATIVELY SAFE. That is, if your opponent performs a reversal move that hits quickly such as a Dragon Punch or Flash Kick, you will still be hit even though your move connected! This is extended further with reversal SCs and throws. For example, after landing Charlie's Jumping Back Kick, the opponent can actually do a reversal SC and nail you, even though your kick connected. Normally, if you hit from reasonably far out, you'd recover in time to block a reversal special move. However, since SCs have the "no-block period", you WILL NOT be able to block the SC since technically you haven't even fully recovered. This happens most frequently if the reversal SC is a quick rusher such as Chun Li's Thousand Burst Kick SC and Charlie's Crossfire Blitz SC. Also, some moves recover in time to block, but you can still get thrown. Dan's Gale Kick is a good example of this. Dan lands in time to block even reversal SCs, but he lands VERY close to his opponent, allowing for easy throws. With Akuma, I have been able to do a reversal Raging Demon SC against it, and Dan DID NOT recover in time to jump away. A reversal Chain Grab with Birdie will also do the trick. The reason for this is the shorter block stun and hit stun than before. Because the block stun or hit stun is slightly shorter than the time required to recover from the move, if your opponent is close enough, you can land a reversal. This is very evident in corners. Whereas before fireballs were not counterable, in SFA, if you block a close fireball in the corner, you will recover from your block or hit stun in time to land a reversal. Therefore, when comboing cornered opponents, it is imperative that you use chain combos. The exception is Charlie, whose Sonic Boom recovers *just* in time to block any counterattacks regardless of whether it hit or was blocked. This also applies with SC fireballs that don't knock down. For example, after taking a close Level 1 Shinkuu Hadouken SC by Ryu in the corner, you will recover just in time to land a reversal SC. Just about all normal ground moves besides Jabs and Shorts are only relatively safe, especially with the multi hit normal moves. This rarely plays into effect with reversals after being hit, but just be aware of it since there are a few experts who can and will do this. It happens most against the CPU, so if you're trying to get to the CPU Akuma or something, be very aware. Also note that combos with gaps can allow reversal SCs. For example, with Ken, if you try a C.Jab, C.Short, C.Short, C.Forward, Fireball combo, it would normally connect for 5 hits if they get hit. If they block it, they can stick an SC between the C.Forward and the Fireball. So sometimes when going for these, your opponent can counter if you get too predictable, so be careful. The other form of reversals needing mention are those performed upon getting up. As noted in the previous FAQ, if timed properly, these should beat the jump in attack *every* time. The thing I have to say about it is, yes, they are pretty tough to do every time. I have read in many other FAQs that the window to get this reversal is about 1/60 of a second. Not particularly good chances, and probably something you shouldn't try to fluke out if you're not good at them. It is very easy for your opponent to land a huge combo if you stuff up, so be careful with these. You might want to go for it more often with Charlie or Chun Li than with Ryu or Ken since it is *much* easier to get a reversal Flash Kick than it is to get a reversal Dragon Punch since the motion is a LOT more easier to time. However, I have seen some players who can get the reversal Dragon Punch as they get up just about every time. For some reason, I personally find doing SCs such as the Shinryuken SC much easier to do upon getting up. The timing to do a reversal Dragon Punch upon getting up is actually pretty late. Just start the motion during the middle of your getting-up animation and do it fairly quickly, such that you press the button *just* as your getting-up animation ends. Be very careful with these "wake-up" Dragon Punches since there are MANY ways around them. With an early jump in, your opponent can land in time and block your Dragon Punch. Neck kicks make it confusing for most grounded players on what to do, because sometimes you have to do it the way you were facing and sometimes you have to do it the other way. Your opponent could just not jump in and simply use meaty attacks, or just hold back knowing you'll go for it anyway. Instead of using these reversals, it's probably best to just block or use ACs. Blocking leaves you open to many different semi combos (see section 2.18), but it probably won't be as damaging as a full jump in combo because you stuffed up the Dragon Punch. Also, most people don't use semi combos very oftenly anyway. 95% of the time, most people will go for a regular combo on you when you get up, so it's almost always safe to just block when you get up. --= 2.14 Jump ins, Neck Kicks, and Meaty Attacks =-- The most instinctive thing to do against a grounded opponent is to throw an attack on them the instant they get up, such that they are kept on the defensive. As in previous SF games, there are 3 ways you do this : straight-forward jump ins, neck kicks, and simple meaty attacks. Jump ins are basically where you just, well, jump in towards your opponent when they get up. It's best to actually time your kick reasonably high since you can land longer combos this way. This is because you won't get pushed back if you time it higher, whereas if you timed your kick later, you will get pushed back a little, making it harder to land more hits. The instant you land, just go into a light attack and use your chain combos to turn it into something big. Just don't time it too high or your opponent can block it and throw you as you land. Also, don't jump in when you're about to die and your opponent has a Level for an AC, since most of the time, you'll be throwing the round away this way. Neck kicks, also called Cross Ups, are where you jump with a kick that passes by your opponent and hits them on the back of the neck. You then land behind them, ending up very close to them, setting up a great combo attempt. Note that, the perfectly timed jump in puts you as close as the well timed neck kick to your opponent. Neck kicks can be used to try and trick your opponent since instead of holding back to block it, you have to hold the joystick towards your opponent, since the hit is coming from the other side. Neck kicks are harder to Dragon Punch as you get up, so normally you can expect to get a nice long combo off them. Each character has different neck kicks. Most have only one air move that can be used as a neck kick. The following is a list of which button for which character, and how easy it is to land it : Ryu : Forward, very easy Ken : Forward, easiest Charlie : Forward, very easy Chun Li : Forward, hard / Roundhouse, hard Guy : Forward, easy / Elbow Drop, medium Birdie : Roundhouse, very easy / Down + Fierce, easy Adon : Forward, medium Sodom : Short, very easy Rose : Forward, easy Sagat : Short, easy / Forward, easy Bison : Short, hard / 2nd hit of Demon Stomp, medium Akuma : Forward, very easy / Downward Air Kick, medium Dan : Forward, easy As a general rule, neck kicks work MUCH easier on crouching defenders than on standing ones. Also some characters are much harder to neck kick than others. For example, a standing Guy is hard to neck kick whilst Sodom is very easy to neck kick. There is also another type of neck kick, but it's rarely seen and very difficult to do. Sometimes, with a very well timed kick, you can neck kick such that your opponent hasn't actually turned around. You've basically kicked them in the very center upper tip of their head. These are blocked normally (ie. by holding back), as opposed to normal neck kicks. These canNOT be combo'd off, but if you can get good at these (something I haven't done yet), you can get a couple of "free" hits every round. Also, because of the general confusion that arises, you could probably easily lead into a semi combo after these pretty safely (see section 2.18). Finally, meaty attacks are basically where you just throw a normal ground move against an opponent when they get up. This can be simply a fireball, a trip, or an overhead hit. Generally, by mixing overhead hits and sweeps along with semi combos in meaty attacks, you can confuse your opponent and get easy hits. All of these are prone to ACs. Just try to mix all of them to confuse your opponent. --= 2.15 Choose your own Winning Quote =-- To choose your own winning quote, just hold down and a certain button combination of 3 total buttons when you win your second round. This varies from character to character, but every character can select 2 by holding down with 3 punches or down with 3 kicks. This feature is essentially useless except for getting up to the CPU Dan (see section 5.5), unless you particularly have a favourite winning quote. --= 2.16 Poking Attacks =-- Poking and jabbing form the basis of a good solid ground assault. In SFA, every character has at least one good attack for long range poking at opponents. These will be outlined in the character specifics section for each character. New characters like Guy have long, annoying kicks and slides whilst even old favourites like Ryu have been given new poking moves that frustrate opponents. The general idea behind poking is to attack your opponent from long range constantly to keep them grounded and blocking. Poking requires good anticipation, since it is pretty easy to stick an SC between attacks. This is the key to playing an effective ground based assault, since although chances are you will win if they just go for Dragon Punches, a Level 3 SC can turn the whole match right around. So I must stress, KNOW WHEN TO POKE AND WHEN TO HOLD BACK! You will learn with experience, since *usually* it is pretty easy to tell when your opponent wants to kill you with a Level 3 SC (usually after 2 or 3 consecutive poking hits, hold back!). It's least effective against Autoblock players since they can press 2 buttons on reaction and nail you pretty easily. Just walk in blocking frequently and fake to try and get them to waste it. Poking is most effective when mixed with overhead hits and throws. Such mixes are where good semi combos come from, and I will outline them for each character in the character specifics. --= 2.17 Combos and Button Presses =-- OK, this is going to be a LONG section so just try to bear with me. Firstly, a button press in SFA, as it has been throughout the SF series, counts as TWO PRESSES, NOT ONE. These occur when 1) you press the button, and 2) when you release the button. It only registers as one normal move though. So when you tap Jab, you'll only get one light punch. However, to do a Sonic Boom, you charge back, then go to forward and press punch OR you can press and hold punch, charge back, go to forward and release punch. Most people will prefer to do it the first way, but this is important to note as it plays a big role in combos. When you do a combo, the double button press effect will come into effect when cancelling moves. This can be helpful or a hindrance : *Cases where it's helpful* If you're doing a combo where you cancel with the same button, it makes the combo very easy to do. For example, with Ken, since one button press counts for two, it is possible to do a C.Fierce, Fierce Dragon Punch combo with one button press. That is, hold down and press and hold Fierce, do a Dragon Punch motion and release Fierce. Or alternatively, do the Dragon Punch motion pressing and holding Fierce at down and releasing it at diagonal down-forward. Now, if instead you press Fierce twice, the combo is almost certain to work. This is because, with two presses of the Fierce button, you've actually pressed it four times. The initial press of the button was used for the opening C.Fierce. That means that there are 3 Fierce button taps left (released Fierce, pressed Fierce again, released Fierce). So if there's a Dragon Punch motion in there, it's almost certain the combo will work since if the motion was completed at any of the points where Fierce was pressed or released, the Dragon Punch will cancel the C.Fierce into an easy 4 hit combo. The reason why it doesn't play into effect with say, Ryu's C.Forward, fireball combo is because a when Forward is released during the quarter circle forwards motion, this isn't a special move motion with Ryu. Therefore, the releasing of the Forward button basically counts for nothing, and instead when Fierce is pressed, the fireball will cancel the C.Forward into a 2 hit combo. This button release method also make it easier to do Level 3 SCs. Some people find it difficult for some reason to press all 3 buttons at exactly the same time. If you are one of these people, try holding all 3 punches/kicks, then doing the SC motion and releasing the buttons. This makes it easier since it's a lot easier to release 3 buttons at the same time than to press 3 buttons and the same time. *Cases where it's a hindrance* This is basically with SC combos. When buffering in SCs, you may find that some special move is let off because you pressed and released a button. For example, with Ken's JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Level 3 Shoryureppa SC combo, you may find that instead you get a JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Level 1 Shinryuken SC combo. This is because you released Forward *before* you pressed 3 punches, and this happened as you completed the SC motion. To avoid this, you can try pressing AND holding Forward. That way, you won't get the Shinryuken SC. To do this, you may have to hold Forward with your thumb and press all three punches with your index, middle and ring fingers. In that case, it may become easier to change it to a JN.Forward, C.Forward, Level 3 Shoryureppa SC combo. Of course, it's much easier on the console versions since you can preset a button as all 3 punches / kicks. Same applies with Rose's C.Roundhouse, Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC combo. If you don't hold Roundhouse, you may find that she will do her Soul Illusion SC instead. For some characters, it just becomes downright impossible to get a SC combo because of this hindrance. Guy is a major victim. When trying to combo in either of Guy's SCs, you may find that you'll get his Bushin Run or Bushin Leap to come out. Or otherwise you may find his other SC will come out when changing cancelling a punch with his Bushin Rage and vice versa. Basically, this is something you should bear in mind since it does play into effect. Whether you prefer to do combos with the press-press method or the press-release method is entirely up to you. Secondly, when going for combos, you should note what moves are chainable and interruptable into another move. I will list these in the character specifics section. One thing to note is that overheads and other normal specialty moves (such as Charlie's Stepping Side Kick) are NOT chainable or interruptable. They can be chained into but cannot be cancelled into a special move or into another normal move. Now then, after that rather lengthy note, onto the combos! Here I am basically going to explain how to do the tough combos and explain other miscellaneous stuff regarding combos. Firstly, the length of a character's ground combo is essentially determined by how long their chain combo can be and how good their range is. The longer the chain combo, the more hits you'll be able to land (unless you got a light attack you can just repeat). The longer the range, the further out you can hit them with more hits from your chain combo before finishing it. So, exactly where do you start your combo? It would most likely appear to be the good old neck kick since this will put you very close to your opponent. However, if you time your forward jump in perfectly (that would be fairly high), you will land as close to your opponent as you would if you started with a neck kick. So these are your two main choices for the longest combos. Now, your ground chain can be short with strong attacks or long with lots of little attacks. Generally, some of the simplest combos that do good damage use short strong attacks (eg. Ken's JN.Fierce, C.Fierce, Fierce Dragon Punch combo), and the longer, safer combos use lots of little ground attacks. It is important to note that most of the time, you will probably end up using lots of little attacks since the short strong attack combos are generally suicide combos that get you killed if they block it (and in 9 out of 10 times, they will). However, some of the longer, more impressive, most damaging combos use lots of little attacks (eg. Ryu's JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Shinkuu Hadouken SC combo). The number of ground hits you stick in a chain as well as the strength of them might vary on how close you need to be to land a full SC in your combo. For example, with Charlie, if you do a JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Strong, Level 3 Somersault Justice SC combo, you'll never get the full 9 hits of the SC. However, if you use a C.Jab and C.Short instead, it becomes relatively easy to land all the hits. I'm not exactly sure which one is more damaging though. With Akuma, when going for the super tricky corner combo of a JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Level 3 Messatsu Gouhadou SC, Strong Dragon Punch, you can't stick anything else than a Short or a Jab or otherwise you'll never be close enough for the Dragon Punch to connect. Your finishing move will most of the time, be a long reaching normal hit, a trip, or a special move. As a general rule, go for the one which will hit most often and leaves you safe. Now then, sticking SCs into combos. This is probably the most tricky aspect of the game, so if you fail a couple of times, don't give up. The rewards will be many, many, many more wins and awesome combos that will make you look like an expert at your arcade. Firstly, the easy ones to do : charge up SCs. These are combos that use SCs that must be charged up, eg. Chun Li's Thousand Burst Kick SC. These are very simple to do : just do the normal attack whilst charging up, and then quickly finish off the motion. For example, with Chun Li, jump in at your opponent with a Fierce punch whilst charging back. Land and go into a C.Jab, C.Forward chain whilst still charging back. I use C.Forward instead of C.Strong since by using C.Strong, with the double button press effect, you might get a Kikouken to come out instead. Anyway, when the C.Forward hits, quickly go into the forward, back, forward motion and press the kick button(s) once more for your combo. With the other method, that is, with the charge diagonal down-back SCs, it's still exactly the same as the charge back ones. Just do the move and quickly finish off the motion. For example, with Charlie, jump in with a Roundhouse whilst charging diagonal down-back. Then land, do a C.Jab, C.Short, and quickly finish off the motion and press kick. These are harder to do than the charge back SC combos, but you will get used to them. The main fault of these easy ones is that you can't lead with a neck kick since you won't have enough charging time, because you have to charge back and with a neck kick, the directions are reversed, and thus whatever you had charged up is reset to zero. Now, the other ones, that is, the double quarter circle ones, you have to stick your normal move somewhere in the motion. It IS POSSIBLE to do a normal move, and quickly do 2 quarter circle motions and get a combo, but this is VERY VERY VERY HARD to do, *almost* impossible. I have only done it on my Saturn joypad, and I doubt that it is possible on an arcade stick. So basically, you have to find a move that won't get in the way of your SC combo and use that to combo it in. For example, with Ryu, when comboing in his Shinkuu Hadouken SC, you will probably find that sticking it in a combo after a C.Forward is very hard in a full combo. Therefore, you may wish to use a Short instead. Why? If you try to stick a Forward in the 2 quarter circle forward motions, you may get his Hop Kick, which won't combo in. If you try to use Roundhouse, you may get a sweep, which will limit the hits of your SC. Therefore, it is easiest to use a Short since both the crouching and standing versions will combo in and there is basically no risk in stuffing up the combo as long as you do the double quarter circle forward motions correctly. It can be done very easily by doing a quarter circle forwards motion with Short (which will produce a S.Short), and then doing another quarter circle forward motion with punch (which will produce the SC since there were 2 quarter circle forward motions in there). So the whole thing works out like this : JN.Roundhouse, | \ --O + Short, | \ --O + punch O O O O You have to do the 2 quarter circle motions fairly close together, which is why sometimes you can stuff up if you try to use Forward or Roundhouse and get a Hop Kick or a sweep. It is relatively easy to get this to work with a C.Forward when using a jump in. Here's how : JN.Roundhouse (do a QCF motion), | + Forward, \ --O + punch O O Basically, just jump in with a kick, whilst doing the first quarter circle forwards motion. Then when you land, just finish off the motion in exactly the same way you would do a C.Forward, fireball combo. Since the 2 quarter circle forward motions were in there, you'll get the combo to all connect in a nice, powerful combo. Once you have mastered the above method, you may wish to try the trickier method where you time your button presses correctly. This is very important when using Guy, since with the above method, 99 out of 100 times, you will fail since his special moves get in the way because of the double button press effect. To do this, you have to either time the initial button press perfectly, or try pressing and holding. Anyway you go, you have to time very well since you to get the SC you have to do the SC motion very quickly, so practice LOTS. If you have mastered both of the above methods, this next part should be a breeze. The final stage of SC combo complexity is sticking chain combos in there. Once again, the trick is to find the leaway in which you can stick half of the SC motion in, and then finishing off the motion. An easy one would be Ryu's JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Strong, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC combo. The reason it's easy is that either a crouching or standing Strong works. This is because after the C.Jab, you can start the first quarter circle backwards motion, and at ANY point in that first motion, you can stick a Strong in since it will not produce any special move. Then simply finish off the motion with a simple quarter circle backwards motion with kick and the two quarter circle backwards motions will trigger the SC. The harder ones are where you MUST do a crouching or standing version. Ryu's other SC combo, JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Shinkuu Hadouken SC is one such. You MUST do a C.Forward since if you do a S.Forward, that will be a break in the SC motion and it won't work. If you press Forward whilst you are at the end of a quarter circle motion, you'll get his Hop Kick which will ruin the combo. Therefore, it is necessary for great timing here. The method which I use is to jump in with the kick, do the C.Jab and C.Short, and during the C.Short hit stun, quickly stick a quarter circle motion in. Then, I finish it off as I would with a standard C.Forward, fireball combo. You may find this very difficult to do, but don't worry, because there is more than one way. Another way would be to press Forward in the middle of the first quarter circle forwards motion, and finish it off, as shown below : JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, | \ + Forward, --O | \ --O + punch O O O O Chain combos with SCs make it much safer because since chain combos give you more time to react, you'll be able to hold back with the SC if necessary. Therefore, say when leading with a neck kick, if you see that your opponent blocks, the chain combo will definitely give you enough time to react to this and not throw the SC, whereas the standard ones will not and could end up as a mighty big waste of Super Meter. If you can't do the chain combo method, it's not all doom and gloom. Just try to get it, and if you can't, well, just remember that even without the chain combo, as long as the Level 3 SC is in there, you still have a very powerful combo at your disposal. One final note : some people seem to believe that the damage a combo does is directly reflected by the score given with it (eg. when it says "3 hits" and "900 points" below it). This is not true. How shall I prove this? Akuma's Jab Dragon Punch can score 1000 points. His Fierce Dragon Punch can score 900 hits with all 3 hits. You expect me to believe that a Jab Dragon Punch does more than a Fierce Dragon Punch? Akuma's Raging Demon SC scores 1500 points. A simple C.Fierce, Jab Dragon Punch combo with Akuma scores exactly the same. Hmmmm ... I rest my case. --= 2.18 Semi Combos =-- When trying to combo your opponent, one problem may occur : they block it. One day, a long long time ago, someone with good creativity decided "Wait a minute ... if the other guy is just going to wait for me to stop attacking, why don't I just stop attacking and throw him whilst he's just expecting to block?" and boom, the tick was born. Semi combos are simply sequences that are designed to surprise opponents and catch them off guard. Counter semi combos are those sequences designed to counter any counterattack to a semi combo attempt. Semi combos are essentially the backbone of the offensive assault idea implemented in SFA. They keep the opponent guessing, since it becomes no longer safe to simply hold guard and not worry. The more you keep them guessing, the more holes their defense will expose, and therefore the more easier hits you'll land. Semi combos come in two main forms : ticks and overhead semi combos. A tick is basically where you throw an attack, and then throw your opponent whilst they are holding guard. These have evolved from the simple (yet still very common and very effective) C.Jab, throw types to new, advanced ones such as Akuma's C.Short, Hop Kick, Raging Demon SC tick. These are very useful in annoying opponents because of the general instant negative reaction generated by throws. Stick a taunt after a tick to really annoy. Overhead semi combos are where you stick an overhead hit into a combo. This can come at many points through a combo since there are various points where you can put the overhead hit. For example, with Ken, you could go for a JN.Roundhouse, Overhead Axe Kick, or a JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, Overhead Axe Kick, or a JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Overhead Axe Kick, or a JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Strong Ground Roll (to get behind opponent), Overhead Axe Kick, or any other such combination. Overhead hit semi combos are significantly more acceptable than ticks since it doesn't generate the same instant negative reaction, probably because they are blockable. One problem may occur when going for these semi combos : your opponent hits you out during the gap. For example, whilst trying to tick Ryu, he may hit you out with a C.Jab, into a C.Short, C.Forward, Shinkuu Hadouken SC combo. To avoid this, you can try to go for the risk and try and hit him out of his counter with a counter semi combo. You use these when your opponent grows more aware of your semi combos and tries to sweep you out of them (and believe me, they will many times). It's best to try and find a safe move with these so that in case your opponent doesn't try to stick a sweep in, you'll recover in time to block any counterattacks. For example, with Ryu, he can do a C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, throw tick. You may wish to vary this with a Dragon Punch instead of the throw, nailing any counterattacks. However, if your opponent picks it and blocks the Dragon Punch, you're going to be eating a combo. So instead of the Dragon Punch, you can try a Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, since even if blocked, you'll recover in time to stick more attacks on. Or you can go for another Hop Kick, and then try to tick again. Generally, from experience, 95% of counterattacks against semi combos will be sweeps. More experienced players may try to counter throw your tick, and some like me may try and Jab you out into a combo. Since most counters are going to be trips, moves like the Hop Kick are pretty safe since it will go right over the sweep. You may wish to do it even a couple of times, since it usually takes your opponent a little while to react. For example, once I have ticked my opponent with Birdie's JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Chain Grab tick, they'll usually try to sweep me out of it. I then change it into JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Turn Around Headbutt, Chain Grab. The sweep will miss the Turn Around Headbutt since it's invincible as he turns. Usually, I do the Turn Around Headbutt a couple of times since they'll try to sweep me after it, or they may be just tapping Roundhouse until they see me get swept, so I just repeat until they realise "Gee, I'm getting hit still ... maybe I should block." THEN, I tick them with the Chain Grab. When your opponent wises up and tries to Dragon Punch you out of it, that's when you hold back, just as you would in a poking assault, and nail them as they recover. Besides that, counter semi combos also come in the form of tempting an opponent to stick in a sweep, and nailing them appropriately. For example, many opponents will try and sweep you after Ryu's Hop Kick. You can try and Dragon Punch or SC them if they become predictable with it. So overall, semi combos essentially follow the same rule as poking. Just try and get them a couple of times, and when you think they'll try to counter, counter semi combo them, and repeat. Keep switching between them and ALWAYS hold guard from time to time, since whenever opponents get frustrated by semi combos, they will try to get you with that Level 3 SC that, if successful, will leave YOU on the defensive. --= 2.19 Trip Guard =-- Trip guard is a feature in SFA where you can land and block an attack the *instant* you land from a jump. This removes old fireball traps where you could throw fireballs and sweep the opponent as they landed from their forward jump. Trip guard is effective regardless of whether you did a normal attack in the air or not. Air special moves such as the Air Hurricane Kick and Akuma's Air Fireball will leave you open for a short while though, since they have landing recovery time. Because of trip guard, you will have to hit opponents out of the air with higher hitting moves if they jump in and attack straight away. Eventually you'll get used to it and drop that bad habit of trying to sweep an opponent in such a predicament. Since opponents will try and sweep you anyway as you land a fair distance away from them, you can try to nail them with a SC when you land. This is VERY VERY VERY hard to time, as you have to do the SC the *instant* you land, or otherwise you'll get swept. Obviously, this cannot be done with charge time SCs since the jump is usually nowhere near long enough to charge for 2 seconds. Although its extremely tough to do, you may wish to master it since it does allow you to land SCs fairly frequently. As with semi combos, try and pick when not to throw the SC if you do this frequently, and mix with jumping in, throwing no attack and walking up and throwing if your opponent expects you to go for the SC. ============================================================================= *** 3) CHARACTER SPECIFICS *** ============================================================================= --= 3.0 Conventions used and format =-- I am aware that many moves have multiple names. I will use the name used in the previous SFA FAQ or the one that I have grown accustomed to. Where possible, I will also add the official Capcom name of the move in parentheses. If it's in Japanese, I will give the translation that has been given to me from the previous FAQ. The format for the character specifics are as shown below : *Brief background Self explanatory. *Starting and Winning Poses Self explanatory. *Alpha Counter The button used (punch or kick) and notes on it's uses. *Taunt Self explanatory. *Miscellaneous Information Self explanatory. *Normal Specialty Moves These include moves that require you to hold a direction and press a button, such as Ryu's Overhead Punch. These CANNOT be cancelled out of. The key difference between these moves and special moves are that these canNOT be combo'd into by moves that are just interruptable; they can only be chained into, and not cancelled into. *Note on useful normal moves These will be the moves with good priority or useful ones. *Special Moves Self explanatory with notes. *Super Combos Self explanatory with notes. Unless otherwise stated, these will knock an opponent down. *Chainable moves and interruptable moves All the information you need to create combos. *Regular combos The combos will be listed in easy combos, intermediate combos, and expert combos. With the combos listed, the expert combos in Regular combos will be MUCH easier than the ones in the SC combos section due to the difficulty associated with comboing in SCs. *SC combos The combos using SCs. *Maxiumum Combo The greatest hit count scoring combo the character has (not necessarily the most powerful combo though). *Semi combos + Counter Semi Combos Here I will write the semi combo, then the variation counter which you use if your opponent tries to counterattack. *Strategies Brief explanation on general strategy. At the end of this section is a note on comboability. Now then, onto the character specifics. --= 3.1 Ryu =-- Ryu is back for another one of those "spirit of the fight" things. That is, he's a guy looking for a good fight. By the way, contrary to popular belief, Ryu's name here does not mean "dragon". It means more along the lines of "successful" and "ambitious". Starting Pose : Ryu adjusts his headband, then his gauntlets. Winning Pose #1 : Ryu raises his fist in triumph. Winning Pose #2 : Ryu looks away from his opponent and the wind blows. **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Ryu's AC is a Fierce Dragon Punch. It is very fast, but has very limited range and is not so useful against longer poking attacks that recover reasonably quickly. It is useful against SCs and jumping attacks, but if the jump kick is timed perfectly late, your AC can still be blocked. Just be careful against long, quick poking attacks since you might miss and consequently eat a combo. **Taunt Neutral + START : Ryu adjusts his gauntlets F + START : Ryu adjusts his headband **Miscellaneous Information Ryu's JN.Strong can juggle opponents, and hits twice. His S.Forward can also hit twice. **Normal Specialty Moves * Overhead Punch (Sakotsu Wari - Collarbone Breaker) F + Strong Ryu does a simple hammer punch that nails crouching defenders. It has good range, comes out quickly for an overhead, and does 2 hits. I have found recently that the recovery isn't that great, as the CPU has been able to combo me even after it has connected. * Hop Kick (Senpuu Kyaku - Cyclone Kick) F + Forward Ryu hops forward with one rotation of a Hurricane Kick. Unlike the Hurricane Kick, this hits crouching opponents, but it's not an overhead hit. It has good range and can be used to hop over sweeps and slides, and is great to lead semi combos. It has good recovery time, but its delay coming out means it can't be combo'd in. You can get thrown afterwards if you land too close, but this only really happens if you do it from right next to them. **Useful Normal Moves S.Forward : An axe kick for 2 hits, great anti air. C.Fierce : An uppercut that is a good anti air. JN.Jab : A jumping punch with great priority. JN.Roundhouse : Long range, great priority. **Special Moves * Fireball (Hadouken - Wave Motion Punch) QCF + punch Ryu's fireball is seen as one of the best in the game. From close the Fierce version will set opponents on fire and knock them down. It has little delay and good recovery time, but there are many ways around fireballs, so you shouldn't become dependent on it as your only offensive attack. It's best used in combos, where the Fierce version is most preferable since it knocks down, giving you time to set up your next attack. * Dragon Punch (Shoryuken - Rising Dragon Punch) DP + punch The most classic anti air of all time. Ryu's Dragon Punch is invincible for a very short period of time, when his fist is below his shoulders. It also does the most damage at this time. The higher it goes, the more air blockable it becomes, the less damage it does, and the less priority is has. Therefore, most of the time, you will find that at the peak of your Dragon Punch, opponents can jump kick you out of it pretty easily. It will knock down in a single hit. * Hurricane Kick (Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku - Tornado Whirlwind Kick) QCB + kick The Hurricane Kick goes over fireballs (except Rose's Soul Spark, Sagat's High Tiger, and Bison's Psycho Shot) and knocks down in a single hit. It can also be used in the air for decent air priority. It recovers basically the instant Ryu lands and the Short version is great in semi combos. **Super Combos * Shinkuu Hadouken (Vacuum Wave Motion Punch) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 3 hits, doesn't knock opponent down. Level 2 : 4 hits. Level 3 : 5 hits, final hit flames. Ryu throws a huge fireball that will nullify other fireballs and lose 1 hit for every projectile it goes through. The Shinkuu Hadouken comes off almost instantly and is one of the game's most useful SCs. It's the best SC fireball in the game for combos since all others have a fault in them. It's quickness in coming out makes it a great counter move, although you will get hit by their counter. You should use this to your advantage by trying to find gaps in which you can throw it. It's great to stick in semi combos outside the corner since even if they block, you'll recover in time. In the corner, you should be careful since if you are too close, your opponent can retaliate before you recover. Try and lure your opponent into releasing guard and quickly nail them. Many people like to use this as an anti fireball move, and it's pretty logical. Personally, I don't. The reason for this is because the first hit in a SC fireball does the most, and the next does less, and the next less, and so on. When you counter a fireball, the SC fireball loses its first hit, and hence you get less damage. Therefore, I usually only use the Level 1 version as a fireball counter to avoid wastage. It's not a good idea to just throw the Shinkuu Hadouken from medium to long range, since the SC animation pause makes it very very easy to see coming, leaving you vulnerable to a jump in combo or to an anti fireball SC. * Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku (Vacuum Tornado Whirlwind Kick) 2QCB + kick Level 1 : 5 hits, opponent does automatic recovery roll. Level 2 : 9 hits, opponent does automatic recovery roll. Level 3 : 13 hits, opponent does automatic recovery roll. Ryu does a Hurricane Kick on the spot. You can see the air fanning away on the ground. Unlike the normal Hurricane Kick, this cannot be crouched under. This is a great move for close combat. Logically, the move pulls in opponents in from a reasonable range and hits lots of times for great damage. It recovers very quickly, such that if they block it, you can continue on attacking as you land. It's great for pulling in sweeps and slides, so use it frequently in semi combos. If you pull your opponent in with it as opposed to doing it right next to them, you'll lose one hit (although it will make only a very small difference). However, for some reason, some characters such as Bison canNOT be hit by the full 13. If you try it right next to him, he'll go back and forth slowly and only get hit by 9. Also, if you try it whilst you're cornered, your opponent canNOT get pulled into the other side of the Hurricane Kick, and the maximum number of hits you can get is 8. The main advantage with it is that it leaves you safe as long as you make contact with it. Thus, it can be used in semi combos safely and be followed up with more attacks. Finally, unlike in X-Men Vs. SF, it's a pretty poor juggling move so don't try to combo it after a sweep. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short can all chain into a stronger move or into another Jab or Short. - S.Short, C.Forward are chainable into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - Ryu can cancel ANY normal ground move into a special move or SC. Note that the S.Forward can only be cancelled during it's 1st hit. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Fireball 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Fireball 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse 4. (Corner) JN.Air Hurricane Kick, JN.Strong This combo will always work in the corner, sometimes works in the open. INTERMEDIATE 5. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Short, C.Forward, Fireball 6. JN.Strong (2 hits), C.Short, C.Forward, Fireball 7. NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse 8. NK.Forward, C.Forward, C.Fierce, Fireball **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, Shinkuu Hadouken SC 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Shinkuu Hadouken SC 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC 4. JN.Air Hurricane Kick, Shinkuu Hadouken SC INTERMEDIATE 5. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Short, S.Short, Shinkuu Hadouken SC To do this one, just do 2 C.Shorts and then do a quarter circle forwards motion with Short, then repeat with punch. 6. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, S.Strong, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC EXPERT 7. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Shinkuu Hadouken SC 8. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Strong, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, JN.Strong The JN.Strong will juggle the opponent after the SC. I put it in the expert section since the JN.Strong can be very difficult to time. 9. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC (Level 1 or 2), Shinkuu Hadouken SC This combo works on only a few opponents (the best juggle targets). For some reason, I usually find it easier using 1 Level for the first SC. You have to do the second SC the instant you land. 10. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Shinkuu Hadouken SC Using more than 1 Level for the SC will still only result in 2 juggle hits and a feeling of having being ripped off. The SC is really tough to time. You have to do it the *instant* you land. **Maximum Combo (Corner) JN.Strong (2 hits), C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Strong, Level 3 Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, JN.Strong (early, 2 hits) = 19 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Overhead Punch or throw Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Hop Kick, throw (vs. sweeps) Counter #2 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, NK.Forward, combo of your choice This one works because as you jump over, for some reason, most opponents will throw a C.Roundhouse. Land the neck kick (since they'll still be recovering from the sweep) and go for the combo. Counter #3 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, pause, Dragon Punch or Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC 2. Hop Kick, Overhead Punch or throw Counter #1 : Hop Kick, Dragon Punch or Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC 3. C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, throw Counter #1 : C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch or Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku **Strategies The fireball trap is long dead. It's still good to push opponents back, but should not be used on its own as the total offense. It's best combo'd after sweeps and longer range attacks. Use the Fierce version the most in close since it'll knock them down and give you set up time. Just be careful when comboing after a C.Roundhouse since if they get hit, they can recovery roll under the fireball and SC you from behind. The Hurricane Kick has been vastly improved, but personally I still don't use it much. A JN.Roundhouse or JN.Jab has higher priority, and I still prefer to jump over fireballs and go for combos as my standard fireball counter. It is a good move in semi combos though. If you want to revolve around semi combos, the Hop Kick and Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC will be your most useful moves. The Hop Kick is a general all round useful move since people are still reliant on sweeps so much that you can get many easy hits with it. Use the Shinkuu Hadouken SC lots, but don't become completely reliant on it. Don't throw it just because you got a Level. Look for the gaps, use it's almost inexistent delay to your advantage. When corner trapping, use sweeps into fireballs and the Hop Kick as your basic poking weapons. Dragon Punch any jump out attempt, watch for the recovery roll escape and punish appropriately. If you can't Dragon Punch in time, consider using the AC to keep them in there should they try to jump out. Or alternatively, use the S.Forward, since it hits them out of the air so high. If they by some fluke manage to kick you out of it, just take the jump kick and throw them back in the corner when they land. Ryu is once more the well rounded character who is suitable for most players and styles. He has good easy moves that makes him suitable for beginners and also has enough depth to be a good character for experts. --= 3.2 Ken =-- Ken is once more seeking a rematch with his long time friend and rival, Ryu. Ken's full name is Ken Masters. Starting Pose : Ken throws 3 punches (if you really want to know, 2 really fast S.Jabs, and a S.Strong), then beckons his opponent Winning Pose #1 : Ken raises his fist in triumph Winning Pose #2 : Ken runs his hand through his hair, then gives the thumbs up sign and says "Yattaze" (I won, no?) **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Ken's AC is a Fierce Dragon Punch (with no flame, single hit). It has good range, and comes off very quickly. It's great for countering jumping attacks and close assaults. You should be careful though since sometimes you can still be blocked when ACing jumping attacks, and you should also be careful countering very long range pokes. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #2 F + START : Ken beckons his opponent **Miscellaneous Information Ken has an air throw. It will throw them very far, and it will always throw them forwards. Ken's S.Forward can hit twice. **Normal Specialty Moves * Overhead Axe Kick (Inazuma Kakato Wari) F + Forward Ken raises his leg whilst stepping slightly forward and brings it down for 2 overhead hits. It comes off slowly but has good recovery time and range. If close enough and timed very well, you can land more hits after it in a tight combo. **Useful Normal Moves S.Forward : A high spinning kick for 2 hits, only the first hit can be cancelled, but it steps in a little so you can land some deeper hits. S.Roundhouse : Good, long range poking move and general counter. C.Fierce : A decent, high reaching anti air. JN.Roundhouse : A jumping kick with great priority. JN.Jab : A jumping jab with great priority. **Special Moves * Fireball (Hadouken - Wave Motion Punch) QCF + punch Ken's fireball is, believe it or not, actually stronger than Ryu's. The Fierce version also does more damage from close. It comes out slower and recovers slower, but it is a fireball and useful in many ways. * Dragon Punch (Shoryuken - Rising Dragon Punch) DP + punch The wonder move that is useful in any situation. Ken's Dragon Punch is a multi hit move that depends upon the button pressed. The Jab version can be used as your general counter to any move. The Strong version can hit twice but is really useless. For both hits to land, you must be right next to your opponent. A lot of the time, the first hit will connect, the second hit miss, and you'll eat a combo. The Fierce version is the big flamer that does 3 hits and massive damage. It's got fairly good range too. The damage in the Fierce version is distributed in such a way that the first hit does plenty, the second hit decent, and the third hit does hardly anything. So try and use the Jab version as your air counter, the Fierce version as your big combo move, and just don't use the Strong version. * Hurricane Kick (Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku - Tornado Whirlwind Kick) QCB + kick Like Ryu, Ken has had his Hurricane Kick dramatically improved, but it's still not that great. The Roundhouse version can hit up to 5 times and is good for hitting opponents back far. It has great recovery time and goes over fireballs. The air version is good to lead combos since the stun is longer than a standard jump kick. However, it also pushes back further than a standard jump kick, making it somewhat limited. Generally, you don't use it as an anti fireball move since even if you hit a couple of times, a lot of the time your opponent can recover and uppercut you before you land. Also, when used in combos, you can be thrown as you land (happens all the time against the CPU), and you can't jump away from this. If you're going to use it, use it cautiously. * Ground Roll (Zenpou Tenshin - Forward roll) QCB + punch Ken rolls forward, like a recovery roll, going under fireballs and through opponents. This is useful in many ways. You can be hit pretty easily out of it, but for some reason, many SCs seem to miss it (those that don't hit low very well). Unlike the recovery roll, you can control the length of the roll with the button. The Jab version is very quick and a good surprise move. The Fierce version makes Ken roll as far as the normal recovery roll, but it's much slower also. This is great in semi combos since you can find gaps and the Jab version is great since it entices your opponent to stick in a sweep. You have to be fairly quick to roll under fireballs, but with enough practice, this combined with a Fierce Dragon Punch or SC will become a very effective anti fireball move. **Super Combos * Shoryureppa (Rising Dragon Destroyer) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 2 Dragon Punches, 4 hits. Level 2 : 2 Dragon Punches, 6 hits. Level 3 : 3 Dragon Punches, final hit flames, 7 hits. Ken does multiple Dragon Punches in a row whilst sliding forward. This is a very useful SC in combos and close combat. It nails from sweeping range very well, making a good counter, although you have to be careful since it leaves you very open. Only the Level 2 version is a useful anti air. With the Level 1 version, if you hit jumpers, most of the time you will only get 1 or 2 hits and the second Dragon Punch will not connect. In this case, your opponent can recovery roll and nail you with a combo just as you land. Overall, it's a very poor juggling move. Best to stick to the ground with this one. * Shinryuken (God of Dragon Punches) 2QCF + kick (then tap buttons) Level 1 : 6 hits. Level 2 : 7 to 10 hits. Level 3 : 8 to 14 hits. The great bash-the-buttons-SC-for-maximum-hits. Ken spins whilst rising in a Dragon Punch doing many hits. The Shinryuken is a great move for close combos and as an anti air. It pulls in close opponents pretty well, although you have to be pretty close to land all the hits. As an anti air, it will pull the opponent in with the first hit and then it's up to you to bash those buttons to get the hits. It is somewhat limited as an anti air since you'll miss those low ground hits which do the most damage. With the number of hits, I've listed the number of maximum number of successful hits that you can get. What I mean is, with the Level 1 version, you can get much more block damage than 6 hits worth by tapping the buttons. Just watch how the CPU Ken does it on harder difficulty levels. The Level 1 version is the only relatively safe version if blocked, since the other ones go too high, allowing your opponent to crouch under you whilst you rise and spin in the air. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short can chain into a stronger attack or into another Jab or Short. - S.Short, C.Strong, C.Forward can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - All moves except the S.Roundhouse. The S.Forward can only be cancelled during the first hit (although I've seen the CPU cancel on the second). **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Fireball 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, S.Roundhouse 4. JN.Air Hurricane Kick, C.Forward, S.Roundhouse INTERMEDIATE 5. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Dragon Punch 6. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Forward, Hurricane Kick Timed right, this combo can land 9 hits. 7. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Forward, Fierce Dragon Punch EXPERT 8. NK.Forward, C.Short, S.Forward, Fierce Dragon Punch The only real difference between this one and combo #7 is that this one will hit crouchers. This is terribly hard to do since you have to do the C.Short, hit Forward at back or neutral, and very quickly do the Dragon Punch. You cannot hold forward and press Forward since this will result in the Overhead Axe Kick, which won't combo (although this will be a good semi combo). 9. Overhead Axe Kick, C.Forward, S.Roundhouse The timing on the C.Forward after the Overhead Axe Kick must be very very precise, or it won't work. You also have to start the Overhead Axe Kick from right up close. **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Shinryuken SC 2. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, Shoryureppa SC 3. JN.Air Hurricane Kick, Shoryureppa SC 4. (Corner) JN.Air Hurricane Kick, Shinryuken SC INTERMEDIATE 5. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, Shoryureppa SC 6. NK.Forward, C.Short, C.Forward, Shinryuken SC 7. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, Shinryuken SC EXPERT 8. NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Shoryureppa SC Timed right, you should be able to get all hits of the Shoryureppa. If you have difficulty, remove the C.Jab or C.Short. 9. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse, Shinryuken SC Not particularly effective but a very hard and good looking combo. 10. (Vs. Sodom Only) NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse, Jab Roll, Shinryuken SC This combo is rather weird. It will juggle Sodom even though during the animation pause, Sodom will be inches off the ground. When juggling, the maximum number of hits you can get with the Shinryuken SC is 3 less than what you'd normally be able to get (at Level 3 you can get 11 of 14; at Level 2 you can get 7 of 10; at Level 1 you can get 3 of 6) **Maximum Combo NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, Level 3 Shinryuken = 18 hits Not particularly creative. Getting every hit of the Shinryuken is pretty hard. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos -General Note : Ken's Overhead Axe Kick is kind of slow so it's not so great to finish off confusing semi combos. 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Overhead Axe Kick or throw Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Dragon Punch or Shinryuken SC Counter #2 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, NK.Forward, combo of your choice As with Ryu, you will find opponents will try and sweep after your C.Short, so just jump over and neck kick and combo. 2. C.Short, Jab Roll, Overhead Axe Kick or throw Counter #1 : C.Short, Jab Roll, Dragon Punch or Shinryuken SC Counter #2 : C.Short, Jab Roll, Short Hurricane Kick, throw Counter #3 : C.Short, throw 3. C.Short, Strong Roll, combo of your choice Note : This is used to switch sides with your opponent really quickly to try and catch them before they've switched guard. Counter #1 : C.Short, Jab Roll, combo of your choice Counter #2 : C.Short, throw Counter #3 : C.Short, pause, Shinryuken SC or Dragon Punch 4. (crouching defender only) C.Short, Short Hurricane Kick, throw or Overhead Axe Kick Counter #1 : C.Short, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch or Shinryuken SC Counter #2 : C.Short, throw 5. (only if opponent blocks) Level 1 Shinryuken, throw Counter #1 : Level 1 Shinryuken, Shinryuken SC or Dragon Punch Note : This counter's fairly hard to do since as the Shinryuken is blocked, there's a lot of side switching, so it's a guess on which way to do the next move. **Strategies Ken is best played by mixing everything together into one huge, confusing barrage of attacks from everywhere. This means changing your moves all the time and varying your approach as oftenly as possible. Memorise some good leads and semi combos, and vary these to try and confuse your opponent. The thing you don't want your opponent doing is safely holding guard and countering you all the time, so mix in those throws and overheads to keep them switching guard and trying to keep you away. Then you can start anticipating and countering them. A good aggressive offense is the best strategy for Ken, but you should be aware of things like ACs and quick counters, since many of Ken's moves are prone to these, or just leave him wide open if blocked. Most importantly, don't forget the Roll. Many players will still try and get you into projectile patterns and other such old tactics, which can easily be toasted with the Roll. It has many uses, such as in ticks, just avoiding fireballs, or even an anti air (opponent jumps in, you do a Jab Roll under him, throw from behind). It's best use is in combos, where you can vary between the Jab and Strong versions to switch and not switch sides with your opponent can keep them confused on which way to hold guard. Just don't get predictable with it, since your opponent can pretty easily hit you out of it. So when you think your opponent will try and hit you out of it, just do an appropriate counter semi combo. The main thing you want to remember is that no matter how many information sources say that the Fierce Dragon Punch is such a great move, it's rarely used. Almost every time you'll find your opponent will block, and obviously going for the Fierce Dragon Punch combo will be simple suicide. Great move, but very very rarely connects since there is a move that beats it : it's called block. Finally, Ken has the best neck kick in the game. Use it frequently and mix up with semi combos to keep your opponent in trouble. --= 3.3 Charlie =-- Charlie is Guile's friend on a mission to arrest Bison. Charlie's full name is Charlie Nash, and in Japan, he's called Nash. Hmmm. Odd that Charlie is called Nash and Ken is not called Masters. Probably something having to do with military officers (you say "officer smith", not "officer tom"). Starting Pose : Charlie takes off his glasses. Winning Pose #1 : Charlie turns around, makes a hand gesture and says "Too easy!" Winning Pose #2 : Charlie puts his glasses back on and says "Hmph!" Winning Pose #3 : Charlie tugs at the sides of his jacket, smiles and says "Hmph!" Winning Pose #4 : Charlie writes his opponent's name in a list of victims and says (yep, you guessed it) "Hmph!" **Alpha Counter AC motion + Punch Charlie does a spinning backfist. It has good horizontal range but comes off relatively slowly. This is good for countering long range poking kicks, but not good for jump ins since a lot of the time, your opponent will land in time to block it. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #4 F + START : Identical to winning pose #3 **Miscellaneous Information Charlie has an air throw. It will always throw them such that they fall behind you, swapping sides with your opponent. **Normal Specialty Moves * Backfist F + Fierce Charlie does a nice long spinning backfist. This is a high attack and can be crouched. It's great to finish off his longer chain combos since it comes off so quickly and has such good range. Not a recommended poking attack since it can be ducked under. * Jumping Back Kick (Jumping Sobat) F or B + Forward Charlie does a jumping spinning kick that is an overhead. It comes off relatively slow. It's recovery is decent, but your opponent can reversal SC you even if it hits, and you will not recover to block it. It is useful in that you hop forward as you do it, landing you close enough for an easy tick. It's also useful in that you can charge back whilst doing it. It's not useful in that the forward hop brings you close enough for your opponent to throw you even if they get hit. Although it's a hopping kick, for some reason it gets hit by sweeps pretty easily, so don't use as an anti sweep move. * Stepping Side Kick F or B + Roundhouse Charlie steps in and thrusts a mid level kick. This is a very useful poking attack that allows you to keep a charge whilst doing it. Great to follow up Jab Sonic Booms with from long range. Just make sure you get used to the delay it has before coming out so you can time it appropriately. Despite the delay, you can still chain combo it (but only just) after the S.Strong. **Useful Normal Moves C.Roundhouse : Good, long range sweep that allows you to charge. C.Fierce : Standard anti air, useful if opponent looking to block Flash Kick, reaches high. JN.Roundhouse : A high priority jumping kick. C.Forward : A good fast poking sweep. **Special Moves * Sonic Boom CBF + punch Charlie's Sonic Boom is actually a little bit higher than Guile's. You will find that slides can go under it (except Bison's), so to catch these you will have to use the Jab version. It has better recovery than any other ground fireball in the game, although not as great as before. If you land a Jab version on a cornered opponent, this can usually be followed with a Backfist or Stepping Side Kick for an easy 2 hit combo. * Flash kick (Somersault Shell) CDU + kick Roundhouse version can hit twice. This move can be air blocked. Because it can now be air blocked, you have to mix between this and other normal anti airs that cannot be air blocked (eg. C.Fierce). It's still a great priority kick with decent ground range. You will find that jumping attacks that get over the top of the flash will be able to trade with or beat the Flash Kick (eg. Guy's Elbow Drop, Chun Li's Head Stomp). It's recommended you use the Short version as an anti air since it recovers fastest and comes out the quickest. It's also said that if you do it late, your opponent cannot air block it. **Super Combos * Sonic Blade CBF2 + punch (+ punch + punch + punch) Level 1 : 2 Sonic Booms, no knockdown. Level 2 : 3 Sonic Booms, no knockdown. Level 3 : 4 Sonic Booms, no knockdown. Charlie throws multiple Sonic Booms. Tap punch to release the next Sonic Boom. You can allow a short gap between Sonic Booms, or release them one after the other. This is not really a useful move. You can try and entice people to jump over it from long range, delaying the second Sonic Boom, and releasing it at them as they fall, but it can be air blocked so it's pretty useless. To land all the hits in a combo, you can't allow for much of a gap between the Sonic Booms. If you do it right up close in the open, you'll find that unless you time them perfectly, they'll get hit by the first and block the rest. * Somersault Justice CDB2 + kick Level 1 : 2 Flash Kicks, 6 hits. Level 2 : 2 Flash Kicks, 6 hits. Level 3 : 3 Flash Kicks, 9 hits. Charlie does multiple Flash Kicks in a row. This is a mighty useful SC. The Level 2 version is the best for an anti air, because the first Flash Kick will hit them up, and the next huge one will definitely juggle. Most of the time, the Level 1 version will see the first Flash Kick hitting, and the second missing, allowing them to recovery roll and combo you just as you recover. The Level 3 version has outstanding pulling in range, most of the time you can get 7 or 8 hits from just out of sweeping range, and does huge damage. Goes through fireballs at all levels (if timed right at Level 1). Use it more than your other SCs. * Crossfire Blitz CBF2 + kick Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 5 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Level 3 : 6 hits. Charlie does a series of kicks and punches. A great close up counter. This is very useful in semi combos since it doesn't leave you open if blocked. Furthermore, in the corner, you can follow up the Level 1 version with a Somersault Justice. Only the Level 2 and 3 versions will go through fireballs. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - C.Jab can chain into a stronger attack or into another Jab or Short. - C.Short, S.Jab, S.Short, S.Strong can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - Realistically, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Jab, S.Short, S.Strong, C.Strong can cancel into a special move. - I've seen the CPU cancel off the C.Fierce, S.Fierce, S.Roundhouse, C.Forward. - Charlie can also cancel off the S.Forward. However, to do a special move off it, you have to charge back, and pressing Forward will make you do the Jumping Back Kick. To cancel it, charge down, let go of the stick and tap Forward, and immediately tap up and press kick again. The same way works for the Sonic Boom. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Roundhouse 2. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Strong, Backfist 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, C.Roundhouse You have to land the jump kick pretty early to get the trip to connect. INTERMEDIATE 4. NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, Stepping Side Kick You have to time the Stepping Side Kick very well to do this. 5. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, Stepping Side Kick or Backfist Time the chain combo very very quickly or fail. 6. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Strong, Flash Kick or Sonic Boom This combo with the Roundhouse Flash Kick can land 6 hits on anybody in the corner if timed very well. EXPERT 7. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Strong, Jab Sonic Boom, Backfist This combo is very hard to time. I find it works easiest against Sagat. Also, against certain opponents, you can even try a C.Forward or C.Roundhouse instead of the Backfist. **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Crossfire Blitz SC INTERMEDIATE 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Strong, Crossfire Blitz SC 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Strong, Sonic Blade SC Combos #2 and #3 will probably result in just a Sonic Boom if you don't hold Strong when trying to buffer in the SC 4. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Somersault Justice SC I use C.Jab and C.Short instead of C.Short and C.Strong since the latter usually results in missing a hit of the Somersault Justice SC EXPERT 5. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Strong, Level 1 Crossfire Blitz SC, Somersault Justice SC You have to start charging for the Somersault Justice SC during the Crossfire Blitz SC and finish the motion just as the Crossfire Blitz SC finishes 6. NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, Crossfire Blitz SC Woohoo! A neck kick lead! The long chain is the only way you can get enough charge time. **Maximum Combo (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, Level 1 Crossfire Blitz, Level 2 Somersault Justice = 14 hits. The chain combo is tough to time to get it all to connect. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos -General Note : Charlie has few counters since only his Crossfire Blitz SC is reasonably safe and effective in beating counters. For some reason, many times I have traded hits with C.Roundhouse sweeps when trying to counter with the Flash Kick. 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Jumping Back Kick or throw Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, pause, Crossfire Blitz SC 2. C.Jab, C.Short, Jumping Back Kick, throw Counter #1 : C.Jab, C.Short, Jumping Back Kick, Crossfire Blitz SC Counter #2 : C.Jab, C.Short, pause, Crossfire Blitz SC 3. (Corner, as opponent gets up) Jab Sonic Boom, C.Short, Jumping Back Kick or throw Counter #1 : Jab Sonic Boom, C.Short, pause, Crossfire Blitz SC **Strategies Many believe Charlie to be the outcast in this game since he's still best played defensively. Many are wrong. Charlie, when played correctly, is a great offensive fighter. The reason why people believe this is because they are still too reliant on his specials instead of realising that he has good normal moves. Charlie's main attacks useful in poking are his Stepping Side Kick and sweeps. These give him some charge time that will be give you enough time to charge up that Flash Kick to counter any jump in attempts over the poking assault. The Sonic Boom has better recovery than other projectiles, so use it in corner traps to keep the opponent stuck. A simple Jab Sonic Boom, C.Roundhouse combo when they get up will get the job done. Make sure you keep that charge held though, since you want to have that Flash Kick ready. Most of the time, after blocking that, your opponent will try and jump, so just Flash Kick or C.Fierce them out of the air. OK, many people will tell you he's useless because his Flash Kick is air blockable. The Short version will beat just about any air move. If you think your opponent will air block, just use a C.Fierce. Do it early since it reaches pretty high and can surprise opponents. For your opponent to beat your C.Fierce, they'll have to do their jump kick early in the air. As soon as you get hit, hold forward and get ready to slam them as they land. When they start to do this too much, slip in the Short Flash Kick and nail them cleanly. The idea is to switch between the 2, and pick correctly. Do the Short Flash Kick a bit early, since this way you'll recover fastest and they'll fall a fair distance away if they block it. Most of the time, for your opponent to hit you after blocking the Short Flash Kick, they'll have to do a mighty long reaching quick move. You can also try jumping forward with a Roundhouse kick straight away as an anti air, since that also has great priority. You can also just try blocking your opponent's early air attack, and throwing them as they land. Quickly walk under their jump kick and throw them from behind if you think they won't be able to react in time with a neck kick. Sometimes you can even catch your opponent by surprise by jumping at them when they jump at you, whilst holding an air block just in case they attack, and then just air slamming them before they realise what's going on. The Flash Kick has an advantage over the Dragon Punch in that it can be inserted into combos much more frequently since you will have enough time ot react to your opponent getting hit and doing the Flash Kick, since it has such good initial ground range, whereas the Dragon Punch is rarely used in combos (unless you particularly like the idea of suicide). The Jumping Back Kick should only be used from reasonably far out, as if you land too close, you can easily be thrown. Just stick it in chain combos and have that Crossfire Blitz SC charged up. Make sure you utilise his Stepping Side Kick lots, since it's a great poking attack that will push opponents back and keep them at bay. Finally, the Somersault Justice SC should be used in combos frequently. It does huge damage and has great priority. The main trick in playing Charlie right is finding the time to charge up and improvising when you haven't charged. --= 3.4 Chun Li =-- Chun Li is once more trying to avenge the death of her father at the hands of M.Bison. Starting Pose : Chun Li checks her shoe to make sure it fits. Winning Pose #1 : Chun Li jumps up twice laughing, and says "Yatta" which means "I won!" Winning Pose #2 : Chun Li turns towards the players, folds her arms, and bows her head. Winning Pose #3 : Chun Li throws 3 very quick kicks, and then holds her leg in position. Winning Pose #4 : When you win a perfect round, Chun Li makes a funny hand gesture to her opponent whilst smiling and says "Gomen ne!" which means "Sorry!" **Alpha Counter AC motion + kick Chun Li does a quick crouching Forward sweep. This is a very good AC. It's fast, has great range, and hits low to nail crouchers. The only thing about it is that it's a sweep, so it misses Shoryureppa SC type moves (although you won't have to try to AC those since they leave them open afterwards, unless you're about to die anyway). **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #4. This taunt actually hits opponents. It even does block damage. However, the damage is so miniscule that even if it hits, it does roughly about the same damage as it would have if it were blocked. If you finish your opponent off with this, you'll get a "V" for normal move finish. **Miscellaneous Information Chun Li has an air throw. She can control in which direction she does the air throw by holding back or forward whilst pressing Strong or Fierce. Chun Li can also jump off the sides of the screen. She can only jump off the sides of the screen if she hasn't already attacked during that jump. Her JU.Forward can hit grounded opponents twice, whilst her JN.Roundhouse juggles and can hit jumping opponents twice. **Normal Specialty Moves * Head Stomp (Yousou Kyaku - Eagle Claw Kick, or Talon Stomp) Whilst jumping, D + Forward The head stomp knocks opponents down, as if you keep moving forward, you can repeat twice more for a 3 hit juggle combo. It has great priority against grounded opponents and hits from above pretty well. * Knee Flip (Kakkyaku Raku - Crane Leg Drop) DF + Roundhouse Chun Li hops over and hits as she comes down. This move can be used from up close to hop over to the other side of your opponent and hit from behind, or to go over fireballs from afar, so you won't have to eat a Dragon Punch. **Useful Normal Moves JN.Forward : The super priority jump kick. JN.Short : Similar to the JN.Forward, but holds longer and is weaker. C.Forward : GREAT poking attack with excellent range. S.Roundhouse : GREAT straight up air counter, short range. **Special Moves * Split Kick (Sen En Kyaku - Spinning Circle Kick) HCB + kick Chun Li flips upside-down, and then flips over with an axe kick. This is a good overhead attack, and it can go through fireballs if timed perfectly (and I mean perfectly). Comes out relatively quick, great recovery. I think it's invincible for a short period when she's flipped over. The strength of the button determines the range of the kick. Short will move her forward very little, but is a bit faster than the other 2 versions. The Roundhouse version is great for longer range assaults. The main advantage this move has is that it's a special move overhead. This means that you can cancel her interruptable moves into this, not just her chainable moves. Use a good mix of low attacks, and cancel them into the Split Kick to confuse your opponent and keep them switching guard (the C.Forward is ideal for this). Make sure you hold back from time to time though, since your opponent can hit you out of it pretty easily if they can see it coming. * Lightning Kick (Hyaku Retsu Kyaku - Hundred Burst Kick) Tap kick repeatedly Not such a useful move. The Roundhouse version can do 4 hits from right up close, but you will rarely find time to do it from that close. It can be a good defense against constant poking, but mostly you will find that opponents can easily jump over and nail you. * Kikouken (Chi wave punch) CBF + punch Chun Li's projectile is rather mediocre. It comes out pretty slowly, giving opponents enough time to jump over and nail you easily. It's lag time coming out also means that you usually can't use it in combos unless you're right up close. It's probably best you don't use it at all, because it's such a risky move to use frequently. * Rising Spinning Kick (Tenshou Kyaku - Heavenly Assention Kick) CDU + kick This move is Chun Li's standard anti air. The number of hits is determined by the button pressed. This move juggles and is rarely air blocked. Although it has good anti air priority, it gets beaten rather frequently. The first hit does the most damage (the one where she's just beginning to rise). Miss this hit and you'll get pretty small damage, but then again, the first hit has low anti air priority. **Super Combos * Thousand Burst Kick CBF2 + kick Level 1 : 5 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Level 3 : 7 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Chun Li rushes forward with a series of kicks ending in a Lightning Kick. This SC has great initial horizontal range. It can also go through projectiles at all levels, but the timing for the Level 1 version is rather tricky, especially against Jab projectiles. It has very quick recovery so that you can *usually* start attacking again if it's blocked before your opponent can recover. However, it has rather poor priority. A lot of the time, slides will beat the Thousand Burst Kick, and sweeps will trade with it frequently at Level 1. * Spinning Shadow Kick (Ha San Tenshou Kyaku - Supreme Mountain Heavenly Assention Kick) CDB2 + kick Level 1 : 5 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits. Level 3 : 7 hits. Chun Li does a more powerful version of her Rising Spinning Kick. It goes much higher. Unlike the normal Rising Spinning Kick, you will almost never get hit out of the air with this version. Also, even if you miss the first rising hit, you'll still get pretty much the same damage as if you got it, which is also different from the normal Rising Spinning Kick. To be honest, I rarely use this move, except against opponents who can beat the Rising Spinning Kick frequently. * Power Storm (Kikoushou - Chi Wave Palm) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 5 hits. Level 2 : 7 hits. Level 3 : 10 hits. Chun Li holds a huge energy burst in front of her. The Level 3 version sends a thin wave outwards. Chun Li holds the Power Storm at about her head level, so it makes for a great anti air move. You have to do it fairly late to get all the hits. A lot of the time though, you might find that your opponent will get you with an early air attack that hits far down such that you can't get the Power Storm off. Use the Spinning Shadow Kick against these opponents. It's pretty useless on the ground since unless your opponent is right up close, they won't get hit and will be able to sweep you out of it pretty easily. Finally, this move is completely useless for ground-to-ground combos (except after the Thousand Burst Kick in the corner, but then that's a ground-to-air combo). **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab can chain into a stronger attack or another Jab or Short. - C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, and C.Strong can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, S.Short, C.Short, S.Strong, C.Strong, S.Forward, and C.Forward can cancel into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Strong, C.Fierce 2. JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Kikouken 3. JN.Fierce, C.Forward, Rising Spinning Kick 4. NK.Forward, S.Jab, Taunt Wow, a taunt combo. Thanks Gamest! 