========================= | Street Fighters Alph 3: | | Rose FAQ | | By | | Sabre | ========================= Version 1.0 E-mail: goutan@yahoo.com Revision History: Version 1.0 (11/12/98) -- Start writing this gig. There'll be more coming. Copyright 1998 by H. C. Yu Copyright information: Please… (1) DO NOT use this FAQ for your commercial use. (2) DO give credits where they're due. ======================================================================= Table of Contents: Introduction SFA3 engine Normal Move Special Move Super Move Combo Tactics ======================================================================= Introduction: Hello and welcome to my new Rose FAQ for Street Fighters Alpha 3. This is the third installment of the Alpha series and features the most characters selection available by Capcom. Capcom has changed the game quite a bit, and the only aspect I see that qualifies the game to be of Alpha series is the comic-style character and background sketch. The detail of the new engine will be discussed below. Why play Rose? Rose has emerged as one of the top character in this game. She was terrible in Alpha, so-so in Alpha 2, and now a major ass-kicker in Alpha 3! She has improved quite a lot! I use her because she has such great priority and has powerful combos. Also, her poking techniques vary and can shorten those guard meter relatively quick. Another plus of using Rose is that she can be a pain in the neck for Shotokens (Ken, Ryu, and Akuma; alright, I'll include Dan so quit your whinning ^_^). Those fireballs can be used against them in so many ways. Without further delay, shall we begin? Oh yeah, BTW, I won't be using official names for the moves. They'll just be simple everyday language description that you'll know what I'm talking about without referring to a dictionary :-) ======================================================================= SFA3 Engine: Here're a list of things that's changed in SFA3. Among the old are throws and roll. However, their command has changed. < X-ism > = In this mode, Rose is much stronger and dishes out tons of damage. She cannot block in the air, so watch out for this change. Another feature is that she only has one super, a level 3 Super Soul Catch. Heh, heh, that super alone takes away nearly 50% of life. Too much? Just wait you see it in a combo - nearly 70% of life will say bye-bye ^_^ BTW, no Alpha Counter here (but heck, who needs it?) < A-ism > = Well, this is the traditional Alpha mode where everything you know about Alpha are intact (almost). Rose can air-block, Alpha Counter, various supers, and has 3 levels of supers. She's visibly weaker than X-ism, but still gets the job done right (that's my girl). I personally prefer this mode because IMO this is the most balanced Rose of the 3 modes. She won't be so vulnerable as in X-ism, and has much more variety of game-play than the other 2 modes. < V-ism > = Eh, what's this? I haven't seen any V-ism Rose (not even CPU) so I don't know much about Rose in this mode. What I do know is that in this mode, Rose has no super, can air-block, and Alpha Counter. IMO, this mode is rather useless. < Guard Meter > = One of the first thing you'll ask is, "What the f*** is that thing under your life-bar?" Well, my friends, that is something called the Guard Meter! Every time you block, you decrease the meter by a bit. When it's depleted, you won't be able to block and reel back for a second or two, leaving you completely vulnerable. Depending on characters and modes, the Guard Meter varies. X-ism has the longest meter or the 3 modes, and slower/bigger characters also have longer meter. SFA3 has become a poking game. Whoever that pokes the best will be crowned king (or queen). A-ism and V-ism Rose have about 4 blocks on her Guard Meter, while X-ism Rose has about 5~6 blocks. BTW, normal moves take out the meter much faster than specials or supers, thus this is a game of poking. < Alpha Counter > = Well, this is where the title of the game loss me. AC has become so useless that it's not worth pulling off! It still takes 1 level of super / 50% of V-ism bar, but does literally no damage! Besides, it shortens that precious Guard Meter by a block! Yeah, it still interrupts the opponents' offense, but I wouldn't trade anything for it! Rose (A-ism) does her punch AC from SFA2. She switches places with the opponent, and the use is still evading me. IMO, don't use it unless your quarters are on the line! < Juggle / Juggle Recovery > = This is a new feature of the game - juggles! This has opened up new combo horizons for Rose, and is useful although risky. Juggle Recovery can save you from hairy situations, but might also get you into some un-wanted trouble. ======================================================================= Normal Moves: < Jab > Standing/Crouching/Jumping = Nothing special about them. They're useful only in initiating poking, but themselves don't wear down the meter much. Jumping Jabs have horizontal range, thus might be useful in stopping un-wanted jump-in attacks. < Short > Standing/Crouching = Again, nothing special. Their poking potential aren't too how because they don't decrease the meter by much. Jumping = Well, now we're talking. This is an EXCELLENT move that should be used often as jump-in attack! It takes great priority over anti-air moves, and only few attacks will trade hits with it! For example, it'll take out Charlie/Rose/Ken/Ryu/Akuma's crouching Fierce, Charlie's Flash Kick (yup!), and Zangief's Lariat! Sometimes, it'll even take out Dragon Punches / Tiger Uppercuts if the opponents times them wrong! R. Mika's C. Strong and Dhalsim's S. Jab/Strong will often beat out this attack, so beware! Although not the best jump-in attack for Rose, you should use this often if you see opponents snuffing your other jump-in attacks. As usual, it combos nicely. < Strong > Standing = This is a horizontal swipe that can be comboed. Nothing too exciting about this attack. Crouching = IMO, this is the most important attack Rose has. It has great range and takes priority over lots of attacks. Also, it can combo into anything! Rose can use this to interrupt any poking attempt to snuff them into a combo. For example, against Shotokens, they like to poke with C. Short --> C. Short --> C. Forward --> Fireball, or something like that. Well, snuff them with C. Strong when they stick out the Forward! Jumping = This is a great air-to-air attack. While the range isn't too hot, it has great priority and can nail those high-jumpers like Vega and Rolendo. < Forward > Standing = This is a good long-range poking move used to wear down the Guard Meter. Nothing too special about it because it doesn't combo. For some reason, this is a great move against Dhalsim! Crouching = Another good long-range poking move. Sadly, it doesn't combo. Jumping = This is probably Rose's best jump-in attack. The horizontal range is excellent, and can cross-up. She can use this to set up for simple safe combos, and chip off the energy bar and the meter. < Fierce > Standing = Rose has 2 variation of S. Fierce depending on the distance. Far Fierce cannot be comboed and is used only as pokes. Close Fierce can combo easily for deadly combos. BTW, the far Fierce looks very cool! Crouching = This is a great anti-air uppercut. It's descent against jump-ins, and can set up for some juggles. However, the opponent must jump-in directly above you; otherwise, Rose'll probably get hit. BTW, this can combo into super/special, but the limited range of this attack makes them hard to pull off. Jumping = Another good jump-in attack for Rose. The priority isn't as great as Short, but does more damage. < Roundhouse > Standing = Again, there're 2 variations. Far Roundhouse is a poking attack with the greatest range of all Rose's moves. Close Roundhouse is the ugly looking cartwheel kick that's pretty much useless. Crouching = Well, this is your everyday take-down trip. Rose's trip has great range, thus has some lag-time. Only use it from far range, unless you're sure you'll connect. ======================================================================= Special Move: < Soul Spark > = This is Rose's Hadoken! Usually, this move is weak and slow. The initiation and lag-time are great, thus not useful as keep-away attacks. Thankfully, if opponents blocked at close-range, they'll be pushed so far back that they cannot tag Rose afterwards. One way to beef up the damage of the fireball is to absorb opposing fireballs. However, it's only 1 time use and Rose'll have to absorb again. BTW, this combos and does slightly more damage. < Soul Spiral > = This'll be the key to all Rose's combo. The damage and hits increase with increasing button strength, but so does the lag time. Roundhouse has the worst while Short has literally none. So, always use short. The damage is OK. < Soul Catch > = This'll be the key to Rose's juggles! This isn't too effective as anti-air attack unless you expected opponents to jump. If missed, you'd better pray hard! The damage is pretty good. < Soul Reflect > = Heh, heh, this is the nightmare of all fireballers! Rose has 3 options. First, absorb it! This will beef up Rose's Soul Spark for 1 hit while filling up her super meter FAST! 5 absorbs and you're back at Level 3! Second, give them back the fireball! Rose can reflect the fireball back to them, attacking them with their own weapon. In Rose Vs. Rose, try this for fun. Keep reflecting fireball back and forth, if you're quick enough ^_^ For some reason, Soul Spark gains insane speed (hyper-turbo) after 2 reflects! Third, sent the fireball up. IMO, this is rather useless so don't use it. Unless, you correctly predicted that ooponents will jump. < Slide > = This can be very effective in poking if used right. At far range, Rose can recover in time to block. At closer range, however, she'll suffer because she cannot recover fast enough. ======================================================================= Super Moves: < Super Soul Catch > = This is what makes Rose so deadly. At Level 3, this will kill off nearly 50% damage. In a combo, you'll looking at a nearly 75% kill! Comboing Level 3 