CAPCOM vs SNK (USA Arcade version) Guile guide version 1.2 By Maj Website: http://sonichurricane.com E-mail: majestros@sonichurricane.com _______________________________________________________________________________ Introduction Colonel William F. Guile made his first appearance in Street Fighter II and has been a force to be reckoned with since. After a long absence due largely to the presence of Charlie, Guile returned in the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 as a secret character. Capcom later used the Guile sprites from SFA3 in both Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Capcom vs SNK. Although he made for a scrub character in MVC2 when compared with the broken Cable and the very capable trap characters (Doom, Blackheart, Spiral), he was one of the more versatile characters in that game and one of the most fun to play. However, with the comeback of old school style SF in CVS, Guile is once again a very formidable opponent. This FAQ is intended as a Guile guide for beginning and intermediate players. I hope this will help you Guile players out there win more decisively and encourage you Shotos and SNK players to try him out, because he is a very powerful character and does take a considerable amount of skill to play well. However, this guide will not contain very many advanced strategies, since if i told you how to do everything, you wouldn't have to do any thinking/innovating on your own and if there's one thing i hate, it's players with nothing to bring to the game. So, enjoy! Capcom did right by Guile this time. _______________________________________________________________________________ Updates 01/18/2006 - CvS Guile guide version v1.2 Added updates section Filed reference video recommendations under miscellaneous stuff Eliminated annoying minor inconsistencies in formatting Retained all original document content since most of it still holds up 08/05/2003 - CvS Guile guide version v1.1 Expanded combos section Made several slight clarifications 11/22/2000 - CvS Guile guide version v1.0 Established project groundwork covering movelist, combos, and strategy _______________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents I. Legend II. Movelist III. Combos IV. Strategy V. EX Guile VI. Miscellaneous Stuff VII. Insane Ramblings _______________________________________________________________________________ I. Legend Joystick Buttons UB U UF LP HP \ | / B - N - F LK HK / | \ DB D DF Special Motions (C:XX) - Charge in XX direction P - LP or HP K - LK or HK PP - Press both punches KK - Press both kicks LPLK - Press LP + LK (Roll) HPHK - Press and hold HP + HK (Charge meter in SNK Groove) S.XX - Standing XX C.XX - Crouching XX J.XX - Jumping XX SJ.XX - Superjumping XX (D, UB/U/UF to superjump) (C:XX)LPLK - Roll while charging in XX direction (C:XX)HPHK - Charge meter in SNK mode while charging in XX direction XX/YY - XX or YY XX+YY - Do XX and YY simultaneously XX, YY - Do XX then YY [Crossup] - Distance yourself so you land on the opponent's other side Other Notation Block Damage - Does a little damage even when blocked Unblockable - Can't be blocked Super - Everyone knows what the requirements for doing an SC/DM are Capcom - Capcom Groove only SNK - SNK Groove only Use Sparingly - Good to keep in mind, but very dangerous if missed Use As Needed - Very useful move, but if you get greedy, you get punished Use As Desired - Great move to use a lot, although nothing is full-proof _______________________________________________________________________________ II. Movelist F+HP - Backfist Guile's old school backfist. Good damage, great range, less priority than his S.HP, and usually whiffs against ducking opponents. Use sparingly. DF+HK - Double Sweep Guile's standard sweep move from pretty much the beginning of SF time. Both hits can sweep an opponent but if the first connects, the second will whiff. First hit animation is the same as a C.LK and the second is the same as a C.HK, with corresponding ranges. Use sparingly. F/B+LK - Hopkick Guile's old school S.MK, except now you can control whether he hops back or hops forward. Good range, decent priority, awesome footsie move cuz it goes over low kicks. For some reason, Guile usually gets hit out of this move into a standing animation so don't think you're getting away from the extra hits of multihit uppercuts if you get nailed with one. Don't let this hold you back though. Use as desired. F/B+HK - Advancing Kick Guile's shiny new move in SSF2T. Decent priority, decent damage, can't be comboed out of, but great for keeping your opponent cornered. Use as desired, but preferably with a Sonic Boom leading the way. For those of you complaining that Guile has too few special moves, the fact that Capcom hasn't been