Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked Boss FAQ by Clockstomper Table of Contents A. Introduction B. Mugen's Bosses (MugenB) C. Jin's Bosses (JinB) D. Worso's Bosses (WorsoB) E. Copyright Info F. Credits A. Introduction NOTE: Check out PikaKirby's great guide for information on the game mechanics and his guides on the swords and tracks. I won't repaeat that information here. I decided to create this FAQ because the game is pretty much the same in all the levels. Kill enemies, collect Kobans, fight a boss. The bosses are the only real challenge in the game (especially the damn Witch). Make sure you play as Mugen first. It makes playing through as Jin and Worso much easier as Mugen gets the track Flat Line for beating the game. It grants you hyper speed in exchange for a sliver of health. It cuts through enemies fast and the Kobans come pouring in. As always, there's no shame in dying a few times. Or 10 times on occasion. The game often offer to double your health or restore your swords, so it's always good to hit retry. In terms of Jin and Worso's paths always keep the track Flat Line as it's best for cutting your way through swarms of enemies. I personally never bothered with Tate Mode and still made it through the game. I used Flat Line and Jungle Batter while sticking to swords aquired through the shop. Tate Mode can earn you better swords but the game is beatable with just the basic ones I stuck to. I never bothered buying anything from the record or item shops either. Fuu's snow cone mini-game is loads of fun but another diversion I didn't indulge in much. My overall point is that you can get through the game without all of the extra button mashing hassle which is quick but if you want to take your time, feel free to have fun with it. If you earn yourself some great swords in the process, use them over my reccomendations. I just did things fast since I always try to take people who may be renting a game into account. B. Mugen's Bosses (MugenB) General tips: *Mugen should always equip the Western Sword and the Gladius sword. *The powerful Gladius works well to kill most bosses with a few exceptions. *After you beat the witch replace the Western Sword with the Magic Staff. Here are the thorns in Mugen's side: ***Bomber Man*** This guy is annoying but not impossible to beat. Just run to him as fast as you can and unleash your best combo on him. Be careful, as he leaves a bomb as he teleports away. As you fight him you'll get a feel for how many slashes you cane get away with before he teleports. If you pick too long of a combo you won't be able to avoid that bomb. Keep an eye on your map to keep track of him and run to him quickly and those bombs he throws won't be an issue. The holes his bombs leave are both a boon and a curse. They're annoying when you run to fight him (especially if you keep falling in when there's two close together) But they can unintentionally save your butt from getting blown to bits if you jump in one when you can't escape a bomb. ***Monkeys*** This is somewhat hard as the monkey's can whittle down your health if you don't keep moving. Keep running and kill wave after wave of monkeys. When the leader appears (red afro) take him out quickly with the Gladius. Killing him ends the battle no matter how many of the other monkeys are left alive. ***Witch*** Oh boy. This is a chore so I hope you're prepared to die MANY times. Even if you get quadruple health it might not even help you. The key to winning this battle is by learning through repitition. The witch is always guarded by some spinning yellow energy beams. You always need to get to her quickly, so you need to learn how to get past those almost intuitivley. The witch always casts a spell and after you hit her she disapears and then uses a ground based magical attack (think mines). As far as spells, she'll either concoct blue laser towers (avoid these like the plague), floating hearts or blow fireballs that seek you. In addition, she will soe times try and breathe fire to keep you from hitting her. As far as the second part, the mines, they appear in three patterns: a circle in which only the center is safe (hard to avoid) as well as a cross pattern and a wave that crosses the screen (easier to avoid). Here's what to do: try and memorize easy ways to escape the mine patterns. That saves you a lot of damage right there. The other key to victory is getting to the witch as soon as possible, making her spell based attacks no threat 95% of the time. Use your discretion properly as sometimes you may be late so just try to run for cover instead of going after the witch if you know you can't make it to her that time (especially if she uses the blue lasers). It'll take a mix of skill, dumb luck and maybe a health boost to win this fight but take solace when you win that the worst boss battle in the game is done. ***Oni Tsubaki*** He's tough, but beatable if you know how to go about avoiding his attacks. He has this annoying Tornado attack that will cause major damage if you're not careful, but luckily it always appears in front of him. So what you must do is attack him from either the back or his sides. Wait for him to finish a combo then run in and strike a few few hits on him and run away again. The only way he can hurt you from afar is his ninja star attack, which is easily avoidable and does little damage. ***Higumadon/Godzilla thing*** Easy...as long as you don't stand around and get killed. Switch to Gladius and attack right away. If that dosen't finish him, be sure to avoid his bomb attack by running to the upper right or left corners of the screen when he spits them. When he attacks with his hands (clapping or sweeping) run as far to the front of the screen as you can, away from him. Just