*** * * ** * * * ***** *** ** ** * [][][] [][] [][] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [][][] [][] [][] ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [][][] [][] [][] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [][][] [][] [][] *** * ** *** *** * *** ** * ** [][][] [][] [][] ** * * *** * * *** *** * ** ** *** * * ** * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * ** * * * * * * * * ** * * *** ** * * * * * * * ** * * ** * * ** ** * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * ** * * *** * * *** *** * * * * ** *** * * ** Evolution Snowboarding Boss FAQ By FerreTrip Game by Konami ***[0] Table of Contents 0. Think...What are you looking at? 1. Introduction 2. Basic Controls 3. Techniques 4. Power Vs. Agility, Spin Vs. Rail 5. The Actual Walkthrough >>Boom Town: Boomer >>Falls and Creeks: Fall >>Bat Castle: Batty >>Koolun Connection: Ron >>Shogun City: Shogun >>Creatures' Inn: Creatures >>Battle Front: Battilion >>Big Core: Final Boss 6. Level Up FAQ ]]Pros Vs. Character ]]Why The High Prices ]]THE SECRET TO LEVELING UP ]]Gear Helps A Little Or A Lot ]]Hybrid Heaven 7. Copyrights & Stuff/Closing ***[1] Introduction Evolution Snowboarding is an action/alt. sports game released in, I think, 2002, which I assume as those are the years that most the licenced music is from, discounting Slipknot. It is a very interesting experience, and I was surprised that I liked it a lot after playing SSX Tricky and SSX3 for most my Gamecube career. Oh, yeah, Gamecube. I've been playing the Gamecube version for, believe it or not, almost about a week at the time I write this intro. ES is basically, as my best friend Kristain Pauley described it, Road Rage on snowboards. Here's the plot, however crappy it is by Konami's standards(Konami = Metal Gear Solid series, Castlevania series): Your character, which you create, or really just set the name, body type, and stance to, is freed from being a slave (I guess) by some dude you never actually find out about in the game. You then grab a snowboard and launch yourself out of a part of Big Core, learning the basics as the opening credits roll MGS-style, while you play. You see a few of your bosses and some of the stage at some two-second cutscenes along the way, and then, as you hit the final jump, you're homefree and the title appears. Then, you get an e-mail from REAL LIFE pro boarder Danny Kass about an oil field located near the North Pole. Hit it, and your adventure really begins, and you're introduced to the intense world that is Earth after a catastrophic change in climate, in which the polar ice caps melt and the tropics become icy cold. Boardroids are the genetic mutant freakazoids that try and kill you as they try and conquer the world by making the climate sutible to themselves. You never really find out who's behind it, I don't think, but the one behind the climate is the huge machine, "Big Core." In the end, you, well...We'll get to that. Anyway, Evolution Snowboarding is basically a snowboarding game that takes a few cues from Tony Hawk and SSX, as well as adding in a forgiving point system for normal things, but countering that with the hardest grinding system I've ever seen in a game. I'll get to that later, though. Basically, the way the game goes is this: You select a place to go, complete three of the initial four of ten missions availible, then fight the boss. Beat the boss, and that place's pro is unlocked. Under certain circumstances, I don't know what, you can unlock them in the normal missions before the boss. After you clear the boss fight, you can do all ten missions in a place. You can try and complete them with God-like speed, luck, and/or skill and nail the golds, but sometimes, they're easier than you think. The pros themselves are, believe it or not, real live people. Although, the year 20XX makes me suspicious of plotholes...Anyway. They are, in the beginning of the game, very, very, VERY much better than your rider. However, bosses must be totaled by your character. Oh, and your character's body type is crucial to how he'll/she'll handle missions. That's explained later in the fourth chapter. The missions may include things such as, well, collecting stuff, getting a certain score, totalling an amount of thugs, as they call them, reaching the goal with a certain amount of time left, or just plain old haul ass over to the goal in as short a time as possible. Each level has two or three "areas" to play missions in. Sometimes, they may have areas that are actually part of the main level. The area types are usually the main level, a halfpipe/air/general trickoff and a rail heaven-style thing. I'll go into these things later. Anyway, the missions are fairly strait-forward, and although sometimes you may want to tear your hair out of your skull, just keep trying to go on. Because of the erratic style of play, thanks to thugs, I've only provided tips and stuff in the Techniques and Power Vs. Agility, Spin Vs. Rail chapters on how best to handle these types of missions. However, the main thing in this game that seperates it from other snowboarding games is the fact you've got a health bar. You've got to defend it. Well. VERY well. Fight for your life in nine levels, dodging explosives, weapons, bullets, and, of course, punches and kicks aimed at your rider. This is kinda like SSX in the fact that, very often, your boarder can take his foot out of his binding to either do ONE grab trick(One-Foot), or mainly do the mixed-bag kick attack. Do it right, and you'll be able to attack with, presumable, a little more damage than a normal punch, at the price of no automatic backside attacks and a slower initial strike speed. Now, because you fight SO much in this game, Konami thought to put in some bosses to kick your ass with at the end of every level. Yeah. I know. Party time. However, some of these boss fights can be frustrating, especially if your character is at low stats