,------------------. | SUPER DODGE BALL | `------------------' An FAQ and Strategy Guide for the NES Game version 0.2 by Dasrik (Rick Lafaurie) < vm_postitnotes@yahoo.com > * Table of Contents [1] Who is this FAQ meant for? [2] Where can I get this game? [3] What is Super Dodge Ball anyway? [4] How do I play Super Dodge Ball? [5] What do the statistics mean? [6] What are the different Power Shots available? [7] Can you give me info on the different teams? [8] Can you give me some strategic help? [9] How do I defeat World Cup mode? [10] How do I play in Bean Ball mode? [11] Are there any other versions of Super Dodge Ball? [12] Isn't there anyone you should thank? [13] Can I avoid the legal crap? * Latest updates v0.1 (September 9, 1999) - First FAQ. There's limited information and strategies in here, but I hope that SDB fans will write me with some stuff, and maybe even make some Team FAQs. I have a Pro All-Stars FAQ in the works. v0.2 (January 12, 2005) - No major changes, but I chose to re-release this FAQ alone after all my FAQs were mysteriously removed from the site. The reason for this is that the other Super Dodge Ball FAQ has a lot of inaccuracies. [1] Who is this FAQ meant for? It's meant for those who have the game "Super Dodge Ball" by Technos Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System (the original one... you remember!) and want to play it well. This is a great sports game that is about as fun to play as any Street Fighter game if you know how. On a side note, I would really like to be able to play SDB over the Net! Wouldn't that be the most? You'd be able to compete with players around the world if this were possible. Can anyone give me any thoughts on this? [2] Where can I get this game? The cart is a bit hard to find, especially now that companies no longer support the NES or its games. If you look hard enough on the Internet, though you may find it available. Write me and I can give you hints on where to look. [3] What is Super Dodge Ball anyway? It's a fictional sport. Remember the schoolyard dodgeball you used to play in P.E. class? Well imagine it taken to a professional level. In Super Dodge Ball, you control a team of six players, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You play on a court that looks like a volleyball court with no net. You choose three players to be on the inner court, and three to be on the outer court. The setup looks something like this: :2: .2. ,----------+---------. | | | | .1. | :1: | :4:| .1. | :1: |.4. | .1. | :1: | | | | `----------+---------' :3: .3. One dot represents player one's team. Two dots represent player two's team. Your inner court players can run and throw Power Shots, but they can take damage and eventually be killed. The outer court players cannot be killed, but are unable to run or throw Power Shots (with one exception). The object of the game is to keep your inner court players alive while killing all of the players in the opposing team's inner court. This is done by (surprise, surprise) throwing the ball at them. This can be done from the inner court or the outer court. [4] How do I play Super Dodge Ball? Well, when turning on the game, you are given three modes of play and three levels of difficulty. Use Up and Down to select which mode of play to use, and Left and Right to select the difficulty. MODES OF PLAY: World Cup Play (1 Player) - As Team USA, you will face off against all the teams in the game, ending in the final Team USSR (and if you're lucky, the mysterious Team Shadow). Versus Play (2 Players) - Each player picks their favorite team and plays an exhibition game of pro dodge ball. Difficulty doesn't have any effect in this mode. Bean Ball (1-2 Players) - Select how many players and then pick which member of Team USA you can control. This is a free-for-all game of dodge ball, where the object is to knock out every other member of your team. DIFFICULTIES: Easy - Opponents are predictable, mostly throwing regular balls. They don't catch anything. Rarely use Power Shots. Normal - Opponents will usually pass the ball to their best players. Catch regular balls usually, but are suckers for Power Shots. Difficult - Will catch a lot of throws including Power Shots, and tend to be good at intercepting. Will throw Power Shots often. During the World Cup matchup screen (the one that shows the team running or the airplane), or during the Versus Play team select screen, you can hit the Select button to view statistics on the teams. (More on the statistics later.) During Bean Ball, you can hit Select during the character select to view the stats on Team USA. The Change Position Screen allows you to select your own players. If you choose to change the line-up, use the Control Pad and the A Button to choose the players. The first three players selected will be on the inner court, and the last three chosen will be on the outer court, in their respective positions. If you would like to change