able to think of another one for him for a decade now goes to show you how perfect the two he has are. Besides, extra little moves like this one are worth more than a passing glance. F/B+HP (close to opponent) - Long Throw (unblockable) Guile's first throw. Puts considerable distance between you and your opponent, which is a good thing when fighting Zangief/Raiden/Honda. Good for getting opponents into corners. Use as needed. F/B+HK (close to opponent) - Suplex Throw (unblockable) Guile's second throw. Does a little more damage than the first throw and lands opponent closer to you, which is good when trying to keep an opponent under pressure, especially annoying R1 characters like Dhalsim/King/Vice. Use as needed. F/DF/D/DB/B+HP (close to opponent in air) - Arial Denial Air Throw Sends an airborne opponent back down forcefully in a diagonal arc. Good damage, but as all air throws, tricky to use. This is especially true because of the absence of air blocking, which forces you and your opponent to use the range of their air attacks to the fullest because there is very little safety in the sky. Lands your opponent in all kinds of distances from you depending on height of jump, arc of jump, and direction of throw. F/DF/D/DB/B+HK (close to opponent in air) - Backbreaker Air Throw Brings an airborne opponent down onto your knee. Does good damage, landing your opponent very close to you. More importantly, it lands them a fixed distance from you since they come down with you and pop off after you've hit the ground. It has the same complications as the first air throw. (C:B/DB), F+P - Sonic Boom (block damage) Guile's classic projectile. Comes out faster than most projectiles, and has the shortest recovery time in the game for fireballs. Can be easily comboed into and out of. LP Sonic Boom moves very slow and provides great cover for jump-ins, pressure tactics, and footsie. Despite short recovery time, it's still vulnerable to the Kim/Iori/Ryo lvl3 dash supers, mostly because of the super-freeze that happens when they're executed. This aside, use as desired. (C:D/DB), U+K - Flash Kick / Somersault Kick / Blade Kick (block damage) Guile's classic one-hit anti-air, with more names than any other move in the game. Comes out fast, does good damage off his foot and decent damage off the flash, but has a very long recovery time. This move has incredible priority now, overriding just about every other move in the game including Dragon Punches, etc. Use as needed, especially for jump-ins since his only other high priority anti-air is the far S.HP. (C:B/DB), F, B, F+P - Total Wipeout / Crossfire Blitz (block damage - super) Lvl1 - 3 hits, Lvl2 - 4 hits, Lvl3 - 5 hits Guile's safest super, and his easiest to pull off. This comboes out of just about anything (even his C.HP, which can't be comboed into either the Sonic Boom or the Flash Kick). If blocked, has no recovery time. The last hit is a good juggle set-up, meaning anything that has juggle potential can juggle after the last hit. For details on how this system works, see James Chen's Capcom vs SNK: Combo and Systems Guide, available at GameFAQs (gamefaqs.com). It won't help you much when playing Guile, however, since Guile only has two moves with juggle potential (his two supers) and both of those will be explained here. (C:DB), DF, DB, U+K - Somersault Strike (block damage - super) Lvl1 - 6 hits, Lvl2 - 8 hits, Lvl3 - 10 hits Guile's super combo from SSF2T, and a very tricky move to execute consistently. This comboes just as well as his Total Wipeout, does more damage, and juggles for more hits. Surprisingly enough, it has less priority at startup than the Total Wipeout. It also has a visible recovery time, especially at the higher levels, and covers less horizontal distance. It's only significantly better than the Total Wipeout as anti-air and for juggle combos, so if it seems exceedingly difficult to you to get it every time, don't worry 'bout it, but by all means work on it. _______________________________________________________________________________ III. Combos -Basic Combos- C.LP, C.LP, C.LP Three crouching light punches that chain together. Not that it's hard, but it's useful when someone rolls at you and you don't have the charge for a Flash Kick or if you're trying to guard break someone. (C:B), S.HP, F+P (close to opponent) The standard Fierce -> Sonic Boom combo that only works if you're near enough to get the close S.HP to come out since you can't cancel out of the far one. (C:B), F+P, F+HP/F+LK/C.HK This just goes to show you that you can link his Sonic Booms into either the Backfist, Hopkick, or a C.HK, which is very useful for keeping your opponent under pressure or in a corner. (C:D), C.LP, U+K Crouching light punch into a Flash Kick. Pretty