and also if you're trying to find the stuff in the level, but most frustrating when you are trying to get the coveted gold ranking. The ranking system just goes on how much stuff you got, how much time is left, how many points you score, or mostly, how fast you do it, and this is NOT in minute-seconds. It's just seconds. I had a hard time at first trying to get through the final level, and so I decided to try and level up. I found that bosses yield the most points per mission, and so I decided to take some on, as well as complete all the other missions. I soon, as in a couple days back, found that each had, like any other good boss, a few quirks and kinks, as well as chinks in their armor for you to stab through and do more damage. I got so good at this, that, after the gazillionth time fighting Ron, I'd help the very few other gamers out there that have this game. And so, armed with a notepad and a pencil, as well as my bargin FRESH $10 copy of ES for my 'cube and my Wavebird, I took notes on each boss, beating fighting untill I had a gold in each boss fight, except for the final battle, which really isn't a boss fight, but is a level that is as merciless as a boss in itself. I didn't want anyone else to go through what I did, search the net and find NOBODY had written a guide for this game, not even on GameFAQs. So, I hope to submit this guide to GameFAQs eventually. And now, without further ado, my Boss FAQ for Evolution Snowboarding!! ***[2] Basic Controls ...Okay, I lied, but you need to know how to play! Now, mind you, I got the Gamecube version, so here's the Gamecube default control scheme: Control Stick/D-Pad: Move your boarder. Up = slight accel, down = brake. Also: Hold a direction before jumping and in the air to spin, flip, or spin-flip. You are invulnrable to all attacks, no matter what, when doing this. Even if you stop spinning, as long as you spun, you are invulnrable. Also, get your technical up, and eventually, you'll be able to shoot lightning from your spinning board instead of just your flipping board to strike foes! Not bosses, though. You have to just hit them with the board itself to damage them using it. L & R: Slide. See Techniques. On rail, they act as SSX's d-pad left/right in spinning your rider 90 degrees in the direction of the button, so left when L, right when R. Do it as soon as you grind, as you almost always go in doing a 50-50. Boardslides give the most notice and easiest balance for grinding. If you land like that, LEAVE IT!! Oh, note: Up when 50-50 does a noseslide, while down does a 5-0 grind. A: Jump. Hold to jump higher, I think. B: Kick. Hit repeadedly for combo. Once for a slow strait kick. X: Your most used button in the entire effing game: Punch/Swing Weapon. Hit repeadedly for a combo, and don't worry if you have an enemy on your opposite side: hit X, and you'll back-punch them. Not too weak, either. Weapons are swung once: forward, then backwards. If you have one weapon, then switch and swing, it'll go back then forth. You can have two weapons. Explained later. Hold X to grab a foe. Explained later. Y: Hit twice to switch, which is used more than you think. Hold Y to, just like in Tony Hawk, grind. Same button for Gamecube version, too! Z: One-Foot grab in mid-air, but hold it down on the ground to charge up your boost. Yup, ES kicks SSX in the face with a boost system that, in the right cases, works better than SSX's system. However, it takes a couple seconds to fully charge, and that's when it's only entirely useful. I think that, if you charge to full, the boost guage depletes a little slower, allowing more boost. So, go for 100%, not just 90%. You are invulnrable to all attacks except the big yellow bombs in Big Core when doing this. If you're attacked while charging up, you'll loose EVERYTHING. C-Stick: Grab tricks in mid-air and some wierd nose/tail press trick kinda like in SSX3, but I still have yet to understand how to use it and its purposes. The tricks are: Up: Nose Grab Up-Right: Japan Air Right: Indy Down-Right: Mute Down: Tail Grab Down-Left: Stalefish Left: Melanchollie (I think it's the Melon grab in THPS, not sure) Up-Left: Method (my personal fave from how cool it looks in THPS and SSX Tricky) Z: One-Foot (Think SSX's Experimental) No, you cannot tweak moves like in SSX. Sorry. Fighting Fighting is essential to survive this game. You use X (punch) most often, but kicks can be useful. It's just kind of sad that the special kick attack, at least for boys, isn't as strong as the special punch...Wait-a...*Runs off to play as a chick character* Hmmm...I don't have the stats in the red yet, but I do not yet know whether or not girls kick better than punch. However, for the moment, the strongest special seems to be her axe kick. Oh, the special moves! Sorry! I forgot! Down, Up + X: Uppercut(Agility, Men), Haymaker Dash(Power, Men), Kiss Orbit Strike(Women)*Notes that this is the only attack that can't really be done in real life in combat, snowboard or no XD, and is actually the best move in the game for when crowded by many enemies* Down, Up + B: Spin Kick(Men), Backflip Kick(Agility, Women), Roundhouse (Power, Women) *Notes that women have different kick attacks for type, while men have different punch attacks) Now, I assume you know what backside/frontside is. Backside is also called heelside, frontside is also called toeside. This may help. Backside, Frontside + B: Axe Kick (windup time, but most powerful move early on, at least for girls) Backside, Frontside + X: Strait Punch (fast and a little stronger than jabs) THERE!! You have your special attacks listed there. Now, in this guide, when I say "uppercut," I mean the down, up + X move. Even early on, this is a very good attack, and when you max out your male character, it's the strongest. However, I haven't compensated for Power types yet, but the boost is only a little bit ahead and goes away after the attack, kinda like the axe kick move swings