what you have selected, use the Control Pad and the B Button to erase the choices. Press the A Button once you have selected your team setup to begin the game. The object of the game is to throw the ball at your opponents on the inner court, and knock them out of the game. Each team has six players, three on the inner court and three on the outer court. (Bean Ball is played on an open court.) ,----------------------------. | HOW TO CONTROL YOUR PLAYER | `----------------------------' CHARACTER CONTROL - The active player will be whoever has the ball. If the opponent has the ball, you will control whoever is closest to the ball. To switch which character you control in this case, you will have to move the active player away from the ball. Eventually, control will switch to the character who is closest to the ball. WALKING - Use the Control Pad to move your active player. When walking, you are not allowed to leave the boundaries of your court. You have full control of your player while walking, so you don't have a chance of taking the ball out of bounds. RUNNING - Tap the Control Pad left or right twice quickly to run. You can only run in a horizontal direction, but once you start running, you can move up and down limitedly by holding the respective directions. Reverse the direction to stop running. When running, you CAN leave the boundaries of your court, but if you control an outer court player, this will cause you to run back to your court, leaving you vulnerable. Plus, if you have the ball, you will be forced to drop it, allowing the other team to get it. JUMPING - Press the A and B button to jump. You have *very* limited control of your jump. You can use this to make jumping passes, evade throws and intercept passes. RUNNING JUMP - Press the A and B button mid-run for a long-range jump. This covers a lot of ground, especially if you are an agile player. THROWING - Face the direction you want to throw and press B. It helps to hold the pad in the desired direction. This will throw the ball at the opposing team for damage. Usually, the ball will aim at the opposing team's active player, unless you aim the ball. Aiming is useful when you want to take out dizzy teammates, which are never active players. JUMPING THROW - Jump and press B in the middle of the jump. You can also aim a jumping throw. These throws cannot be evaded (ducked) and inflict more damage. However, it's more difficult to aim one accurately. RUNNING THROW - Press B shortly after running to do a running throw. This also does more damage, but you cannot aim it at all; it will always go for the active player. RUNNING JUMP THROW - Run, jump, and press B for a running jump throw. It's faster, but does not do anymore damage (damn, all you whiners). SUPER SHOT - A Super Shot is faster, does more damage, and makes a whizzing sound through the air. In some cases, they are more powerful than Power Shots! To do a Super Shot, run for the full length of the inner court and press B. This is a lot harder to do than a Power Shot, for some reason. JUMPING SUPER SHOT - To do a Jumping Super Shot, jump and at the height of the jump, press and hold B. A jumping Super Shot is VERY powerful and can do some serious damage, depending on who you are using. POWER SHOT - To execute a Power Shot, run for a short distance, then press and hold B. If you do it right, the ball will glow orange and take on different properties, plus do TONS of damage. Different players have their own Power Shots with strengths and weaknesses of their own; see Section [] for details. It's hard to do at first, but soon you'll get the timing down pat. JUMPING POWER SHOT - Run for a short distance, then jump, and at the very peak of your jump press and hold B. Done correctly, your player will do his Jumping Power Shot. Jumping Power Shots are more damaging than ground Power Shots. Like Power Shots, they are hard to do at first but get easier with time. You can even run backwards, turn around mid-jump, and do a Jumping Power Shot. This will make the ball less accurate usually (with a few exceptions). CATCHING - Press A and hold the direction from where the ball is coming from to catch. You can catch while jumping. Catching is the best way to defend yourself against throws. You have to learn how, especially if you have an opponent who likes to throw from the outer court. You have to hold the direction pad in the direction where the ball comes from. The confusing thing is, if you press Up and Down while catching, it will still look like a regular catch. But it will only catch balls coming from the upper direction (i.e. the upper outer court position). Some people have better catch techniques than others, with better range and time. To catch a stationary ball, just walk over it and press A or B. DUCKING - Press B to duck. Hold it to continue to duck. You can duck ground balls and Power Shots (with a few exceptions). This is only useful if you don't think you can