easy to do, but effective considering how useful jabs are in this game. (C:D), S.HP, U+K (close to opponent) This one's tough, because Guile's only HP that can be canceled out of into a special move is his close S.HP, so you actually have to have the joystick in neutral when you hit HP and then move it to U to hit K. Really cool though, and worth the effort once you get it down. (C:B), F, B, F+P, (C:B), F, B, F+P You get an extra hit off a second Total Wipeout done after the first. If you wait long enough to do the second one, you can get two hits instead of one (the first hit and the last hit). A very easy combo to do, but usually not worth it considering it wastes a super bar, isn't very impressive, and does less damage than the Somersault Strike juggle. (C:B), F, B, F+P, (C:DB), DF, DB, U+K This one's not as hard as it may seem. You have plenty of time to charge the Somersault Strike once the Total Wipeout executes, and you have a huge window to do the Somersault Strike since the opponent will be falling for a very long time. Takes at least 2 lvls of meter, but it's usually worth it when things get tense. (C:DB), DF+HK, DB, U+K This is neither easy, nor useful, but i'm including it only because you might be wondering if it's possible. You get 5 hits from a lvl1, 6 hits from a lvl2, and 7 from a lvl3. (C:DB), DF+HP, DB, U+K (against airborne opponent) This is also useless, but it's kinda cool to do with a lvl1. Guile hits a jumping opponent with a fierce punch and immediately does a Somersault Strike to juggle them for a few more hits. You only get 3 or 4 hits no matter what lvl you use, and a simple Flash Kick does almost as much damage without wasting any meter or putting you in danger of trading hits the way doing Guile's low-priority C.HP does. -Advanced Combos- J.HP (C:B), S.HP, F+HP, F+HP The classic four-fierce Guile combo. Jump in while charging with an HP or an HK, do a close standing HP, hit F+HP for the Sonic Boom and hit HP again while holding forward for the Backfist. You can substitute the C.HK or the Hopkick for the Backfist and sacrifice a little damage for some safety in case the game slowdown throws off your timing. You can also lead this combo off with an LP Sonic Boom and jump or super jump (D,UF) to combo the first hit with the Sonic Boom. This is cool because the Sonic Boom provides cover for you, does extra block damage, and pushes your opponent further back. It's not full-proof however, because of rolling and because of anti-air supers that go through projectiles. J.LK (C:D) [crossup], S.HP, U+K This is the fierce-Flash Kick combo in the Basic Combos section with a lead-in jumping short. This combo usually works without the crossup, and sometimes even with a jumping fierce, but it depends on the character you're facing so if you don't know whether it will hit or whiff, stick to the crossup. LP Sonic Boom, SJ.HP (C:B), C.LP, F+LP, (C:D/DB) C.LP, C.LP, U+HK (corner) This is something flashy that does no damage and should never be used in a fight unless you know it'll finish them off. It only works on the taller and wider characters like Zangief/Raiden and suffers from the damage reduction that extended combos get. Furthermore, since you get pushed back with every hit, you can only hit them with the flash of the Flash Kick, which does very little damage, especially as the 7th hit of a combo. It may take some practice to get the ranges right, especially for that leading Sonic Boom. LP Sonic Boom, SJ.HP (C:B), S.HP, F, B, F+LP, (C:DB), DF, DB, U+HK (corner) Yet another flashy combo that does no damage considering it's a lvl3 combo. It does 11 hits, with each successive hit doing less and less damage than the first so wasting 2 lvls of meter at the end for five extra hits is a really bad idea in most cases. However, the first part of the combo is pretty powerful and should be used whenever you get the chance. You can also substitute a C.HP for the S.HP near the beginning since the super cancels out of the C.HP even though a Flash Kick or Sonic Boom wouldn't. LP Sonic Boom, SJ.HP (C:B), C.LP, F+LP, (C:D/DB) C.LP, C.LP, F, B, F+PP, (C:DB), DF, DB, U+K, (C:DB), DF, DB, U:K (corner, SNK) This is pretty much as flashy as it gets - 17 hits! You have to have SNK Groove with low health and a maxed meter to do it, but it's definitely impressive, and since you have infinite lvl1 supers anyway, that last Somersault Strike isn't a waste (it only hits twice). Still, i don't think one almost impossible combo that only works in the corner on a few opponents justifies picking SNK Groove over Capcom Groove, especially since the advantage of SNK Groove doesn't come into play until the very end of the combo where the hits have reduced damage anyways. Flashy though =D _______________________________________________________________________________ IV. Strategy First off, there's the question of which Groove is best for Guile. But before that, i want to give props to Capcom for making people in arcades everywhere say "groove" again. Not that i was alive when it happened the first time around, but i still think it's funny to hear someone say "You can't do that cuz you don't have the right groove" when trying to explain what the flashing bar in SNK mode does. But, i digress... Both of Guile's supers come out very fast, do a good deal of damage, can be juggled into and out of, and have insanely small recovery times. In fact, if your lvl1 Total Wipeout is blocked, and do a Flash Kick as soon as it ends, you will counter just about anything your opponent tries to do afterwards, including every lvl1 super in the game. So as long as your opponent blocks or tries to do low priority counters, you can do this super endlessly and always either get it off or keep them in block. This is true even if they try to throw you. Since there is a missed throw animation in this game, they will get nailed because of it and you can juggle into a lvl1 Somersault Strike afterwards. So, by now you must be thinking that SNK Groove is the natural choice to go with since it will make Guile a powerhouse when his health is low. In my opinion this takes very little skill. Why is this bad? Because anything that takes very little skill translates easily into predictable. In fact, most people playing SNK Groove are incredibly predictable, and those few that use SNK Groove effectively do so with characters that don't have much good about them except their supers (for example, Yamazaki/Zangief/Raiden) or characters with good chipping and keep-away tactics off their supers like Ryo or Iori with their respective fireball supers. Chances are, if you're reading this, you either have been or will be playing this game for a long time and you can trust me that people playing in Capcom Groove improve much faster than those playing SNK Groove. SNK Groove gets raped by a good Kim or Guile player because players in SNK Groove play too defensively. Blocking doesn't hinder Kim in the least and a good Guile player can keep up a good trap that will chip or guard break a cowering opponent and force them to make mistakes. Additionally, while you have a lvl3 bar, you do 15% more damage and Guile is an effective player without his supers. This, coupled with the unpredictability of having limited supers, lends itself to some pretty intricate mind-games in higher-level play (as in "I just blocked two Total Wipeouts and he's only got one bar left. If i do an LP Dragon Punch, even tho it won't counter the current Total Wipeout, it'll have priority over the startup of third one" - this scenario is how i know that the Flash Kick has priority over Dragon Punches btw =D). So, all in all, my recommendation is to go with Capcom Groove because it lends itself to more offensive, more intricate, more unpredictable play. Also, picking a character like Kim (assuming you know how to play Kim) to compliment Guile is a very good move because your opponent won't know what to expect from Kim just from having fought Guile (or vice versa) whereas if you pick Ryu and Ken, once your Ryu is dead, you can bet your Ken will go down the same way. Second, there's the issue of a gameplan. If you just wait for the other guy to take control of the match, you're gonna end up losing because your opponent will dictate the pace of the match. Now i don't mean go superjumping towards a Zangief with a full meter, but if you're gonna play defensive, don't lose your ground. If you're gonna play keep-away, keep the guy at a far enough range that if they want to jump in or roll in, you'll have enough time to charge a Flash Kick or to recover from whatever it is you're doing to throw some jabs at a rolling opponent. Also, mix it up a little. And i *mean* little! When you've got a pattern going that involves you doing repeated C.HK after your Sonic Booms or pushing the guy into the corner with C.HK's, skip one every once in a while because although it has awesome range, it doesn't get priority over most sweeps. But if they're expecting a C.HK and you just wait for them to whiff their counter, you get a free hit. Third, don't get greedy. Find out which moves counter which attacks safely and use them. Rolling may work once or twice against a fireball character, and you definitely need to maximize those opportunities with a huge combo, but don't start rolling all over the place expecting them to throw a fireball while you're in the middle of a roll. Just have patience and be happy with the pokes you get off the C.HK and the F/B+LK. This especially goes for R1 characters. If you get impatient, they