your rider to the side of the kick a little, then reverts them back to normal. When I say uppercut, I mean to use your strongest down, up attack as they are fast and powerful. For girls, this means to use your backflip kick after you can do more damage with it than your punch down, up attack. NOTE: I've found it hard to aim properly using the backflip kick. It seems to only damage enemies on the sides, and only the sides. Only the roundhouse would actually do a 360 assult. And so, if you think that you need to inflict a reasonable amount of damage but the boss is in front, try a kiss attack(down, up + X). I don't reccoment it for men with kicks; after they get powerful uppercuts, which are about 360, they'll spam it like it's going on sale. This brings me to my techniques...WAIT!! WEAPONS!! There are, last I counted, only a measly four weapons in the game, and the only ones apart from the first two are exclusive to their Asian levels. Baseball bat (w/nails sticking out XD) Reach: Medium Speed: Normal Power: Med-high Chain (best in game for most purposes) Reach: Long!! Speed: Normal Power: Medium Knunchucks (only availible in Koolun Connection) Reach: Med-short Speed: Fast Power: Medium Katana (only availible in Shogun City) Reach: Medium Speed: SLOW. Windup, and only one hit. Power: HIGH!! Key to nailing Shogun quickly, actually. The katana gets knocked out fast and easy, and there aren't that many to begin with. I think backhand attacks may also increase while holding a weapon. I dunno for sure. Grabbing and throwing enemies can be fun, but be sure to aim at another enemy. Also, the quickest way to kill a foe when grabbing them is running them up against a wall. Ouchies, THAT'S gonna leave a STAIN... ***[3] Techniques Here, I talk about a few little techniques I call them. They include little strategies, tricks, and things that can come in handy if you're good enough. I'm not good enough to try using sliding to dodge, though, but...Yeah. Let's start there, shall we? Sliding Sliding is a great way to grab items that are just to the left or right of you and you can't get to them by turning normally. Crucial for golds in some missions, like Mission 10 in Big Core. Sliding is also meant as a dodging manuver, I think. You see, I think Konami designed the final hallway in Big Core to be passible by using good sliding skills to dodge bullets in succession. Have NEVER done it, though, hence my 2-seconds-off- gold record for it. Don't EVER slide side-to-side a lot, a this can throw you off your steering. Also, don't slide too long, I think this does, too. The Spin Trick You'll see me refer to this in Big Core. It's the fact that, when you're spinning or flipping, you are utterly INVULNRABLE to all attacks, be they bombs, bullets, or boardroids. In fact, if you twirl the control stick while spinning or doing a flip-spin, you'll keep spinning, faster and faster, reaching up to, I think my record is, about 4000 if you're good enough!! Flips work like in SSX: You hold the direction of the flip, you'll flip more and faster in it. Also, flipping is the only trick that can first-off zap people. Yes: Get your technical up far enough, and you can spin and zap others at the same time! It's cool, and handy. Anyway, sometimes, something wierd happens, and you'll, instead of going faster, go slower when holding the direction of the flip. On pipes, this screws you up, usually causing you to fall. Another note on spinning/flipping: YOU KEEP ON FLIPPING/SPINNING (spins to a degree: flip-spins normally last 540, while normal spins last up to 720) EVEN IF YOU JUST HOLD IT DOWN, THEN RELEASE IN MID-AIR!! I bailed a lot before I got used to that in my first days. The Bail Trick The only advantage of bailing is, apart from getting rid of a weapon you may not want, you are invulnrible when down. You can use this in Big Core if you want. The Boost Trick The only trick I recomend using in places apart from Big Core, and the only one that isn't much use inside it, the boost trick is used to get from start to goal in a faster time than if you rode normally. It's simple, really: Just hold down Z as you begin the mission, and ignore everything else(although stopping to fight won't kill it, only make it stall and slowly go down, like when grinding and in mid-air), then boost at 100%. After that, charge up and boost again. Release AS SOON as it's 100%, then hold Z as you're boosting to be ready for the next one. Using this can be physically tiring on your poor finger(mine felt wierd the rest of the day upon discovering it), and can result in a few restarts if you get hurt too much. Also, you can't charge boosts when you're in the "jump ahead for boost" animation that occurs when holding up. I hold up all the time, but sometimes, you may want to go on normally untill boost is ready. Another note is it's absolutly pointless to boost into a jump. Seriously. You just go normally. It doesn't work that well, really. Grind Missions Avoid these untill you unlock the grinder himself, JP Walker. He has full stats in Technical +50, and he's a grinder. No matter what, at least untill you're very good, try not to do any grind missions without him. Life will be eaiser, TRUST ME on this one. Seriously. Half-pipe Missions These can be fun, if you know how. Normally, half-pipes are hindrances, especially in boss fights (see Ron and Fall) and such. However, if you choose a good spinner, I think Kass is one, you may be able to pull off points well enough. Height jumpers help, too. HULK SMASH PUNY THUGS!! ...Yeah. More often, SHE-Hulk smash, not Hulk. You see, women have that cool spinning kiss of animé-ish laser circles thingies attack for their "uppercut," not to mention some cool kicks. In the early kill thug missions, use a strong girl, and wait around for groups of thugs(like at walls). Then, kiss away, obliterating or majorly hurtifying everyone around you! Kiss of death, baby!! I suppose do the same for