Welcome to the Samurai Shodown II Fringe FAQ v3.0 (and Happy New Year!) ================================================= Preface ------- Fringe FAQ is appropriately named as its purpose is to present supplemental information not found in the other SS2 documents. Leave this document entirely intact and unmodified when reproducing on paper. If some stranger offers payment for this document, I ask that you accept only $1 at most. This FAQ owes its existence to the fact that I am fortunate enough to own the home version of the game. Much time and effort was spent in researching and producing this document, nonetheless. It is possible that the home version differs from the arcade in terms of game play. Please relay any suspicions. Attacks are named for ease of understanding. This release is incomplete and sure to have some bugs. Please send any corrections, additions, comments, questions, etc. to acn@macsch.com. Constructive criticism is welcome. Read any fine print before flaming, please. If this document is worth something to you, I'm all ears to gratitude and compliments. I admit, I'm only human. -An Nguyen, author/editor, 1/5/95 Acknowledgments --------------- Thanks and credits to Brian Choi, Jamie Klein, Jun Saito, and Gamest magazine for cancelling info Jamie Klein for Galford Mad Dog slash bypass David Sweeney for BC hop tips Anastos 'Tiri' Sotiris for damage observations and suggestions Billy Bissette and Scott Bradburn for damage observations Scott Fujimoto for damage/dizzy observations and attempting suicide B) Edward Ju for damage observations and quote suggestions Rich Joseph, SS2 Moves List editor, for multi-hit additions, countering Cham's jump scratch, ninja mirror image bombs, and suggestions Greg Kasavin, Mark Maestas, Jamie Klein, Stan Wong, and James Tao for info on blocking Genjuro's slide slash Julien _? for suggestions and a multi-hit addition Shawn Gumbleton for Ukyo info If I missed anyone, I apologize. Please let me know. What's New in v3.0? ------------------- -New section on cancelling/buffering attacks -New section on overriding special attacks -Updates to Preface, Multi-hits, Subtleties & Tactics, and Miscellaneous Contents (sections partitioned with asterisks) -------- 1. Damage 2. Multi-hit Attacks 3. Attacks with Blocking Damage 4. Subtleties & Tactics 5. Cancelling/Buffering Attacks 6. Overriding Special Attacks 7. Miscellaneous ******************************************************************************* 1. Damage ~~~~~~~~~ In alphabetical order by character: Attack Damage to healthy (green after hit) POW victim who is standing and who has Character % Attack 0%POW 100%POW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cham Cham 0 AB standing far 13.5 100 AB standing far 15.5 100 POW special 12 Charlotte 0 B Power Gradation 6.5 0 B missile 11.5 100 B missile 11 0 AB standing far 12.5 100 B standing far 13.5 100 A standing far 6.5 100 AB throw 12 100 CD throw 12.5 100 B throw 11 0 crouch AB close 26 100 crouch AB far? 15.5 100 2-hit B standing close 13 100 POW special 25 100 AB standing close 2-hit 26.5 100 D standing 8 100 jump D 8 100 CD standing 13 100 jump CD 13 Earthquake 0 AB fire breath 18.5 0 AB fire breath up to 10 if blocked by cornered victim! 0 AB standing 2 hits 28 100 POW special 20.5 Galford 0 B standing far 10 0 crouch CD 13.5 100 POW special 27 Gen-An 0 jump D 8 0 glove extension 12 + dizzy (any button) 100 POW special 26.5 Genjuro 0 AB missile 11.5 0 AB standing far 28.5 0 jump AB 34.5 100 jump AB 24 100 CD standing 14.5 100 D standing 8.5 100 slide B or AB (first hit) 8 100 slide A (first hit) 3.5 100 B standing far 18.5 100 AB standing far 35.5 100 crouch B 17 100 crouch CD 14.5 100 jump CD 12 100 AB missile 10 100 B throw 14.5 100 AB throw 15.5 100 CD throw 16 100 POW special 29 Hanzo 0 B standing far 9.5 0 crouch AB 11.5 0 jump AB 22.5 0 CD spinning pile driver 31.5 0 AB standing close 36 100 POW special 22.5 Haohmaru 0 B standing far 15 100 AB standing far 33 30.5 0 Resshin Zan 17.5 (any button) 100 6-hit super uppercut 64.5 46 100 POW special 30.5 Jubei 0 B standing far 14.5 0 AB standing close 28 100 AB standing close 35.5 100 2nd thrust of AB standing far 3 100 crouch A 8 100 crouch D 7.5 100 crouch AB 2-hit 31.5 100 A standing far 10 100 A standing close 9.5 100 B standing close 19-22.5 100 B standing far 17.5-19.5 100 CD standing 16 100 AB throw 17.5 100 B throw 16.5 100 CD throw 17 100 jump AB 19 100 jump A 10 100 jump B 17 100 AB rush and uppercut (4+2 hits) 19 100 3 hit Hasso Happa 13.5 100 POW special 25 Kyoshiro 0 B standing far 13 100 POW special 18.5 Nicotine 0 AB high missile 8.5 0 AB standing 26 100 POW special 23 Nakoruru 0 B flaming dive off bird 21 0 rolling