isn't too hard, but still requires practice. Also, it's a great defense against jump-happy opponents! Besides, this has great range. How great? It's so good that you can tag Blanka after blocking his Rolling Attack! Hell, that's nearly half a screen! At Level 2, the range is much decreased, but nevertheless still a great air defense. Comboing this is possible, but much harder. Level 1 is pretty much useless. You can use it as a juggle like Soul Catch, but the damage isn't worth it. Regular Soul Catch does pretty much the same damage. < Super Soul Spark > = Personally, I rarely use this. Level 3 and 2 can combo, and does OK damage. Level 1 is useless and can't combo. < Soul Illusion > = For some reason, people fear this! They'll break up once seeing this move, thus making stupid mistakes. This greatly beefs up Rose's attack, and can rake up a pretty impressive combo both in number of hits and damages. BTW, this only increases poking potential by a little bit. Thus, NO FEAR!!! Each increasing level will give Rose more time in this beefed up mode. ======================================================================= Combos: 1. J. Forward --> C. Strong --> Soul Spiral (Short) *IMO, this is the combo to use at all time! It's safe to pull off anytime, and does solid damage. This should be the combo of choice if you jump-in too far or the jump-in attack is blocked. 2. J. Fierce --> C. Fierce --> Soul Spiral (Roundhouse) *This combo is pretty damaging, but hard to pull off. You must be deep in order to connect with C. Fierce. BTW, you can substitute it with a close S. Fierce for style points. Also to be noted, this combo can dizzy opponents fast! Two of them and they're dizzy. 3. J. Short --> C. Strong --> Soul Spark *This combo isn't very powerful, but is good for poking. The fireball will push opponents far enough to prevent any retaliation. BTW, you must be deep to connect Soul Spark. 4. J. Fierce --> C. Fierce --> Level 3 Super Soul Catch *This is by far Rose's most powerful combo - nearly 75% of damage! The combo is really hard to connect because you must be deep to connect the C. Fierce. Thus, it's best to use when they're dizzy. 5. J. Forward --> C. Strong --> Level 3 Super Soul Catch *This is much easier because you can do it farther. S. Strong will also work. This combo will rack up to nearly 65% of damage. 6. J. Short --> C. Strong --> Level 1 Soul Illusion --> Level 2 Super Soul Spark *If you can manage this combo, you'll have my deepest respect. I've managed to do this only a few times, but it's manageable. This combo will give you tons of hits (near 20+) and does about 60% damage. You must be agile in doing the supers right after each other. The control motion is tough. 7. Level 1 Soul Illusion --> J. Forward (cross-up) --> C. Strong --> Level 2 Super Soul Catch *The key is that you need to cross-up deep to connect this combo. The damage is pretty good, near 60%! 8. Level 1 Soul Illusion --> J. Fierce --> S. Fierce (close) --> Soul Spiral (Roundhouse) *You must be super deep with the jump-in Fierce so close S. Fierce will come out. It might help if you jump-in with a cross-up Forward. That should be easier. This combo does tons of damage and lots of hits. 9. Level 1 Soul Illusion --> J. Forward --> C. Strong --> Soul Spiral (Short) *This is the beefed up Combo#1. It has better range and does more damage than regular combo. 10. (In corner) --> J. Short --> C. Strong --> Soul Reflect (Fierce) --> Soul Catch / Level 1 Super Soul Catch *You must jump-in with Short because you must be deep and close to opponents upon landing. I recommend the regular Soul Catch because the super version isn't worth 1 level. ======================================================================= Tactics: In here, I'll give you some tips on Rose's poking. These are fairly safe and hard to counter. But again, all things can be broken! 1. C. Jab --> C. Short --> C. Forward --> S. Roundhouse *This sequence, like all poking, should be done slowly and varying speed. It's very effective is you pause a little before sticking out S. Roundhouse. Another thing to note here is that J. Short is the best jump-in attack in poking. 2. C. Jab --> C. Short --> C. Strong --> Soul Spiral (Short) *This is most effective if you pause a bit before C. Strong. C. Strong has great priority and can often snuff other counterattacks. Besides, it combos into Soul Spiral (Short) for some damage. If blocked, Rose is usually far enough to block any attacks. Some players might attempt to trip Rose after the Soul Spiral. They'll often miss because she's out of range. Rose can then trip them instead with her long C. Roundhouse. 3. C. Jab --> C. Short --> Slide --> C. Jab --> C. Short --> Slide --> (Repeat) *The Slide will often recover fast enough to go after another C. Jab. Be warned, don't try this in corner because she'll end up right in front of opponent's face. Or, you can substitute C. Jab with C. Strong into Soul Spiral (Short) ======================================================================= Credit: Desmund Wu for showing me how to play Rose.