later missions. The kiss attack is fast and fairly strong. It's also frikking cool and has enough time for aiming. Pinning Pinning a boss against a wall and wailing away with a weapon is one of the best strategys in the world. But careful: They can escape, and sometimes, they withstand hits to hit YOU, usually making you bail. It's annoying. But try to do it as much and as well as you can. ***[4] Power Vs. Agility, Spin Vs. Rail You can take ages deciding a body type when starting a new game. There are many a thing to consider when choosing, but the main things are the Attack and Technical types: Power/Agility, and Spin/Rail. Power makes you, well, more powerful each stat. Agility boosts your speed, but eventually power. Spin makes you spin faster. Rail makes you balance better on those tricky-ass rails. But why choose? I dunno, but here are the pros and cons: Power Pros: Well, you're more powerful with each hit. You'll prolly nail bosses faster after getting into the red, thanks to my assumtion that red stats boost not only the first kind, but the second as well. Power Cons: Well, if you get hit before you attack, you can't really attack, now, can you? Also, you're pretty slow before you get into the red stats. Also, that dash punch can be annoying sometimes. Agility Pros: You can not only do the most useful attack in the game, the uppercut, BUT you can also do attacks fairly fast! Agility Cons: You almost NEVER use combo attacks against bosses and thugs, and you're also as weak as the start untill you go red. Spin Pros: Faster spins, flips, and more of them. Also, you'll prolly get the lightning faster. Zappity. Spin Cons: Overall, they don't score as much points as SSX gives out, and they don't help shit when doing the most important thing for normal purposes: Getting around. Grind Pros: You can do easier the most important skill in the game if you want golds: Grinding the very tricky rails. This is why you HAVE to unlock JP Walker as soon as you possibly can, because he has full stats for grinding +50%!! Also, well, grinding is fun. I like it more than grabbing air, although it's not as fun as it is in skateboarding. Grind Cons: Not very good at spinning. But that's it. Really. This makes grind the best possible trait you can choose if you want to get around the missions using your main character more. Defence is also important, but I stick with Life. Max it out, and you've got one hell of a life bar! I've yet to see if Resist can do better with red stats. ***[5] The Actual Walkthrough FINALLY!! AT LAST!! Now, here's how I'm gonna do things: 0.>>Name of level 1.:Name of boss: 2.Gold time requirement 3.@ whatever the timer reads at the required time 3.Silver time req. 4.Ideal Spot to have the boss die when going for gold 5.Average amount of points given, around a certain amount 6.Strategy Now, because the bosses are more erratic than in most games with bosses, I've just supplied some tips to help you along. >>Boom Town :BOOMER: Gold: 45'00 @ 175' Silver: 60'00 Ideal Spot: Before or at beginning of first tunnel Score: 150,000 Hockey mask? Chainsaw? What, is this Jason in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or what? Anyway, if this were like real life, touch that chainsaw, and you're DEAD, RIPPED MEAT. Fortunatly, this is NOT real life, and the saw only causes combo damage, like Ron's electric attack later on in the game. His attacks include just letting his chainsaw go and ride at the same time, doing a two- hit combo(says something about liquidating you when doing it), or slamming it down quickly("Here I come!"). Here's the main strategy: Wait untill he's about to come, then uppercut his ass, grab the bat, and wail on him. Try to keep him by your side, which is easier said than done. MUCH easier said. Now, for his quirks: -In the beginning, he may, somehow, land behind a fence and keep away if you're slow untill you get to the tunnel... -...And if he gets to the tunnel, he'll stick around for a little bit, then get yanked offscreen on ahead by an invisible hook, shooting off and making me laugh at how he does it, thinking about it. He'll make you go through his thugs, making you kiss your gold goodbye. -Look out in the beginning; he usually goes either left or right, or something, but anyway, if you're not careful, you'll slide up a snowbank and bail, losing your bat, which is bad. -TRY to have him at low health at the beginning of the tunnel if you want a gold. -When you reach the tunnel, or sometimes a little before, thugs will arrive("Whoops! Sorry we're late, boss, go on ahead, we'll handle--HEH-HEEEHH!!!" Yeeah, you start to want to kill them after a while of that laugh #-_-;;), and distract you. Annoying. They don't really distract you untill he goes, "OOHH! CHOCOLATE!! *ZOOOOM*" on ahead. -Pin him as best you can. If you're fast, you can effectivly have him willingly pinned if he's behind a fence. -Don't forget the chain a little after the start of the level!! -SHOW NO MERCY. PERIOD. He can be tricky, but you may be able to get a silver first time around. I doubt it, though. >>Falls and Creeks :FALL: Gold: 50 @ 210 Silver: 65 Ideal Spot: Before/just after main central jump 2 Score: 150,000-175,000 Tricky chick! Tricky chick! Looks like an Aussie but sounds like a b****!! XD Yeah, seriously. Now, Fall can be pretty tricky to nail, especially when fighting her the first time and for a gold. Just stick in the center and grab the chain. Normally, she'll ride up the divider between the central and right-hand paths and flip over to your backside if you're regular. Her attacks include different swings at you with her giant boomerang and, of course, TROWING that puppy at you, which is annoying. She is the first of many bosses that goes on ahead for only that purpose. Try to evade it when it's tossed, which is hard when you're fairly close or didn't see it coming, by turing or maybe sliding. I always think, what, is she trying to be Sango, or