catch a ball. I suggest trying to catch it instead. You can't duck if you have the ball - pressing B will cause you to throw it instead. PASSING - While holding the ball, you may notice a teammate holding their hands out, ready to catch the ball. By pressing A, you will pass the ball to that teammate. You can control who you will pass the ball to. Face towards the opposing team's court and tap Up, Down, or Forward and you will pass it to the appropriate outer court position. Face your team and tap Up and Down to control which teammate you will pass it to. Watch out - regular passes can be blocked or intercepted. JUMPING PASS - Jump, then press A. This can be controlled in the same manner as a regular pass. Jumping passes are harder to block and intercept, but your teammate will jump to catch the ball, and will have to land. This is bad if you want to attack an opponent quickly with a Power Shot. You can pass or throw the ball afterwards, but depending on who you use there will be a period of recovery. BLOCKING - To block a pass, simply throw yourself in the path of the pass. You will reel back, but take no damage, and you will stop the ball. This is risky if you are low on life, as your player will become dizzy and the opposing team may pick up the ball and hit you. INTERCEPTING - You can catch an opposing team member's pass as well, just as you would a ball being thrown at you. This is much easier to do with regular passes as opposed to jumping passes. PAUSE - Press Start to pause. (Heh.) Press it again to unpause. Only Player One can pause. [5] What do the statistics mean? NAME: This is the name. Duh. It also shows a picture of the player. TYPE: There are six types, from A to E. This has to do with the graphic for the character and the character's different abilities: A: Varied face (Sam has a pompadour, Jack has a streak, Rajiv and Boris look like Abobo from Double Dragon, Helgi and Fuji have big eyes, and Wang and Yemi have big foreheads). They have more energy and throw power than their teammates. B: Bangs. They have more damage capacity than their teammates. C: Buzzcut. They have better catch technique than their teammates. D: Bald. They are more agile than their teammates. E: Bushy eyebrows. They have better ball breaking than their teammates. F: Can't describe it. They have better throw technique than their teammates. ENERGY: This is the amount of energy your player has. The energy is represented in gameplay by a set of bars next to the player's name. Each bar represents four energy points. When your player gets hit, a little number floats above him: that is how much energy he has lost. If your energy falls to fifteen or less, you will get dizzy after being knocked down, blocking a pass, or in some cases running. When the energy hits zero, your player will die. This does not affect outer court players, who cannot die. THROW POWER: This shows how much power there is behind the player's regular throws. The higher this number is, the more powerful the throw. This number does not affect Power Shots. Contrary to what the Team Select screen will have you believe, high Throw Power does NOT make the catching player reel back any farther. THROW TECHNIQUE: This was hard to pinpoint, so I'm not 100% sure what this means yet. What I do know is that, people with high throw techniques seem to have more accurate throws and passing, plus the ball rebounds higher after being hit. They also have better clutch throws (are able to throw the ball sooner after catching it). It does NOT affect the speed of the ball. BALL BREAK: The higher this number is, the more control you have of the ball while it is being thrown. Use Up and Down to adjust where the ball goes during flight. AGILITY: Affects foot speed and recovery times after catching a ball. CATCH TECHNIQUE: This is how good the player's catch is. The higher this number is, the more range you have on your catch. Your hands will also stay out longer. People with low catch techniques have short range and must time their catches well. DAMAGE CAPACITY: This is how resilient the player is. The lower the number, the more damage you lose per hit. The Statistics screen does not show the Power Shots available to the player, so I will be going over that below. [6] What are the different Power Shots available? There are eight regular Power Shots and eight jumping Power Shots, making it sixteen Power Shots in total. Power Shots are not affected by your character's Throw Power setting - they always have the same power (although some are more powerful than others). Also, Power Shots will lose their charge if they hit a wall or the ground. ,--------------------. | GROUND POWER SHOTS | `--------------------' THE BLASTER - This ball compresses itself and goes very fast. IMHO, this is the best Power Shot in the game. You have a great deal of control over this ball and it tears through anyone who gets hit by it. It's an easy way to get the ball into the outer