will wear you down and you won't win decisively. Against R1 characters, you have to win decisively or else you'll lose the match. Not everyone realizes this, but there is a very definite vulnerable quarter-second after a roll that a character with a fast C.LP or C.LK can capitalize on. Characters such as Iori can do a lot of damage from combos off of jabs, and you should be ready to do a C.LP, C.LP, Flash Kick combo anytime you see someone rolling. So don't get abusive with the rolls and don't whine when you get killed because your rolled because it was your mistake. Fourth, don't waste supers. The threat of a super is as dangerous as the super itself, if your gameplan is laid out right. That's why i think Capcom Groove is the more powerful and more versatile of the two. You can juggle a second Total Wipeout after the first, but considering the damage it misses, it's usually not worth it. Go for a lvl1 Somersault Strike after the Total Wipeout if the extra damage is going to win the match for you, but a lvl2 is a complete waste (you get one extra hit). However, don't be afraid to do a second Total Wipeout after the first if it's blocked, because that's a full super you could land on the opponent and because it'll make them cautious next time around long enough for you to throw them or otherwise abuse their indecisiveness. All in all, try to be cautiously offensive. No other character has that luxury to move as easily from offensive to defensive depending on the character played by the opponent, especially now with the ability to move forward while charging (by using the roll ability). Play defensive against Zangief, cautiously defensive against Kim, cautiously offensive against Ryu, and offensive against Balrog. By this i mean you shouldn't let Zangief get close to you but you shouldn't jump at him more than once per round. Don't throw out normal kicks in a predictable pattern against Kim because his normal moves have priority, but don't let him dictate the pace of the battle. Attack Ryu and roll under his fireballs, but don't jump at him unless there's a Sonic Boom leading the way and watch out for that Shin Shoryuken. Barrage Balrog with footsie and corner traps, and don't let him go on the offensive unless you're waiting with a Flash Kick. His jabs come out fast though, so don't roll at him unless you're sure you can get around him. Guile can be competetive against *any* opponent. One more tidbit. If you get hit by a Hadoken, or if you block a Hadoken, or if you throw a Sonic Boom against a Hadoken and your opponent is within range of a Backfist, Hopkick or a C.HK, it will connect before your opponent has time to recover. This is important to remember because it works against just about every type of projectile in the game, and it's an advantage that Guile players have had on their side for a long time. _______________________________________________________________________________ V. EX Guile There are very few differences between Guile and EX Guile. EX Guile has all of Guile's moves except the Hopkick and the Total Wipeout. He has Guile's old upside-down kick (F+HK when close), which goes over low attacks just like the Hopkick except you can only do it very near your opponent and it does more damage than the Hopkick. EX Guile only has one super combo - the Somersault Strike. In my opinion, this weakens him against fireball characters and in footsie, and this is the main disadvantage you'll have to weigh against EX Guile's advantages. Well, more like his one advantage. His C.HP (D+HP/DB+HP) is a lot like Guile's old crouching strong (C.MP) and provides him with some extra combo ability since it can be easily comboed out of. Additionally, it doesn't push the opponent back as far as his close S.HP, so the classic four-fierce Guile combo can be done anywhere on the stage, not just in the corner. This makes EX Guile a slightly more offensive character than Guile, but the change is very minor when compared to the differences between the normal and EX versions of SNK characters. Basically, you're faced with choosing between the Total Wipeout super and being able to combo Sonic Booms and Flash Kicks from jump-ins very easily. Since the difference in strategy is minor, and since i've gone over most of the main points already, i'll limit this section to EX Guile combos. EX Guile has all of Guile's combos except for the Total Wipeout ones. Also, EX Guile's DF+HP is Guile's C.HP. -Basic Combos- C.LP, C.HP EX Guile can link his low jab into his low fierce. Kinda cool, kinda useful, and pretty basic. We'll build on this later. C.HP, C.HP EX Guile can also link his low fierce into another low fierce. This is cool cuz it does good damage, is pretty easy pull off, and doesn't leave you open. You can lead