what? Bleh. Well, even though the game says she's defenseless without the 'rang, she punched me once when she'd tossed it. However, it's very rare, only happened once, and may have been a thug. Anyway, try and pin her and wail. I grabbed the bat at the second big, central jump(after the corridor with the jump that has a board in it), then whacked her repeatedly and almost killed her once. Try and, even if it's hard, kill her like, right after the jump or at it using the bat, which is a little more powerful than the chain. -She likes to stay away and use her rang. Look out, maite! -Look out for rocks in the center path in the beginning. -She can get lost sometimes. -Uppercut her when close and when you've no weapon. -She almost always will boost on ahead after the first big jump after the corridor. That is, unless you do what she did and ski around the jump. It's an old technique I use in SSX sometimes. -If you get led to the halfpipe, BE CAREFUL! And grab the big meat if need be, though. -The rang hurts you on the return journey. Sometimes, the rang is lost, and she grabs a new one out of thin air. Quite funny, actually. -If she chucks her rang and it's still in the corridor, grab the bat and try to wail on her!! Look out for rocks!! -She can be pretty tricky. -In the center path, at the branch, if she goes strait, grind the rail. It'll be a little faster and you'll avoid the thugs. >>Bat Castle :BATTY: Gold: 45 @ 255 Silver: ??? Ideal Spot: Before jump/bridge split after the place with the big tree over the river curving around a stick wall. Score: 175,000-200,000 Believe it or not, if you're lucky, you can nab a gold first time around, using uppercuts a lot, as I found out a couple hours ago. Anyway, this guy's got a cool, chrome-like thing around him. He comboes constantly when you're close, but if you uppercut him a lot, and grab the chain at the start, it'll work wonders. After or at the rocks on the first or so split, he'll start to boost ahead, moving with you, and, as you can only notice when close, flash green and attack with an ice patch. Hit it and kiss a large bit of health ta-ta. Just stay close and on the offensive, and you're homefree. -The ice can come strait out of nowhere, which is annoying. -He attacks with general thug attacks. I wonder if he's one of those burly thugs who grab you but in a different skin? -Weapons work wonders. -Brake to start, then uppercut him as he comes close. You may hit him. After that, uppercut him again and again alongside him. -The thugs are everywhere. Heads up. -He's immune to bombs, so if you can't avoid them, hope he comes right in front and sets them off on himself before you do on yourself. ITEMS!! Goggles are on a tree at the forth split, into the lag- heaven area. A benie is in front and to the side a little of a tree in the left path of the same split. Boots are at the jump into the chandelier. Guage your speed, or you may overshoot them. A jacket is in the far left path after the first portcullus. Head left through an arch onto some grass, or charge through the gate to the left ahead on the normal path. Hit the jump and hope to God you've got enough stats to make it. It's on the archway, right at the beginning of a rail! Cool, no? The tape for Castlevania Music 3 is at the end of the high route at the two-three towers before the chandelier jump. You can hit it AND the boots in a row! Cool! >>Koolun Connection :RON: Gold: 45 @ 185 Silver: 60 Ideal Spot: At or a little after the stone steps in the central path after a jump Score: 120,000 (>_<#) I hate this guy. A lot. Why? HE EES ANNOYEENG!!! At least, he is if you want a nice, shiney gold time. In the beginning, watch out and try to avoid the stupid swords. Usually, there's a thug in front of you. Anyway, when he appears, watch out for his lightning rod, shock-down(shocks you and knocks you down second hit), and Thundershock attacks. Thundershock is a continuous, four-hit combo of a little web of lightning that can disarm both weapons from you if you're not careful. There are two paths in the beginning: An upper (right) and a lower (left). Careful on both. If you get into the upper path, grab the chain and whail away as best you can. If he disarms you, grab the bat before the jump. Try to resist flipping, as you may land on your head. And benies aren't helmets. Anyway, going lower, grab the chain (again) and whail. Then, try and grab the knunchucks and wail s'more. Also, you can pin him against the left wall fairly well; just avoid the pillars. Either way, try and grab the 'chux after the stairs and go through the gate. Stay on the side where you can face and hurt him on. Watch out for swords as well in the beginning. Avoid the jump. He usually does, too, and so try and get him. He's hard to hit on the stone stairwell, but try your best. If need be, in short no weapon, grab the bat. Otherwise, keep the 'chux. Just wail on him with weapons and stay close and on the offensive. He SUCKS. And I like to say, as a reply to his death cry, "No. I'M too cool for YOU." -ANNOYING. His shock-down can knock you down even when relativly far from him. -He likes to go up or down depending on your position. -He's hard to get close and use weapons on. -CHAIN = FRIEND. Length = good. -KNUCHAKU = FRIEND. Speed = AWESOME. -Thugs = suckage. -Thundershock stays on for a couple seconds, and I don't think it knocks down, but remember: Say sayonara to your weapons, which is bad. -If he looks like he'll hit the jump after the gates, just stay on a side. He should just miss the jump and get to you. -Sometimes, he likes to grind on a side, in which case you uppercut him. If he grinds the rail on the halfpipe, may as well restart; unless you hit him, he ain't coming down easilly. -He is HARD to kill for a gold. Not easy. -Why is he named "Ron"?! Ron's an English name! If it's supposed to be, like, "electRON," that's stupid. Gah... -Don't go to this guy for easy points. He doles out low