5. (near corner) Knee Flip, Rising Spinning Kick Yay, a couple of free juggles. INTERMEDIATE 4. JN.Forward, S.Forward, Lightning Kick To do this, just jump in and start bashing Forward as soon as you are able to get the jump kick and combo. **SC Combos -General Note : Chun Li's Power Storm just cannot combo EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Thousand Burst Kick SC 2. JN.Fierce, C.Forward, Spinning Shadow Kick SC INTERMEDIATE 3. (Corner) JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Thousand Burst Kick SC, Rising Spinning Kick EXPERT 4. (Corner) JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Thousand Burst Kick SC, Spinning Shadow Kick SC 5. (Corner) JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Thousand Burst Kick SC, Power Storm SC 6. (Corner) JN.Fierce, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Short, Thousand Burst Kick SC, Rising Spinning Kick Since the Thousand Burst Kick runs so far forward at higher levels, with the above 3 combos, you can usually start them a fair bit outside the corner. 7. NK.Forward, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Short, Thousand Burst Kick SC Woohoo! A neck kick lead! Never gotten this combo to work, but many people declare that it works. The previous FAQ writer, Allen Kim, also said he had never gotten it to work, so I believe it probably doesn't work, but if you really got nothing better to do and just want to sit there all day trying this combo : (Corner) JN.Fierce, C.Short, C.Forward, Level 1 Thousand Burst Kick SC, Level 1 Power Storm SC, Level 1 Spinning Shadow Kick SC As I said above, I have never gotten this to work (and I have spent a LOT of time trying to get it to work). I have been able to get a Power Storm SC after a Thousand Burst Kick SC, and I have been able to get a Spinning Shadow Kick SC after a Power Storm SC, but *never* all three SCs in a row. Maybe it worked on beta test releases, maybe it still works and I just can't get it to work, but most likely, it's probably just another theorised combo which was never tested and never worked. **Maximum Combo (Corner) JN.Fierce, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Short, Level 1 Thousand Burst Kick, Level 2 Power Storm = 17 hits. I've only ever been able to get this to work against Sodom. You have to time the chain really well, and then yuo have to delay the Power Storm just a split second to get all 17 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos General note : Chun Li has very few counter semi combos since basically, she has no good ground counters besides her Thousand Burst Kick at Level 2 or 3. Consequently, all the counters with Thousand Burst Kick below refer to Level 2 or 3. 1. C.Forward, Split Kick or throw Counter #1 : C.Forward, pause, Thousand Burst Kick SC Counter #2 : C.Forward, Knee Flip (only against sweeps) 2. Split Kick, Split Kick or throw Counter #1 : Split Kick, Knee Flip (only against sweeps) Note : not enough time to charge up Thousand Burst Kick SC in this case. 3. Knee Flip, C.Short, Split Kick or throw Counter #1 : Knee Flip, throw Counter #2 : Knee Flip, C.Short, C.Forward, pause, Thousand Burst Kick SC Counter #3 : Knee Flip, Split Kick 4. Level 1 Thousand Burst Kick SC, Split Kick or throw Counter #1 : Level 1 Thousand Burst Kick SC, Thousand Burst Kick SC **Strategies Chun Li is a great character for poking. Her C.Forward is the longest range crouching attack in the game (except slides). Her Split Kick is fast to recover and allows you to continue on attacking, but be aware of counters to this since there is enough time in between to nail you with a quick SC. Try to bait opponents into wasting SCs with your C.Forward, by poking and holding back at the right times. Also use it to make your opponent whiff Dragon Punch like moves. The main bummer about this is that even if you are successful in making your opponent whiff their attack, because you have charge time on your SCs, you won't be able to get an SC on them. The Power Storm will have no hope of making it if your opponent misses when trying to Dragon Punch your C.Forward. Chun Li's Thousand Burst Kick SC has excellent range and you can land all the hits easily from further out after whiffed attacks. Apparently, she is a character played well with throws since she has good throw priority and range (although personally, I rarely play her using so many throws, so I really don't know well). It is best to play Chun Li sticking mostly to the ground, since she has poor neck kick ability, making it easy to walk under her jump attacks and throw her from behind as she lands. This basically means that if your opponent is fast, it doesn't really matter how great priority your jumping kicks have, since they won't connect. Your Head Stomp is the best bet against such players, but make sure you do it early. Try to avoid jumping off the sides and towards your opponent, since it gives them way too much time to Dragon Punch. Avoid using the Kikouken so much, since it's slow to come out and allows for easy combos by your opponent. --= 3.5 Guy =-- Guy seeking the path to achieving some sort of inner strength. Starting Pose : Guy jumps in and kicks barrels away, ala Final Fight. Winning Pose #1 : Guy stands and folds his arms. Winning Pose #2 : Guy turns his back, makes a sweeping gesture with his hand, and says "Waruku Omouna", meaning "Don't take it personally." Winning Pose #3 : Guy holds up one finger and says "Korezo, Bushinryu!" meaning "This ... is Bushinryu!" **Alpha Counter AC motion + kick Guy does a crouching Forward sweep. It's a bit slow to come out and recover, and has decent range. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #2, but Guy doesn't say anything. **Miscellaneous Information Guy has an air throw. Guy can control the direction in which he does the air throw by holding back or forwards whilst pressing Strong or Fierce. Guy can also jump off the sides of the screen. He can only jump off the sides of the screen if he hasn't already attacked yet during that jump. Guy's C.Forward can hit twice, the second hit knocking them down. **Normal Specialty Moves * Elbow Drop (Chuu Otoshi) Whilst jumping, D + Strong Guy comes down with a high priority elbow. It lessens his horizontal movement considerably. This is a very useful move to come down on opponents with, since it has excellent priority. It's also useful against Ryu/Ken fireball trap players, who play fireball traps from full screen. Since they are too far away for a Bushin Leap, all you can really do is jump over, and since Guy's jump has so much hang time and length, they can easily recover to Dragon Punch you. This move will stop you from going so far forward, so it turns your jump into a safe high hop over fireballs. * Overhead Elbow F + Strong Guy yells briefly and then brings his elbow down whilst moving forward for 2 overhead hits. It has great range, recovery, and comes out quite fast, although the yell is a bit of a flag. * Flip Kick DF + Roundhouse Guy steps in, kicks, and then flips back, for a maximum of 2 hits. It's kind of slow, but good for annoying grounded opponents. To land both hits, you have to be right up next to your opponent. It recovers to block anything as long as it doesn't whiff. **Useful Normal Moves S.Forward : VERY long range, good poking attack. C.Roundhouse : a long range slide, knocks down from close, otherwise causes weeny damage, but is useful anyway. C.Fierce : an unusual elbow uppercut, it has good range and surprisingly good anti air priority. **Special Moves * Bushin Run (Shitsu Kake - Quick Dash) QCF + kick (+ kick) Guy runs towards his opponent. The button you press first determines what move you can end the run with. To do the move, simply press any kick button whilst running. If you don't press kick again, Guy will stop running when he reaches his opponent. Short : If you start the run with Short, pressing kick again during the dash will make Guy simply stop running. This is a good fake, as you can make your opponent whiff an attack, or cancel a move in a combo into the dash and throw for an easy tick. Forward : If you start the run with Forward, pressing kick again during the run will make Guy do a running slide (Kage Sukui - Shadow Reaper). It can go under reasonably high projectiles (Charlie's Sonic Boom, Bison's Psycho Shot, Rose's Soul Spark, Sagat's High Tiger, and possibly Dan's Gadouken). The recovery off the slide is pretty slow, but you can recover to block if you position and time it correctly. If you time it just as you stop running such that you do the slide on the spot without moving forward, you should recover to block counter attacks. It's a great combo move, but it usually makes you switch sides with your opponent, making it a less preferable move when trying to corner someone. Roundhouse : If you start the run with Roundhouse, pressing kick again during the run will make Guy do an overhead hitting jump kick (Kubi Kari - Head Cutter). This is good to insert in combos to dizzy opponents quickly, or to take them by surprise if they are blocking. However, regardless of whether or not your opponent blocks or gets hit, they can reversal SC you and you won't recover to block. It can hit twice, but usually you will find you'll miss the first hit, landing only the second hit for miniscule damage. Basically, since executing the Bushin Run leaves Guy fairly open most of the time, try to make sure you connect or know what you are doing. * Bushin Leap (Bushin Izuna Otoshi - Bushin Izuna Drop) QCF + punch (+ punch) Guy jumps forward in multiple somersaults, such that he is folded in a ball. The initial angle of the jump is determined by the button pressed. Pressing punch right above the opponent will result in Guy picking his opponent up and performing a somersault backbreaker, doing good damage. Pressing punch at any other time will result in Guy dropping down with an Elbow Drop, resulting in weeny damage. This move has average recovery time as he lands. This is a very good anti fireball move, but you have to have the range correct or otherwise you won't get the slam. You'll find only the Fierce version is really effective, since the other two are angled way too far up. Sometimes though, since Guy is so small as he is up in the air with the Jab version, you can avoid jumping kicks by going above them (since they aim downwards) and get a slam. This is rather difficult to do and it's something I haven't been able to do very much. If you connect with the Elbow Drop, you will be able to combo off it as long as you hit low enough. However, the air throw is much more effective, and sometimes you can throw your opponent out of special moves such as Charlie's Flash Kick, Sagat's Tiger Blow, and Chun Li's Rising Spinning Kick. Finally, for some reason, this move seems to be able to throw opponents when they get up earlier than normal throws. Therefore, you can also try and throw an opponent as soon as they get up. * Rising Spinning Kick (Bushin Senpuu Kyaku - Bushin Whirlwind Kick) QCB + kick Guy does the Hurricane Kick type move he had in Final Fight, but he floats forward at a 45 degree angle. It has pretty good anti air priority, and can hit up to 1, 2, or 3 times, depending on button pressed. However, it's fairly slow to come out, so you have to react pretty quickly to the jump. Every version can go over projectiles (except Charlie's Sonic Boom, Bison's Psycho Shot, Rose's Soul Spark, and Sagat's High Tiger Shot). Only the Short version can hit crouchers. **Super Combos * Bushin Rage (Bushin Gourai Kyaku - Bushin Powerful Thunder Kick) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 4 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Level 2 : 6 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Level 3 : 7 hits, opponent has automatic recovery roll. Guy rushes forward with a series of punches and kicks, ending in a huge flying kick. All versions can go through projectiles, and all versions make the opponent automatically recovery roll. Your opponent can very quickly hit you back if it's blocked, or they can easily throw you since the final kick sends you flying right into them. The initial hit doesn't have that great range, making it not particularly useful to put into combos. Finally, the Level 1 version can be recovery rolled from, robbing you of the last and most damaging hit. * Bushin Jump (Bushin Hassou Ken - Bushin Eight Pairs of Fists) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 5 hits. Level 3 : 6 hits. Guy jumps up doing a series of punches and kicks. This move is good for an anti air SC, as it will juggle the opponents well doing lots of damage. With the Level 2 or 3 versions, you have to press punch again after starting the SC to actually start hitting. The Level 1 version on the other hand, will automatically start hitting as soon as he begins to rise. This can also hit most characters whilst they are standing, bringing them up with you into the combo. It's very hard to do this at Level 2 or 3, since Guy rises so quickly and you have to press punch as soon as he starts rising to hit opponents up. Against taller characters (Sagat, Birdie, Sodom), this can be put into a neat combo if you get them whilst they're standing. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab can chain into another Jab or Short, or into a stronger attack. - C.Short, S.Strong, C.Forward can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - All ground based normal moves except the S.Roundhouse and C.Roundhouse can be cancelled into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos EASY 1. C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse 2. C.Short, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse, C.Roundhouse Just time the slide well after the S.Roundhouse. 3. S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Fierce, S.Roundhouse This special combo comes from Final Fight, and is called "Bushin Gokusa Ken", meaning "Imprisoning Chain Punch". Note that the S.Fierce here is different to the standard S.Fierce. I'm not sure how to do this special S.Fierce besides in the combo, but the CPU seems to do it all the time. 4. C.Fierce, Roundhouse Rising Spinning Kick This is used when your opponent jumps in at you. The C.Fierce will hit them out of the air, and the Rising Spinning Kick will juggle for another hit. It appears easy, but it's kind of awkward to do. INTERMEDIATE 5. C.Short, C.Forward, Forward Bushin Run 6. C.Short, C.Fierce, Roundhouse Bushin Run 7. C.Short, S.Strong, C.Fierce, Forward Bushin Run With combos ending with a Bushin Run, just double tap the kick button to get the move to come out quickly. EXPERT 8. (Corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, S.Strong, C.Fierce, Roundhouse Bushin Run This combo, on the arcade version of SFA, is a redizzy combo that will work on almost every character. Surprisingly enough, it is actually hard to do. 9. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Forward Bushin Run This combo is great. Try following it up with a meaty Overhead Elbow for easy dizzies. Against standing opponents, you can use 2 S.Jabs instead of the C.Short. If your opponent blocks, try cancelling the C.Forward into a Bushin Leap for a tick or Roundhouse Bushin Run, or even just chain into the C.Roundhouse slide for something safe. **SC Combos -General Note : Guy doesn't really have any "easy" SC combos, since there is such a great chance of making a mistake in the buffering process because of the presence of his special moves. EXPERT 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Bushin Rage SC 2. (Vs tall opponents) JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, Bushin Jump SC 3. (Corner) Kick throw, Bushin Jump SC This combo is very very very very hard to time. You have to do the Bushin Leap SC as soon as you finish with the throw, which can be tricky since you don't know exactly how many hits you'll do. The throw will NOT count as a hit. This will miss if your opponent Techs the throw. 4. (Corner, Vs. tall opponents) JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Bushin Jump SC A great combo that looks really cool, but very tough to do. 5. (near corner) Bushin Leap throw, Bushin Jump SC A great little juggle. Works easiest with the Level 1 version of the SC. Oddly enough, Chun Li is not a good target with this combo (I haven't got it to work on her yet) **Maximum Combo (Corner, Vs. tall opponents - Sagat, Birdie, Sodom) JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Level 3 Bushin Jump SC = 12 hits **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. C.Short, Overhead Elbow or throw Counter #1 : C.Short, pause, Bushin Rage SC or Short Rising Spinning Kick Counter #2 : (Vs. sweeps) C.Short, Roundhouse Bushin Run 2. (from reasonable range) S.Forward, Fierce Bushin Leap Note : I've never really needed to use a counter for this, since because the throw can catch them out of the air, they can't jump away from it if timed and distanced right. I haven't found a counter semi combo against high reaching uppercuts and Dragon Punches though, so just try holding the Bushin Leap back if you think they know it's coming. 3. C.Short, C.Forward, Roundhouse Bushin Run Counter #1 : C.Short, C.Forward, pause, C.Roundhouse Counter #2 : C.Short, C.Forward, pause, Forward Bushin Run Counter #3 : C.Short, C.Forward, pause, Bushin Rage SC or Short Rising Spinning Kick **Strategies Guy is another character who is ideally suited to the poking idea. He has a nice, long reaching slide, a very good overhead attack, and good semi combos to keep the opponent guessing. Mainly it's that S.Forward, Fierce Bushin Leap semi combo that annoys, since you can't actually jump away from it, as it will jump pick the opponent up and slam them from the air. The thing you will have to avoid is jumping too often, since Guy's jump is very high and attracts Dragon Punches. Use the Elbow Drop most when jumping, since this is capable of cleanly hitting many anti air moves such as Charlie's Flash Kick, Chun Li's Rising Spinning Kick, and Sagat's Tiger Blow. Guy can also jump off the sides, usually a good escape route out of the corner if your opponent doesn't have a very high reaching anti air. The Short Rising Spinning Kick is a great ground counter move and can also go through fireballs when timed right. The other versions can also go through fireballs much more easily, but they don't hit grounded opponents as well. The Rising Spinning Kick comes off fairly slowly, so you'll have to react to jumpers early, or do the C.Fierce, Roundhouse Rising Spinning Kick combo to nail jumpers. The Bushin Leap SC is a great air counter at Levels 2 or 3, but again, you have to react to jumpers early. Overall, Guy is a very fast character who was built for the idea of poking away at an opponent's defense. He's also great for combos, meaning that the holes you find in their defense can easily turn into lots of damage. --= 3.6 Birdie =-- Birdie is looking for Bison to try and join Shadaloo. Starting Pose : Birdie yawns and scratches his stomach. Winning Pose #1 : Birdie combs his bullethole mohawk twice. Winning Pose #2 : Birdie combs his bullethole mohawk twice, and after a while, it droops down and Birdie groans in disappointment. Winning Pose #3 : Birdie licks his chains, and utters "I'm number one!" **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Birdie does a Jab Headbutt Rush. It is rather slow coming out, meaning it will get blocked frequently, and it recovers slowly, meaning you can get countered pretty easily. **Taunt Neutral + START : Birdie combs his hair and says something. F + START : Identical to starting pose. B + START : Birdie licks his chains and says something. **Miscellaneous Information Birdie's S.Roundhouse is an overhead hit. His S.Fierce and C.Fierce can hit twice. **Normal Specialty Moves * Air Dive Whilst jumping, D + Fierce Birdie makes a posing dive whilst in the air. It sticks for most of the jump, and is good for neck kicks. **Useful Normal Moves S.Fierce : A 2 hit double hand hammer punch, this is a great anti air and is also great for long range poking since they can't really jump over it. JN.Roundhouse : A jump kick that is great for neck kicks, and has great air priority too. C.Fierce : A 2 hit headbutt uppercut type move, can buffer off the first hit. **Special Moves * Headbutt Rush (Bull Head) CBF + punch Birdie rushes forward with a headbutt. The distance and recovery is determined by the button pressed. The Jab Headbutt Rush can be used as a quick ground attack to counter blocked Fierce and Roundhouse attacks. The Strong and Fierce versions are useful for longer range assaults, but their delay in coming out makes them SC fodder. They all have great anti air priority. Only the Fierce version will knock an opponent down. * Turn Around Headbutt (Bull Horn) Hold any 2 punch or 2 kick buttons and release Birdie turns around for a second, and then spins with a headbutt. The damage dealt and range of the headbutt is determined by how long you hold the buttons. You can tell what degree of the Turn Around Headbutt you've initiated by the number spoken when you release the buttons (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or Final). When Birdie's back is turned, he is temporarily invincible. Therefore, this move is very useful in semi combos to get in close and try and get that Chain Grab. It has pretty good recovery time, and the brief second that is required to charge the Turn Around Headbutt means that you can string them together in a row pretty easily. The Turn Around Headbutt can also be used as an anti fireball move, but the timing is very very tricky. Finally, you can charge 2 Turn Around Headbutts at once, although this is not something you can consistently do comfortably since you have to hold 4 buttons. * Chain Grab (Murderer Chain) 360 + punch Birdie attempts to grab the opponent with his chain. If he is successful, he will slam them twice into the ground whlist saying "Go ... to heaven!", and then hops back. If he is not successful, there will be the miss animation, leaving him vulnerable. The recovery time of the miss animation is determined by the button pressed. This is basically Birdie's main attack. It has great grabbing range, and should be used in ticks whenever possible. The Jab version should be used the most, since it recovers very quickly if you miss, unlike the Fierce version. There are many ways out of Chain Grab ticks, so the biggest variety of leads into Chain Grab ticks is required. These will be outlined in the semi combos and counters section. Because of the hop back after the Chain Grab, you won't be able to get another jump in at your opponent afterwards unless you've cornered your opponent. Tick as much as possible, since this move can easily do 25%+. **Super Combos * Leaping Chain Grab (Bull Revenger) 2QCF + any button Level 1 : 1 Chain Grab slam, swaps sides with opponent. Level 2 : 2 Chain Grab slams. Level 3 : 2 Chain Grab slams and a Headbutt Rush. Birdie leaps forward and lands with a Chain Grab. This move makes Birdie invulnerable whilst he's in the air. The instant he touches the ground, he is vulnerable, but then again, the instant he touches the ground, he does the Chain Grab, beating any close ground normal move. The distance of the Leaping Chain Grab is determined by the button pressed. Jab will go a very short distance, Fierce will go a reasonable distance, and any kick button will make Birdie fly pretty far. This is the best anti fireball move in the game. It's so fast, that when you expect a fireball, you should do the motion anyhow, and just avoid pressing the button if you notice your opponent didn't throw their projectile. If they throw a SC projectile, you can get them so easily since the SC animation pause will give you seemingly forever to react. To catch opponents jumping, you have to time the Leaping Chain Grab very very well, to get them just as they land, or otherwise you'll miss or they'll land and be able to jump again before you can get them with the Chain Grab. Although it's very quick, the SC animation pause gives your opponent a lot of time to just hold up and avoid your SC if they aren't doing anything at the moment you press the button. The Jab version is ideal for semi combos, since it's quick enough to land and get them before they recover from attempted counter sweeps. If you do the SC at Level 2 or 3, the distance you leap is determined by whether you pressed punches or kicks. If you pressed punches, you'll do a short leap; if you pressed kicks, you'll do a long leap. * Mega Headbutt Rush (The Birdie) CFB2 + punch Level 1 : 3 Headbutt Rushes. Level 2 : 3 Headbutt Rushes and 1 Turn Around Headbutt. Level 3 : 3 Headbutt Rushes, if it connects, opponent is automatically dizzied, and Birdie takes time out to comb his hair. Birdie then does 2 Turn Around Headbutts. Note : Against the CPU at higher difficulty levels, they can and will recover from dizzy with the Level 3 version before you finish off. Birdie does a combination of his headbutt moves in a row. This SC has great range as Birdie slides far across the screen, and it can go through projectiles at Levels 2 or 3. It's very useful against non projectile characters, but unfortunately it can't juggle, so you have to catch your opponent whilst they're grounded. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Short and C.Strong can chain into a stronger attack. You have to hit very close with the C.Strong to chain it. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, S.Short, C.Short, C.Strong, C.Fierce, can be cancelled into special moves or SCs. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Jab Headbutt Rush 2. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, C.Roundhouse 3. NK.Roundhouse, S.Short, S.Fierce 4. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, C.Fierce, Jab Headbutt Rush EXPERT 5. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, C.Strong, S.Fierce Thanks to the little delay before the C.Strong, this combo is hard to connect with. **SC Combos INTERMEDIATE 1. JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, C.Fierce, Mega Headbutt Rush **Maximum Combo JN.Roundhouse, S.Short, C.Fierce, Level 2 Mega Headbutt Rush = 7 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Chain Grab Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Turn Around Headbutt, Chain Grab You may want to repeat the Turn Around Headbutt a couple of times, because usually opponents try and stick their sweeps in repeatedly until they realise that they're getting hit and stop. Counter #2 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, JN.Roundhouse, Chain Grab This variation hops over those annoying repeated C.Shorts that will stop the Turn Around Headbutt. Counter #3 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, pause, Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC This is only used against sweeps. 2. JN.Roundhouse, Chain Grab Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, Turn Around Headbutt, Chain Grab Counter #2 : Jump in throwing no attack, Chain Grab 3. Turn Around Headbutt, Chain Grab Counter #1 : Turn Around Headbutt, Turn Around Headbutt, Chain Grab Counter #2 : Turn Around Headbutt, Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC Counter #3 : Turn Around Headbutt, JN.Roundhouse, Chain Grab 4. JN.Roundhouse (opponent air blocks), Chain Grab Note : Besides the recovery roll and reversal SC, I don't think there's actually a way out of this, if it's timed right. Also, try air blocking their attack and doing the Chain Grab when you land. As you can see, Birdie has a whole variety of semi combos ending in Chain Grabs. Just master the ones you like to use most often, making sure you have counter semi combos for the following : [1] C.Roundhouse sweeps [2] Dragon Punch type moves [3] SCs [4] Repeated quick C.Short or C.Jab attacks Most importantly, make sure you tick with the Chain Grab as much as possible, but also take care to block when you think they'll try to SC you. Opponents can get frustrated very quickly by repeated Chain Grab ticks, and they'll surely try to get that Level 3 SC in there to stop you from constantly attacking. **Strategies Birdie's strategy is as obvious as can be : tick with the Chain Grab as much as you can. The corner can mean death very quickly once Birdie has you trapped, since he can follow up Chain Grabs with another jump in, leading to more ticks. Each Chain Grab can do 25%+, so it really shouldn't take too long to win, as long as those Chain Grab ticks are successful. Birdie has just so many ways to lead into Chain Grab ticks, so it can become really difficult to avoid them. The one thing you have to be careful for when ticking with the Chain Grab is that your opponent can and will try to get a SC in between. Just block when you think your opponent will try to SC out. Once it's blocked, there are two things that you can do : if it's a SC that recovers in time so your opponent can block, just try to get a Chain Grab or a Turn Around Headbutt into a semi combo; if it's a SC that doesn't recover well, just get them with a combo that knocks down or a simple C.Roundhouse, and then try to tick them when they get up. Birdie also has excellent anti air defense. His C.Fierce, S.Fierce, and Headbutt Rushes are capable of taking out almost any jumping attack. Furthermore, Birdie can just jump at the opponent, air block their attack, and land to Chain Grab them (time the jump early for this). His S.Fierce, besides being a great anti air, also has excellent range and can nail opponents quickly after missed sweeps and can even do 2 hits from close. Use it frequently, but as with normal poking, just make sure you hold block from time to time just in case your opponent pulls out a SC. The S.Fierce is a superb poking weapon since besides having great range, if your opponent tries to jump, the first hit will hit them out of the air with no problems. Mix in the tick with this, and you've got a very well formulated strategy. Overall, although the Chain Grab might not have as much range as Zangief's Spinning Pile Driver did in previous SF games, Birdie makes up for it with a great plethora of leads into Chain Grab ticks that will keep the opponent guessing and in trouble. --= 3.7 Adon =-- Adon is the sole pupil of Sagat, and is now determined to defeat Sagat and prove himself as the greatest fighter in the world. Starting Pose : Adon bobs his head up and down with his hands around his head, and then extends his fist towards his opponent. Winning Pose #1 : Adon gives his opponent the "thumbs down" sign. Winning Pose #2 : Adon jumps back in a somersault, and takes his brass loop off his head and holds it up. Winning Pose #3 : Adon bobs his head up and down with his hands around his head, and then kneels, looking towards the sky with his arms oustretched. Winning Pose #4 : Adon turns his back to the screen, puts his arms out to his side and flexes his muscles, and then looks over his shoulder and grins. Winning Pose #5 : Adon folds his arms and laughs. **Alpha Counter AC motion + kick Adon does a Jaguar Knee. It's very quick in coming out, but has relatively short range, making it dangerous to AC longer range attacks. If you miss, you'll be left open for a short period, but not as much as Ryu or Ken since Adon's AC doesn't go nearly as high. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #1. **Miscellaneous Information Nothing unusual about Adon. **Normal Specialty Moves * Front Kick (Jutting Kick) DF + Forward Adon sticks up a fast kick at a high angle. It has great anti air priority, but short range. It is difficult for opponents to hit Adon out of this from the air since he crouches down and yet manages to kick fairly high. It can be beaten when the jump kick is done from afar, since it has short range. **Useful Normal Moves S.Roundhouse : Nice long range kick, great for poking. C.Fierce : A long range punch, effective anti air counter. C.Roundhouse : A good long range sweep. **Special Moves * Jaguar Kick RDP + kick Adon does a forward somersault, ending in a quick kick that produces a huge flash of energy. The button pressed determines the angle of the somersault. The Short version is very quick, flying almost directly horizontally. It should be used frequently to poke at an opponent from afar, since it really hits so quickly that it's difficult to pull out Dragon Punch type moves in time. It shouldn't be used from right up close, since many times I have noticed that you will go right over crouching defenders, and they'll have a short, free shot at you from behind. It can also go over fireballs if timed perfectly. The Forward version is angled more upwards, but it still has great horizontal range. Because Adon jumps higher, this goes over fireballs easily, and should be used to counter mid range fireball attempts. The Roundhouse version goes almost straight up with little horizontal movement. It's great in close attacks, since it's highly unlikely your opponent will be able to get under your kick to hit you from behind. It can be repeated from up close to frustrate opponents, since it easily hops over counter sweep attempts and beats most uppercuts. Overall, use this move frequently in your fast assaults. * Jaguar Knee (Rising Jaguar) XQC + kick Adon jumps diagonally up whilst doing two knee uppercuts. Every version can do 2 hits. This move has great anti air priority, and should be used as a close up anti air. It's horizontal range is limited, so you will find that sometimes when your opponent jumps in and kicks from afar, you'll either trade or you'll be cleanly hit. This is Adon's only real combo ending special move. * Jaguar Tooth HCB + kick Adon jumps to the back upper corner, and then comes down with a quick flying kick. The button pressed determines the angle at which he comes down. The Roundhouse and Forward versions will send you flying very far horizontally, and is great against characters who don't have great anti air moves, since this move has great priority. The Short version can be used as a fake, since it starts the same and then flies down very quickly, and it can cause your opponent to whiff an anti air move, giving to time to land a quick combo. **Super Combos * Jaguar Assault (Jaguar Varied Assault) 2QCF + punch ARCADE VERSION Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits, ends with jumping attack. Level 3 : 6 hits, identical to Level 2. CONSOLE VERSION Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits, ends with jumping attack. Level 3 : Variable. When Adon does the Level 3 Jaguar Assault SC, if you don't press any buttons, it is identical to the Level 2 version. If you tap punch, instead of the jumping attack, he will do a rapid punching attack at the end resulting in a total of 9 hits. If you tap kick, instead of the jumping attack, he will end in a 3 hit Jaguar Knee, resulting in a total of 7 hits. Adon rushes forward with a series of elbows. NOTE : The previous FAQ writer, Allen Kim, informed me that there was a bug that slipped into the final arcade version. The Level 3 version of the Jaguar Assault SC was designed to be variable, as it is in the console versions, but the bug in the arcade version prevented that. This SC has great ground speed and range, and can easily nail opponents after blocking a C.Roundhouse sweep. The Level 2 and 3 versions can leave you wide open if blocked, the Level 1 version leaves you open for just a tad short moment. If you do the rapid punches at the end of the Level 3 version, it won't leave you open if it's blocked. Generally, I use the rapid punch at the end of the Level 3 version since it does pretty good damage and it's pretty safe even if blocked. This SC goes very well into Adon's combos, since the rushing speed is so great and initial range is good too. You should also try using the Jaguar Assault SC when you think your opponent might try to stick in a sweep, such as after having a Jaguar Kick/Tooth blocked. Finally, all 3 versions can go through fireballs, the Level 1 version must be timed well to do this. * Jaguar Revolver 2QCB + kick Level 1 : 2 Jaguar Kicks, 3 hits. Level 2 : 2 Jaguar Kicks, 4 hits. Level 3 : 3 Jaguar Kicks, 6 hits. Adon does multiple Jaguar Kicks in a row. This SC is another great anti fireball SC. It will hop over any fireball with ease, and nail them for lots of damage. It can also be used as an anti air, since the following Jaguar Kicks will juggle the opponent very well. However, sometimes your opponent will be able to just hit you out of the Level 1 version from the air, so if you use it as an anti air, it's probably best to just use the Level 2 or 3 versions since they never get beaten. Finally, don't do this SC from right up close to your opponent, since you'll somersault right over them and miss completely. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, S.Short, C.Short, and S.Strong can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, C.Strong, S.Forward, and C.Forward can cancel into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos -General note : Adon's combos are VERY limited due to a lack of moves good for combos, and limited chain combos. EASY 1. JN.Strong, C.Short, C.Roundhouse 2. JN.Strong, C.Jab, S.Strong, C.Roundhouse 3. JN.Strong, C.Strong, Forward or Roundhouse Jaguar Knee **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Strong, C.Jab, C.Strong, Jaguar Assault SC 2. Jaguar Revolver, Jaguar Knee 1 free juggle hit. Nothing special, just barely worth mentioning. **Maximum Combo JN.Strong, C.Jab, C.Strong, Level 3 Jaguar Assault SC with punches = 12 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. JN.Strong, C.Short, throw Counter #1 : JN.Strong, C.Short, pause, Jaguar Assault SC or Roundhouse Jaguar Kick 2. Jaguar Kick, throw Counter #1 : Jaguar Kick, Jaguar Assault SC or Roundhouse Jaguar Kick 3. Jaguar Tooth, throw Counter #1 : Jaguar Tooth, Jaguar Assault SC or Roundhouse Jaguar Kick **Strategies Adon is a reactionary fighter who relies on single hits. He is severely lacking in combos, but is so strong in the number of anti fireball moves available, along with poking attacks consisting of fast kicks that have great range. Unfortunately, due to his lack of overhead hits, Adon doesn't have that great semi combos either. He must rely more on ticks and throws since his single strikes are usually easy to see coming. Another problem is that neither his JN.Roundhouse or JN.Fierce can hit crouchers. You will find that throwing fakes are great for Adon. The Short Jaguar Tooth is a great way to trick your opponent into whiffing a Dragon Punch type move, and getting free hits. Try poking lots, since Adon has great poking moves. The Roundhouse Jaguar Kick is great in close, and has great priority over ground based moves. The Short Jaguar Kick is a great approach move, since this also has great priority. The Forward Jaguar Kick is one of the best anti fireball moves in the game. All 3 Jaguar Kicks recover quickly, allowing you to attack again. Both his S.Roundhouse and C.Roundhouse have great range, and mixed in with the Jaguar Kicks, it can frustrate your opponent easily when they can't get those SCs in. But there's the catch : your opponent can easily get that SC in. Know when to block, and when it's good to hold back. Usually, with the Roundhouse Jaguar Kick, since most SCs don't juggle well, you can do it repeatedly and not worry about being totally hammered by an SC, since you get so high into the air. Adon is to be played using pressure and poking. Personally, his lack of comboing ability tends to put me off, but if you thrive on tense situations where the pressure is on, Adon is your man. --= 3.8 Sodom =-- Sodom is a gangster without a gang, looking for revenge against Guy. Starting Pose : Sodom throws off his peasant hat and cloak. Winning Pose #1 : Sodom bows at his opponent. Winning Pose #2 : Sodom makes a stance with arms outstretched to the sides, spins his Jitte, and then yells. Winning Pose #3 : Sodom holds out a paper fan, and makes butterflies or a small water fountain come out of it. He then says "Appareh!" **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Sodom does a Jab Jitte Slice. This has great range and comes out pretty quickly. The bad thing about it is that it doesn't seem to hit crouchers very well, making it less useful. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #1. **Miscellaneous Information Sodom's S.Roundhouse is called the "cheese kick". See below. **Normal Specialty Moves None. **Useful Normal Moves C.Roundhouse : Sodom's slide has great range, and for some reason, it has *excellent* recovery. It can go under ANY fireball, although going under Jab fireball is near impossible. S.Roundhouse : Another kick with great range. This is known as Sodom's Cheese Kick, since if you do it and have the kick on your opponent as soon as they get up, they canNOT block it, and you can easily cancel it into a knockdown move and repeat for a "cheap" victory. JN.Fierce : Sodom's jumping Fierce hits down very far and has good priority for nailing grounded opponents. **Special Moves * Tengu Walk (a Tengu is a human-like spirit) After a knockdown, a recovery roll motion + kick This move can be used at any time when you can recovery roll. Sodom will plant his jitte into the ground, performing a handstand, and then rush forward with his jitte. This can do up to 3 hits, and at the end Sodom will hop back up onto his feet, and recover quickly. This move goes across fairly quickly, but it takes time to come out when he lands. Do it from time to time, but not too often. * Jitte Slice (Jigoku Scrape - Hell Scrape) Sodom slides forward and does a strike with his jitte, depending on button pressed. It's fast, has good recovery, and has great range. The Jab version makes Sodom do a straight forward slice, and can hit 2 times. The Strong version makes Sodom do an uppercut slice, and can hit once. It can be crouched under, and isn't particularly useful against jumpers except from afar. The Fierce version makes Sodom do an vertical slice. The Fierce version has the greatest range, and can hit at 2 points. The first point, near the start of the Jitte Slice, will do a lot more damage than at the second point. The FIerce version also will always knock your opponent down, whereas the other versions will not. * Power Bomb (Butsumetsu Buster - Butsumetsu is the unluckiest day in the Buddhist calendar) 360 + punch Sodom hops forward and tries to grab his opponent. The Jab version has the greatest range, whereas the Strong and Fierce versions have relatively short range. The hop at the start means opponents can hit Sodom out of it pretty easily, but it's still useful in ticks from time to time to catch your opponent off guard. This move is not blockable. * Carpet Bomb (Daikyou Burning - Daikyou is the worst possible luck in Buddhism) 360 + kick Sodom runs forward with his jitte held in from of him. If he hits an opponent whilst they are grounded with this, he will pick them up and run with them, sliding them across the screen until they catch on fire. This move *can* be blocked, but it can be put into combos easily for good damage. If it's blocked, you can be combo'd pretty easily, as Sodom will just keep running. **Super Combos * Mega Jitte Slice (Meido no Miyage - Hades' Gift) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 3 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits. Level 3 : 7 hits, last hit is an air attack. Sodom rushes forward with multiple jitte strikes. This is a great SC. The Level 1 version will slide forward little, but it can hit opponents out of the air well, often juggling them for all 3 hits. The Level 2 and 3 versions slide forward much faster, and can also go through projectiles. Like the normal Jitte Slice, it has great range and speed. Only the Level 3 version really leaves you open if blocked, but the final jumping attack which is a JN.Fierce can beat most anti air moves pretty easily anyway. The last hit of the Level 3 version can be air blocked (no idea why). Notice that the opponent CAN recovery roll away to avoid the last hit of the Level 3 version and the juggle hits off the Level 1 version can also be rolled away from. * Mega Power Bomb (Tenchuu Satsu - Punishment from Heaven) 720 + punch Level 1 : 2 Power Bombs. Level 2 : 2 Power Bombs, the 2nd Power Bomb has great hang time. Level 3 : 2 Power Bombs like Level 2, followed by a Carpet Bomb. Sodom hops forward like his normal Power Bomb and tries to grab his opponent. If he's successful, he takes them for a nice little joy ride. This move is rather easy to see coming, because of the SC animation pause. It has great grabbing range like the Jab Power Bomb, such that if you start it from just under half a screen away, you'll still get them. Your opponent can hit Sodom out of the Mega Power Bomb SC pretty easily, even at Level 3. For some reason, it would appear that if you are right next to Sodom during the animation pause, you canNOT jump away afterwards, especially if you were blocking, even though there is a significant gap between the SC animation pause and actual grab. It would also appear that if you are right next to Sodom during the SC animation pause and you are blocking, it is a LOT harder to Jab Sodom out of it. Anyway, this is a very very powerful SC, and if it connects, your opponent's in a lot of trouble. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, S.Short, S.Strong, and S.Forward can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab. C.Jab, S.Short, C.Short, S.Forward, C.Fierce, and S.Roundhouse can cancel into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Fierce, Jitte Slice 2. JN.Fierce, S.Short, S.Forward, C.Roundhouse INTERMEDIATE 3. JN.Fierce, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse, Jitte Slice EXPERT 4. JN.Fierce, S.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse, Carpet Bomb This combo's a bit hard to do since sometimes you may accidentally cancel the S.Roundhouse before it actually hits, and consequently your opponent will block the Carpet Bomb and it will be YOU who eats a combo. So practice. If you have trouble getting all the kicks in, try leading with a NK.Short instead. **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Short, Mega Jitte Slice SC For some reason, when doing this combo, you'll miss the first hit of the Mega Jitte Slice at Level 2 or 3. 2. Throw, Level 1 Mega Jitte Slice SC The throw will not count as a hit on the hit meter thing that appears at the side. This will miss if your opponent does a Tech. INTERMEDIATE 3. JN.Fierce, S.Short, S.Forward, Mega Jitte Slice SC 4. JN.Fierce, S.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse Mega Jitte Slice SC **Maximum Combo JN.Fierce, S.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse, Level 3 Mega Jitte Slice SC = 11 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. JN.Fierce, Power Bomb or Mega Power Bomb SC Counter #1 : JN.Fierce, pause, Mega Jitte Slice SC 2. JN.Fierce, S.Short, Power Bomb or Mega Power Bomb SC Note : If you use the Jab Power Bomb, you can actually CANCEL the S.Short into the Power Bomb, and if your opponent blocks it, the Power Bomb will still connect. Counter #1 : JN.Fierce, S.Short, pause, Mega Jitte Slice SC 3. NK.Short, S.Forward, C.Roundhouse, Power Bomb or Mega Power Bomb SC Counter #1 : NK.Short, S.Forward, C.Roundhouse, Mega Jitte Slice SC **Strategies Sodom is a great offensive fighter. He has a slow but powerful ticking move, great combos, and good poking attacks. Played carefully and offensively, Sodom can trouble opponents considerably. First off, the Power Bomb is a powerful move that can go well in ticks. It can be used after a jumping attack quickly upon hitting the ground. The C.Short can even buffer into the Jab Power Bomb and connect for a great semi combo. He has the Mega Jitte Slice SC to stick in there in case your opponent tries to hit you out of the Power Bomb. The trick is to know when to use which move, but this can be learnt over experience. Generally, after a tick with the Power Bomb, expect your opponent to counter. After you've made them eat a massive combo, expect them to be Power Bomb tick fodder, since players will naturally play conservatively and defensively after taking a massive Sodom combo. Speaking of which, Sodom has got some great combos. The Carpet Bomb is probably the best combo ender in the game as it can hit from way out far and does huge damage. He can easily turn a Carpet Bomb combo attempt into a combo ending in his C.Roundhouse slide, thus making the combo safe to everything but the AC. Sodom's poking attacks are great. You can try the S.Roundhouse into a Jab Jitte Slice from afar, or the occasional approach with the C.Roundhouse slide is also effective. The C.Roundhouse slide can go under fireballs (including SC projectiles), so usually you can catch your opponent off guard by sliding under their projectile and catching them off guard. The S.Roundhouse can also be used on an opponent as they get up, since it's unblockable the instant they get up. Some may say it's "cheap", but it all comes down to you whether you use it or not. It's a bit difficult to time, but with practice it becomes easy. Cancel it into a Carpet Bomb or a Fierce Jitte Slice to knock them down, and try again. Should they try to recovery roll away, try to slide them and knock them down. It can make winning a LOT easier with Sodom (although if used too much, people might not want to play you any more). Sodom has all the offensive tools to challenge the best defensive players. He should be played aggressively, but as always, make sure you actually block from time to time, since opponents will be always looking to stick an SC in at you (usually at the C.Roundhouse slide). --= 3.9 Rose =-- Rose is a strange woman who has been assigned to defeat Bison. Starting Pose : Rose hovers briefly with Soul Sparks at each side of her, and then lands, ready to fight. Winning Pose #1 : Rose holds her shawl out in front of her, extending to the floor. A Soul Spark revolves up and down it, and Rose says "Soreja Dame", meaning "No no no, you're doing the wrong thing." Winning Pose #2 : Rose steps forward, shakes her head whilst wagging her finger and says something in Japanese. Winning Pose #3 : Rose makes image clones appear of both sides, and then wags her finger at her opponent and says "Mada made ne", meaning "You still have a long way to go." **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Rose does a quick Soul Throw type move. This will place the opponent on the opposite side of Rose, and *very* briefly stun them. This does no damage, but gives you time to get quick hits in. Unlike the 2 other throw combos in the game, the AC counts as a hit on the hit meter thing that appears at the side. This makes it arguably the best AC in the game, since Rose can get a quick SC in after the AC, resulting in pretty good damage. This AC has rather short range, but if you miss, you'll just do a small spin on the spot, not really leaving you open. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #2, except Rose says "Mada Mada ne" **Miscellaneous Information Nothing unusual about Rose. **Normal Specialty Moves * Slide DF + Forward Rose slides forward quickly with her leg extended. This move has great range and recovery. It's Rose's primary poking attack, and as long as you do it from reasonably far out, it'll recover in time to block any counter attack. If you do it from close (such as accidentally in a chain combo), even if it hits, they can SC you back before you can recover. **Useful Normal Moves S.Forward : This little kick will make Rose stand up on her shawl, and kick. It goes over all sweeps and slides, so it's very useful. C.Fierce : A great standard anti air, this will very very rarely get beaten. **Special Moves * Soul Spark HCF + punch Rose extends her shawl and releases a small spark. This fireball is slightly higher than normal, so Guy's, Sodom's, and Rose's slides can go under it. Only the Jab version can be used in combos. The long extension of the shawl makes Rose a great jump in target. * Soul Throw DP + punch Rose jumps diagonally up forward and tries to catch her opponent. This move is completely useless. It has mediocre priority, so you'll get hit out of it almost all the time. In the event you connect, your opponent can recovery roll and combo YOU before you can recover. *GREAT* SUICIDE MOVE! (although slightly better than the SC version since it's just a little bit harder to react to) * Soul Reflect QCB + punch Rose whips her shawl in front of her, and it wil react to projectiles in different ways, depending on button pressed. The Jab version will make her absorb the projectile into her super meter. This will build it up VERY quickly. The Strong version will make her reflect it horizontally. The Fierce version will reflect it diagonally up, catching jumpers (although it is air blockable). The Soul Reflect can hit from right up close, but the range and priority is so poor that you should never use it as a normal attack move. It will not work against SC projectiles. Make sure you time your Soul Reflect well, since sometimes a mistime leads to a free hit for your opponent. **Super Combos * Aura Soul Spark 2QCB + punch Level 1 : Rose simply throws a 3 hit Soul Spark. Level 2 : Rose does 3 rushing hits followed by a 3 hit Soul Spark. Level 3 : Rose does a Super Soul Reflect followed by a 3 hit Soul Spark. The Aura Soul Spark SC will always throw a 3 hit Soul Spark, which will nullify fireballs but lose 1 hit for each projectile it passes through. The Level 3 version can reflect SC projectiles, and is useful since their SC animation pause will give you a LOT of reaction time to get ready to do your SC and reflect it. Just be careful since it has to be timed well : if you do it too early, the gap between the Super Soul Reflect and the 3 hit Aura Soul Spark is too much, so you'll get nailed; if you do it too late, the Super Soul Reflect's short delay will get you killed. The Level 2 version is a great combo move (from right up close), and is supremely deadly when combined with a Soul Illusion SC. * Aura Soul Throw 2QCF + punch Level 1 : Rose jumps up and tries to catch her opponent. Level 2 : Rose does 2 uppercuts and finishes with a Soul Throw. Level 3 : Rose does a rushing punch, followed by 2 uppercuts and finishes with a Soul Throw. All 3 versions will set the opponent on blue fire. Only the Level 2 and 3 versions can hit a grounded opponent. The throw does not count as a hit on the hit meter which appears at the side. *THE*GREATEST*SUICIDE*MOVE*IN*THE*GAME!!! Like the normal Soul Throw, the Aura Soul Throw SC can be recovery rolled from, and Rose will not recover in time to block any attacks. The SC animation pause gives your opponent years to react to the SC and recovery roll. Regardless of whether you connect or not, you'll be combo fodder. Since it does good damage, use it to finish off an opponent, but otherwise, unless you particularly like being combo'd, don't use it. I will list the combos that use it anyhow, since it's pretty powerful and juggles well (just pray that your opponent doesn't know how to roll!). * Soul Illusion 2QCF + kick Level 1 : Images last 5 seconds. Level 2 : Images last 6 seconds. Level 3 : Images last 9 seconds. Rose gets images behind her that do exactly what she does. These images can also hit, multiplying each hit by 4. Sometimes however, it's more or less. For example, with Rose's S.Roundhouse, it will do 7 hits. The images can juggle, but Rose can't. If you hit your opponent with a C.Roundhouse, the opponent will be knocked down and the images will all miss. However, if you do it slightly early and make Rose miss but still get the images to connect, they will hit but not knock down. I read somewhere (I can't remember exactly where) that if you do the Soul Illusion SC, and try to hit an opponent just as they get up with just the images, it's unblockable. I tried this, and it did NOT work. Maybe it worked on the beta test release or something, or maybe it's just due to poor timing on my part, or maybe it got fixed in the transition from the arcade to the home version (I haven't tested it on the arcade version). When hitting her opponent with the Soul Illusion SC active, Rose gains NO super meter. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - C.Jab can chain into a stronger attack or another Jab or Short. - S.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - All normal ground based moves except the S.Roundhouse can be cancelled into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Jab Soul Spark 3. NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, Level 2 or 3 Aura Soul Throw SC 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, Level 1 Aura Soul Spark SC 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Roundhouse, Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC 4. (when opponent jumps at you) C.Fierce, Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC 5. Level 1 Soul Illusion SC, Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC INTERMEDIATE 6. (be in the corner) AC, C.Roundhouse, Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC The AC will switch sides and your opponent will be cornered. 7. (corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, Soul Illusion SC, S.Fierce, Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC The S.Fierce will juggle the opponent. The Soul Illusion SC cuts out all the recovery time of the C.Roundhouse, allowing you to land the S.Fierce. You don't have to cancel into the Level 1 Aura Soul Throw SC to connect. EXPERT 8. C.Fierce, Level 1 Soul Illusion SC, Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC The timing to get the Aura Soul Spark SC is VERY difficult, but possible. 9. (corner) Level 1 Soul Illusion SC, Slide, Slide, Slide, Slide, Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC If you thought the timing was hard in the last combo, this one's darn near impossible. The timing between the slides must be very precise, and the timing between the last slide and the SC is *VERY* hard to get, but slightly possible. I have done this combo before, so yes, it does work, it's just really hard since nothing cancels here and so you have to time ever so accurately. 10. (corner) Soul Illusion SC, Slide, Slide, Slide, Slide, Slide, etc. As an alternative, you can just keep on sliding. The timing between the slides is a real tough one, so there's a good chance that you'll stuff up. Don't bother with this combo (except in console practice modes). Your opponent will get dizzy very easily by this, if by some miracle you ever master the timing. 11. (from James Chen) (vs. Sodom, corner) C.Short, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse Now here's some real tough timing. The timing for the JN.Fierce has to be *just* as you jump forward. Then you have to do the C.Jab just as you land. This will dizzy opponents *very* easily, so there's little chance you'll get the full 104 hits of it. Also, your opponent will probably be KO'd before you get all the hits anyway. Most importantly, it only works against Sodom in the corner. The timing is so tough I don't bother with this combo either. I have sat down on Practice Mode for ages trying this, and yes, I can get every individual section to work (linking the Soul Illusion and a JN.Fierce, the finishing part where you complete the combo with the chain combo, and the start), so I know it works, but I can't say I've gotten the whole combo to connect since the timing is just so tough. **Maximum Combo (Vs. Sodom, corner) C.Short, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, Level 1 Soul Illusion, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse = 104 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos -General note : Rose has very no overhead and no good leads for semi combos besides her slide. This makes her VERY limited in this department, besides the standard ticks. 1. Slide, throw Counter #1 : (vs. sweeps) Slide, S.Forward Counter #2 : Slide, Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC **Strategies I haven't fully mastered Rose yet. I thought I had figured out her strategy, when it became apparent to me that her Aura Soul Throw SC is useless except for finishing opponents off, since it can be recovery rolled from. The strategy I play now, adjusted to the problem, is based on poking and simple defence, and using her other SCs. Poke with her slide often. It has great range and recovery. Most people will try to test the slide's recovery with a sweep after blocking it, so just do a S.Forward to hit them cleanly or a Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC. Make sure you don't slide from right up close, or otherwise it won't recover in time to defend. Just make sure you hold back and block from time to time, since there is enough time to get SCs in against the slide. Once you have started to poke a lot, besides using SCs and Dragon Punch type moves to beat you, opponents will either try using projectiles to push you back or try and get that jump in to lead to a major combo. Anticipate when your opponent will try for the projectile; block at first, but when you think you can see a pattern, reflect it and continue poking. Against jumping attacks, just use a C.Fierce to hit them out of the air *always*. Try not to use other anti air defences. However, if you are playing against someone who does not recovery roll, feel free to use the Aura Soul Throw SC, since besides the big fault, it's a pretty good SC. A combo you will have to learn with Rose is the C.Fierce, Level 1 Soul Illusion SC, Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC. Opponents will automatically block as soon as they see you initiate the Soul Illusion SC. This makes you an easy target for quick ACs because of the multiple hit effect, and the multiple hit effect makes it harder to tick and her throw will waste her Soul Illusion SC since the same damage will be inflicted. Therefore, it's important to learn this combo since it makes you less predictable. It does huge damage, so practice and learn it. The Aura Soul Spark SC is good at Level 1 for juggles after C.Roundhouse sweeps. Just cancel the trip and watch them burn. The Level 3 version can be used to reflect SC projectiles, but don't do it from way out far since your opponent will recover in time to block or jump over. Rose's throw will swap sides with the opponent, as will her AC. Therefore, when you are cornered, try and get a throw or AC to corner your opponent. Try not to use a throw or AC when you've got an opponent cornered. Overall, Rose should be used offensively yet defensively. Poke, reflect fireballs, and simply do a C.Fierce as an anti air. --= 3.10 Sagat =-- Sagat was the greatest fighter in the world until a young man named Ryu defeated him. Now, Sagat seeks revenge. Starting Pose #1 : Sagat looks at his opponent, then laughs. Starting Pose #2 : (when fighting Ryu) Sagat's scar glows, and Sagat winces in pain. Winning Pose #1 : Sagat folds his arms and laughs. Winning Pose #2 : Sagat folds his arms with one hand at his chin, as though in deep thought. He looks at his opponent and grins. **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Sagat does a standing side kick. It has pretty good range, and sends the opponent flying across the screen. It comes out a bit slowly though, and if it's blocked, usually you won't recover in time to block any counterattacks. Use it mainly as a ground counter to poking attacks, that is, if you choose to use it. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #2. **Miscellaneous Information Sagat's S.Roundhouse can hit twice from up close. 3 or so hits of Sagat's JN.Strong will dizzy an opponent. Unfortunately, this punch is so awkward to actually hit someone with. Why? I have no idea. **Normal Specialty Moves None. **Useful Normal Moves S.Roundhouse : The big kick. Useful anti air from long range. C.Forward : Good low attack for poking, decent range. **Special Moves * High Tiger Shot QCF + punch Sagat throws a nice big fireball at a very high height. For some characters, this can be difficult to jump over, but don't use it as your sole line of defence since everyone can get around fireballs pretty easily. Sagat's long arm extension makes him a good jump in target, so be careful with this. Most people will crouch under the High Tiger Shot, so usually throwing them from long range will keep the opponent pinned temporarily. * Low Tiger Shot QCF + kick Sagat throws a nice big fireball at normal Ryu/Ken/Akuma fireball height. This makes Sagat a great jump in target since the fireball is so easy to jump over in contrast to his High Tiger Shot. Again, the long arm extension makes Sagat easy to nail, so use carefully. * Tiger Blow DP + punch Sagat's Tiger Blow (formerly Tiger Uppercut) has been reduced to essentially a combo only move. It hits 1, 3, or 7 times, depending on button pressed. Unfortunately, the Tiger Blow has mediocre anti air priority, making it less useful. The Fierce version has it's damage distributed such that the first hit does lots, the second hit does decent, and the other five do a very puny amount. It goes well in combos, but you have to know you're going to connect since the initial hit's ground range is poor, and you don't want to be going for any suicide combos. Only the Strong or Fierce versions can juggle the opponent. * Tiger Crush DP + kick Sagat's Tiger Crush (formerly Tiger Knee) is now a much longer range, more useful attack. Every version can hit up to 2 times, and it's quite fast, so you can catch jumping opponents by surprise by doing it fairly early. It can be crouched under, but it has decent recovery. **Super Combos * Tiger Genocide 2QCF + kick Level 1 : A Tiger Crush and Strong Tiger Blow, 5 hits. Level 2 : A Tiger Crush and Fierce Tiger Blow, 9 hits. Level 3 : A Tiger Crush, 2 Tiger Blows, 12 hits. Sagat does a combination of his Tiger Crush followed by a Tiger Blow or two. The Tiger Genocide SC can go through fireballs pretty easily, and has pretty good range. This SC cannot be buffered in. No, I am not kidding. If you cancel a C.Forward into the Tiger Genocide SC, your opponent can get hit by the C.Forward and yet still manage to block your Tiger Genocide SC. This limits it's uses considerably. The Tiger Crush part of the SC has great initial range, so you can use it as an anti fireball move from close to mid range. * Tiger Cannon 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 4 hits, no knockdown. Level 2 : 5 hits, no knockdown. Level 3 : 6 hits, final hit flames. Sagat throws a very big fireball at his High Tiger Shot height which will nullify fireballs, losing 1 hit for each projectile it passes through. The Tiger Cannon SC is very powerful, but since it is at the High Tiger Shot height, it's uses are limited since it can't get crouchers. Again, the first hit in the SC fireball does the most, and using it as an anti fireball move at anything higher than Level 2 will result in a sense of being ripped off when one observes how much damage has been done. This can be used in combos, but only when you hit an opponent who is standing. * Tiger Raid 2QCB + kick Level 1 : 6 hits. Level 2 : 7 hits. Level 3 : 7 hits, final hit flames. Sagat does several kicks followed by a flying kick that goes horizontally. This SC has good recovery, but you will be a bit close for throws should it be blocked. It has very short initial range, but it will go great in combos. It's great in counter semi combos. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, S.Strong can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, C.Strong, and C.Forward can be cancelled into a special move or SC. - S.Short can be cancelled into a special move or SC if you connect with it from very close. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, Tiger Blow 2. NK.Forward, C.Strong, Tiger Blow 3. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Strong, C.Roundhouse 4. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, C.Forward, Low Tiger Shot 5. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, S.Strong, Tiger Crush EXPERT 6. (corner) Tiger Crush, Strong or Fierce Tiger Blow The Tiger Blow is very very very difficult to time, but possible. **SC Combos -General note : Even more so than Guy, Sagat's special moves get in the way of his SCs, besides the Tiger Raid SC. EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Tiger Raid SC INTERMEDIATE 2. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, C.Strong, Tiger Raid SC EXPERT 3. (corner) JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, C.Strong, Tiger Raid SC, Strong or Fierce Tiger Blow The timing for the Tiger Blow is very precise, such that 95% of the time, I can't get it to work, except against Chun Li. 4. JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, C.Forward, Tiger Cannon SC **Maximum Combo (corner) JN.Roundhouse, S.Jab, C.Strong, Level 3 Tiger Raid SC, Fierce Tiger Blow = 17 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. Tiger Raid SC, throw Counter #1 : Tiger Raid SC, Tiger Raid SC or Tiger Genocide SC or Tiger Blow 2. (vs. crouchers) Tiger Crush, throw Counter #1 : Tiger Crush, Tiger Raid SC or Tiger Genocide SC or Tiger Blow **Strategies Sagat must be played very carefully to win. The main problem you need to address are his anti airs, and what combos you can consistently go for, plus how to make an approach at your opponent. You will find that characters with high priority jumping attacks can trouble Sagat considerably. For example, Ryu's JN.Roundhouse beats Sagat's S.Roundhouse, Tiger Crush, and Tiger Blow, if he times it right. Furthermore, an AC won't get him in time since he'll land and block it due to the AC's delay in coming out, and if you use a Tiger Genocide and the Tiger Blow misses, he can recovery roll back from the SC and combo YOU before you can recover. So what can you do? Use your height to your advantage! S.Roundhouse him out of the air a couple of times, see if he will begin to try to do his JN.Roundhouse early to hit you out of your S.Roundhouse. Since he has to do it early, you can actually stand up and block it very high, and Tiger Blow him for all 7 hits before he lands! This trick is hard to master, but it's worth learning. Otherwise, just crouch and Tiger Blow him just before he lands, since it'll be a lot harder for him to jump kick you when you're crouching. Personally, I prefer the first anti air method since it doesn't leave Sagat as combo fodder. You may also wish to do the Tiger Crush early before they are expecting to kick, and take them by surprise with it. Sagat's chain combos are quite short, so it'll be tough to do a safe combo against a cornered opponent. Just try jumping in from afar, and following up your jump kick with a C.Forward into a Low Tiger Shot. You may wish to not do the Low Tiger Shot at all, since Sagat's arms stick out so far. This is important since Sagat can be effective in cornering an opponent and nailing them with his big kicks. You may also find that since Sagat's ground speed is slow (although he can walk back very fast), you'll have difficulty getting close to your opponent. Try leading with a Jab High Tiger Shot, since mostly people will just crouch and wait for it to pass overhead. Whilst they're waiting, walk up and try a C.Forward or a jumping kick. You can also try a Tiger Raid SC to lead, since that has pretty good recovery. Overall, Sagat can't rely on any one constant strategy. He must constantly change his moves to keep the opponent at bay. This makes Sagat a tricky character to play. Not one of my favourite characters. --= 3.11 M.Bison =-- Bison is on his usual worldwide tour to recruit street fighters into his army for world domination. Bison is known as Vega in Japan. Starting Pose : Bison floats for a while with his arms folded, grinning at his opponent, and then he slowly hovers down to the ground. Winning Pose #1 : Bison folds his arms, grins, and says "Huh, nuruiwa!", meaning "You're slow." Winning Pose #2 : Bison teleports to a spot above the ground and floats up and down, with his arms folded and a mocking grin. Winning Pose #3 : Bison faces the screen, and makes a slashing gesture across the throat with his thumb. **Alpha Counter AC motion + punch Bison does an open handed palm strike. Very fast, good range. It's one of the best ACs in the game, useful for countering anything except the longest range poking attacks. **Taunt Neutral + START : Like winning pose #1, but Bison says nothing. F + START : Identical to winning pose #3. **Miscellaneous Information Bison's S.Roundhouse can hit twice from up close. Bison has no chain combos. His JN.Roundhouse and JN.Fierce have a short delay before they come out. Get used to this, because if you don't, you could stuff up combos with amazing frequency. **Normal Specialty Moves None. **Useful Normal Moves C.Roundhouse : Bison's good old long range slide. It goes almost a full screen in distance. C.Fierce : A semi effective air counter uppercut. S.Roundhouse : A slow kick that can hit twice from close. **Special Moves * Psycho Shot CBF + punch Bison throws pretty big fireballs at a height just above normal. Guy's, Rose's, and Sodom's slides can all go under it. It has a brief delay before it comes out. The Jab version can be used from full screen range to start corner combos. * Double Knee Press CBF + kick Bison jumps horizontally with his legs outstretched. This move can hit twice and has excellent recovery. It goes great in combos, and does pretty good damage. This is Bison's primary attack move. * Demon Stomp (Head Press) CDU + kick (+ punch) Bison jumps up and quickly stomps on the opponent's head. He then jumps up again and can be controlled as he comes down. Pressing punch whilst he comes down will make him do a Psycho Fist. Both hits must be blocked standing. The second hit is way too predictable and so easy to see coming, it may be better to retreat instead of going for the Psycho Fist. To use the second hit effectively, try coming from behind your opponent with it (stomp, fly over opponent, come down from behind). * Demon Flight (Somersault Skull Diver) CDU + punch (+ punch) Bison jumps up slowly. Pressing punch again will make Bison flip back and come down with a Psycho Fist. This is a good fake for the Demon Stomp. Again, it must be blocked standing. * Teleport (Vega Warp) DP + 3 punch/kick or RDP + 3 punch/kick Bison teleports directly to a position determined by the motion and buttons pressed. A forward Dragon Punch motion with 3 punches puts you right in front of your opponent. A forward Dragon Punch motion with 3 kicks puts you just behind your opponent. A reverse Dragon Punch motion with 3 punches puts you at mid range in front of your opponent. A reverse Dragon Punch motion with 3 kicks puts further away in front of your opponent. The teleport is pretty instantaneous and can get you out of corners easily. I think there is just a slight instant in during Bison's recovery in which he cannot block; otherwise, it's got very good recovery. Use it when necessary. **Super Combos * Knee Press Nightmare CBF2 + kick Level 1 : 2 Double Knee Presses, 4 hits. Level 2 : 2 Double Knee Presses, 6 hits. Level 3 : 2 Double Knee Presses and a slide, 8 hits. Bison performs multiple Double Knee Presses. This SC can go through fireballs at all levels : the timing has to be pretty precise for the Level 1 version. It's got very good ground priority, and recovers well at Level 1 or 2. Bison's primary ground counter semi combo attack. * Psycho Crusher CBF2 + punch Level 1 : 3 hits. Level 2 : 4 hits. Level 3 : 6 hits. Bison flies across the screen covered in blue Psycho Powered flames. The number of Levels used determines how many hits and how far he flies. The Level 1 version will be very short, about half screen. The Level 2 version is about a screen's length. The Level 3 version will fly continuously until Bison reaches a side of the screen. This move juggles very well, and can be used as a mid range anti air move. The Level 1 version is probably the most powerful Level 1 SC in the game. However, Bison can be hit out of the Psycho Crusher SC very easily, so you have to be pretty careful with it. A jump kick will trade with a Level 1 Psycho Crusher almost every time, so time it precisely. This is a great counter against sweeps, as it will just fly over the sweep and land all potential hits. It's got good range, and flies very quickly, so you can nail an opponent from mid range if you catch them with their guard down. The Level 1 version recovers fairly quickly, although there is a short time in which as you come down, your opponent can hit you. However, at this time, you are still technically in the air. Therefore, if they try to chain combo you, you'll get hit by the first hit and reel back, avoiding all the other hits (unless you get juggled), although you can still be thrown before you recover if you land too close to your opponent. Overall, use the Psycho Crusher SC frequently. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - Bison has no chain combos. This limits his combos severely. * Interruptable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, S.Short, C.Short, C.Strong, and C.Forward can be cancelled into a special move or SC. - I have seen the CPU, on many occasions, cancel the S.Forward, but I have never been able to do it myself. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Double Knee Press 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Psycho Shot 3. (corner, start from just under full screen away) Jab Psycho Shot, C.Roundhouse The slide should reach the opponent and knock them down just before they can recover from the Psycho Shot. INTERMEDIATE 4. (corner, start from just under full screen away) Jab Psycho Shot, Roundhouse Double Knee Press If positioned correctly, the Double Knee Press should be able to reach them for both hits. EXPERT 5. (corner, start from full screen away) Jab Psycho Shot, JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Double Knee Press To do this, you actually have to walk forward a little before you jump. This combo is VERY tough to position properly. 6. (start from a full screen away) Jab Psycho Shot, Teleport behind opponent, S.Roundhouse A 3 hitter that works easier on thinner opponents. Timing is crucial, you have to do the moves as close together as possible. **SC Combos -General note : Since Bison's jump is so quick now, charging up a SC in time is darn near impossible, but I have done it a couple of times now. EXPERT 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Strong, Psycho Crusher SC 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Knee Press Nightmare SC 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Level 1 or 2 Knee Press Nightmare SC, Psycho Crusher SC 4. (corner) C.Strong, C.Jab, Knee Press Nightmare SC The link is hard to time but possible. 5. (start from a full screen away) Jab Psycho Shot, Level 3 Psycho Crusher **Maximum Combo JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Level 3 Knee Press Nightmare SC = 10 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. Double Knee Press, throw No counters for this. There is not enough charge time after the Double Knee Press. You can try Double Knee Press, Teleport behind, throw if your opponent tries to sweep you. 2. C.Forward, Demon Stomp Counter #1 : C.Forward, Demon Flight Well, that's what the Demon Flight is for, isn't it? Counter #2 : C.Forward, pause, Double Knee Press or Knee Press Nightmare SC 3. Level 1 Knee Press Nightmare SC, throw or Demon Stomp Counter #1 : Level 1 Knee Press Nightmare SC, Double Knee Press or Knee Press Nightmare SC Counter #2 : (vs. sweeps) Level 1 Knee Press Nightmare SC, Psycho Crusher SC **Strategies Bison is now an all offensive fighter. Unfortunately, the fact that he has charge time on every offensive move doesn't really help. Bison's best poking move is by far the Double Knee Press. It recovers so quickly, and if it connects, it does good damage. Furthermore, if it's blocked, Bison can easily just tack on another C.Forward, Double Knee Press to keep the opponent pinned (although you should be aware that like any semi combo, your opponent can just SC you out of it). Bison's S.Forward has pretty good range, and should the opponent try to jump out, his C.Fierce beats most jump kicks pretty easily. Bison's Demon Stomp comes out very quickly, and is a surprisingly effective overhead when combo'd in. You should use it oftenly when your opponent becomes defensive. Bison's SCs are very powerful, and besides the fact that they are hard to combo in, they are pretty useful. They come out so quickly with great rushing range and speed, making them great mid range counters to any missed attacks. Remember, Bison also has a teleport that can get you out of trouble easily. Make sure you use it when you're cornered, since Bison's C.Fierce is not such a hot anti air if your opponent gets above you. I have also been able to play Bison reasonably defensively also. This strategy just revolved around teleporting away, and relying on Jab Psycho Shots. Since the Psycho Shot is so big, you can try to annoy people with it (you know, like how the CPU does). Every now and then, I jumped in with a JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Demon Stomp semi combo, and from time to time I went in with a Double Knee Press. This strategy is also effective, since the initial defensive play usually frustrates opponents when they can't catch you. Bison has no chain combos but he has great special moves to make up for it. His combos are pretty limited, but his variety of good moves that do decent damage anyway along with powerful SCs make him an effective character if he's played right. --= 3.12 Akuma =-- Akuma is seeking an opponent worthy of his skill. In Japan, Akuma is known as Gouki. Akuma means "devil", whilst Gouki means "great demon". Starting Pose : Akuma begins with his back turned, and then turns around, stomps on the ground with red flames around his upper body. Winning Pose #1 : Akuma turns his back, and a red Chinese character appears, saying "Ten", meaning "Heaven" (more info on this in section 5.3). Winning Pose #2 : Akuma stomps on the ground, shaking. **Alpha Counter AC motion + kick Akuma does a C.Roundhouse sweep in reverse. It has decent range and comes out and recovers pretty quickly. It's best use is in countering chain combos. **Taunt Neutral + START : Akuma stomps on the ground, shaking the screen. **Miscellaneous Information Akuma's S.Forward can hit twice. **Normal Specialty Moves * Overhead Chop (Zugai Hasatsu - Skull Crusher) F + Strong Akuma does a nice karate chop whilst moving slightly forward for 2 hits. This is the best overhead in the game. It comes out the fastest, and has great recovery. * Hop Kick (Senpuu Kyaku - Whirlwind Kick) F + Forward This is identical to Ryu's Hop Kick. It can be used greatly in semi combos, and to hop over sweeps and slides easily for clean hits. * Diving Kick (Tenma Kuujin Kyaku - Angel Air Blade Kick) Whilst jumping forward, D + Forward You have to press the button *just* as Akuma peaks at his forward jump. The Diving Kick comes off very quickly and can surprise opponents who expect to time their anti airs at the last second. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to combo off unless you hit from reasonably out far. **Useful Normal Moves JN.Roundhouse : The great priority jumping kick. JN.Jab : The great priority jumping jab. S.Forward : A 2 hit axe kick, this is a great anti air move. C.Fierce : An uppercut that reaches very high, useful anti air. **Special Moves * Fireball (Gouhadouken - Great Wave Motion Punch) QCF + punch Akuma's fireball has quick recovery. Any version can knock down from close. It can be played in fireball traps pretty well, and is your standard long range combo finisher, since the Fierce version is very fast. * Flaming Fireball (Shakunetsu Hadouken - Flaming Wave Motion Punch) HCF + punch Akuma charges for a while, with flames around his upper body. He then releases a red fireball that will flame and knock down. It can hit 1, 2, or 3 times, depending on button pressed. It can also juggle, but due to the delay coming out, it has very few uses. When using ground fireballs, avoid using this since it's slow to come out. Be very careful, since the motions are very sensitive. * Air Fireball (Zankuu Hadouken - Air Slasher Wave Motion Punch) Whilst jumping, QCF + punch Akuma throws a fireball diagonally downward. The Jab version can float almost a full screen length, and is great for keeping opponents back. The Strong version goes a bit more downwards, and the Fierce version goes very quickly at about 45 degrees to the ground. The Air Fireball is one of Akuma's best attacks. An offensive and defensive wonder move. The Air Fireball stuns opponents for so long, it can be strung into combos easily in the corner. However, the Air Fireball only does about as much damage as a medium attack. Finally, don't keep the rookie's tendency to become overly reliant on it against expert opponents. * Hurricane Kick (Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku - Tornado Air Slasher Kick) QCB + kick Akuma's Hurricane Kick spins as fast as Ken's, but it knocks down like Ryu's, and juggles opponents. It can hit up to 3 times, juggling for pretty good damage. It can be done in the air to set up simple juggle combos. * Dragon Punch (Goushoryuken - Great Rising Dragon Punch) DP + punch Akuma's Dragon Punch has the highest priority out of all the Dragon Punches in the game. It can hit 1, 2, or 3 times, depending on button used. It goes at an angle like Ryu's Dragon Punch, but can do a lot more damage. It's a lot more useful since it can juggle opponents. Like Ken's Dragon Punch, the Jab version is most useful against jumpers, since the Strong and Fierce versions will do small damage unless you land those first hits. * Ground Roll (Zenpou Tenshin - Forward Roll) QCB + punch Akuma takes a hop and then rolls. The roll is invulnerable to fireballs, but the hop makes it useless since he'll be hit out of the hop almost every time. The distance is NOT variable. Don't bother with this move. * Hundred Demon Attack (Hyakki Shuu) XQC + punch Akuma does a leap like Guy's Bushin Leap. It's height and length is variable like Guy's Bushin Leap. Akuma can do lots of things whilst he is doing this move : Hyakki Gousai (Hundred Demon Power Crusher) Press punch when above opponent. Akuma will grab their shoulders and perform a somersault shoulder breaker. This is a throw, but it can be crouched under. Hyakki Goushou (Hundred Demon Power Thrust) Press punch when not close to opponent. Akuma will do a palm strike. Short range. Hyakki Goutsui (Hundred Demon Power Drop) Press kick when next to opponent. Akuma will grab the opponent, take them nice and high, and come down to slam them. This is a throw, and it canNOT be crouched under. Hyakki Gousen (Hundred Demon Spike) Press kick when not close to opponent. Akuma will come down with a drop kick, and lay on his back for a while. Short range. If you don't press any buttons, Akuma will come down with a short slide. The slide can knock opponents down. This is good if opponents try to trip you as you land, since the slide comes out *instantly*, beating their sweep. Mainly, I find the kick throw most useful since th punch throw can be crouched under. Just use it in simple semi combos from time to time (as if Akuma doesn't have enough semi combos anyway). * Teleport (Ashura Senkuu - Ashura's Air Flash [Ashura is a god of war]) DP + 3 punch/kick or RDP + 3 punch/kick Akuma glides across the screen, straight through anything, ending up at a spot determined by the motion and button pressed. The direction in which you do the Dragon Punch motion determines in which way you teleport. Punches will teleport you a long distance, kicks a short distance. A dead easy way of escaping corner traps. **Super Combos * Great Fireball SC (Messatsu Gouhadou - Great Wave Motion Slaughterer) 2HCB + punch Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits. Level 3 : 8 hits, final hit flames. Akuma gathers energy at both hands, and then launches a huge fireball. Every version knocks opponents down. This is the most powerful SC fireball in the game. The only bad point is that it's ridiculously hard to do. You have to do the two half circle motions closely together to get it to work. It's tough, but you can master it somewhat. Use it similarly to Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken SC. * Great Dragon Punch SC (Messatsu Goushoryuu - Great Rising Dragon Slaughterer) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 2 Dragon Punches, 4 hits. Level 2 : 2 Dragon Punches, 6 hits. Level 3 : 3 Dragon Punches, 8 hits. Akuma does multiples Dragon Punches in a row whilst sliding forward. This is similar to Ken's Shoryureppa SC, but different in a couple of ways. Firstly, Level 3 does 8 hits, with no flame. This makes very little difference. Secondly, the Level 1 version juggles a LOT better than Ken's Level 1 Shoryureppa SC. This means that the Level 1 version can be used as an anti air move if you get really bored. Thirdly, Akuma's Great Dragon Punch SC has less initial ground range than Ken's Shoryureppa SC. This means that it's harder to land that big damage first hit in a combo, unless you don't use many chain combo attacks. It also means it's harder to snag sweeps with it. Other than that, it's pretty identical to Ken's Shoryureppa. * Great Air Fireball SC (Tenma Gouzankuu - Angel Power Air Slasher) Whilst jumping, 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 6 hits. Level 3 : 8 hits. Akuma throws an air fireball that does multiple hits. The force of the fireball release launches Akuma a bit into the air. This can be air blocked. This move cannot be recovery rolled from after it hits you. The Great Air Fireball SC travels much like a Fierce Air Fireball. The launch means that if it's blocked, your opponent can throw a projectile and make you have to land on it, getting a free hit. However, the launch means that if you see a SC fireball coming, you can just jump up and do it, and the launch will propel you right over their SC fireball whilst they get nailed by yours. Thus, this is a great anti SC fireball move. * Raging Demon (Shun Gokusatsu - Imprisoning Death Flash) ARCADE Jab, Jab, tap F, Short CONSOLE Jab, Jab, tap F, Short, Fierce Can only be performed at Level 3. Akuma slowly slides forward in a teleport. This is a throw and cannot be blocked. If gets within throwing range, he will grab his opponent, the screen will flash white, and Akuma will deliver 15 hits to his opponent, causing 50% damage. The Raging Demon SC cannot be recovery rolled from after it hits you. I want to dispel a myth right here. --= IMPORTANT =-- ***IF YOU TRY THIS MOVE ON AN OPPONENT AS THEY GET UP, SUCH THAT YOU ARE FLOATING IN FRONT OF THEM WHEN THEY GET UP, THEY _CAN_ JUMP AWAY FROM IT BY JUST HOLDING IN ANY UP DIRECTION, AND YOU WILL JUST MISS AND KEEP ON FLOATING!!!!!!!!!!!***. OK? Got it? So don't just trip someone and think "Aha! I got'em now!" (unless they aren't aware of this). I can't believe the number of FAQs out there that still reckon this is a great tactic. Anyway, Akuma can easily be hit out of the Raging Demon SC, so don't just do it from half a screen away and expect it to connect. It isn't that kind of SC. It's not some big SC that will guarantee you a win. It has to be used very carefully. Learn to use this in semi combos : that's where it's most devastating. **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - S.Jab, C.Jab, and C.Short can chain into a stronger attack or another Jab or Short. - S.Short, S.Strong, C.Strong, and C.Forward can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - ANY normal ground move can be cancelled into a special move or SC. Note that the S.Forward can only be cancelled during it's 1st hit. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Fierce, Dragon Punch 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Hurricane Kick 3. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Forward, C.Roundhouse, Hurricane Kick 4. C.Roundhouse, Flaming Fireball Only works on a few characters. 5. NK.Forward, C.Fierce, Flaming Fireball Again, only works on a few characters. 6. JN.Air Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch 7. JN.Air Fireball, C.Fierce, Dragon Punch 8. (corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Hurricane Kick INTERMEDIATE 9. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch 10. (corner, start from jump in range) JU.Jab Air Fireball, JN.Air Fireball, C.Fierce, Dragon Punch The Fierce Air Fireball is best for the second Air Fireball since it will hit in a combo easily, and the stun will give you enough time to get close and combo. 11. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Roundhouse Hurricane Kick EXPERT 12. (corner, start from jump in range) JU.Jab Air Fireball, JN.Air Fireball, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch The timing between the Hurricane Kicks is pretty hard. Use the Jab Dragon Punch to finish since at that height, Jab will do the most damage because with Strong and Fierce, you'll miss those first hits. Just in case you're wondering, I have been able to get 3 Short Hurricane Kicks in a row; it's just that then I can't seem to get a Dragon Punch at the end (I have however, been able to get a Great Dragon Punch SC for a couple of measly hits). 13. JN.Air Hurricane Kick, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch This only works if the Air Hurricane Kick hits once. 14. (corner) Overhead Chop, Fierce Fireball This one's very hard to time. I've done it several times, the CPU Akuma does it every time. **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Great Dragon Punch SC 2. JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, Great Dragon Punch SC 3. (corner, start from jump in range) JU.Air Fireball, JN.Great Air Fireball SC To do this one, launch the Jab Air Fireball as late as possible, and the Great Air Fireball SC as soon as possible. INTERMEDIATE 4. (corner) JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Short Hurricane Kick, Great Dragon Punch SC or Great Fireball SC Using more than 1 Level in this combo will result in a strong feeling of having been ripped off, since you'll miss out on a lot of hits and a lot of damage. EXPERT 5. (corner, start from jump in range) JU.Air Fireball, JN.Fierce, C.Short, Level 3 Great Fireball SC, Dragon Punch The SC will recover *just* in time for you to juggle with the Dragon Punch (maximum juggle of 2 hits). This is a very very very tough combo. You have to land the JN.Fierce as early in the air as possible, or otherwise after the Great Fireball SC, you'll be too far away to land a Dragon Punch. You can also try a Hurricane Kick instead of the Dragon Punch. Seeing that SC combo #5 is so tough, I'll explain here. Firstly, if the Air Fireball is too hard to string into the combo, don't do it. It's damaging enough anyway. Jump in with the Fierce punch early. Whilst it hits, you have to do the first half circle back motion (usually best to do during hit stun). When you land finish SC motion with another half circle back. During the seconds half circle motion, press Short when you are at diagonally down forward or down. It's not good to press Short at diagonally down back, since with the double button press effect, you might get a Short Hurricane Kick to come out. Finish off the motion with 3 punches, as soon as it stops hitting, allow for about half a second, and Dragon Punch. It's really hard, but I have done it several times now, so yes, it actually does work! **Maximum Combo Raging Demon = 15 hits. Geeze, so uninventive. **Semi Combos + Counters 1. C.Short, Overhead Chop or throw Counter #1 : C.Short, Hop Kick Counter #2 : C.Short, pause, Great Dragon Punch SC or Dragon Punch Counter #3 : C.Short, jump back + Fierce Air Fireball or Great Air Fireball SC 2. Hop Kick, Overhead Chop or throw Counter #1 : Hop Kick, Dragon Punch or Great Dragon Punch SC 3. Hop Kick, Raging Demon SC To do this, just start the motion for the SC during the Hop Kick If timed right, the Raging Demon SC, being a throw, will beat any normal ground move since from right up close, a throw beats any normal ground move. Counter #1 : Hop Kick, Dragon Punch or Great Dragon Punch SC 4. (vs. crouchers) C.Short, Short Hurricane Kick, throw Counter #1 : C.Short, Short Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch or Great Dragon Punch SC 5. (vs. crouchers) C.Short, Short Hurricane Kick, Raging Demon SC To do this, just start the motion for the SC during the Short Hurricane Kick. If timed right, the Raging Demon SC, being a throw, will beat any normal ground move, since from right up close, a throw beats any normal ground move. Same counters as semi combo #4. NOTE : I've NEVER seen this escaped from once the Hurricane Kick has landed without getting hit. 6. JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, NK.Forward, combo of your choice For some reason, opponents tend to try and get a C.Roundhouse sweep at you after the C.Short, when they can clearly see you're jumping. Hmmm. Counter #1 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, pause, Dragon Punch or Great Dragon Punch SC Counter #2 : JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, jump back + Fierce Air Fireball or Great Air Fireball SC 7. JN.Roundhouse, C.Forward, Jab Air Roll, Kick throw No real safe counters for this. **Strategies Akuma is basically an enhanced Ryu. He has a lot more combos with a lot of multi hit juggling moves. He is the only character in the game with 4 SCs. He is the only character in the game with practical juggling moves that are actually useful. Basically, my strategy involves jumping around with Air Fireballs, and adding in the occasional Overhead Chop. Ground Fireballs are useful in combos vs. crouchers, and you generally use ground combos finishing with a ground fireball if not executing the Overhead Chop after a couple of Jabs or Shorts. If your opponent blocks the Air Fireballs in the open, keep on going with more and more Air Fireballs until they are cornered, adding the occasional Overhead Chop. Once the opponent is cornered, really start mixing it up. Lots of Air Fireballs, Overhead Chops, and the occasional throw and ground Fireball can make it nearly impossible for the opponent to escape without taking significant damage. Whenever you see an Air Fireball hit from the right range, don't continue on with your trap, go for the kill! Jump in with an early Fierce Air Fireball; this will stun them long enough until you land. When you land, do the combo of your choice. Used right, this strategy can produce dizzies with remarkable frequency. If your opponent avoids the Air Fireball block damage by jumping over them, try jumping forward with a Jab Air Fireball, and going into a Dragon Punch as soon as you land. That way, they will jump over the Air Fireball, right into your Dragon Punch. This is called the "Air Fireball Trap". If you have trouble with your opponent trading heavy blows with your Air Fireballs, try using a Fierce Air Fireball, as this will hit before they can hit you. Go straight into a Ground Fireball or Roundhouse Hurricane when you land, but only into the Hurricane in the corner. Of course, if the Roundhouse Hurricane does not get all 3 hits, add the Dragon Punch onto the end to finish (timing for Dragon Punch is a bit tricky). If you have trouble with your opponent trading their fireball with your Air Fireball (they throw theirs when you throw yours, so you land on theirs even though they still get hit), use the Great Air Fireball SC. You will be launched up by it such that you won't land on their fireball, and they will cop a beating from your Great Air Fireball SC. If your opponent is persistent only when you have no levels, just keep 2 or 3 levels stored, throwing level 1 SCs only, to keep 2 levels for the mere threat of the Great Air Fireball SC. Finally, Akuma's Raging Demon SC, when used in semi combos properly, is extremely deadly. One note : if the opponent is in block stun during the SC animation pause, they can jump away. So if you do a JN.Air Fireball, and go into the Raging Demon SC immediately upon landing, it's escapable. They can also just AC it since they are still in block stun. So only use the leads I have listed (unless you find a better one, in which case, email me and share your great lead). You will find that most Akumas you play in the arcade will be rookies. They will be over reliant on the Air Fireball, and dead easy to beat. Only true masters are actually any good with Akuma. Rookies may still get annoying with their Air Fireballs, but they'll be easy to beat in the end. Akuma is so versatile, that besides my strategy which I personally find most effective, there are many others that can be played. One final note : Akuma is BY FAR the hardest character to master in SFA. That now infamous 30% damage handicap plays a pretty big role in matches. You have to become a real master before you can win consistently with him (that is, before you find it profitable to have new moves in exchange for the damage handicap). The damage handicap means that at normal damage, some SCs can do 80% at Level 3, and at high damage, some Level 3 SCs can do 100%. WARNING : Once you are a true master of Akuma, matches may become one-sided and boring. You may also find it boring to play Ryu. --= 3.13 Dan =-- Dan is seeking revenge for his father's death at the hands of Sagat. Starting Pose : Dan sticks his forearm out at his opponent. Winning Pose #1 : Similar to starting pose, but he grunts. Winning Pose #2 : When you win perfect, it's identical to winning pose #2 except he grunts in a much higher pitch. Winning Pose #3 : (I've only seen this happen once) Dan turns and faces the screen. With a big smile on his face, he gives you the thumbs up sign, and makes the high pitched sound he does in winning pose #2. **Alpha Counter AC motion + kick Dan does a C.Roundhouse sweep in reverse. It has decent range, comes out and recovers quickly. It's most useful in countering chain combos. **Taunt Neutral + START : Identical to winning pose #1. Dan can taunt infinitely! Hooray! **Miscellaneous Information Dan's S.Roundhouse can hit twice. His C.Roundhouse sweep, for some reason, sends the opponent flying way back. **Normal Specialty Moves None. **Useful Normal Moves C.Fierce : A high reaching uppercut, decent air counter. **Special Moves * Fireball (Gadouken - Self Taught Punch) QCF + punch Dan throws a fireball at slightly higher than normal height, and it travels a short distance before dissipating. The button pressed determines how far it travels. You only really ever use the Fierce version since the other versions don't go nearly as far. The Fierce version goes slightly shorter than the range of a C.Roundhouse. * Dragon Punch (Kouryuken - Shining Dragon Punch) DP + punch Similar to Ryu's Dragon Punch, but it is never invincible. It trades with high priority jumping kicks frequently. Knocks opponents down in a single hit. * Gale Kick (Dankuu Kyaku - Dan's Air Slicer Kick) QCB + kick Dan flies forward with a series of kicks. Hits 1, 2, or 3 times, depending on button pressed. The Short version can go over fireballs if timed right. The Roundhouse version can do considerable damage if it connects. If blocked, you'll land and recover in time to block, but not to jump away, so opponents can sometimes throw you (a reversal Chain Grab by Birdie is 100% inescapable). **Super Combos * Super Fireball (Shinkuu Gadouken - Vacuum Self Taught Punch) 2QCF + punch Level 1 : 3 hits, travels about 1/4 of screen. Level 2 : 4 hits, travels about 1/2 of screen. Level 3 : 5 hits, travels about 3/4 of screen. Dan throws a huge fireball that has limited range at higher than normal fireball height. This is actually a decent SC. The Level 1 version can be used as a good close up counter since it comes out nice and quickly. The Level 3 version can be used in combos pretty well. Not good for fireball battles, but certainly useful in close to mid range combat. * Double Dragon Punch (Kouryuu Rekka - Shining Dragon Blaze) 2QCF + kick Level 1 : 4 hits. Level 2 : 5 hits. Level 3 : 6 hits. Dan does 2 Dragon Punches. Level 1 is stationary. Level 2 makes Dan's first Dragon Punch slide outwards a little, followed by a stationary Dragon Punch. Level 3 makes Dan's first Dragon Punch slide out considerably, followed by a stationary Dragon Punch. This juggles a LOT better than Ken's Shoryureppa SC. Even the Level 3 version can be used to hit jumpers, since still, as long as you do it reasonably late, you'll get most of the hits. * Desperation (Hisshou Muraiken - Sure victory with unreliable punch) 2QCB + kick Level 1 : Series of kicks, 5 hits. Level 2 : Series of punches ending in a Dragon Punch, 7 hits. Level 3 : Series of kicks, series of punches, ends in a Dragon Punch, 12 hits. Dan throws a multi hit combo in place. The Level 1 version is the only version that doesn't leave Dan open. You may find that with the Level 1 version, some characters only get hit 4 times. This move does pretty good damage, and besides that, it looks pretty cool (just like Wolverine's Weapon X and Captain America's Final Justice from MSH). **Chainable Moves and Interruptable Moves * Chainable Moves - C.Jab can chain into a stronger attack or into another Jab or Short. - S.Jab and S.Short can chain into a stronger attack. * Interruptable Moves - Every normal based ground move except the S.Forward and S.Roundhouse can be cancelled into a special move or SC. **Regular Combos EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Fierce, Roundhouse Gale Kick Omit the C.Jab if necessary. 