court. The control you have, though, is determined by your character's ball breaking ability. Tom of the All-Stars can really move that thing, whereas for Scott of Team England, it goes in a straight beeline for the active opponent, for the most part. THE UPPERCUT - This looks a lot like an ordinary shot, just very fast. If it connects with the opponent (or goes for a certain distance) it will rise up high into the air, taking the opponent with it. This can usually get the ball into your outer court, making it a useful ball for that purpose, but it's weaker than the Blaster. THE WAVE - This Power Shot moves in a wave back and forth. This is easily the worst of the ground Power Shots, but it does have its uses. It can confuse the enemy and screw with their defenses. Otherwise, it's not that great. THE STINGER - The ball turns flat and starts waving around. It also moves pretty slow. It heads towards the active opponent and "gives them a sting". It's actually one of the more powerful Power Shots and rather hard to catch. THE TSUNAMI - It's easily confused with the Wave but there are some important differences. The Tsunami moves up and down, whereas the Wave moves back and forth. It also heads for the opponent's active player. THE WARP - The ball will phase out after a short distance and reappear in front of the opponent. A tricky ball to deal with at first! It becomes easier to catch with time, though. Just catch as soon as the ball phases. THE BREAKER - This ball moves in a straight line for a moderate distance, then heads towards the active opponent at high speed. This is another hard-to-catch ball, since you usually must catch it in a vertical direction. THE BOOMERANG - Ouch! This is the most powerful ground Power Shot in the game! The ball will rise high up into the air, then return with powerful force upon an opponent. It cannot be ducked, and it will send your opponent Around The World! What this does is, if the opponent gets hit by it, he will fly off the side of the screen and come out on the other side. It hurts a lot, too, even more than some Jumping Power Shots. Unfortunately, Team USA doesn't have this ball available to them. ,---------------------. | JUMPING POWER SHOTS | `---------------------' THE COMPRESSOR - This is one of the most powerful throws in the game. The ball will compress to a small ball, and when it hits the opponent, will expand for a massive hit. This attack sends the opponent Around The World, plus it's easier to catch the ball on the rebound, meaning you can keep the enemy in your court and pummel 'em to death! THE ACCELERATOR - The ball will move to ground level, where it will go towards the active player at rising speed. This is unique among the Power Shots in that it is actually more effective if you do a running backwards shot. It will move faster and be harder to catch. THE SPEAR - This move hurts a lot, but doesn't send the opponent Around The World. It does, however, move very fast. A solid Power Shot. THE PSYCHO - Yech. This ball is slow and weak. The ball will split into three mini balls then back into one big ball. Sounds better than it is. THE LIGHTNING - This ball will rise high into the air, right above the active player, then drop on their head. This ball is really hard to catch! However, the farther away from the player you throw it, the less effective it becomes, and the easier it gets to catch. It's a pretty good throw, but there's zero chance of a rebound. THE SIDEWINDER - The weakest Power Shot, it's also not that useful, even though it can come in handy sometimes. It's basically a jumping version of the Tsunami throw. It's very hard to catch, but easy to duck (or just stand under), and more often than not hits the ground before the opponent. Phooey. THE PULSE - This is a weak version of the Compressor, basically. The ball will pulse and hit for damage, but won't send you Around The World. THE SLUG - It is the most powerful Power Shot in the game. Unfortunately it is also the slowest. The ball will move at a terrible pace towards the active opponent, like a slug. But when the opponent touches it, it gives them a powerful slug that sends them Around The World! Scrub players will oftentimes try to catch the Slug and fail. It's useful for confusion purposes, but really is only useful to slow the game down (heh). [7] Can you give me info on the different teams? ,----------. | TEAM USA | `----------' If you plan to use the Bean Ball or Tournament Play modes, you will be spending a lot of time with this team. In Versus play, this team is fairly average. They have the most varied characters, though, and they are a lot of fun to use. Just don't expect to win against real players too much. STATISTICS ========== ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team USA | SAM | JOHN | MIKE | RANDY | BILL | STEVE | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | B | C | E | D | F | | ENERGY | 40 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 