into this with any jumping attack, though crossups work best. Both of EX Guile's crouching fierces can be used as the second hit, but only the D/DB version can be used as the first hit. J.HP (C:DB), C.HP, F+P/U+K These same motions with Guile would not combo, but since EX Guile has a very combo-friendly C.HP, they work just fine. J.HP (C:DB), C.HP, DF, DB, U+K It's pretty obvious that you should be able to do this, but i thought i'd put it in here anyways. Either C.HP will work, so you have room for error. -Advanced Combos- (C:DB), C.LP, C.HP, F+P, F+P/C.HK This is a very easy, very consistent combo that you can use when someone rolls at you. The last hit is kind of tricky because you have to compensate for the game slowdown, but you can use the C.HK if you want to be safe. J.HP (C:DB), C.HP, U+K Pretty simple. Comboes incredibly easily, and does great damage. J.HP (C:DB), C.HP, F+P, F+P This works anywhere on the screen, unlike Guile's four-fierce combo which only works in the corner. However, if you do this combo in the corner, you can replace the Backfist with a C.HK or even S.HP because you don't get pushed back as far as you do with Guile's version of this combo. J.LK (C:D) [crossup], C.LP, C.HP, U+HK Most of the time, the link pushes the opponent too far for EX Guile's foot to connect and they get hit by the flash of the Flash Kick instead, but it's still a pretty cool combo to be able to do. _______________________________________________________________________________ VI. Miscellaneous Stuff -Colors- LP - Jungle Green (Yellow Hair) [from SF2] HP - Deep Blue (Yellow Hair) [from SF2T] LK - Stealth Black (Dark Yellow Hair) HK - White/Grey (Dark Yellow Hair) LPHP - Bright Red (Silver Hair) LKHK - Light Brown (Silver Hair) [from SF2CE] LPLK - Light Green (Silver Hair) HPHK - Aqua Blue (Yellow Hair) -Game Speech- Intro: "Get it on!" "Let's go!" Taunt: "Come on!" "Come on rookie!" Victory: "Good job!" "Easy operation!" -Victory Quotes- "You were good... I was better." "The strong will survive. The weak will perish. Which one will you be?" "You know you can't resist the fight, so I suggest you learn how to win." "Have you ever hungered for revenge? "You must learn to move faster than the speed of sound..." "It was a shame that it had to come to this..." "You lost too easily. You're even a waste of my practice time!" "Aww... Leaving so soon? You should have thought twice before joining the battle!" Guile has a match intro sequence with Rugal. Rather than describe it, i'll let you see it for yourself. It's kinda cool. He has no other such sequences although i would have loved one with Bison, Kim or Terry (or anyone). -Helpful Videos- For whatever reason, very few CvS combo videos were ever produced by the Street Fighter community. Sometimes it helps to see certain attack sequences in action to get a feel for the timing. The following videos are recommended for players trying to learn Guile or for anyone wishing to see his potential. CvS2 Guile Exhibition (Revised) http://sonichurricane.com/media/cvs2guilerev.html Although it starts off flashy and impractical, the SNK Groove Guile combo against Blanka at 1:15 demonstrates the typical follow-up to a connected Total Wipeout. The rest of the video consists of CvS2 combos. CvS2 Guile Exhibition (Addendum) http://sonichurricane.com/media/cvs2guileadd.html Utilizing the equivalent of seven levels of Capcom Groove meter, the SNK Groove Guile combo at 1:11 showcases Guile's extensive juggle capabilities. Notice that three light attacks following the crossup J.LK give Guile plenty of time to charge the super. The rest of the video consists of CvS2 combos. CvS2 Guile Tactics v1.0 http://sonichurricane.com/media/cvs2guilestrat.html While this video consists entirely of CvS2 clips with no CvS footage, it is an excellent resource for anyone intending to use Guile offensively. Many C-Groove Guile tricks can easily be adapted to CvS Guile's moveset. _______________________________________________________________________________ VII. Insane Ramblings Zack's not gone; he's just taking a break. That's all. You'll see. You'll all see. Kurt's gonna talk some sense into him. He'll be back. Damn, i wish Guile was in SF3 Third Strike. He would take an incredible amount of skill to play considering how much of a setback charging is in that game, but it would so make my day to see him animated in Three style. Plus Remy is such a lame replacement. I love that game, but Remy is no excuse for Guile's absence and Q makes a pitiful secret character. Well, this is the end! Thanx to everyone playin' CvS at my arcade. You're only as good as your competition and i owe a lot to friends and opponents who refuse to settle for "good enough." Play to win or don't play at all! Go Anteaters!