2. JN.Fierce, C.Fierce, Fireball 3. NK.Forward, C.Short, Dragon Punch 4. JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Roundhouse INTERMEDIATE 5. NK.Forward, C.Jab, S.Short, C.Forward, Fireball This combo does little but look good. Stick to combos #1 and #4. **SC Combos EASY 1. JN.Fierce, C.Short, Double Dragon Punch SC 2. JN.Fierce, C.Forward, Super Fireball SC 3. NK.Forward, C.Jab, Desperation SC EXPERT 4. JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Forward, Level 3 Super Fireball SC This only works at Level 3 since the other versions won't make the distance. Press and hold Forward if you find the Double Dragon Punch SC accidentally coming out. 5. (corner) JN.Fierce, C.Jab, C.Fierce, Roundhouse Gale Kick, Double Dragon Punch SC The timing for the Double Dragon Punch SC is very tough. **Maximum Combo JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, Level 3 Desperation = 14 hits. **Semi Combos + Counter Semi Combos 1. Gale Kick, throw Counter #1 : Gale Kick, Dragon Punch or Double Dragon Punch SC 2. (from slightly out of C.Roundhouse range) Super Fireball SC, throw Counter #1 : Super Fireball SC, Dragon Punch or Super Fireball SC **Strategies Dan was intended by Capcom to be a joke character. They made a mistake. Dan is, believe it or not, actually decent. His Gale Kick combos do huge damage, and his SCs are pretty powerful also. I think Dan was supposed to be played offensively. Dan requires the use of fakes from time to time, because sometimes it's difficult to get in close at your opponent when they keep on hitting you back with Dragon Punch type moves. Jump in lots with Dan : they are probably your best leads. Dan's Super Fireball SC has decent range and comes out pretty quickly. His Double Dragon Punch SC does a lot of damage and is useful against jumpers or in combos. His Desperation SC will hammer the opponent completely from close. Used carefully, Dan's SCs are among the best in the game. Dan should be played offensively overall, with the Gale Kick as your primary attack weapon. Best of all, he can taunt infinitely in a round. A fun character for experts. --= 3.13 Comboability =-- Obviously some characters are easier to combo than others. This has always been the case in Capcom games, and in SFA, it's no different. Most combos will work on every character, some will work much more easily on certain characters. I think there are 2 main categories in character comboability in SFA : jugglibility and push-back. Jugglibility is how well a character can be hit by juggle combos. Push-back is how far a character gets pushed back by Fierce and Roundhouse hits. As far as I've seen, there's no difference in getting pushed back by Jabs, Shorts, Strongs, or Forwards. With Ken, I've been able to land a JN.Roundhouse, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, S.Roundhouse (7 hits) combo on EVERY character. It was just as hard to do it to Guy or Chun Li as it was to do it to Birdie or Sodom. Another thing to take into account is how well the character can be neck kicked. Below is a brief description on how easy it is to combo a certain character. And, I'll tell you now, it's pretty surprising. *Ryu Ryu is a pretty good combo target. He gets juggled pretty well, and he doesn't get pushed back particularly far either. Only very few juggle combos won't work on him. Ryu is also a very good neck kick target. *Ken Ken is just as comboable as Ryu. *Charlie Charlie is a good combo target. He seems to be a good juggle target, and most combos that work on Ryu work on Charlie. However, Charlie seems to get pushed back further than Ryu. A Ryu C.Fierce, Jab Dragon Punch combo doesn't work on him. *Chun Li Chun Li the BY FAR the best juggle combo target in the game. Almost every juggle combo works on her. She doesn't get pushed back as far as one would expect. Chun Li also gets neck kicked easily. A surprisingly great combo target. If you have any trouble with a juggle combo, try it on her. However, for some reason, Ken's Roundhouse Hurricane Kick will only hit her 3 times in the open, and 4 times in the right corner. The Hurricane Kick in general tends to work strangely against Chun Li if blocked. In the left corner, if she blocks it, you'll continue to go forward until you are basically on top of her. Each spin will result in 2 blocked hits. In the right corner, she'll get hit out. Hmmm. *Guy Guy is probably the worst combo target. He's dead hard to neck kick, and he doesn't get juggled very well. He doesn't get pushed back far however. *Birdie Birdie is a great combo target. He's easy to juggle and easy to neck kick. For some reason, Birdie gets pushed back far. With Ryu, when trying to get him with a C.Fierce, Jab Dragon Punch combo, the Jab Dragon Punch will miss! *Adon Adon is another good combo target, slightly less comboable than Ryu. He's a bit harder to neck kick, but is otherwise pretty much the same. *Sodom Sodom is probably the best combo target. He's a great juggle combo target, doesn't get pushed back far at all, and is dead easy to neck kick. *Rose Rose is just like Ryu except for one peculiarity. Like Chun Li, she will only get hit by Ken's Roundhouse Hurricane Kick 3 times. However, for Rose, it makes no difference whether she's cornered or not. *Sagat Sagat is a mediocre combo target. He's so tall that Ken's Air Hurricane Kick can actually hit him 3 times before landing. He's easy to neck kick, but not so good a juggle target. Furthermore, he gets pushed back far. That Ryu C.Fierce, Jab Dragon Punch combo doesn't work on him either. *M.Bison Bison, although fat, is NOT such a great combo target. As noted earlier, for some reason, Ryu's Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC doesn't work well on him from close. With Ken, on every other character with a JN.Fierce, C.Fierce, Fierce Dragon Punch combo, I can land 5 hits. For some reason, Bison only gets hit 4 times. Other than that, a decent neck kick target, but tough to juggle. *Akuma Akuma is just as comboable as Ryu. *Dan Dan is just as comboable as Ryu. So the lists go something like this : *Juggliblity (from easiest to juggle to hardest to juggle) 1. Chun Li (by miles) 2. Sodom/Birdie 4. Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Dan/Rose/Charlie 10. Adon/Bison/Sagat 12. Guy *Push-Back (shortest to furthest) 1. Sodom 2. Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Dan/Chun Li/Rose/Adon 9. Guy/Bison 11. Birdie/Sagat/Charlie *Neck Kicks (easiest to neck kick to hardest to neck kick) 1. Birdie/Sodom/Sagat 4. Bison/Charlie 6. Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Dan/Rose/Adon/Chun Li 13. Guy Finally, there are combos that work on crouching opponents and others that will not. Crouching makes a character easier to neck kick, and they are pushed back less by hits. This makes it easier to land combos such as Ken's NK.Forward, C.Jab, C.Short, C.Forward, Shoryureppa SC. Against a standing opponent, usually you'll miss the first hit of the SC, but against a crouching opponent, it becomes a LOT easier to get all the hits of the SC. However, crouching opponents are also harder to land jump ins on. Remember how I said before that if you time your jump in perfectly, you'll be as close to them just as if you had landed a neck kick? Well, against crouching opponents, it can become impossible (against the smaller guys) to land this perfectly timed jump in. Therefore, you won't be able to get as many ground hits. On the other hand, standing characters can sometimes be near impossible to land a neck kick against, and sometimes they aren't as wide as we'd like them to be in ground combos. Which one's more comboable? I'll leave that for you to decide. ============================================================================= *** 4) CHARACTER SPECIFIC MATCHUPS *** ============================================================================= --= 4.1 Ryu Vs. ** =-- *Ryu Vs. Ryu This match is one where you have to know your opponent's tendencies best. You should look to jump in over the fireballs to land combos frequently, but don't get predictable. Ryu's AC can beat the Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, so AC it if your opponent tries to kill you with block damage. A move you'll find very useful is the Hop Kick, since one of Ryu's best offensive tools is a C.Forward, fireball combo. *Ryu Vs. Ken Ryu has most of the advantages in this matchup. Try throwing a couple of fireballs, but watch out for the jump in. Ken's Fierce Dragon Punch does plenty of damage, so don't let him get jump in combos. If Ken tries to Hurricane Kick over your fireball, just get him with a C.Fierce or Dragon Punch before he recovers (he'll go over the fireball, hit you a couple of times, last hit will miss, you can hit him before he lands). The trick to winning here is to be able to pick the Ground Roll. As soon as you see him using it in assaults, Dragon Punch him out of it. *Ryu Vs. Charlie This should be an easy one for Ryu. Since Charlie's Flash Kick is air blockable, you should always try to get a Shinkuu Hadouken SC after landing from air blocking it. Don't try to counter Charlie's Sonic Booms from close with fireballs : he'll recover in time to get a free hit before you recover. Mainly, you'll have to watch his tripping and corner traps. If your opponent ever uses the Sonic Blade SC, just Air Hurricane Kick. You'll have to watch for his variations in anti airs and counter appropriately. *Ryu Vs. Chun Li Dead easy. Chun Li's greatest asset, her high priority jump kicks, mean exactly zero against the Dragon Punch. The thing you'll have to watch for is her C.Forward sweeps and the Split Kick. If you can see the Split Kick coming, just Dragon Punch it. The C.Forward can easily be countered with a Hop Kick. Chun Li's Kikouken is slow and easy to counter with jump in combos. You can hit Chun Li out of her Rising Spinning Kick often with your JN.Roundhouse. Easy. *Ryu Vs. Guy Guy's Bushin Leap has the range of about 3/4 of the screen. So don't throw many fireballs from around there. You can try throwing a couple, and then fake by tapping Jab or just doing the motion but not pressing the button. Then Dragon Punch him good. Try to Dragon Punch Guy if he tries the S.Forward, Bushin Leap tick. Otherwise, just do a C.Fierce. Guy is yet another sweep reliant character with his slide. The Hop Kick will once again prove very useful. *Ryu Vs. Birdie Birdie has the Leaping Chain Grab SC, so it's silly to throw fireballs at him even when he's charged up to Level 1. Birdie also has great anti air defenses, and can take out any of your jumping attacks with a S.Fierce. Therefore, your main chance of getting hits on him will be by countering his Chain Grab tick attempts. The Jab Dragon Punch is your best bet against most tick attempts. Repeated C.Shorts will also stop most tick attempts. Other than that, you'll have to try to pick when he's going to hold back. If you somehow can, walk up and throw. Try landing neck kicks, and repeating by jumping again. Do something to try and confuse him. Try poking with a C.Forward. Of course, his S.Fierce has more range, so every now and then, it's sort of safe to try to Dragon Punch him when he pokes with it. Not an easy one. *Ryu Vs. Adon Adon can counter your fireball attempts pretty easily, so you'll have to be very careful with them. Try faking by tapping Jab and then Dragon Punch whatever his counter is. The neck kick should be pretty safe since Adon's Jaguar Knee would be difficult to do as a turn around reversal. The AC will be your safest bet against his Jaguar Kick attempts. If he does a Jaguar Tooth, try jumping forward from full screen. If it's the Roundhouse version, if your jump was late, you should jump right over in perfect positioning for a neck kick. If it's the Short version, you should land in perfect position for a quick combo. If he does the Jaguar Revolver SC from mid range, just block, or if it's the Level 1 version, Dragon Punch. *Ryu Vs. Sodom Sodom should pose few problems for Ryu. Ryu's Hop Kick will be very useful in nullifying Sodom's slide. Other than that, just try to Dragon Punch Sodom's jump in attempts. You'll have to watch out for Sodom's Jitte Slice leads though. The AC should be your best bet, but be careful, since sometimes you might miss long range Jitte Slices. Jab Sodom out of any Power Bomb / Mega Power Bomb attempts. *Ryu Vs. Rose Rose is a tough matchup for Ryu. The Hop Kick will again be very handy, since Rose players like to poke with the slide. If you block the slide, just block the following S.Forward or Dragon Punch it if you think she'll go for it. Her C.Fierce will take out your jump kick every time, so the only time you can really jump in is when she's getting up. Try a good semi combo for easy damage. If Rose ever Soul Throws you (SC or standard special), just recovery roll, Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, watch that life meter drain. You'll also have to avoid fireballing too much since her Soul Reflects pretty much take care of those. A Hop Kick lead is probably the best way to get in close. *Ryu Vs. Sagat Your best weapon against Sagat are your jumping attacks, since they can beat all of Sagat's anti airs. Try to JN.Roundhouse early, but not too early. If you think he's waiting to block it, just jump in and throw. If he does the Tiger Genocide SC to hit you cleanly out of the air, just recovery roll if it's the Level 1 version and combo. If it's the Level 2 or 3 version, just fall, get up, and beat him up when he lands. The Air Hurricane Kick will fly right over any of his Tiger Shots, and will prove very useful. *Ryu Vs. Bison Be aggressive. Bison's C.Fierce can be beaten cleanly by your JN.Roundhouse if timed correctly. You'll probably have to be pretty patient since Bison likes to teleport away when you get in close. Try throwing fireballs, entice him to try to go for a Demon Stomp or Teleport. Then fake by tapping Jab, and counter appropriately. The Double Knee Press will probably cause problems, but you can AC it pretty easily. *Ryu Vs. Akuma Here's a tough matchup. Akuma's Air Fireballs basically mean you'll be on the defensive for the most of the fight. You can Dragon Punch through them from close up, or you can AC them from that close. Try jumping over his Air Fireballs, and put him on the defensive. You can try to get him with your Shinkuu Hadouken SC, but be careful since his Great Air Fireball SC can counter it cleanly. If all else fails, just go out and try to trade powerful hits with his Air Fireballs. *Ryu Vs. Dan The Gale Kick is a multi hit move and easily AC'ed. Your JN.Roundhouse can trade with his Dragon Punch pretty easily if timed right. Dan is not that tough to fireball trap, but the moves you'll have to watch out for are his Short Gale Kick and Super Fireball SC. --= 4.2 Ken Vs. ** =-- *Ken Vs. Ryu This is not an easy matchup. Your best weapon here is going to be the Ground Roll. You can use it to go under fireballs and catch Ryu with his guard down, or you can use it to tempt him into going for a bad attack. Try using the Jab Roll in combos; this will draw late counterattacks easily. The Jab Roll is so quick that it will recover in time easily. If he tries to Dragon Punch it, just block and SC him. You may also wish to try to do a Dragon Punch yourself when you come out of the Roll, since your's will beat his. Fireballing should be kept at a minimum, and only from long range. *Ken Vs. Ken Some people might still play Ken like Ryu, like they would have effectively in the older SF2s. If they are such players, they'll be dead easy to beat. If they aren't, well, it won't be so easy. Try poking with the S.Roundhouse, tempt them to try it themselves. Then, when you think they'll try it, jump over and nail a Fierce Dragon Punch combo before he recovers. The Ground Roll will be a telling factor in the match : the Ken player who uses it better will probably win. *Ken Vs. Charlie Charlie is not such an easy matchup for Ken. If you air block a Flash Kick, try a S.Roundhouse as you land. The main problem here is that the motion for a Flash Kick is so quickly done so that you may get hit out of the Ground Roll from time to time. Well timed neck kicks will be useful, since a turn around reversal Flash Kick is hard for most Charlie players. The thing you don't want to do is to get into a fireball war with Charlie. Although you can easily outpace him due to charge time, he can easily do a Sonic Boom, recover and get a free hit before you can recover. Try an Air Hurricane Kick over Sonic Booms, followed by a Shoryureppa SC. This also applies for the Sonic Blade SC. *Ken Vs. Chun Li Again, like in the Ryu Vs. Chun Li matchup, Ken's Dragon Punch means that Chun Li's high priority jump kicks mean basically nothing. Chun's Thousand Burst Kick SC requires charge time; make sure you use this to your advantage (ie. neck kick, Ground Roll, whatever to switch sides frequently). If you can't Dragon Punch the Split Kick in time, just try a S.Fierce, timed late. As for her poking with the C.Forward, just kick her with a S.Roundhouse from out of her C.Forward's range. *Ken Vs. Guy Guy's going to be poking the whole match. You can trade with or beat most of his attacks with a S.Roundhouse. You can also try fireball trapping Guy, but only do it from way out far. The AC will prove VERY useful in this matchup. The Roll will be pretty useless in this matchup since Guy is so sweep reliant, you'll get hit out of it all the time. *Ken Vs. Birdie Poke around with the C.Forward. If it hits, chain into the S.Roundhouse for 2 easy hits (you should probably chain even if it's blocked anyway). Either of Ken's SCs will counter Birdie's Chain Grab tick attempts easily. The trick here is going to be getting in close to Birdie without getting Chain Grabbed. Try a few fireballs from afar; when he looks prepared with the Leaping Chain Grab SC, tap Jab to fake him into wasting it, and land a quick SC. *Ken Vs. Adon The Dragon Punch can counter his Jaguar Kick easily, but it's so quick that you're probably best off going for ACs instead. A jump kick from afar canNOT be consistently countered by his Jaguar Knee. Try following up a long JN.Roundhouse with a C.Forward, S.Roundhouse combo. Neck kicks will be dead hard for Adon players to counter as they get up off the ground. *Ken Vs. Sodom Sodom's slide is probably going to be his most used attack. You can try to SC him out of it, but this will be pretty risky. It recovers so quickly, such that there's little you can do against it. Hit Sodom out of any Power Bomb tick attempts with preferably a SC, but if you're not fast enough, a Jab will be sufficient. The AC will be considerably useful, since a lot of Sodom's good poking attacks have quick recovery, but don't recover fast enough for an AC. *Ken Vs. Rose AC the slide. Or otherwise, use a S.Roundhouse if you think you can see it coming. Rose's C.Fierce can beat any of your jumping attacks pretty easily, so ground poking is probably your best bet. Try to poke with the C.Forward, S.Roundhouse combo. Try jumping when she has Levels; try to sucker her into using her SC, because many people are not aware that you can recovery roll from her Aura Soul Throw SC. So when she does it, recovery roll when you hit the ground, and SC her quickly. This is not an easy matchup for Ken. *Ken Vs. Sagat The Ground Roll will go under Sagat's Tiger Shots easily; follow up with a SC for good results. The Air Hurricane Kick will prove useful in going over High Tiger Shots; follow up with a Shoryureppa SC. Your jumping attacks can usually beat Sagat's anti airs cleanly, but just time them well. If he tries to Tiger Genocide SC you out of the air, just roll back and SC if it's the Level 1 version. *Ken Vs. Bison The Double Knee Press can be Dragon Punched if you react fast enough. Otherwise, it's probably best to AC it. Try to block the Demon Stomp when it gets put in combos; Dragon Punch the following Psycho Fist. The Psycho Crusher SC can be beaten by your jumping attacks most of the time. Also, if your opponent likes to Teleport on reaction to your moves, just fake and combo him as he comes out. *Ken Vs. Akuma Definitely not easy. Your Ground Roll CAN go under his Air Fireballs, but you can still be hit by them, so be careful with it. Try jumping over the Air Fireballs, and trying to get in close. If your opponent uses Jab Air Fireballs too much, try using a S.Roundhouse when he jumps in from close; you'll go under it and he'll get hit. Just don't become predictable because he can easily just do a Fierce Air Fireball instead, and combo you easily. You can try to make him land on your own fireballs when he's jumping around with Air Fireballs, but you'll have to watch out for the Great Air Fireball SC. If he goes for the Raging Demon SC ticks, AC it or die. This is one tough match (against an expert Akuma). *Ken Vs. Dan The Gale Kick can be easily AC'ed. Otherwise, throw him when he lands, since he'll probably expect to block counterattacks. Dan is actually decent : don't be soft on your defense. You might suddenly realised he has landed a Gale Kick and you've taken pretty big damage. --= 4.3 Charlie Vs. ** =-- *Charlie Vs. Ryu The key here is to catch Ryu with his guard down fireballing. The Sonic Boom recovers quickly enough to get a quick Backfist after nullifying his fireball from close. Use the variation anti airs, and make sure you never use the Sonic Blade SC, since he can Air Hurricane Kick over it easily. The Crossfire Blitz SC is very useful since it will beat most of Ryu's attacks on the ground. Corner trap, poke, and AC any fireball attempts from mid range (especially Shinkuu Hadouken SCs). *Charlie Vs. Ken Catch Ken with his guard down fireballing, just as you would against Ryu. This is abit easier since Ken's fireball recovers a bit slower than Ryu's. Your ground attacks will get beaten pretty easily by Ken's SCs, so just watch out for them, and block when you think they're coming. If he leaves himself open further away, the only real combo you can go for is a C.Jab, C.Short, S.Strong, Backfist or Stepping Side Kick. Otherwise, throw. You should be able to react fast enough to Roll combo attempts to Flash Kick them. Make sure you watch for them. *Charlie Vs. Charlie The key here is who wins the Sonic Boom battle. This doesn't mean trying to out-fireball your opponent. The trick is to pick the Sonic Boom attempt, and get a quick jump in combo. The other trick is to watch for the variations in anti air moves and counter appropriately. Most Charlie players will just stick to the Flash Kick as an anti air, so just jump in air blocking more often than not. If you know he hasn't charged up, then you can try to hit him early, but not too early, because then you'll get thrown when you land. *Charlie Vs. Chun Li Chun Li's JN.Short and JN.Forward can trade with your Flash Kick frequently. So if she gets predictable with it and just jumps in with the kick out, just block and throw when she lands. Try and Flash Kick the Split Kick, or if you haven't charged up, a S.Fierce will work also. This can be a frustrating matchup, but it's easy to win if you keep your cool. *Charlie Vs. Guy Guy's very hard for Charlie to beat. The main bummer here is that Guy's assault is usually so fast, that Charlie doesn't really have enough charge time for his special moves. Your Crossfire Blitz SC can beat just about any of Guy's ground based attacks; use it frequently. Also, his Elbow Drop can usually trade with your Flash Kick, so if you see it coming, just stand up and block, and then throw. *Charlie Vs. Birdie Jab Sonic Booms will prove very useful here, until Birdie gets a Level. Since you can't jump in on Birdie because his S.Fierce can beat any of your jumping attacks easily, you'll have to stick to the ground. Poke with trips, but hold back from time to time. He can Turn Around Headbutt through them or just get you from out of range with a S.Fierce. Remember, when he does have a Level, fake to try to get him to waste it. Tap Jab, or do the Sonic Boom motion without pressing the button. Just do something to bait him into wasting it, and then jump away and kick. *Charlie Vs. Adon Your Short Flash Kick can beat Adon's Jaguar Tooth and Jaguar Kick, so it will prove very useful here. Against the Jaguar Tooth, it's probably best to just jump forward from afar, because the Short version can fake you out pretty easily. If you jump forward late, there are two likely possibilities. He'll either do the Short version, letting you get an easy JN.Roundhouse, C.Short, C.Roundhouse combo before he recovers, or he'll do the Roundhouse version, in which case you are perfectly distanced for a neck kick. Don't try to beat his Jaguar Revolver SC with your regular Flash Kick. *Charlie Vs. Sodom Sodom's JN.Fierce can beat your Flash Kick from directly above, so it's probably best to just block it and throw or use a C.Fierce early when he jumps at you. Other than that, this shouldn't be a tough match. Just block any slides, and try to push him back with chain sweeps. *Charlie Vs. Rose The trick here is to pick which Soul Reflect she'll do. If she absorbs your Sonic Boom, you can easily get some quick hits before she recovers from her Soul Reflect. You'll have to jump over the Strong version, but you'll also have to hold air block in case she does the Fierce version. If she uses the Level 3 Aura Soul Spark SC, most of the time, you'll recover from your Sonic Boom in time to jump over the reflected projectile and get at least a free JN.Roundhouse before she recovers. OK, now here's the bad part : Rose can actually use her Aura Soul Throw against you decently. This is because since you have charge time, the most you can hit her back with is a quick chain combo. Therefore, you'll have to play carefully with jump ins. *Charlie Vs. Sagat Easy. Your Sonic Booms should recover fast enough for you to win fireball wars with quick free hits before he recovers from his own Tiger Shot. Your JN.Roundhouse can beat any of his anti airs, but make sure you time it well so he can't just stand up, block it, and get a Tiger Blow before you land. *Charlie Vs. Bison Your Sonic Boom recovers quickly, but usually Bison's Teleport is faster, such that he can be behind you before you recover if he can see your Sonic Boom coming. So don't get predictable. Use fakes. Bison's JN.Roundhouse can beat your Flash Kick cleanly if timed perfectly. The Double Knee Press and Psycho Crusher SC can easily be Flash Kicked. *Charlie Vs. Akuma If Akuma jumps at you with a Fierce Air Fireball, there's little you can do, since the Flash Kick doesn't go through fireballs. Try to Flash Kick the Hop Kick, because it can easily set up a deadly Raging Demon SC tick. Your Sonic Boom does recover faster than his standard fireball, but he'll probably be jumping around throwing Air Fireballs such that you can't counter. You'll probably have to play defensively for most of the match, and try to pick the gaps in semi combos and counter appropriately. *Charlie Vs. Dan Dan's JN.Short can beat the Flash Kick if it's timed late, so time your Flash Kick early, and always use the Short version. Other than that, this is a very simple matchup. --= 4.4 Chun Li Vs. ** =-- *Chun Li Vs. Ryu Your best bet in this match is to stick to the ground, since Ryu's Dragon Punch means your high priority jump kicks are worthless. Poke with C.Forward sweeps repeatedly, but hold back from time to time, to draw a Dragon Punch attempt. Then continue on. Use the Split Kick frequently, but not in patterns since it will get Dragon Punched easily. Whatever you do, don't use your Kikouken much at all. Chun Li might also seem a good corner fireball trap target if you have difficulties in using a Split Kick or a Thousand Burst Kick SC to get through the projectiles. In this case, don't forget the Knee Flip, which should safely get you over. *Chun Li Vs. Ken Ken's Dragon Punch also means your great jump kicks are worthless. Try to take this match just as you would the match against Ryu. The differences with this matchup is that if Ken tries to SC you and you block it, he'll be left more open than Ryu is. Try to get in close quickly with a Power Storm SC, or otherwise just land a quick chain combo. Ken's Ground Roll will pose a great problem if you can't hit him out of it. *Chun Li Vs. Charlie OK, finally the high priority jump kicks have a use. They usually trade with Charlie's Flash Kick, but sometimes you can hit him cleanly. The thing you have to avoid doing is just jumping in with a JN.Short for the whole jump, because he can just block this and throw you. So time your kicks well. Poking against Charlie will be very effective since he has charge time on his moves, but make sure you hold back from time to time. *Chun Li Vs. Chun Li This is basically just going to turn out to be an all out poking fest. Sometimes, from the right range, Chun Li's C.Roundhouse will hit the C.Forward cleanly, so use it from time to time. The player who takes the initiative and attacks more whilst still making sure to hold back in case of SC counters will probably be the winner. *Chun Li Vs. Guy For some odd reason, Guy's Rising Spinning Kick appears momentarily invincible, such that in this matchup, your high priority jump kicks are once more worthless. Guy's S.Forward, Bushin Leap tick is best countered with a S.Roundhouse or by jumping back straight away with a Short kick. Guy's constant assault basically means Chun Li has little hope in this matchup because of her need for charge time. His C.Roundhouse slide will usually beat your C.Forward cleanly, and his Elbow Drop can take out any of your anti air attacks. Your Split Kick is going to be useful, but you'll probably get hit out of it 90% of the time if your opponent is just attacking all the time. Try to get that SC counter in there (but not with the Thousand Burst Kick SC, since it gets beaten by Guy's C.Roundhouse slide fairly often). This is usually a hopeless matchup for Chun Li. *Chun Li Vs. Birdie Poke lots with the C.Forward, but just watch out for the S.Fierce and the Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC. Birdie's Chain Grab tick attempts are usually easily AC'ed, thanks to the range. The thing you will have to watch out for most is reversal Chain Grabs after blocking things like the Split Kick. *Chun Li Vs. Adon Your JN.Short and JN.Forward trade with or beat Adon's Jaguar Tooth, Jaguar Kick, and Jaguar Knee. Your C.Forward is great to poke at Adon with, but make sure you watch out for his Jaguar Assault SC and S.Roundhouse. This is a dead easy match, as long as you distance your jump kicks correctly. *Chun Li Vs. Sodom Sodom's slide is going to cause you plenty of trouble. Just try to keep him away with quick chain combos, and Rising Spinning Kick his jump attacks. His slide will usually cleanly beat your Thousand Burst Kick SC, so use it carefully. Poke with the C.Forward, use the Split Kick frequently. You want to keep Sodom on the defensive, so it's him guessing, not you. Just hold back from time to time in case he tries to nail your poking attempts with his Mega Jitte Slice SC. *Chun Li Vs. Rose The Head Stomp can beat Rose's C.Fierce from directly above. Once again, the slide means that the Thousand Burst Kick SC must be used carefully. Poke with the C.Forward, tick, use the Split Kick, etc. Variety is needed to beat Rose. If she gets you with the Aura Soul Throw SC, recovery roll back and quickly get her back with the Power Storm SC. This match usually turns out to be a massive poke fest. *Chun Li Vs. Sagat The JN.Short and JN.Forward can beat any of Sagat's anti air attacks. Just be careful since he can usually stand up, block them, and Tiger Blow you before you land. If you poke at Sagat well, there is little he can do to retaliate. Just watch out for any counter SC attempts. *Chun Li Vs. Bison Poking against Bison can be suicide since he can Double Knee Press over your C.Forward easily. He can also use either of his SCs to nail you cleanly for major damage. Use jump kicks, but be careful since if you jump and press Short to have the kick out for the whole jump, he can just back up and throw a Psycho Shot for you to get hit by. If they play Bison well, this is a very tough matchup. *Chun Li Vs. Akuma This matchup is almost completely helpless. The Air Fireball Trap works ridiculously well against Chun Li. Try to go through them with a Thousand Burst Kick SC. Chun Li is susceptible to all of Akuma's tricky juggle combos, so try to avoid those. You can use the Power Storm as an anti Air Fireball defense, but that is a bit of a waste. If Akuma jumps at you with an Air Fireball, you can use the Power Storm since it will eat up his fireball and he'll fall right into it for a couple of hits. Poking is probably your best tactic, but that Hop Kick can nullify your poking attempts pretty easily (especially when they're followed up with a Raging Demon SC for some good damage). Use your ground speed to try to get under those Air Fireballs, or otherwise, this is hopeless. *Chun Li Vs. Dan The Roundhouse Gale Kick can go over your C.Forward and nail you cleanly for all 3 hits, so be careful when poking. Your JN.Short and JN.Forward can usually trade with or beat Dan's Dragon Punch. Use the Split Kick frequently, counter all of Dan's jump in attempts with the S.Roundhouse or Rising Spinning Kick. --= 4.5 Guy Vs. ** =-- *Guy Vs. Ryu The trick here is to avoid the fireball trap. Ryu might try to fireball trap you from outside Bushin Leap range. He can do this because your jump has so much hang time on it, and as you land from the Bushin Leap, he can trip you and repeat. To avoid this, just try an Elbow Drop early in your forward jump. This will make you still go forward, but not right into his Dragon Punch. Then he'll be inside range and unable to fireball trap. When you get close to him, just don't get predictable and slide right into the Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC. Ryu is relatively easy for a careful Guy to beat with a controlled poking assault. Close up, use the Short Rising Spinning Kick as a counter move against fireballs. *Guy Vs. Ken Avoid the fireball trap, just as you would against Ryu. Ken's SCs leave him a lot more open than Ryu's do, but you still have to be careful with your poking assaults. After blocking either of his SCs, usually a Bushin Jump SC goes pretty well. *Guy Vs. Charlie Since Charlie must charge his special moves, he's relatively easy to beat. Just keep on poking, and fake when he's charged up. If your assault is fast and furious (as it should be), Charlie should pose no problems. *Guy Vs. Chun Li Similar to Charlie, but Chun Li can poke back. Use the S.Forward from long range to get her before she can get you with her C.Forward ... try cancelling into a Fierce Bushin Leap from time to time for an easy tick. She should pose no problems either. *Guy Vs. Guy The winner here will be the better attacker or a great counterattacker. The Short Rising Spinning Kick will counter slide and poke attempts, but it leaves you way open if it's blocked or misses. Generally, since Guy's Bushin Rage SC has short initial range, it can only be used as a close range counter. The player who attacks better and knows when to hold block and uses fakes wisely will win. *Guy Vs. Birdie Poke with the slide and the S.Forward. Try and get your own ticks in at Birdie, but be careful. Birdie's S.Fierce will take out your jumping attacks easily. It would be best to try to poke and entice him into jumping at you, leaving him vulnerable for a Bushin Jump SC or Rising Spinning Kick. You'll have to be careful with the Rising Spinning Kick since it has a little delay before coming out, and since Birdie's jump is so short, you'll have to react quickly or otherwise he'll land in time to block it. *Guy Vs. Adon Your slide can take out Adon's S.Roundhouse, and your S.Forward has better range anyway. Try to anticipate the Jaguar Kick and counter with a Rising Spinning Kick. Try to get a fast, low, poking assault going. It's nearly impossible for Adon to counter these with a Jaguar Knee, but you'll have to watch out for his Jaguar Assault SC. He can also use a Short Jaguar Kick to nail you cleanly out of your slide, so you'll have to mix it up with a couple of middle height attacks that will stop those. *Guy Vs. Sodom The Short Rising Spinning Kick and S.Forward should be used to beat Sodom's slide. Poke at Sodom, but be careful, since his jump is so short such that he can jump over poking attacks and nail you before you recover. Trading slides is usually a bad idea. Just watch out for the slides and jump kick leads and you should be fine. *Guy Vs. Rose Her C.Fierce can take out S.Forward, Bushin Leap tick attempts. Poke with the slide carefully. Use the S.Forward to nail her out of her slide attempts, and follow with a Bushin Leap tick from time to time when she's expecting to block after being countered. I guess you could also use the Flip Kick from time to time against the slide. The Elbow Drop will trade with Rose's C.Fierce most of the time. It's best that you just poke, tick, fake, and try to draw Rose out so you can counter her. *Guy Vs. Sagat The Elbow Drop will beat any of Sagat's anti airs from just above him. The slide is a great poking attack in this matchup. Use the S.Forward to poke, and follow with a Fierce Bushin Leap to catch him before he can recover to kick you. This is usually an easy matchup, as Sagat has few defences against a good constant assault. *Guy Vs. Bison Bison's Double Knee Press will usually counter your poking attempts, so you'll have to hold back frequently in this matchup. I don't think his C.Fierce can counter the S.Forward, Bushin Leap tick very well, so you should try it from time to time when he doesn't expect it. Bison's jump has little hang time for the height he goes up, so you'll have to counter a little bit earlier than you think. The Elbow Drop usually beats his C.Fierce, so jump in every now and then, but don't get predictable since he can easily walk under your jump and throw you from behind. *Guy Vs. Akuma The trick here is to avoid being fireball trapped. This can be very tricky since the Jab Air Fireball is a LOT harder to Bushin Leap over than ground fireballs. If you can get in close to Akuma, try poking, faking, ticking, and whatever else you can, because if you can find holes in his defense, you'll suddenly find how severe the handicap is when you land a couple of quick combos. His Hop Kick will counter your slide every time, and can be followed with a Raging Demon SC easily, so be careful. *Guy Vs. Dan The Roundhouse Gale Kick can go over the slide and nail you for all 3 hits. So try poking with the S.Forward more often. The Elbow Drop can usually beat Dan's Dragon Punch. Poke and entice Dan into jumping. He'll probably jump anyway to set up a combo, so counter appropriately. --= 4.6 Birdie Vs. ** =-- *Birdie Vs. Ryu Get in close to Ryu by poking with the S.Fierce and jumping over fireballs. Once in close, try and get a tick, using all the semi combos you can, to try to confuse him. Don't go for the Chain Grab every time, since his Dragon Punch will counter any of your semi combos. So block every now and again. Other than that, counter any fireball attempts with the Leaping Chain Grab SC. *Birdie Vs. Ken Similar to Ryu, but you'll have to watch for semi combos with Ground Rolls in them. Since the Roll is so fast, you're probably best off just trying to block or getting in a quick C.Short. Try early jump ins to draw the Dragon Punch, making sure you jump early so you'll land in time to block it. *Birdie Vs. Charlie This matchup is made a LOT easier by the fact that you can air block his Flash Kick. When he starts varying his anti airs, that's when you can get in trouble. Try to poke with the S.Fierce, and get jump ins when he tries to trip you. The Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC can also be used to counter fairly close sweeps. Many Charlie players like to jump