36 | | THROW POWER | 12 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | | THROW TECH. | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 12 | | BALL BREAK | 7 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 8 | | AGILITY | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 7 | | CATCH TECH. | 8 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 7 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 7 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | | POWER SHOT | Blaster | Wave | Tsunami | Stinger | Breaker | Upper | | JUMP P.SHOT | Spear | Psycho | S-winder| Compress| Lightn | Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,---------------. | PRO ALL-STARS | `---------------' An expert's team. Every team member is powerful in one area but lacks in everything else. Most of them have low energy and stamina levels. You have to know where to place your team members. The All-Stars' great strength is in their outer court game. As long as Jack and Paul are there you are all set. I think this is the best team in the game, but not my favorite. * - Paul will do his Jumping Power Shot (the Pulse) if you try to do his Jumping Super Shot. He can even do this from the outer court. STATISTICS ========== ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Pro All-Stars | JACK | TOM | FRED | BEN | PAUL | DAVID | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | F | D | C | B | E | | ENERGY | 36 | 28 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 24 | | THROW POWER | 12 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | | THROW TECH. | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | | BALL BREAK | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 15 | | AGILITY | 5 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 4 | | CATCH TECH. | 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 4 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 7 | | POWER SHOT | Upper | Blaster | Tsunami | Stinger | Warp | Breaker | | JUMP P.SHOT | Psycho | Pulse | Spear | Accel | Pulse* | Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,--------------. | TEAM ENGLAND | `--------------' A hard team to use because they take damage like babies. They have good throw technique, though, so they can keep the ball moving like no one else. That's what you'll have to do to win. If the ball falls in the wrong hands, you could have a match that is over before you can sing "Rule Britannia". STATISTICS ========== ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team England | JAMES | SCOTT | HENRY | ROGER | PETER | CLIFF | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | C | F | E | B | D | | ENERGY | 48 | 36 | 44 | 40 | 36 | 40 | | THROW POWER | 11 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | | THROW TECH. | 12 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 10 | | BALL BREAK | 4 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 6 | | AGILITY | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | CATCH TECH. | 6 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 4 | | POWER SHOT | Wave | Blaster | Tsunami | Boomer | Stinger | Upper | | JUMP P.SHOT | S-winder| Slug | Lightn | Psycho | Spear | Pulse | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,------------. | TEAM INDIA | `------------' Despite what it looks like, it's VERY hard to kill this team, especially Swami who can take only 2 Damage points from an Around The World Power Shot. They are also very fast and have good control of the ball; however, they have a poor catch technique and low energy, so they dizzy quickly. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team India | RAJIV | SWAMI | BATA | KUMAR | ZAIL | AKBAR | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | B | D | C | E | F | | ENERGY | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | | THROW POWER | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | THROW TECH. | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | | BALL BREAK | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | | AGILITY | 11 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | CATCH TECH. | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 13 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | | POWER SHOT | Stinger | Blaster | Wave | Boomer | Breaker | Warp | | JUMP P.SHOT | Slug | Psycho | Lightn | S-winder| Compress| Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,--------------. | TEAM ICELAND | `--------------' Pfuh. Yeah, right. Team Iceland has some of the slowest teams around. They don't even play well in their own stage! What they do have is lots of energy, good throw power and some good Power Shots. I rarely use this team, though. Their low agility levels (with the notable exception of Bjorn) make them terrible at defense. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team Iceland | HELGI | KNUT | HANS | BJORN | NILS | GISLI | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | E | F | D | B | C | | ENERGY | 64 | 52 | 56 | 52 | 44 | 48 | | THROW POWER | 14 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | | THROW TECH. | 9 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 6 | | BALL BREAK | 3 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | AGILITY | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 6 | | CATCH TECH. | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 12 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 9 | | POWER SHOT | Warp | Upper | Stinger | Boomer | Wave | Breaker | | JUMP P.SHOT | Lightn | Slug | Pulse | Spear | Compress| Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,------------. | TEAM CHINA | `------------' Oh yeah, give it up for my favorite team. They have excellent catching ability which really helps in those close inner court games, and some powerful throws, especially Wang's regular throw and Mao's Boomerang Power Shot. The only real downside to this team is that they don't take damage very well. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team China | WANG | HSIEH | LI | CHOU | MAO | TSAI | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | D | C | B | F | E | | ENERGY | 40 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | | THROW POWER | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | | THROW TECH. | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | | BALL BREAK | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | | AGILITY | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | | CATCH TECH. | 13 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 6 | | POWER SHOT | Breaker | Stinger | Warp | Upper | Boomer | Blaster | | JUMP P.SHOT | Pulse | Psycho | Slug | Spear | Lightn | S-winder| `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,------------. | TEAM KENYA | `------------' This team is well-rounded, but does shine in the agility area. They have the fastest player in the game, Mwai, and the second most resilient character, Taha. They also have good throw power, and a variety of useful Power Shots. I really like this team. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team Kenya | YEMI | OBA | TAHA | EYO | BWOGI | MWAI | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | E | B | F | C | D | | ENERGY | 44 | 36 | 32 | 40 | 32 | 36 | | THROW POWER | 13 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | | THROW TECH. | 9 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 7 | | BALL BREAK | 5 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | | AGILITY | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 16 | | CATCH TECH. | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 9 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 9 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 9 | | POWER SHOT | Boomer | Warp | Stinger | Tsunami | Upper | Blaster | | JUMP P.SHOT | Pulse | Spear | Lightn | Slug | Compress| Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,------------. | TEAM JAPAN | `------------' They have massively powered shots and good control of the ball. However, they're rather slow on their feet, especially the powerful players Fuji and Hino. They do have Sato, who is a tough bugger to kill (he is tied with Taha for 2nd most resilient character). A good team to use if you like power. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team Japan | FUJI | SATO | HONDA | AOKI | ODA | HINO | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | B | C | D | E | F | | ENERGY | 56 | 36 | 40 | 44 | 44 | 48 | | THROW POWER | 16 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | | THROW TECH. | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | | BALL BREAK | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 9 | | AGILITY | 4 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 4 | | CATCH TECH. | 10 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 9 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 8 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | | POWER SHOT | Tsunami | Wave | Warp | Upper | Blaster | Boomer | | JUMP P.SHOT | Compress| Pulse | Psycho | S-winder| Lightn | Accel | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,-----------. | TEAM USSR | `-----------' Overpowered, but what do you expect, they're the final team. They have super powered throws (even though Fuji is still stronger than any of them), great catch technique and high energy levels, which makes them a good team to start with. However, they do lack a player with a Blaster shot. ,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------. | Team USSR | BORIS | IVAN | PAVEL | IGOR | VOLF | YAKOV | +--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | TYPE | A | C | F | D | C | B | | ENERGY | 60 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 56 | | THROW POWER | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | | THROW TECH. | 8 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | | BALL