values. Which sucks, seeing as he's a pain in the tailgrab to beat. Pants can be found at the end of the first halfpipe. A jacket is through the boarded-up area on the street after the second halfpipe, the one with the catwalk you fall from to enter the pipe. Goggles can be found behind the last jump before the end. A board is on the structure-like rail after the second halfpipe. You'll have to prolly make two runs to get both it and the jacket. >>Shogun City :SHOGUN: (Gee, big surprise there...) Gold: 50 @ 330 Silver: 65 Ideal Spot: Around the blue-roofed buildings area, the one with the tons of rails like telephone wires Score: 200,000!! Chikushou, this guy is EVIL!! He treats you like kuso, and is no baka. And I don't mean a horse or deer. Okay, enough with the joking around with my knowledge of naughty Jap. words, and onward for great justice with the strategy. If you got annoyed with the ninja around the level kicking (and not to mention grabbing) your a** like a hacky-sack, then be prepared to tear your hair out. This guy is definatly easier when without ninja around him. His attacks include just slicing you with his katana, doing a slice and then a flame-covered, knockdown-inflicting stab, a cool flip-and-slice move that is harder to avoid when close than you think, and two attacks where he runs ahead: He either blasts you with fire(TOASTY!), or chucks what is probably that red dragon the game describes at you. It looks really wierd. By the way, have you noticed that the Japanese, although they originally took a lot of stuff from the Chinese(because a form of their counting is actually a Chinese form of it, I think), don't worship dragons nearly as much? I digress. WAY too much... Anyway, his main gimmick is that he actually occasionally teleports next to you and attacks! Try and use this to your advantage, as he will almost never get lost this way. Anyway, here's the deal: In the beginning, you'll prolly get caught by a kamikazee ninja who hooks you and has that ten-second timer above his head. Uppercut his ass, then grab the katana. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE IT IF YOU WANT A GOLD!! Then, try and face Shogun and slice as much as you can get in. If you're lucky, you may be able to pin him or something, but either way, you may get a good chunk of health off of him by the time he escapes or by the time you lose your katana. Then, either use a strong special, like an uppercut, or grab another weapon (prolly a chain, that's what's usually after the katana) and try and hit him while on the unwieldy rooftops. If you're good, you may be able to nail him before the high-low split with the bridge. Not that easy, though. -He lets his ninja minions attack while he scoots on ahead to do a ranged attack, which sucks, and the ninja like to grab you A LOT, making you lose your katana. -He likes to teleport beside you, mainly to do a knockdown attack, like his flip. TRY AND NAIL HIM FAST!! -He likes to attack, retreat, then either teleport and attack or flame/dragon you. -He grinds sometimes. -The katana can, if you're strong enough, deal a TON of damage to him, like twice the amount of an uppercut. However, beware its slow wind-up time, 1-hit combo only, and grab- attracting properties. When I say grab-attracting, I mean that grabs seem to be worse, as you LOSE all your weapons when grabbed, which the ninja do a lot here. -Because he's kinda unwieldy at times to defeat, Shogun grants a high point value if you're kinda lucky. >>Creatures' Inn :CREATURES: (Again, big surprise there...) Gold: 40 @ 290 Silver: 60 Ideal Spot: Before, at, or a little after the first big jump, the one in the corridor that's built of boards Score: 200,000-250,000!! *Looks at score* HOLY--!! *Grabs heart and falls out of chair* DAI'M!! SERIOUSLY!! AFTER YOU GET DECENT STATS, SPAM THESE GIRLS!! EASY POINTS!!! Yeah. I'll mention this boss...well, these bosses again later. They are, believe it or not, girls. And the annoying thing is that, at random, but usually the one that uses the ice a lot, the one with the blue right side, someone is always invulnrable to getting knocked back when attacked, at least when she actually attacks. I advise that, unless your attack stat is really high, you try and go after the one that can usually be knocked back. Otherwise, you may end up trying to special, then getting hit before you can attack, and end up taking massive damage and dying, even if you just try swinging a weapon, you'll just get hit. Here's their attacks: One trys to stick close to you more often and hit you again and again with axe kicks or caveman arcing punches thugs sometimes may use, and the other (the "vulrable" one) boosts ahead and slams an ice stream at you. Run into it, and if the other is aways enough, she'll rocket RIGHT AT YOU and deal major damage. If not, you'll break free and get only minor damage. Anyway, the only way to really nab these cashcows is to just try and do this: Uppercut them when you're close, and grab the chain if you think you need it. Then, if you're lucky, you can pin one and wail with whatever you got. If you're extraordinarilly lucky, you'll kill them in, like, less than thirty seconds, my record. Otherwise, just wail on them with everything you got, including weapons. The bat works very well, as it does more damage than the chain, and also, these are big girls. If you need to, wail on the one that attacks a lot, but keep your distance. Try and get both at once to do more damage, as one of them alone has about twice the defence a boss normally has. -2 of them = damage is kind of split. But if you kill one, you kill them both! It's a two-for-one deal! -BE CAREFUL not to get caught in the big, mindless, always- attacking one's endless cycle of try-to-hit-and-hits-you-first! If you're using weapons, try and get both at once, and keep as far a distance as possible while still being able to hit. -Again, get one in the first corridor, and