forward after a Jab Sonic Boom, so jump over it with a JN.Roundhouse. It should trade with or beat his jumping attack. If he blocks it, Chain Grab him when he lands. *Birdie Vs. Chun Li Chun Li is fast, but many of her moves have only relative recovery. This means you can get a Chain Grab after blocking them, because she recovers in time to block, but not in time to jump away. The moves you can get this on are her Split Kick and her Knee Flip. Also, if she tries to jump with a JN.Short early to beat your S.Fierce, just block it and Chain Grab her. You'll have to watch for the C.Forward poke attempts. Try to counter these with jump ins or Turn Around Headbutts. *Birdie Vs. Guy The Turn Around Headbutt should be used frequently to try to counter his poking attempts. A S.Fierce should be able to counter most of his ground based normal moves. As long as you can counter Guy's pokes, his speed should pose few problems. *Birdie Vs. Birdie Counter Chain Grab tick attempts with a Chain Grab, jump in, or Turn Around Headbutt. The player who uses more variety in leading Chain Grab ticks will most likely be the winner. *Birdie Vs. Adon Adon's Roundhouse Jaguar Kick is going to be very difficult to counter. He can usually do it repeatedly from close, and continue to make you block it. If he gets predictable, try timing a Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC to jump through it and get him. Adon is usually hard to tick because he jumps around everywhere. The Jaguar Tooth can be countered by jumping at it and air blocking. If you air block it, Chain Grab upon landing. *Birdie Vs. Sodom The S.Fierce will counter everything but his slide attempts. It's probably best to try to counter the slide with a Chain Grab, but sometimes he can do the Power Bomb after the slide, hopping through your Chain Grab attempt and successfully Power Bomb you before you recover. The Turn Around Headbutt is usually a safe alternative because of the short period of invincibility it has. *Birdie Vs. Rose You usually can't jump at Rose because of her C.Fierce. Try poking with the S.Fierce the most, but try to anticipate the slide, and counter with a Jab Leaping Chain Grab SC or Turn Around Headbutt. Also, if you block it from close, Chain Grab her. Rose is usually not an easy matchup for Birdie. *Birdie Vs. Sagat Tick with the Chain Grab, but anticipate his counters. The Turn Around Heabutt will usually be useful in avoiding his counter moves. Sagat's Jab High Tiger Shot is very difficult to jump over. I don't think this is an easy matchup because Sagat's S.Roundhouse can usually hit you easily from inside half screen range. *Birdie Vs. Bison Bison can jump away after you block his Double Knee Press, avoiding any counter Chain Grab attempts. He can't do this after a Psycho Crusher SC. Bison can also counter your jump attacks early with a C.Fierce, so again, you're probably best off just trying to poke with the S.Fierce, whilst waiting for him to get in close to you. Trying to corner trap Bison for repeated Chain Grab ticks will be a complete waste of time thanks to his Teleport. *Birdie Vs. Akuma You're really on the wrong end of a bad matchup here. Akuma can just jump around with Jab Air Fireballs, and the only real counter you have is a Roundhouse Leaping Chain Grab SC timed perfectly to get him *just* as he lands, before he can jump again. If you get close, he can just Teleport away, and start throwing Air Fireballs again. This is definitely a very tough matchup. *Birdie Vs. Dan Jump and air block his Gale Kick, and Chain Grab him upon landing. Also, poke with the S.Fierce. Dan is usually pretty easy to beat. If you block his Gale Kick, you can do a Chain Grab straight afterwards which he won't recover in time to jump away from. --= 4.7 Adon Vs. ** =-- *Adon Vs. Ryu You'd think Adon would be perfect against Ryu because he has great anti fireball moves. Well, he's not. The Dragon Punch can take out any of Adon's Jaguar moves, so fakes here are essential. The Jaguar Tooth will usually leave you combo fodder regardless of which version you use against an expert Ryu, but against a novice, use the Short version to fake and land an easy Jaguar Assault SC. Try to poke with the S.Roundhouse, and above all, don't get predictable, or otherwise you'll eat a Dragon Punch. *Adon Vs. Ken Similar to the match vs. Ryu, you have to avoid thinking that he'll just throw fireballs for you to counter. Once again, try to fake Ken out. Thankfully, Ken's SCs leave him a lot more open if blocked than Ryu's, so it'll be easier to combo him afterwards. Poking is your best bet, the Short Jaguar Kick is usually best buffered after a C.Forward or other such attack to give him less time to get a Dragon Punch in. Against his Roll semi combos, just try to hit him out but be aware of counter semi combos. *Adon Vs. Charlie It is a lot easier for Charlie to react with a Flash Kick than it is for Ryu/Ken with a Dragon Punch. So it's harder here to poke with the Jaguar Kick. Usually, poking works well against Charlie, as none of his moves have nearly the range that your S.Roundhouse has. *Adon Vs. Chun Li OK, this isn't going to be easy. Chun Li's JN.Short and JN.Forward can trade with or beat your Jaguar Kick, Jaguar Tooth, and Jaguar Knee. So it's best if you just block those kicks on the ground and try to throw her when she lands. Try poking with the S.Roundhouse the most, and try not to give her charge time to counter with a Thousand Burst Kick SC. Against her poking assault, you can risk a Jaguar Assault SC to counter her C.Forward, or otherwise just block and try to pick the Split Kick and tick attempts. Your S.Fierce can hit Chun Li out of her Split Kick cleanly and easily. *Adon Vs. Guy Guy's Rising Spinning Kick can take out your Jaguar Kick and Jaguar Tooth, so you'll have to be careful when using those moves. His slide can usually beat your S.Roundhouse, so there are few things you can do to counter his ground assault. You can try a Short Jaguar Kick, but don't get predictable. You'll have to use each Level wisely to counter his ground assaults with a Jaguar Assault SC. This is usually a tough match. *Adon Vs. Birdie Roundhouse Jaguar Kicks usually work very well against Birdie. Just try to poke repeatedly with this, and fake when you think he'll try to use his Leaping Chain Grab SC to go right through it and grab you. Jaguar Tooth attempts will usually result in you being Chain Grabbed, and the fake with the Short version usually won't work either, since Birdie really doesn't have a Dragon Punch move that will leave him open if it whiffs. *Adon Vs. Adon The Jaguar Knee CAN beat the Jaguar Kick from underneath, but it must be done fairly early. This usually means that the Roundhouse Jagaur Kick is nearly impossible to counter, and the Forward version is hard to counter. Just stick to using repeated Roundhouse Jaguar Kicks, and poke by cancelling mid range attacks like the C.Forward into Roundhouse Jaguar Kicks to provoke counters, which will usually fail. *Adon Vs. Sodom The Roundhouse Jaguar Kick will prove useful for countering Sodom all round, and the Short version will be good to counter his slide. However, the Short version will leave you right next to him, and he won't be knocked down, so it's not safe if your opponent can pull off reversal Power Bombs. Your S.Roundhouse will NOT be able to hit Sodom out of his slide. *Adon Vs. Rose The Roundhouse Jaguar Kick is once again your best friend. However, sometimes you will find that Rose can slide under it, and throw you from behind when you land, so don't use it from right up close. Try to counter the slide semi combo by using a Jaguar Assault SC from time to time after you block her slide. Rose's Aura Soul Throw SC can counter your Jagaur Kicks, but that would just be suicide since you can recovery roll back from it, and get her with a Jaguar Assault SC before she recovers. *Adon Vs. Sagat Try poking with the S.Roundhouse and Short Jaguar Kick. Don't get predictable with the Jaguar Kick, since he can Tiger Blow it early. I don't think that Adon's jumping attacks can really consistently beat Sagat's anti air attacks, so you'll have to approach carefully. Try a faking with the Short Jaguar Tooth, since Sagat can't really punish you for picking the fake. *Adon Vs. Bison It's best to poke with the S.Roundhouse rather than the Jaguar Kick. If you do poke with the Jaguar Kick, don't get predictable since it's relatively easy for him to Teleport behind and throw you. If you poke with the S.Roundhouse, make sure you block from time to time for the slide, SC, or Double Knee Press. Bison's Psycho Shot is unusually big and slightly harder to Jaguar Kick over than normal, but easy once you master the timing. *Adon Vs. Akuma If Akuma jumps around throwing Jab Air Fireballs, all you can really do is try to jump over them and get in close. Try to open up his defence with a couple of chain combos, or if possible, try to use a Forward Jaguar Kick to go over his Air Fireballs. When you have Levels, the Jaguar Revolver SC can be used to go through Air Fireballs and nail him at Level 2 or 3, but make sure you do it early, or otherwise he'll land in time to block the SC or avoid it completely. *Adon Vs. Dan I don't think Dan can do much if you repeatedly poke with the Roundhouse Jaguar Kick. Also try the S.Roundhouse from time to time, but I really don't think Dan will cause many problems, since his Dragon Punch is not an effective counter move against your Jaguar Kicks. --= 4.8 Sodom Vs. ** =-- *Sodom Vs. Ryu Mastering the timing to slide under fireballs will be dead useful. Just don't get predictable and slide into a Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku SC, OK? You can also try using the slide as an air counter if he does the Air Hurricane Kick, since that move has slight recovery time upon landing, and the slide will get that. *Sodom Vs. Ken Similarly to the match against Ryu, if you can time the slide under fireballs, you should have no problems getting close in. Ken's SCs do leave him more open than Ryu's if he misses or is blocked, but still be careful since the Shoryureppa SC can easily nail the slide if you get predictable. Against the Ground Roll semi combos, just hit him out with a Jab or Short, since the delay on the slide means you'll have to react pretty quickly to counter him. *Sodom Vs. Charlie Poke with the slide frequently to provoke counterattacks, and fake from time to time by just walking up and blocking, to see if you can draw a missed Flash Kick. Counter any air attacks with a C.Fierce. Slide under Sonic Booms, but be aware of the Jab version which is very hard to slide under. *Sodom Vs. Chun Li The Head Stomp can cause you problems because it can beat your C.Fierce. Try poking with the slide lots, since it can usually hit Chun Li out of her Thousand Burst Kick SC, and it isn't a bad trade if she tries to hit you with her C.Forward. The Split Kick can bit hit out of with a slide. In general, just try to use the slide lots against Chun Li, but once again, don't get predictable. *Sodom Vs. Guy Poking with the slide should work well, but be careful since Guy's Short Rising Spinning Kick can usually counter it easily. I think jump ins work well against Guy from time to time, since Sodom's jump is so short and Guy's Rising Spinning Kick has a delay on it, and his Bushin Jump SC also needs a bit of time before he can pull it off. As long as you know when to attack and when to block against Guy's ground poking assault, you should be fine. *Sodom Vs. Birdie Try getting in close with the slide, and try to Power Bomb tick him. The slide can be beaten by Birdie's S.Fierce, so you'll have to be fairly careful when approaching. Otherwise, try a Jab Jitte Slice to surprise him from mid range, and if you see the S.Fierce coming, try a Mega Jitte Slice SC or an AC. *Sodom Vs. Adon Try poking around with the slide, but watch for the Jaguar Assault SC. Adon's Jaguar Kicks can be a pain for Sodom, but you can try jumping and hitting him before he flips into the kick. The Jaguar Tooth should pose no problems. Just get to about full screen range, and jump forward when he does it. If he does the Short version, you should be able to get a free JN.Roundhouse, S.Roundhouse, Carpet Bomb combo (although you have to be careful with the range). If he does the Roundhouse version, you should be able to get a neck kick into an easy combo. Ticking Adon usually doesn't work well since he jumps around everywhere. *Sodom Vs. Sodom A tick fest from start to finish. The counter semi combos are going to turn out to be very useful here. If the other Sodom tries to tick you with the Power Bomb, try Power Bombing him. He'll hop forward and miss you because you'll be hopping when he tries to grab you. You'll then land to Power Bomb him. Otherwise, watch out for the semi combos and counter semi combos. *Sodom Vs. Rose Poking with the slide works great against Rose. Still, you have to avoid being predictable when she has Super Meter, because the Level 2 Aura Soul Spark SC can nail you pretty easily. Try picking when she'll slide, and counter with the Mega Jitte Slice SC. Her other moves should pose few problems. *Sodom Vs. Sagat Just poke with the slide, but be aware of Sagat's counters that will beat the slide. Your JN.Fierce can usually beat Sagat's anti air moves from above. Try ticking from time to time, but be careful, as the Power Bomb's hop leaves you Tiger Blow fodder. *Sodom Vs. Bison The slide becomes less useful because of that Double Knee Press. What you should concentrate on is getting in close to Bison and trying not to give him much charge time. The Demon Stomp will probably pose a couple of problems as well, since your C.Fierce can't really beat it. Try backing up and hitting the second hit (the Psycho Fist) with a Level 1 Mega Jitte Slice SC. *Sodom Vs. Akuma The slide can't go under the Air Fireball if it's timed right. If Akuma jumps at you with an Air Fireball, just slide to trip him up as he lands. In this case, his Air Fireball will miss and you'll get a clean hit. If he Teleports away when you get close, try to pick where he'll end up, and try to get some free hits. Try jumping over Air Fireballs and sliding under them when possible. However, you'll have to watch for that Hop Kick which can easily counter your slide (it really hurts when he ticks YOU with a Raging Demon SC to follow it up). *Sodom Vs. Dan Again, the slide won't be so useful because of that Gale Kick. You should try jumping in with the JN.Fierce from time to time, because that can usually at least trade with Dan's Dragon Punch. Try to pick when he's going to Gale Kick, and block, then AC or Power Bomb when he lands. --= 4.9 Rose Vs. ** =-- *Rose Vs. Ryu Reflect the fireballs, but don't expect him to just throw fireballs at you when you're waiting to reflect them. Try poking with the slide, but don't get predictable and eat a SC. A slide followed by a S.Forward will work great if they try to sweep you after the slide. Just use a C.Fierce as an anti air, because he can recovery roll back from any Soul Throw and SC you. The C.Fierce will beat any of his jump kicks just about every time. Also, Ryu has the annoying Hop Kick which can beat your slide cleanly every time. This is the main move that will annoy, so try to anticipate it and just hit it with a S.Fierce. *Rose Vs. Ken Like the Ryu matchup, you should look to poke with the slide and avoid using any Soul Throw. The main difference here is that Ken doesn't have the Hop Kick, and instead he has the Ground Roll. However, Ken's S.Roundhouse can usually beat your slide if he anticipates it, so again, be careful with the slide. Repeated Ground Roll semi combos will usually pose problems. Try to AC the lead in, or just hit him out of the slide, but be aware of the counter semi combos. *Rose Vs. Charlie Many Charlie players like to jump after a Sonic Boom, so the Fierce Soul Reflect should come in handy. However, many Charlie players also like to walk up and sweep after a Sonic Boom, so you'll have to be careful on which reflect you use. Don't absorb Jab Sonic Booms when he's following up by coming in close, because he can get a nice free combo before you recover. The slide will definitely come in handy against Charlie, as it can go under the Strong and Fierce Sonic Booms. You'll have to watch out for the Crossfire Blitz SC and the Somersault Justice SC, because they can beat the slide pretty easily. The Aura Soul Throw SC can actually be used against Charlie, since his chrage time means that when he rolls back, the most he can do is a throw, chain combo, or semi combo. *Rose Vs. Chun Li The Head Stomp can usually beat your C.Fierce, so most of the time, it's probably just better to block when Chun Li tries to get straight above you. Otherwise, use the C.Fierce as an anti air. The slide will be very useful against Chun Li. Try following up the slide with a S.Forward to beat any counterattack attempts with her C.Forward. In fact, just use the S.Forward from time to time when she comes poking in with the C.Forward. *Rose Vs. Guy The S.Forward will be great to counter Guy's poking with the slide. Try to poke him back with your slide, but be aware of his counters against slides. Use a C.Fierce anytime Guy jumps, and against the S.Forward, Bushin Leap tick. *Rose Vs. Birdie Try to poke Birdie with the slide, but not from close, since the recovery time on the slide allows you to block, but not jump away, leaving you Chain Grab fodder. Usually Birdie will try a Turn Around Headbutt to counter your slide and sweep attempts. Try to counter these by just using an AC or just hitting him out when he turns back around (time it well). I think it might be kind of safe to use the Aura Soul Throw SC against him at Level 3, since all he can really do is recovery roll back with a Chain Grab. *Rose Vs. Adon Slide at Adon lots. There's not really so much you can do against Jaguar Kicks. You can try sliding under and throwing from behind when he lands, but really, there's not much you can do. You can try AC'ing and following up with a quick combo. Otherwise, just use a C.Fierce against Adon's jumping attacks. Just jump forward from afar when he does the Jaguar Tooth. *Rose Vs. Sodom Use the S.Forward to counter Sodom's slide attempts. Use the C.Fierce against Sodom's jumping attacks. You can use your own slide to poke at Sodom, but it's not a good trade off against his slide. It's probably best to play defensively against Sodom, and just counter whatever moves he does. *Rose Vs. Rose The S.Forward will be very useful in countering slides. The C.Fierce can take out any of Rose's aerial attacks. You can try jumping and doing the JN.Short early, since that hits very low and could take your opponent by surprise before they can uppercut it. The slide can go under Strong and Fierce Soul Sparks. *Rose Vs. Sagat Slide, but don't get predictable. The JN.Forward should be able to take out most of Sagat's anti airs, but it's not really dependable. Try to reflect Sagat's Tiger Shots. Otherwise, you can slide under the High Tiger Shots, and just jump over the Low Tiger Shots. *Rose Vs. Bison The Double Knee Press will be causing some problems. It can cleanly hit you out of your slide, so be careful with it. The Aura Soul Throw SC can be used against Bison, because all he can really land after recovery rolling back is a 2 hit S.Roundhouse or throw. So use it from time to time, especially when you have 3 Levels. Try to get in close to Bison. Use the slide to go under Strong and Fierce Psycho Shots. Avoid the SCs and you'll be fine. *Rose Vs. Akuma OK, Rose appears to have an anti Air Fireball move. Hooray! Usually, reflecting them horizontally is a good idea. Hopefully you can make him land on it. The slide is almost useless because of that Hop Kick. He can easily follow it up with a Raging Demon SC for easy damage. You might find that the Soul Reflect is not so great against Akuma if he knows how to use the Air Fireballs. If he does a Jab Air Fireball from afar, and you reflect it, if he anticipates it, he can jump over, nail you with a Fierce Air Fireball before you recover from the Soul Reflect, and get you with a quick C.Roundhouse, Hurricane Kick combo for 3 hits before you recover from the Air Fireball stun. Also, if you try to use the Level 3 Aura Soul Reflect against it, he can usually jump up again, use the Great Air Fireball SC to nail YOU cleanly for great damage, whilst your SC will completely miss. Also, the Aura Soul Throw SC can be recovery rolled from and countered, although you should consider using the Level 3 version to take advantage of his handicap. Try sliding if he jumps at you with an Air Fireball. Otherwise, try to use their Air Fireballing habits to your advantage, but be careful, since if they play it right, you could be combo'd pretty easily before your Soul Reflect recovers. *Rose Vs. Dan The slide can be countered by a Roundhouse Gale Kick. Fortunately, the Gale Kick comes off a little slowly, so Dan has to react a little bit quicker. Dan's fireballs can be reflected, but I doubt this will ever happen in a real match. Try sliding at Dan from time to time, and follow up with a S.Forward to nail countersweep attempts. The C.Fierce can take out any of Dan's jumping attacks. --= 4.10 Sagat Vs. ** =-- *Sagat Vs. Ryu A tough matchup. Being able to block early jump attacks and getting the Tiger Blow before he lands is crucial. You'll have to vary the anti airs though, since he might anticipate you blocking it, and just jump with no attack and throw you. Try to use the Tiger Genocide SC to get through close range fireballs when you expect them. Try to keep him at bay from long range with Jab High Tiger Shots from time to time, and nail any Air Hurricane Kicks with a late Tiger Blow or Tiger Crush. Don't use the Tiger Genocide SC as an anti air. Only the Level 2 version is safe. The Level 1 version can be recovery rolled from if the Tiger Blow doesn't hit, and he'll be able to combo you before you recover (this applies to all other matchups also). *Sagat Vs. Ken The Ground Roll is a real pain for Sagat since his ground based attacks are a little slow. Try a C.Short to hit him out, or if you can't react in time, just block and try to pick when he's going for a tick or Overhead Axe Kick. You'll have to vary the anti airs against Ken as well. Some Ryu/Ken players like to jump in with a JN.Jab, because it beats all of Sagat's anti air moves. Just stand up and block it, then Tiger Blow. *Sagat Vs. Charlie Charlie's JN.Roundhouse can beat all your anti airs, so stand up, block, and counter. Try just jumping over Sonic Booms and kicking, because your long kicks should give Charlie problems. Otherwise, a Tiger Cannon SC or Tiger Genocide SC works fine also. Try to get Charlie to play offensively, and counter appropriately. *Sagat Vs. Chun Li Chun Li's JN.Short, JN.Forward, and Head Stomp are going to give you some problems. The normal kicks can be blocked and countered with a Tiger Blow before she lands. The Head Stomp will usually be done repeatedly in succession to try to get 3 hits, so try blocking it, and see if they just try another Head Stomp right after than one, and if she does, kick her from behind with a S.Roundhouse. Chun Li's poking ground assaults are tough to counter with Sagat. You can try a Tiger Raid SC or an AC, but otherwise, due to the range of her C.Forward, it's not easy. *Sagat Vs. Guy Guy's poking is best countered with a Tiger Raid SC or AC. If he gets close in, push him back with a C.Forward, Low Tiger Shot combo. Unfortunately, Guy's Elbow Drop and Bushin Leap are going to cause you plenty of problems, because of the priority of the moves. *Sagat Vs. Birdie Try throwing Jab High Tiger Shots when he doesn't have Super Meter. These are usually very difficult for Birdie to avoid. Try keeping him back with S.Roundhouse kicks and C.Forward, Low Tiger Shot combos, but be aware that his S.Fierce also has great range. Usually, after a blocked Tiger Raid SC, he can get you with a Chain Grab before you can jump away. *Sagat Vs. Adon Again, try some Jab High Tiger Shots to see how well they can time the Jaguar Kicks. Usually this is a tough match, because Adon's speed can leave Sagat for dead. Try poking with jumping kicks and S.Forward kicks. It's usually hard to poke on the ground because Adon's S.Roundhouse and C.Fierce have such great range. Counter the Jaguar Tooth by just jumping forward from afar with a quick combo. *Sagat Vs. Sodom Sodom's going to be trying to tick you, but the hop on the Power Bomb means that most of your moves will miss hits when he gets hit. Try a Tiger Blow, but it might be too risky. To be a bit safer, you may wish to try a Tiger Crush (although this is still counterable if blocked). The problem against Sodom is that his slide is going to be difficult to counter. You can try an AC or a Tiger Raid SC, but really, there's little you can do. If you can see the slide coming, try jumping forward and getting a neck kick with Forward or Short from time to time. Sodom's slide CAN go under your Low Tiger Shot. *Sagat Vs. Rose Rose's slide is going to be a real pain to deal with. Try an AC or Tiger Raid SC. Otherwise, try to get in close and trap her with C.Forward kicks buffered into Low Tiger Shots. When she jumps, try a S.Roundhouse from far out or a Tiger Crush early to surprise her. The big chance you have to get some real damage is if they use a Soul Throw, but otherwise, her C.Fierce can usually beat your jumping attacks. *Sagat Vs. Sagat Jump in with kicks early, making sure you time them well. Try poking around with the C.Forward kick buffered into a Low Tiger Shot. Logically, the Tiger Cannon SC is a useless fireball counter against the Low Tiger Shot. Try the Tiger Genocide SC from close in instead. *Sagat Vs. Bison Try to keep him at bay, but take note that his JN.Roundhouse can easily beat your anti airs if timed right. Try blocking and getting a Tiger Blow before he lands. His Double Knee Press and SCs are going to cause many problems because they all easily avoid sweeps and do good damage. Throwing Tiger Shots is usually not a good idea since Bison jumps nice and high with relatively little hang time. Try to trap him with Low Tiger Shots, and make sure you fake from time to time so you can nail him when he tries to Teleport and throw. *Sagat Vs. Akuma If timed right, when Akuma jumps at you with an Air Fireball, you can slip under the Air Fireball with a Tiger Blow. This requires you to do the Tiger Blow directly from crouch. Otherwise, against the Air Fireballs, try to get him with a S.Roundhouse if he throws them from inside half screen range. It should get him early before he throws it because it reaches so high. Other than that, remember that his Hop Kick is deadly when followed by a Raging Demon SC, so be careful when poking with sweeps. *Sagat Vs. Dan Corner trap Dan with Tiger Shots and S.Roundhouse kicks when he jumps. Dan's JN.Fierce and JN.Short can beat your anti airs, so try standing up, blocking, and nailing him with a Tiger Blow before he lands. Just keep Dan's jump in attacks at bay and you should be fine. --= 4.11 Bison Vs. ** =-- *Bison Vs. Ryu Try to keep away from Ryu, and throw Jab Psycho Shots from time to time. Occasionally, get in close with the Double Knee Press and try using the Demon Stomp in semi combos. Ryu's moves generally have priority over yours, so it's probably best to just keep out of his reach, and attack in close from time to time. Just don't get predictable and make sure you use the Teleport correctly. *Bison Vs. Ken Ken should be faced in a similar manner to how you would face Ryu. Try using the Psycho Crusher SC after blocking either of Ken's SCs. It's easy to time since you don't have to get him the instant he lands. *Bison Vs. Charlie The Demon Stomp is best used in semi combos, where it has the best chance of beating the Flash Kick. You can also try using a Demon Flight to fake him out. Again, try to keep away by Teleporting and throwing Jab Psycho Shots from time to time. The Double Knee Press should prove useful in going over Charlie's sweeps, especially after you block a Sonic Boom (try the Short version to avoid going over him). *Bison Vs. Chun Li Again, the keep away game. Try a couple of Double Knee Presses to keep Chun Li at bay, and to counter her annoying poking with her C.Forward. Alternatively, either SC will also work pretty effectively. *Bison Vs. Guy The Double Knee Press or either SC will work great against Guy's slide. Guy's assault is usually very fast, and Bison's need for charge time doesn't really make this an easy matchup. Try your slide from time to time to catch him by surprise. Just try to back away from him and throw a Double Knee Press to beat his sweep reliant offense, but don't get predictable, since his Rising Spinning Kick or Bushin Jump SC can beat it easily. *Bison Vs. Birdie Jab Psycho Shots work great when he doesn't have Super Meter. At other times, try a couple of Double Knee Presses, or even Demon Stomps. Just slide Birdie right out of Turn Around Headbutts. *Bison Vs. Adon Try to poke at him with Double Knee Presses and the occasional JN.Roundhouse kick. Usually, the Jaguar Knee is useless for countering a semi combo using the Demon Stomp. Adon is best Teleported away from if he corners you with repeated Jaguar Kicks. *Bison Vs. Sodom If Sodom times his JN.Fierce right, it can beat your C.Fierce. So usually, just jumping up with Forward will be a safer anti air against Sodom. The Double Knee Press and SCs will come in very handy in nailing that annoying slide. Use the Psycho Crusher SC against any Power Bomb tick attempt if possible. Usually, your Demon Stomp can beat Sodom's C.Fierce easily, so use it often. *Bison Vs. Rose The Double Knee Press will easy take out Rose's slide. The Demon Stomp will easily beat Rose's C.Fierce. The main disadvantage for Bison here is that if Rose gets him with the Aura Soul Throw SC, he can't do much more than a throw or a S.Roundhouse for 2 hits due to the charge time of all his other moves. Other than that, try poking as normal with the Double Knee Press and set up with the Jab Psycho Shot from afar. *Bison Vs. Sagat Time the JN.Roundhouse well to beat Sagat's anti air moves. The Demon Stomp is pretty useful against Sagat also for the same reason. Try poking at Sagat with the Double Knee Press and JN.Roundhouse to annoy. *Bison Vs. Bison This is basically going to be a Double Knee Press and Demon Stomp fest from start to finish. Try to pick when your opponent will go for the C.Forward into a Double Knee Press, and Double Knee Press him out of the C.Forward. The Demon Stomp beats any of Bison's anti airs, so use it often. *Bison Vs. Akuma You can try to Teleport on reaction to his Air Fireball and throw him from behind, but this requires some great reflexes. The Demon Stomp will usually make it over the Air Fireball, but it will usually miss too. Try to back up from his jump ins and get a Psycho Shot in when he's not throwing the Air Fireball. *Bison Vs. Dan Besides the Gale Kick, there's little to worry about. Get in close with the Double Knee Press, use the Demon Stomp in semi combos, and Dan should pose no problems. --= 4.11 Akuma Vs. ** =-- Note : It is recommended that you read the general strategy section on Akuma first since Akuma's strategy requires few alterations against specific characters. *Akuma Vs. Ryu The thing you have to avoid here is landing on his Shinkuu Hadouken SC when jumping around with Air Fireballs. In fact, just avoid trade offs altogether with Air Fireballs. Try using a Great Air Fireball SC if you can react to Ryu launching his fireball. Other than that, this match is simple. *Akuma Vs. Ken Similar to the match vs. Ryu. The differences here are that he can Ground Roll under Air Fireballs if he's quick enough. So try the Downward Air Kick from time to time to nail him. Also, Ken may try to get you with his S.Roundhouse when you jump in with a Jab Air Fireball. The forward movement of the kick will make him go under the fireball and kick you cleanly if timed and distanced right. Just do a Fierce Air Fireball or standard jump kick and follow with a quick combo. *Akuma Vs. Charlie The Air Fireball is deadly effective against Charlie. Just try jumping around with Air Fireballs, and counter his attacks appropriately. Use the Hop Kick when you see a sweep coming, and follow with a Raging Demon SC to get them. *Akuma Vs. Chun Li Very easy. Just watch out for the Thousand Burst Kick SC and you'll be fine. On the ground, Hop Kick right over the sweep and Raging Demon SC. *Akuma Vs. Guy Try the Air Fireball trap against Guy, he'll be hopeless against it as long as you distance it right. If you try it from too short, he can do a Rising Spinning Kick or Bushin Jump SC. Try it from further out, but try to watch for when he's going to slide under the Air Fireballs, and Hop Kick and, well, you know the rest. *Akuma Vs. Birdie Jump back and forth with Jab Air Fireballs, Teleporting away when he gets near. The only real solution for Birdie is a Leaping Chain Grab SC timed *perfectly*. Just keep your distance and you'll be fine. *Akuma Vs. Adon Again, the Air Fireball basically nullifies everything Adon can do. The thing you'll have to watch for is the Jaguar Revolver SC at Level 2 or 3, which will go right through the Air Fireball and nail you. Also, if you do the Air Fireball from do low, he can do a Roundhouse Jaguar Kick over it, and if you throw it from too close, he can AC it. *Akuma Vs. Sodom Hop Kick over the slide. Dragon Punch the jumper. Use Air Fireballs to keep him away. This usually isn't hard, but Sodom's AC be useful against an Air Fireball because of it's immense range. Other than that, there shouldn't be any problems. *Akuma Vs. Rose If you distance the Air Fireballs right, Rose's Soul Reflect becomes useless. Try it from far out, jump over the reflected fireball and quickly throw a Fierce Air Fireball, and follow up with a quick combo. The Hop Kick will nail Rose's slide cleanly and easily. If she does the Level 3 Aura Soul Spark SC, just use a Great Air Fireball SC to avoid it completely and nail her. *Akuma Vs. Sagat Jump in with well timed kicks and you'll be fine. Approach this match as you would with Ryu. Try a couple of Air Fireballs here and there, especially when jumping over his Tiger Shots from afar. *Akuma Vs. Bison Try to keep him at bay with Air Fireballs and Hop Kicks. If he tries to stay away from you, throw a couple of fireballs, see if he tries a Demon Stomp, and than Dragon Punch it. If he tries to Teleport behind to throw you, just fake by tapping Jab. After blocking a Psycho Crusher SC, as long as it doesn't fly way past you, you can usually get a Raging Demon SC which he can't jump away from. *Akuma Vs. Akuma There's going to be a lot of Air Fireballs in this match. What I found with this match is that the player who can get in close and fight the match from up close the best usually wins. Otherwise, it'll be a huge Air Fireball fest where both players continue to just hide behind their Air Fireballs. *Akuma Vs. Dan Dan can't really do much against the Air Fireball, so just jump at him with it. Just don't get soft on your defense thinking "Yeah, it's only Dan!", because the handicap will come into play. --= 4.13 Dan Vs. ** =-- *Dan Vs. Ryu Your best bet in this match is if your opponent gets hit by a jump in. Try to get a knockdown, and follow up with a jump in. Hopefully, they will try a reversal Dragon Punch and fail, and you can proceed with a combo. Then, try jumping in with no attack and throwing when you land. Basically, use variety and try to open up holes in his defense. *Dan Vs. Ken Similar to the match vs. Ryu. Try approaching with a Gale Kick or just walking up and faking. *Dan Vs. Charlie OK, your JN.Short can beat the Flash Kick from time to time, but if he's timing it right, it won't beat it, so just air block and get a Shinkuu Gadouken SC when he lands. *Dan Vs. Chun Li Dragon Punch the Split Kick whenever possible. Chun Li's high priority jump kicks can usually trade with your Dragon Punch, so use the Double Dragon Punch SC if possible. The Level 1 version juggles decently, so use it from time to time to deter her jumping. Try the Gale Kick over her C.Forward, and once you got her on the defensive, use variety. *Dan Vs. Guy The Gale Kick goes right over his slide and nails him for 3 hits. Just avoid being predictable and eating a Rising Spinning Kick or Bushin Jump SC. Well actually, that S.Forward can catch you from miles out so you'll probably have to sit tight and play defensive, and watch for those overheads and Bushin Leaps. *Dan Vs. Birdie If the Gale Kick is blocked, he can Chain Grab you before you can jump away. Unfortunately, there's little you can do if Birdie approaches with a S.Fierce from afar. Hmmm... tough matchup. *Dan Vs. Adon Try to pick the Jaguar Tooth and nail him by jumping in from afar. Try to Dragon Punch him when he jumps, and just block the Jaguar Kick most of the time. If you can see the Jaguar Kick coming, jump forward with an attack immediately upon jumping to get him before he flips over with the kick. *Dan Vs. Sodom Try to AC his slide or Gale Kick it when possible. Try jumping at him with a JN.Fierce to try and beat his C.Fierce. If he blocks a Gale Kick, I think he can do a Power Bomb you can't jump away from. Just try to approach with the Gale Kick and Dragon Punch whenever he tries to jump over. *Dan Vs. Rose Gale Kick over the slide. This is another tough matchup, because Rose's C.Fierce can beat