BREAK | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 8 | | AGILITY | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | | CATCH TECH. | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | DAMAGE CAP. | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 13 | | POWER SHOT | Tsunami | Boomer | Stinger | Warp | Breaker | Wave | | JUMP P.SHOT | Accel | Slug | S-winder| Pulse | Psycho | Spear | `---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------' ,-------------. | TEAM SHADOW | `-------------' This is the final team you will face in the World Cup mode, if you beat every other team without losing one of your inner court players. Basically, they are a black and white Team USA with stronger shots and more stamina. There's no way you can play as this team in Versus mode, though. [8] Can you give me some strategic help? (*) Contrary to what your intuition might tell you, you should use your outer court for offense, and your inner court should be used to mainly defend against throws and retaliate when the enemy is open. Remember, the outer court players can't be killed. Use this to your advantage. (*) The Blaster is a very powerful throw, especially if the thrower has good ball breaking ability. Make the ball wind around the active player and the players not in control will often get clobbered by it. (*) While you can hit the enemy for heavy damage with the Power Shots, it's a lot easier to hit them from the outer court. It's harder to catch the throws there, and tough to intercept them. Try to bombard your opponent with close ranged Jumping Super Shots to wear them down. (*) You can hit an enemy when they're knocked down. Unfortunately, this is rather hard to do, unless you have the ball in the outer court. In this case, just aim for the enemy and throw. More often than not, you'll hit them. (*) Blocking a pass is oftentimes an easier way to intercept the balls, but it's risky - you'll be knocked down, and the enemy may catch the ball anyway and hit you. Learn to catch passes. (*) Around The World Infinite - If you hit an enemy Around The World and get control of the ball, walk left to have the opponent scroll to your side of the court, then when they get up, throw the ball at them. They will fall, get up, and continue to try to get back in their place, defenseless. Continue until dead. (*) Compressor Infinite - If you can hit an enemy Around The World with a Compressor and catch the ball in the rebound, you can juggle the enemy forever! Once you catch it, walk left so the opponent will scroll to your side of the screen. Then, while the enemy is tumbling along the floor, jump and quickly throw a Compressor. If you hit the enemy during the tumble, they will be hit Around The World again, and you can repeat this until dead! It's not easy to do, though. More strategies in later updates... I promise! :-) [9] How do I defeat World Cup mode? Some people have problems with the One-Player mode at first, but trust me, with the trick I'm going to give you, it's going to be easy as pie. This will work against practically all the teams, even in Difficult mode: Put Steve in the inner court. Pass the ball to Steve, and have him run away from the enemy's inner court. Then, when you're getting close to the enemy's outer court, jump, turn, and do his Accelerator Power Shot. The enemy, 99% of the time, will NOT catch the ball. Just catch the retailatory hit and repeat. If you want to do it the hard way, here's some advice: PRO-ALL STARS - This stage is on the rooftop of a skyscraper, and there is LOTS of blinking glitches in this stage. Anyway, this team is a real pushover. They always pass the ball to Jack. If you kill him first, their game will fall apart, but that's not necessary. Just crush, kill, destroy. Beware, Jack will sometimes throw the Uppercut, even in Easy Mode, so be ready to catch the ball. ENGLAND - This team is a joke under the CPU's control. They die really quickly. Just kill them. INDIA - This team is more cumbersome than anything. It takes a long time to kill them, ESPECIALLY Swami who will only take one point of damage (sometimes two) from anything you throw at him. You'll just have to be consistent in your attacks. If Team India gets their hands on the ball, they'll tend to toss it in the inner court where they'll play keepaway with you. This gets tiresome fast. Work on your interception skills and snatch the ball from their hands. *** Tip: Swami's a little bastard. Don't you wish you could keep him off the inner court? You can! When the game asks if you want to change the lineup, hit Yes. Watch the computer's team. If he puts Swami on position 1, hit A, then B. Continue doing this, and the computer will eventually stick Swami on the sidelines. Set up your team as usual and proceed to walk all over Team India. ICELAND - This team is not difficult to beat on their own, but their stage is set on ice and is full of penguins and such. You will slide