uppercut a lot, and FAST, and you MAY get about 27 seconds! -Look out for thugs, as usual! More than once I've gotten killed by them here! -Somewhat easy once you have good stats, like good enough stats to catch up and deal good, fast damage, these babies can give almost always give you a number of points beginning with a 2 in the 100,000's slot digit! Spam them and nab tons of points each time! >>Battle Front :BATTILION: Gold: 100 @ 140 Silver: 120 Ideal Spot: At the first watery area, or before the place with the split rails/catwalks Score: 150,000-200,000 SOMEhow, SOMEway, I got 57'90 on this guy once. Yeeah. AND, the first time I went against him with my less-strong, female character, well, first time I killed him with her, I got a gold. It seems that, if you're relentless enough, you can nail a gold fairly fast. He looks intimidating, what with that HUGE gun of his, that didn't sound right, and he can be pretty difficult if you've got bad luck. His attacks include slamming his gun down when he'll say, "FORWARD, ONWARD!!" and hit on "onward", riding and shooting briefly, ride-and-shoot for a while kinda like Boomer and his chainsaw, use a grenade (cool animé will appear around a ball he holds) and blow it up on himself(which he usually does after the ride-and-shoot that goes for a while), or march on ahead and then stop and spray bullets everywhere for a little while. This can be annoying. Believe it or not, weapons are probably the best method of attack instead of your handy uppercut attack all the time. Just watch out for thugs, uppercut him in the beginning, and grab a weapon. Wail, wail, wail. You may be able to kinda pin him in open ground with a weapon for a brief moment. His gun slam is hard to avoid, as it's fairly fast, so heads up. Oh, and unless you didn't know when going through the first three of four missions, WATCH OUT FOR LANDMINES!!! THEY HURT!! And come in two flavors: flashing ones put down by the burly enemies, and green ones planted there. -Weapons are your friends. -If you collide with him while he's standing and shooting, he'll bump ahead and go back to normal. -Beware of grabs, as in Shogun City they can ruin your day. -Like Boomer, when he rides-and-shoots, he can switch and get you. >>Big Core :FINAL BOSS: Gold: 220 @ 110 Silver: 240 Dificulty jump from the levels: from 5 to 10... Score: 150,000(?! WTF?! ALL THAT FOR NOTHING?!) Even though this ain't a real boss fight, you've still got your work SERIOUSLY cut out for you. THIS. IS. HARD. No joke. However, as I just discovered, if you got the jacked "Special Two," which I think can be found in Creatures' Inn, you can heal yourself while grinding, just like JP's second costume. Seriously. Now, seeing as this is the most arcade-style and predictible stage, I will actually supply a real, live, play-by- play guide, kind of. Trust me, getting the Special Two shirt helped me accomplish this feat on my first try. -Start: Charge your boost, then release at 100%, and FAST! jump & flip! spin! ANYTHING!! Just make sure you're spinning or flipping, so you don't get shot in mid-air. This level is THE level where you mainly use the spin and bail tricks. If need be, you'll have to spin when surrounded by bullets. Anyway, upon landing, go as fast as you can, blazing through the path. -At the next hall, you'll be aquainted with thugs and a big dome. Jump and try and hit it, so you can spawn meat at the beginning of the next tunnel. I advise strongly to spin trick through the bombs or just try and avoid them whenever you can. Try to grab the meat!! -Next, go on, charging a boost if you want. Release as you exit the tunnel, and watch out!! A BIG, flying, yellow bomb will fly at you from the right! Try and avoid it, like spin trick or something. It may, but not likely, miss you. Anyway, grind the rail ahead and stay on the left-hand side to avoid getting bombed and get the dome. Stay on and try to stay on for the end, with another meat. Swerve through the curves and through the hallway of explosives. -Head onward, and you'll find a place much more relenting on the eyes. IGNORE THE BAT, like you'll need it, and avoid getting shot and bombed. There's a free meat on the left-hand rail; grind to it instead of riding up and jumping to it to avoid the bombs. At the bridge, two bombs come at once. Brake and you may avoid them in time, then grind up the rail and bust the dome. Grab the meat later on if you can. But don't worry if you fall out, as there's another meat opportunity soon. -Speed on through the halfpipe FAST. You'll prolly get shot at least once, tho. -HARD PART!! The cave is FULL of guns. Grind on the right- hand, red rail and stay on, hoping you don't get shot much. Bust the dome, and try to grab the meat. Afterwards, speed on through and survive to a lit hall. -STAY IN THE CENTER AND LEAP AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE!! Hitting this final dome releases a very important item: A big meat!! It is CRUCIAL to grab if you're hurt. After that, avoid the bombs, grab the meat as mentioned before, and either power on through or try and grind. Grind if you can if you've got the jacket I mentioned (Special Two) before. -Next, on the jumps, either try and grind or just try and jump, spin, and bail. Your speed should get you over the jumps. You should evade most bomb and shot damage. On the last jump, before the first hall, try your best to have enough speed to hit it high. -Why? To evade a TON of damage by landing on the rails above and grinding in saftey!! NOTE: After clearing this, I went again and found out about a weird collectable situated in a gap between the two rails. Dunno how you could nab it, though. Looked like goggles, prolly the Treason goggles. ANYWAY! If you don't hit them, then be prepared to dodge bullets like the Matrix, as the hall is full of them. Careful of the line of guns ahead! -Next, grind on the rail if you can to restore health if you've the shirt, then