keep slicing at him between his attacks and he'll go down quickly. Congrats! I'm sure fighting that witch made those last two seem simple. C. Jin's Bosses (JinB) General tips: *You should always equip Jin with the Ibara and Gladius swords. *Ibara is a good, well balanced sword to slice through both bosses and enemies. *The powerful Gladius works well to kill most bosses with a few exceptions. Onto the Bosses: ***Hanaoko*** First you'll be in a fake boss battle against Rei. Just hit him until the next cutscene starts. Then take out Hanaoko's men quickly using Flat Line. When you hit Hanaoka, he'll die almost instantly and you win. ***Russian Crossdresser*** The first real challenge. Gladius is of no use here as he's blocker. Use Ibara. He has two annoying moves: dart throwing and a damaging ground based energy wave that will knock Jin down. You can sidestep the wave but it's tough. As for the darts, he'll spin away first so quickly face him and hold L1 to block before they hit. The key to beating this guy is to stay on him and keep him fencing with you. Hold block while he strikes and then combo his ass while he's vulnerable. ***Rei the Invincible*** Not really a boss, but the game will prompt you on a move and when you do it, the 'battle' is over. It's triangle+circle and you're done. ***Dream Demon*** Super easy. Quickly switch to Gladius and attack the rock using you Flat Line combos. He'll die in seconds. Just don't be slow, his fire attacks are harsh. ***Giant Mugen*** Another easy one. Stay in between his legs (snicker) and when a rock appears, try and swipe it so it'll hit his feet. Be patient and his health bar will drain each time. As long as you stay away from his stomps, you'll stay in perfect health. ***Tragic Love Interest*** Jin's toughest battle. The key is to block her attacks then quickly try a few slashes of your own before she retaliates. She does several ground attacks and zips away quickly in addition to her regular combos so block them of face quite a bit of damage. She especially relies on the zipping move a lot as her health dwindles. It does leave her vulnerable from behind if you're fast enough. Just stay on your guard and be patient to win. Flat Line and Gladius won't help you here, only strategy and plenty of counter attacks can win. Enjoy the poignant cutscene that follows. ***Higumadon/Godzilla thing*** Easy...as long as you don't stand around and get killed. Switch to Gladius and attack with the Flat Line track on. It dies instantly. Sad, eh? D. Worso's Bosses (WorsoB) General Tips: *Equip Rei's Staff and Jamadhar in place of Gladius. *Flat Line should be kept on hand for crowds of enemies. *Keep Jungle batter on hand as it helps Worso kills enemies fastest on his own. Worso's bosses: ***Polar Bear from Lost*** He's easy to take out. Just avoid his attacks and whail on him from behind whenever he stands. A strong sword and Flat Line make this go quicker. ***Jin*** Talk about hard! Your only hope is to hold block then attack when his combos stop, then go back to your holding of the block button. Hope for combo opportunities. They key is patience as Jin's tricky with his combo sets. Just remember to hold down that block button and go for an opening if you're 100% sure it's safe to do so. ***Mugen*** Easy since he uses one combo. Block it and have at him using Flat Line. Repeat and soon his health will whittle away. ***Traitor and Black Tengu*** Kill all the Black Tengu by whatever means necessary and then kill their leader with a single swipe. This is very similar to Jin's battle with Hanaoko. ***Kurata, Hanaoka and Tsubaki*** With Kurata, just block and strike at the end of his combos and he'll fall easily. It faster to use regular strikes than Flat Line. With Hanaoka, use the same strategy but use Flat Line. Just as with Jin, this guy dies easily. He doesn't even have combos. he just strikes once and leaves himself open to attack. Lame. Tsubaki is tough. It's the damn tornados. Just run away and then strike when he's vulnerable at the end of his combos. Flat Line helps a bit but not in a signifigant way. ***Oni Brigade*** You've got three matches with three Onis each. It's tough as the strike fast and stay in a pack. The key is to wait until you get one separated from the pack and strike quickly with Flat Line equipped. Expect to die a few times. These guys are ridiculously powerful. ***Antonioni*** This guy is nearly unbeatable if you don't know what to do. He has many deadly and cheap attacks that will kill you easily if you don't watch out. In addition this bastard can heal himself if left to his own devices. DON"T USE FLAT LINE. It's useless here. The key is to not let up in your attacks. Start hitting him with your best swords as soon as possible. the key is to use counters and your circle button techniques (square+circle or triangle+circle like with Rei) to just keep hitting him. He'll use technique to knock you down or charge you but get up and back on his ass as soon as possible. Never stop hitting as the battle boils down to emptying his health bar before he does yours. It'll be hard and you'll die many times but don't give up. Letting him go for more than a few seconds will lead to his health regeneration. Just keep at it. If you die enough to get a health boost, that'll assure you can endure to beat this guy, even if you lost your good swords long before. Congrats, as you've beaten the game's second hardest boss! Enjoy the real ending after the credits! E. Copyright Info This document is copyright 2007 of Raveen Sharma. It is intended for private use only and no part of it may be posted elsewhere outside of Gamefaqs.com. F. Credits Thanks to Bandai/Namco for making the game available. Props to the english voice cast for their incredible work.