Dan's jumping attacks, meaning Dan must try to get close with a Gale Kick or just walking up, limiting his combos. Try to get in close and use a semi combo or something. Thankfully, Dan can combo Rose insanely with the Desperation SC if she gets him with the Aura Soul Throw SC. *Dan Vs. Sagat Try jumping in with a JN.Short or a JN.Fierce. These can take out most of his anti airs. When in close, Sagat players like to try to push you back with a C.Forward, Low Tiger Shot combo, so try a Gale Kick early. *Dan Vs. Bison Bison's Double Knee Press is going to be causing you many problems. Try to react to it with a S.Fierce or Dragon Punch from reasonably close. The Demon Stomp can usually trade with your Dragon Punch. Just try to get in close with Gale Kicks, and don't just give up if he Teleports away. *Dan Vs. Akuma Try to jump over the Air Fireballs and get in close. A Gale Kick will do very good damage, so try to land those. If you get Air Fireball trapped, well, there's little you can do. *Dan Vs. Dan The Gale Kick fest! Try semi combos with the Gale Kick. The other player will probably be trying to get in close as well, so just try to land more Gale Kicks and SCs than them. Try countering their moves if possible. Usually a Shinkuu Gadouken SC works well for doing this. ============================================================================= *** 5) MISCELLANEOUS *** ============================================================================= --= 5.1 Selecting the Hidden Characters =-- **TO SELECT M.BISON OR AKUMA ARCADE Get to the random select box on your side. Press and hold START. Do the following joystick motions SLOWLY : If you are 1P : Bison - down, down, left, left, down, left, left Akuma - down, down, down, left, left left If you are 2P : Bison - down, down, right, right, down, right, right Akuma - down, down, down, right, right, right Then press Jab + Fierce simultaneously. To get the alternate colour, press Short + Roundhouse instead. SATURN Get to the random select box on your side. Press and hold L and R. Do the following motions : If you are 1P : Bison - left, left, down, down, left, down, down Akuma - left, left, left, down, down, down If you are 2P : Bison - right, right, down, down, right, down, down Akuma - right, right, right, down, down, down Then press X + Z simultaneously. To get the alternate colour, press A + C instead. **TO SELECT DAN ARCADE Press and hold START to begin the game. Hold START throughout the whole procedure. Move the cursor to the random select box on your side. Press the following button sequence fairly quickly : Pink Dan - Jab, Short, Forward, Roundhouse, Fierce, Strong Green Dan - Fierce, Roundhouse, Forward, Short, Jab, Strong SATURN Move the cursor to the random select box on your side. Press and hold L and R. Press the following button sequence fairly quickly : Pink Dan : Y, X, A, B, Y Green Dan : Y, B, A, X, Y --= 5.2 Victory Symbols =-- V normal move finish S special move finish S* super combo finish Cheese S special move block damage finish Cheese S* super combo block damage finish Lasso throw finish (baseball on console versions) Hourglass time-out win P perfect win --= 5.3 Character Histories =-- Almost every character in SFA has ties in with the SF storyline or another Capcom storyline. RYU Style : Shotokan Karate Ryu is the main character of the SF series, appearing in every SF game ever made. Ryu was the winner of the first SF tournament where he defeated Sagat in the final battle to win the title of World Warrior. Ryu's stage is in front of a convenience shop in a street in Japan. Occasionally, a newspaper delivery person runs past. KEN Style : Shotokan Karate Ken is the other main character of the SF series, also appearing in every SF game ever made. Ken's skill was overshadowed by the victory of his friend and rival, Ryu. Ken's stage is in a park in New Orleans during late afternoon. The stereo from Guile's SF2 stage makes a return next to the dancing guy. CHARLIE Style : Special Forces Charlie makes his first physical appearance in the SF timeline. The friend of Guile, Charlie was killed by M.Bison between SF1 and SF2. Charlie was killed whilst escaping from Bison's prison in Thailand. Charlie is on a mission to arrest Bison. Charlie's stage is like Ken's, but at nighttime, and a crowd of people have gathered to watch the match. At the end of a round, some money is thrown around. CHUN LI Style : Wushu Chun Li is working for a government agency to arrest Bison for drug trafficking. Since SF2, Chun Li has appeared in every SF game except the new SF3 series. Chun Li's stage is on the Great Wall of China, during the evening. GUY Style : Bushinryu Ninjitsu Guy was a player character in Capcom's Final Fight, a horizontal scroller that was a hit during it's time. He is searching for inner strength. Guy's stage is like Ryu's but in the afternoon. Note that the small shop that was closed in the centre of the screen in Ryu's stage is now open, and the small building on the left now has a big curtain draped over the entrance. There are girls in the shop, whose skirts whiff up a little at the end of a round. BIRDIE Style : Undertermined Birdie is making his return from SF1. He's a thug who's looking to join Shadaloo. His stage is around the Roman Colloseum in Italy. ADON Style : Muay Thai Adon is Sagat's only student, and one of the last computer opponents in SF1. He is looking to prove himself the greatest fighter in the world. Adon's stage is a return to Sagat's stage from SF2, with the huge statue in the background, at a different angle. It's rather bright, suggesting it's right in the middle of the day. SODOM Style : Undetermined Sodom was a boss character from Level 2 of Final Fight, and he returns with a pair of jitte instead of those nasty katanas. Sodom is a gangster without a gang, hoping to lead a gang of his own. Sodom's stage is a trainyard somewhere on the west coast of the U.S. The stage is similar to a certain stage in SF1. ROSE Style : Soul Power Rose seems to have been sent by someone to destroy Bison. This is her first appearance in the SF timeline, and her history is very shady. Rose's stage is like Birdie's, with brighter lighting, suggesting the time is somewhere in the afternoon. SAGAT Style : Muay Thai The strongest fighter in the world, Sagat, was defeated by a "mere boy of a fighter" named Ryu in the SF1 tournament. Sagat's chest was scarred horribly by Ryu's winning Dragon Punch, and it now fuels his hatred as he trains for a rematch with Ryu. Sagat's stage is like Adon's, but darker, more of an evening shade. M.BISON Style : Psycho Power The end boss of SF2 returns with the shady past. All we really know is that he heads a powerful crime organisation, and that he is somehow connected to Rose. Bison's stage is similar to Sodom's but it's snowy. AKUMA Style : Shotokan Karate Akuma is the Japanese word for "devil". In Japan, he is known as Gouki, meaning "Great Demon". The Kanji which appears on his back is read as "Ten", and means "Heaven". It's been suggested that this translates to mean "Rest in Peace". Here's Akuma's background story (excerpt from last FAQ, v2.0) : Originally there was a fighter named Goutetsu who mastered a new style of fighting. (It is unknown whether Goutetsu invented the technique or not.) This technique was handed down to two of the grandmaster's pupils, Gouken and Akuma. Gouken subsequently taught it to Ryu, Ken, and to an extent, Dan as well. However, the style was originally meant to kill opponents by concentrating chi power into a murderous blow. Ryu and Ken learned a toned down version of the style with the killing function removed. It is unknown as to who toned down the style, Gouken or Goutetsu. Suffice to say that as time went on, Akuma rediscovered the lethal potential of the fighting technique. But as he did, the dark power he discovered gradually consumed him, transforming him into a murderous demon. He went back and murdered Gouken and Goutetsu in combat, and now roams the world in search of opponents worthy of his skill. This is the story at http://www.capcom.com/games/sfa2/akuma.html : Shun Gokusatsu. The legendary Raging Demon move was deemed too deadly. It was said that the move was so powerful, it would kill the user of the move. Gouken and Goutetsu sealed the move. Akuma thought his masters were fools. So what if a move was too dangerous? The true warrior would do anything to win. During a fight against his master, Akuma saw the chance to do the move. As he did, power surged through his body like never before, every cell wanted to explode. When it was over, his master's dead body sprayed blood, and Akuma was transformed into the murderous demon he is now. By releasing the Raging Demon, Akuma had killed his masters and sealed his own fate. Note how here it's suggested the transformation was a lot faster. DAN Style : Shotokan Karate It would appear that Dan has been in some of Capcom's SF2 artwork before, but this is his first real appearance in the SF timeline. He seems to be a joke character based on Robert Garcia. His past is also shady. Dan's stage is like Adon's and Sagat's at dusk. --= 5.4 Endings =-- RYU - fights Sagat *Pre Match Ryu : Back for more, Sagat? Sagat : Everyday I see this scar, I imagine you broken at my feet. Today I will have my revenge! Dan also appears, here, beaten up in Sagat's hand, and Sagat tosses him away as they start talking. *Post Match Sagat lies on the ground, terribly upset about his loss. He threatens to kill Ryu, but Ryu doesn't seem to consider Sagat a threat. Ryu complains that Sagat has grown weak, and reminds him that the true warrior fights with skill, not anger. And then he walks off, seeking the path of the warrior (what!? He doesn't go looking for another fight!? Not the good old "I must find worthy challenger ..." ending!?) KEN - fights Ryu *Pre Match Ken : You're a hard man to find, Ryu. Everyone's talking about you. Ryu : Long time no see. Still training? Ken : Still good enough to beat you. Ryu : We'll see about that! *Post Match Ryu congratulates Ken on his newfound strength, and they clasp hands. Ryu says he'll return to Japan, and Ken says he must go back to America, where there is another challenger waiting for him. Ken is then seen walking away after annihilating the opposition. He is on the port, his SF2 stage. A young blond girl named Eliza asks him why he fights : for money, fame, or attention. Ken replies that he must fight one man and make him pay. Ken could be talking of Akuma, who killed his master in Japan. CHARLIE - fights Bison *Pre Match Charlie : So you finally show your face! I'm taking you in, Bison! Bison : What do you want with me? Charlie : You'll have a long time to figure it out. Bison : A pity you'll die so young. *Post Match Charlie calls the base with his radio. Charlie is telling the base to hurry up with the backup when he notices something. Bison is crawling behind his back, the screen flashes white, and then fades black as the music climaxes. The last scene is of Bison walking past throwing Charlie's dog tags over his shoulder. He then says "His army is my army. Bison rules all. Did he truly believe I would let him live? He was a fool!" We see Bison's jet in the background, it is clear that Charlie was betrayed, but by who? CHUN LI - fights Bison *Pre Match Bison : Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Chun Li : Stuff it, Bison! You're under arrest for drug trafficking! You and Shadaloo are finished! Bison : I have no time to waste on you! *Post Match Chun Li tells Bison to give up. Bison admires her fury, and tells her to join him or die. She says "No thanks to both." Bison then says "You're as stupid as your father..." He then leaps forward, beating up Chun Li and says "So I'll kill you like I did him!" Chun Li, as though in a dream, cries "Father!!!", and the screen fades black. She then wakes up in a bed in hospital. A couple of government agents tell her Bison got away, Thaliand, maybe. Chun Li's true motive is revealed : to destory Bison and avenge her father's death. Following this, for some odd reason, she has a different music to everyone else during the credits. It sounds like a remix of her original SF2 background music, much more piano based, and slower. GUY - fights Bison *Pre Match Bison : A new enemy? Why have you come here? Guy : There is great evil within you. I will not let you succeed. Bison : You are a fool and soon you will be gone! *Post Match Guy remarks that he has achieved his inner strength. He pities Bison who could have been so much greater. After Guy jumps away, Bison gets up with an evil smile on his face and says that Guy will pay for this insult. BIRDIE - fights Bison *Pre Match Birdie : So you're the famous M.Bison. Think there's a place for me in Shadaloo? Bison : I have no need of weaklings. Birdie : And maybe if I beat you? Bison : Perhaps... *Post Match Notorious thug turned killer. It says Birdie has earned his place under Bison, and he is seen picking up a little guy telling him he'd better watch out for the Birdie. The game leaves the question "Is Birdie thinking of killing Bison and taking over Shadaloo?" ADON - fights Sagat *Pre Match Adon : You have taught me well, master. Now I have surpassed you! Sagat : You are a mere shadow of my skill. It's time you learnt your place! *Post Match Adon stands victoriously, declaring he'll crush any other that oppose him. Bison turns up, observing that Adon could be a valuable asset. "Join me in taking over the world. Join me or die." Adon then responds "I care not for you or your drugs. Now out of my way, drug lord!" "No one speaks to me in such a tone!" "Bison, if you fight me, you die!" SODOM - fights Guy *Pre Match Sodom : You ruined my life! Time to pay the price! Guy : You again? Sodom : I'll make you suffer! You'll never interfere with me again! Guy : Didn't I beat you enough the first time? *Post Match Sodom begins to reassemble the Mad Gears, the gang from Final Fight. He says with renewed strength, the gang will take over the world. He then opens up a scroll to show the gang's new name, written in 4 Kanji. In Japanese, they are read as : Ma (Demonic) DoGi (Morality, Moral Principle) A (Group) This altogether means "Cult of Demonic Principles". Of course, if it's all read in one breath, it sounds like "Mad Gear" in an Asian accent. It then says "That's so stupid!" ROSE - fights Bison *Pre Match Rose : You have abused your powers for too long. Bison : I knew you'd come sooner or later. Rose : You do not deserve those gifts. The day of reckoning is here! Bison : Stop making speeches and fight! *Post Match Rose begins to drain Bison of his Psycho Power. It is said that the one thing that can defeat Bison's Psycho Power is Rose's Soul Power. After this, Bison lies unconscious, and Rose is left exhausted and near death. She lies there, falls, and says she's done what she was sent to do. She hears a heartbeat, as Bison's heart begins to emit smoke. "Was it Bison?" SAGAT - fights Ryu *Pre Match Sagat : You scarred me and sealed your fate. Now the scales will be balanced. You took my honor and now I'll destroy you!" Ryu : You just don't get it, do you? Sagat : Shut up! I won't lose this time! *Post Match Sagat begins by declaring "Revenge is a dish best served cold." He then notices that Ryu is looking at him with pity. Sagat feels empty. He must know if Ryu fought with all his strength or if he held back in honor. Before he can give this more thought, Bison turns up in his jet. He tells Sagat to give up this foolish vendetta which he's already won. He says that if he now wishes to be truly feared, he must master Psycho Power. Vega and Balrog make an appearance alongside Bison. BISON - fights Rose *Pre Match Rose : Bison... You have misused your powers for too long. It will no longer be tolerated. Bison : They sent you to deal with me, didn't they? Now you'll learn what real power is! *Post Match Bison stands over Rose's dead body, saying that Soul Power is nothing compared to his strength. Is there no one to stop Bison from taking over the world? AKUMA - fights Bison *Pre Match Bison : Rarely have I seen such power! Why do you hesitate? Akuma : Is it possible for you to defeat me? No! I will always triumph! *Post Match Akuma's portrait scrolls past with 3 others in the background. One is Bison, the other two could possibly be Master Gouken and Grandmaster Goutetsu. "If evil has a name it is Akuma. Many have faced this warrior. All have failed. Powerless against his great skill, even Bison fears the mighty Akuma." "There is no one who can defeat me. My quest is at an end. Yet I am ... empty ..." "For some, it's the path, not the goal." DAN - fights Sagat *Pre Match Dan : At last we meet, Sagat! Sagat : Do I know you? Dan : Years ago you killed my father. Now it's your turn! Sagat : Ah ... him. He cost me an eye. Now I will have revenge on his son! *Post Match Dan happily rolls around doing his forearm taunt thing. Bison turns up and claims that he could be a remarkable asset ("Such confidence!"). Dan asks who the heck he is. Bison tells him to come with him, so he can make him the greatest fighter in the world. Dan replies that he's a little late, because he's already there. Bison declares he'll have his revenge. --= 5.5 Code to Fight CPU Akuma or Dan =-- **AKUMA ARCADE Quick Way : Press and hold START to begin a game. Whilst still holding START, move the cursor to your favourite character, and press Strong + Forward at the same time. You will see the message "Here comes a new challenger", and Akuma will glide in with a teleport, do the Raging Demon SC on your opponent, and then he fights you. Hard Way : Your goal is to get to the last fight without losing a round. You must also get 10 SC finishes before the last fight also. If you get these 10 SC finishes, and haven't lost a round by the time you get up to the last fight, Akuma will enter as he would in the quick way and you'll fight him. SATURN Quick Way : Move the cursor to your favourite character. Press and hold L and R. Then, press and hold B. Hold onto B during the "Now Loading ..." screen, and just hold it until you see Akuma teleport in. Hard Way : I have done this before after losing a couple of rounds, so you DON'T have to get to the last fight without losing a round. You still have to get 10 SC finishes however. I think you have to get an extra SC finish for every round you lose, eg. if you lose 2 rounds, you have to get 12 SC finishes. I'm not entirely sure on how this works, because I usually get up to the last fight with 12 to 14 just in case. Also, if you are 1P, you must select the punch colour, if you are 2P, you must select the kick colour. Regardless of how you get to Akuma, the CPU Akuma is always set at the same difficulty (always extremely hard). If you did it the hard way, you won't have your chat with your final opponent. Instead, the energy bars and timer will already be at the top of the screen, and Akuma will teleport in, Raging Demon the opponent, sending them falling out of the screen, turn to face you, and will say "I am power made flesh! Feel how weak you truly are!". When (if) you finally beat Akuma (completely), the screen will flash in the SC starburst, regardless of whether or not you finished with a SC. You will then stand there for a while in a white screen, with Akuma still laying on the ground. After the bonus points thing has gone away, your character will fly around (or more accurately, the sprite gets flown around) as the screen fades to white. More detail on what happens next in section 5.7. By the way, regardless of how you get to Akuma, it will always play Akuma's background music, regardless of what stage you're on. Also, after beating Akuma, it's the end of the game, so the quick way will result in a short game. Finally, you canNOT get up to Akuma with Akuma. The CPU Akuma is very tough. He has also done some cheating against me as well. He got me with a S.Forward, C.Roundhouse combo for 3 hits, and I have not been able to do this. Also, (now this is real cheating), he done a Raging Demon SC which went across the whole stage at an incredible speed, ala Shin Gouki / CyberAkuma. It might have just been a bug, but, hey, it happened. I know how to consistently beat him with Ken or Ryu. Just jump at him with well timed JN.Roundhouse kicks. Akuma will usually try a S.Roundhouse, and it will get beaten. Upon landing, block, because he'll do a reversal Dragon Punch or reversal SC. Then trip, and repeat lots more times (where's that 30% damage handicap when you need it?). If he has 3 Levels, do a Dragon Punch upon landing after beating his S.Roundhouse. Chances are, he'll try a reversal Raging Demon SC or a reversal Level 3 Messatsu Gouhadou SC. **DAN ARCADE / SATURN Get to the fifth fight without continuing. End each match with the same winning quote (see section 2.15). It will appear "Here comes a new challenger", and you will fight Dan. After the match, the game will continue in it's normal fashion. I have also gotten to Dan another way, thrice in all the times I have played SFA. When I got up to the last fight, for some reason, it just came up "Here comes a new challenger", and I fought Dan. I'm not sure, it might have just been a bug. It happened again, on the second last fight. I'm not sure what I've done to get this to happen, it might just be random or a bug in the program. --= 5.6 Ryu & Ken Vs. Bison Code =-- Yep, two against one. This code is great fun to play, especially if you own the console versions, since you can just sit there playing it all day without paying for 2 credits every time. The code is : ARCADE 1. Both players press START to get into the game and hold it. 2. Both players tap Up, Up on the joysticks. 3. Both players release START. 4. Both players tap Up, Up on the joysticks. 5. 1P presses Jab, 2P presses Fierce SATURN 1. Start ARCADE MODE on either player, and press START to join in on the other controller. 2. Both players press and hold L and R. 3. Both players tap Up, Up. 4. Both players release L and R. 5. Both players tap Up, Up. 6. 1P presses X, 2P presses Z. You don't have to be in exact synchonisation, as long as you keep the general order I have listed. If you have done it correctly, you will be on Akuma's stage. The Vs. screen will appear, then disappear. The computer will suddenly flash "Here comes a new challenger", Ken will jump over to Ryu's side (1P side), Bison will hover down, and offer Ryu and Ken a chance to join Shadaloo (or die). Ryu and Ken refuse thinking Bison's a complete joke, and then the match begins. *Ryu and Ken can't hurt each other. *Ryu and Ken both share the same Super Meter and health bar. *Bison has a MASSIVE damage handicap in his favour. *If you both corner Bison and keep hitting him in a combo, neither of you will be pushed back as you normally would. The general idea is to corner Bison or double side him and combo him insanely. There are various redizzy combos in this mode. If both of you corner him and just hit him repeatedly with C.Shorts, usually about 15 hits will redizzy. If both of you do a SC at almost exactly the same time, both of you can use the Super Meter. For example, if you have the Super Meter charged at 3 Levels, and you both do a Level 3 SC at almost exactly the same time, you will both do a Level 3 SC! 6 Levels for the price of 3! However, usually this is a complete fluke and I've only seen it a couple of times. Apparently, you can get to 63 hit combos by double siding him. Me and my friend got up to 42 hits, but we screwed up the general rhythm and Bison Teleported out of the combo. --= 5.7 Special Endings =-- There are various possibilities to this, some of which I haven't fully tested, because to be honest, I really don't ever use AutoBlock. On console versions, due to the availability of different difficulty levels, things will vary also, which I haven't tested because I never play anything below full difficulty. Regardless of how you finish it, you'll see your character's ending. During the credits, your final opponent always comes up first, and then everyone else in a specific order. Following this, a yellow starburst will appear (like in a SC finish), your character appears, does a winning pose, the portrait turns up, with a message. Below are the possibilities I have tested, and what you get to see (besides your own character's ending) : * Used continue(s) Nothing more. * No continue, lost round(s) Credits, on starburst screen, it says at the top "Congratulations! You are ****** master!", where ****** is your character's name. At the bottom, it says "Your skill has not gone unnoticed." * No lost rounds Credits, on starburst screen, it says at the top "Congratulations! You are a grand master!". At the bottom, it says "Someone new has entered the fight!" * Lost round(s), beat CPU Dan Credits, on starburst screen, it says at the top "Congratulations! You are ****** master!", where ****** is your character's name. At the bottom, it says "The struggle never ends! Train for new challenges!" * No lost rounds, beat CPU Dan Credits, on starburst screen, its says at the top "Congratulations! You are a grand master!". At the bottom, it says "The struggle never ends! Train for new challenges!" **If you beat CPU Akuma ... Credits, instead of starburst screen, it's a blue screen with white lines gliding past horizontally. This is the background during the intro where Ryu and Ken are on a split screen, and they throw their fireballs. You get this instead of the starburst if you beat the CPU Akuma. Also, if you beat the CPU Akuma, you don't get to see your character's ending. This blue screen will appear BEFORE the credits. You can put your initials in after the credits. * Lost round(s), beat CPU Akuma It says at the top "Congratulations! You are ****** master!". At the bottom, it says "Someone new has entered the fight!" * No lost rounds, beat CPU Akuma It says at the top "Congratulations! You are a grand master!". At the bottom, it says "Someone new has entered the fight!" * Lost round(s), beat CPU Dan and CPU Akuma It says at the top "Congratulations! You are ****** master!". At the bottom, it says "The struggle never ends! Train for new challenges!" * No lost rounds, beat CPU Dan and CPU Akuma It says at the top "Congratulations! You are a grand master!". At the bottom, it says "The struggle never ends! Train for new challenges!" You can find more possible combinations using AutoBlock, and on the console versions, by playing different difficulty levels. Not that this is particularly exciting or anything. One final note : on the console versions, there is a save game feature called "Master's Ranking". This records the top 5 performances in Arcade Mode. The factors considered, in order of highest priority to lowest priority, are difficulty, win rate, max combo, and mode (speed, AutoBlock). If you beat the CPU Akuma, you will get a small gold star next to the difficulty, like so : LV 8*. You can't achieve this doing it the quick way, it must be done the long way. ============================================================================= *** 6) GLOSSARY *** ============================================================================= Well, I'm not really a person into technicalities, so this is basically copied directly from the last FAQ (v2.0), with a few additions. aerial attack - Any attack thrown in the air, like a flying kick. block stun - The short time period after a player blocks an attack, during which he cannot (normally) counterattack. buffer - Executing the joystick motions of a special move during a period where buttons don't register, like an animation pause or while your character is getting up from a knockdown. It is timed such that when the pause is over, the player can immediately press the button to complete the special move. (Note that a player can also buffer during the "chi" animation that occurs when his opponent executes a SC.) Bushinryu - A certain form of Ninjutsu. 'Bushin' stands for the Japanese god of war, and 'ryu' in this context means "The way of ..." cancel - When a player throws an attack, normally the player must wait while the first attack completes its animation before he can throw another attack. Cancelling allows the player to throw another attack right after the first one hits, thus "cancelling" the rest of the animation. chain combo - A type of combo that is performed by cancelling a normal ground attack with another normal ground attack. cheap - (1) An ambiguous term describing a tactic that allegedly takes very little skill to perform. (2) The mother of all excuses. (thanks for the definition, Allen!) (3) General negative reaction to throws and ticks. chi - (pronounced 'key') In ancient Chinese medicine and mythology, the chi is the life force that flows through every living being. In SFA, it's the energy that is used in special attack. For example, Ryu and Ken's fireball is an extension of their chi, which is channelled through their hands into a wave that flies toward the opponent. (if you think that the fireball being a wave is pretty stupid, remember that a wave is anything that transfers energy without transfering matter) combo - A series of attacks where, if the first one hits, the rest of the attacks also hit. corner trap - Tactic where a player keeps an opponent pinned in the corner by throwing continual attacks, like projectiles or poking attacks. If the opponent tries to jump out of the corner and towards the player, the player will execute an anti-air move and put the opponent back in the corner. Note that a fireball trap could also be a corner trap. counter semi combo - A sequence of moves which players can use when it becomes apparent that the opponent will try to counter their semi combos. These are designed to catch opponents when they are expecting a semi combo, and ideally, when mixed with semi combos, form a good offense. A lot of the idea based on counter semi combos are on guess work and predicting how your opponent will react when a semi combo lead is repeated. fireball trap - Tactic where a Ryu, Ken, Akuma, or Sagat player throws projectiles all the time, causing the opponent to either stand and block the projectiles, or jump in and take a Dragon Punch or other anti-air move. honour - Ambiguous term that usually implies either pulling off amazing techniques, or following proper "arcade etiquette". See cheap. interrupt - Identical to cancel. janitor - Someone who sweeps a lot. jitte - Metal baton with one prong sticking out from the side. They were widely used by Japanese police in the past. Jitte are especially useful for catching weapons, like swords and nunchaku, and can be used as an excellent defensive extension of the arm. juggling - Hitting an opponent multiple times in the air before he hits the ground. An example would be Guy's Rising Spin Kick or Akuma's Dragon Punch. jump-in attack - The aerial attack that the player throws as the opponent is getting up from a knockdown. The timing is such that the opponent usually must block as he is getting up or get hit. kanji - In Japanese writing, some characters are borrowed from Chinese. These are called kanji. link - One normal move followed by another, where the animation is not cancelled but the moves come out fast enough for it to connect in a single combo. meaty attack - Similar to a jump-in attack, except that the player throws a ground attack instead of an aerial attack. Muay Thai - Very offensive-minded martial art, it stresses developing your knees, shins, and insteps of your feet to deliver powerful kicks over and over again. neck kick - A type of jump-in attack which is positioned to hit the "back of the opponent's neck". Because of its positioning, the opponent must reverse his block direction, i.e. block by holding the joystick TOWARDS the opponent. Ninjutsu - More of a lifestyle than a style of fighting, ninjutsu is the art of stealth and invisibility. Also known as Shinobi. old schoolers - Term given to those who choose Ryu or Ken and play them using the old fireball trap techniques of previous SF2 games. overhead hit - A ground attack that can hit crouching defenders and must be blocked standing up, like Ken's Axe Kick. There is always a slight delay before the overhead attack hits. reversal - In Capcom's terminology, a reversal is a special move performed right after a block stun or right after getting up. Thus, a wake-up Dragon Punch is a type of reversal. Also, blocking a projectile, then immediately throwing one of your own is also considered a 'reversal'. The timing in which you can do a reversal is said to be 1/60 of a second. sai - Metal weapon that looks like a jitte, except that it has two prongs sticking out from the sides. The main shaft can either be blunt like a jitte, or point sharp. It is believed that the sai was especially popular with women who used the weapon to extend their reach. semi combo - a sequence of moves that are designed to catch defending opponents off guard. Semi combos ALWAYS have a gap somewhere during which they can be hit out of. Sheng Long - Chinese for "dragon punch". (It is unknown whether Gouken is "officially" known as Sheng Long. Hopefully not.) Shotokan - Type of Japanese empty-handed fighting style. I believe it originates from Okinawa. The Karate Kid movies resemble Shotokan karate. spaz - Opposite of a turtle, this is a player who unleashes an uncontrolled barrage of attacks without letting up (like many Wolverine rookies in assorted Marvel games). tech - Capcom's term for throw softening. tick - Tactic where a player throws either a jump or ground attack as a set-up, making his opponent block. Then while the opponent is still blocking, the player moves in for a throw. (The term 'tick' comes from sound that the game makes when the opponent blocks the set-up attack. When it was first seen in SF2, the sounds went something like "Tick, HUH! ... Tick, HUH! ...") trip guard - the ability to block sweeps and other attacks upon landing after a jump. turtle - A player who is overly defensive and waits for his opponent to come in. Players usually become turtles if they have a substantial lead in a round. wake-up Dragon Punch - Dragon Punch which is performed as the player is getting up from a knockdown (thus, this is a type of reversal). Ideally, it can hit an opponent who is coming in with a jump-in attack. Wushu - Chinese fighting style, also referred to as Kung Fu (although Kung Fu is more generic.) ============================================================================= *** 7) CREDITS AND THANKS *** ============================================================================= Dan Wells gives a big "Thank you!" to: Tom Cannon............ for mucho info and the basis for this FAQ. =P (Mr. Cheung)....... for info on the characters during beta testing. Shinkuu Hadouken...... for the Akuma/Bison code. alt.games.sf2......... for all of the discussion about SFA over the past month and plenty of info. Allen Kim credits : Rich Joseph........... His X-Men:CotA FAQ had the Japanese names for Akuma's moves. Norimitsu Kaiho....... His mini-FAQ had plenty of info on Akuma. Derek Liu (Lanzer).... The Japanese translation of Sodom's ending, plus other general info. Brian Chan............ General info. Allen J. Klein........ Mucho general info. Kenichiro Tanaka...... PLENTY of help with Japanese translations and the glossary. Patrick Beja.......... WWW site, Japanese translations and other info. (everyone else, too... I hope all of you who gave me SFA tidbits don't many to mention) mind staying anonymous! I wish to deeply thank : Tom Cannon, Dan Wells.. For starting up the SFA FAQ. Allen Kim.............. For a LOT of help, plus various other bits of help with games other than SFA. James Chen............. For coming up with the idea of that silly Rose combo which just goes on forever and ever, and for writing combo guides on MSH and X-Men Vs. SF with combos that actually work, unlike certain other FAQs that I won't mention here. Patrick Beja/Gamest.... For the comboable moves list. All my friends......... For playing me in SFA for about a year! And also, my other friends who were kind enough to get me things off the net back when I didn't have net access. Gamest................. For lots of weird combos. I think I'll just stick in some character ranking types here and hope no one notices and complains. TOP TIER : Akuma, Guy, Rose, Ken, Sodom MIDDLE TIER : Ryu, Chun Li, Birdie BOTTOM TIER : Dan, Sagat, Adon, Charlie, Bison Things that look cool in SFA : 1. When Charlie blocks Ken's Strong Dragon Punch or Level 1 Shoryureppa SC, and then jumps forward, catches Ken out of mid air with an air slam. Likewise with Guy, but it just doesn't look as good. 2. Guy's ridiculously long combos. 3. Dan's Desperation SC. 4. Ken's beckoning taunt. 5. Ken's air throw when just jumping straight up and doing it. It looks really strange as you kind of just grab and start rolling on the spot, going up and down, then throw them behind. FINALLY, I'm done. I have nothing more to say. If you've managed to read the whole thing, your eyes must be pretty sore right now if you read it off the computer screen in one go, or if you printed it, that's a pretty thick wad of paper. If you have questions, comments, suggestions, etc., send them to : young@all.com.au If you've read the whole thing, good for you. You're probably completely bored to death of SFA now, but you should know everything that there is to be known about SFA by now. I apologise if this took some time to download or load up if you saved it on a floppy disk. Thanks for reading, Min Sub Kim young@all.com.au