be prepared to HURT VERY BADLY: Guns galore. Either try your best to speed through and dodge them, or just spin trick on through. This is the easiest; although, not only will you be taking too much time, but you'll, no matter what, get hit. -Finally, after the last set of guns, you're home--BOMBS!! BRAKE!! BRAKES!! I died when I was at a sliver of health when two big bombs came at me and killed me. After them, charge on through and hit the jump, pull a cool pose, and sit back, relax, and watch the credits, complete with Slipknot playing 1.5 times!! You can't skip them, so don't try. It's annoying when you do this level multiple times. -Voila! You're DONE!! YAAY!! YAAAY!! You just beat the story mode for Evolution Snowboarding!! Now, to CONQUER it!! MWA-HA-HA- HAA!! ***[6] Level-Up FAQ Isn't it unfair that you've got to spend so much time grabbing so many points, just to waste them all on getting one stat? That's why I'm adding this in to help! When against bosses, high stats make things a piece of cake!! ]]Pros Vs. Character Well, as you go through the game, you'll find some pros, and they'll be playable after you unlock them. Just do a certain thing, like accomplish a goal if it's the second level of the ones you choose, or beat a boss, and they'll be availible to play!! They seem to be better than your character at first, but then, you begin to actually gain more stats, and soon, you'll be the better. The question is, untill then, what do I do? And should I use pros for normal levels, even if my character is maxed out in many stats? My answer: Yes. You see, in normal missions, or non-boss missions, pros are usually very well- rounded, and so you can rely on them having high stats in everything, whereas your character may not have high enough stats in everything to do well. However, for bosses, you MUST have a good character with high attack, speed, and defence stats at least to do a boss multiple times. ]]Why The High Prices Yeah, I know, those prices get really unfair after a while leveling up. They require you to devote a long time to to this game to get points. However, they give you these high prices because of a little thing I like to call... ]]THE SECRET OF LEVELING UP YOSH! There IS an answer!! However, not a good one if you want to level up fairly early. It requires only this simple process: First, get up to Creatures' Inn. Then, beat them and progress on if you want. Now, level up your character by either going through very early boss fights or by going through some missions to build up your points. After you think you can beat Creatures fairly good, go back and fight them time and time again. Each time, you'll get at least 200,000 points a pop! And this can be the world's fastest boss fight, at less than thirty seconds if you're very lucky!! This is the best way to earn points!! I MEAN IT!!! Also, when your stats finally reach the red zone, I do believe that they start not only enhancing the quality that your character is(like, if you're agility, you enhance fighting speed), but also what the OTHER one is! So, you get half in whatever the other stat is if you max out, I do believe! ]]Gear Helps A Little Or A Lot Yeah. I think the way gear works is that the percentage gives you that much more of your stat point total for that stat. You can get more than half your stat points' worth, or above +50%. If the % value is high, and you play a level and then get a gear with a crummy one, and play again, you may notice a distinct difference. However, you may not notice much more or less in that stat. So, I reccomend going for better gear, but! If, say, you want something that looks cool, and it gives you worse percents, try and compare how bad they give you bad percents. If you really want to change your look, and the percents aren't too much worse than the other, like, in a region of, say, 5%, than go ahead if you want to and change your look. ]]Hybrid Heaven This is a strange cap that I found sometime ago. When I equip it, a little message saying "Hybrid Set" appears below my character on the Settings screen. I haven't a clue as to what this does, but in a level afterwards, I think I had a little trouble turning. I turned a little well, then way too sharply and I missed a lot of collectibles. However, I may have way too high stats. I dunno, becasue I think it may have been the level. My point is this: Hybrid Heaven still has absolutly unknown effects. It may give me better stats in both things, like full stats in both agility and power, as my attack is maxed out, or it may give me some special abilities. If anyone knows what the duck is going on, please e-mail me!! ***[7] Copyrights & Stuff/Closing Okay, this guide is copyright 2005 me, FerreTrip, and is allowed for use on GameFAQs. Evolution Snowboarding is copyright 2002 (or whatever) Konami. All pros copyright themselves, music copyright their owners, and all brands copyright themselves, blah blah blah!! You get the deal! Special Thanks Konami: For making such a surprisingly fun game. Nintendo: For making the Gamecube I played this on. Slipknot: For allowing such an awesome song to be used in this game. My dad: For letting me get it. Menards: FOR SELLING THIS BABY FOR $10!!! YEAH!! You: For reading this guide. If you didn't...why did you open this file up in the first place? GameFAQs: For posting this up, should they accept this guide, and for having NO guides whatsoever beforehand, inspiring me to write this guide. In intrest of spam-proofing, please, kill the X's in my e- mail addy: XFerreTripX@Xthewoodwards.netX Anyway, THANK YOU PEOPLE FOR READING, and proving that I'm not the only guy on Earth who bought this game, whereas there are much better snowboarding games out there *COUGHSSX3COUGH*. Anyway, this is it. I'm done!! I hope my guide helped you!! Contact me if you have a question, or a solution to our Hybrid Heaven problem!! SEE YA!! --FerreTrip "When all else fails, use a REALLY BIG STICK!!"