a long way when running, catching or being hit. So stay away from the boundaries when catching throws. Oh yes, forget about trying to hit Icelanders off the ground - they'll slide a long way after being knocked down, making it damn near impossible to hit them. CHINA - This is a solidly played team with good inner and outer court skills. They use their Power Shots pretty well and will bombard you from the outer courts. Plus, in higher difficulties they'll catch lots of your Power Shots. Hit them from the outer courts to kill them. KENYA - Their stage is full of sand, which will slow down your runs and make it VERY hard to do your Power Shots. To do a regular Power Shot, you'll have to throw the ball a short time after you actually begin to start running. Anyway, Kenya is a zippy team with well-rounded abilities, plus above average agility. And Yemi will try to hit you with the Boomerang, so be ready to catch from behind. JAPAN - This team can be a severe pain in the ass. However, they've got a major weakness. They will ALWAYS pass the ball to Fuji, who will almost always try to hit you with his Compressor. He leaves himself open for a LONG amount of time after doing this, since he's so slow. Hit him with a fast shot while he's trying to run back into position. Or, use Sam, and aim your Blaster so that it hits only Fuji. Once Fuji is down, the team will go down with him. USSR - All it takes to beat this team is a bit of patience and an iron clad defense. Boris will use his Accelerator Power Shot often. Be ready for it. These guys have high energy and stamina, so it will take awhile to kill them. Show USSR who is boss. (Ha, ha ha.) TEAM SHADOW - If you beat the game without losing a character, you will fight Team Shadow, which is a shadow version of Team USA. They use the exact same line-up as you... which you can use to your advantage. Fight USSR with your weakest players on the inner court. That would usually be Mike, Steve and Bill. NOT John. John's a hard ass bugger to kill on Team Shadow. Once you beat USSR, then Team Shadow will use your WEAK lineup. Use your outer court (with the powerful Sam helping you out) to polish them off. [10] How do I play in Bean Ball mode? Bean Ball is a fun free-for-all style of play where Team USA practices in the gym. There are no rules here - just hit the enemy. Unfortunately, you can ONLY pick Team USA on this mode, but each character has their own strengths and weaknesses: * SAM: Tons of power, and hard to kill. Slow. * JOHN: The hardest guy to kill. He has poor power, though. * MIKE: A harder character to use, but his catching skill is impeccable. * RANDY: Has powerful Power Shots. Dies easy, though. * BILL: His Breaker Power Shot is great in Bean Ball. He's also fast. * STEVE: Good power and Power Shots, but he's slow. (*) You'll want to stay out of the crowd in this mode. You're more likely to be hit if you stay within the crowd. Instead, wait for the ball to be thrown at you, then wreak havoc. (*) Be careful when you run. If you hit the edge of the screen, you'll fall down and drop the ball. (*) Normally, you don't get dizzy in Bean Ball. However, you can still use the A button to just throw the ball in a pass-like fashion. It does no damage, but if the opponent doesn't catch it and he's low on life, it will DIZZY him! Catch the ball and destroy. [11] Are there any other versions of Super Dodge Ball? An arcade version of SDB exists. This is a lot like the NES version, except that the Type A guys are HUGE. I don't know much else about it, though. There is a Turbo-Grafx 16 edition of Super Dodge Ball. I haven't played it yet, but it looks really different from the Nintendo version. I'll keep you posted on this. A NEO*GEO version of SDB is around, but I can't find any arcade that has it. So far I know nothing of this version. Technos released a Super Dodge Ball game for the Super Nintendo, but only in Japan. It doesn't work on my SNES emu, though. [12] Isn't there anyone you should thank? My brother Jose, who I worked with to uncover all the nifty secrets in this game, and for being the bomb with the Pro All-Stars. Technos Japan for making an innovative game. Too bad they've failed to make a sequel. Are they still around? No thanks to Nintendo for dropping the NES. :-P [13] Can you avoid the legal crap? No. Sorry. Disclaimer: Super Dodge Ball is a game created by Technos Japan and distributed by CSG Imagesoft. This work is copyright to me, Ricardo A Lafaurie Jr. You may NOT reproduce any part of this FAQ for purposes of profit. You may NOT rip off parts of this FAQ in your own without permission. You may NOT sell this FAQ for money. You MAY print it out and distribute it for free. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super Dodge Ball FAQ v0.1 (c) 1999 Chips-Fey Productions ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANY ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS? Send 'em to < dasrik@cyberspace.org >.