slash 2 hits 25.5 100 POW special 23 Sieger 0 B standing far 13 0 exploding punch 17 100 POW special 31 Ukyo 0 B firebird only 4.5 0 AB firebird only 8.5 100 firebird only (any button) 5 0 3 hit apple slice 9 (any button) 100 3 hit apple slice (any button) 13 0 B standing far 12-13 100 B standing far 16-17 100 B standing close 18-19 100 CD standing 16 100 D standing 10.5 100 CD throw 18.5 100 AB throw 17 100 CD teleport slash 14 100 C or D teleport slash 7.5 100 slash + firebird (any button) 20.5 0 jump AB 22 16.5 100 jump AB 30 100 AB standing close 2-hit 33 0 crouch AB close 2-hit 26.5 (blunt jab, overhead slash) 100 crouch AB far 25.5 100 crouch A far 8 100 POW special 28 Wan-Fu 0 AB 2-hit standing close 22 100 POW special 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damage Factors: --------------- Fortunately, it seems that a character's attack will do approximately the same damage to all characters, big or small. Unfortunately, damage seems to vary dynamically according to dizziness, victim health and POW, proximity, if the victim was hit during a special move, and possibly other factors (maybe if you are hit while performing or recovering from a normal move) besides the POW of the assailant. Therefore, these figures are not definitive, but merely samples measured under certain conditions. I have tried to minimize the effects of these factors, but proximity is one that is subtle and tough to 'control'. If a victim is dizzy, he may sustain reduced damage, depending on the attack. Example: Ukyo B standing far: 14.5% vs. dizzy while 16% vs. normal When a character's health is flashing, he may not suffer full attack damage. In other words, an attack that should normally finish him may fail to do so. This may apply to both AI and human players. However, this phenomenon may not always occur, and the amount of damage reduced may depend on the attack. When a victim has more POW, he will sustain less damage. This can depend greatly on the attack (refer to Haohmaru's AB standing far and super uppercut). Proximity plays a significant role in determining attack damage. Sometimes this is obvious for standing attacks (eg a close AB yields 2 hits). However, the 'sweet spot' for damage is subtle. Example: Ukyo's standing B: 16% far, 17% medium-far, 18% close, 19% very close. It is subtle because this slash looks exactly the same, regardless of Ukyo's proximity to the victim. All damage listed above is for victims who were standing only, since air-air hits make it even harder to control the proximity factor. In general, closer proximity yields greater damage. If you are hit while performing a special move, you could suffer more damage than normal. This may depend on the special move and the attack that foiled it. Example: 100% POW Charlotte 2-hit standing close B knocks 100% POW and healthy Jubei out of AB rush/uppercut for 18.5% damage. It is only 13% if Jubei was merely standing. Measurement/round-off error is about 1% but the proximity factor could introduce more inaccuracies. Notes: ------ The figures with a range (eg 16-17) denote differences due to proximity that I have been able to discern so far. Refer to proximity factor above. Since it is much easier to obtain results when both the assailant and victim have 100% POW all the time (this is an option for the home cartridge), there are few 0% POW figures. The results for attack damage are given in terms of the percentage of full health that the attack deducts. I measured the full health bar with a ruler and used it as the denominator. The numerator is the measured damage of an attack. The fraction is then converted to a percentage rounded off to the nearest .5%. A character who sustained 30% damage has only 70% health. Galford and Hanzo have a close AB somersault slash that looks just like the far one but does much more damage. They also have a very close standing AB downward slash. ******************************************************************************* 2. Who and what are multi-hit capable? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In alphabetical order: Character Attack Potential Hits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cham Cham AB standing close 3 AB standing medium-far 2 crouch AB close 2 Charlotte Splash Fount 4? AB standing close 2 Earthquake crouch AB close 3 standing AB close 3 Galford crouch CD close 2 Gen-An AB standing close 2 Genjuro uppercut close 2 standing CD 2? (I thought I saw it once) Hanzo crouch CD close 2 Haohmaru sake swing close 2 uppercut close 2 super uppercut close 6 (special special) AB standing close 2 Jubei AB standing far 2 crouch AB close 2 Hasso Happa 3 typically vs. cornered victim AB rush and uppercut 6 (4+2) B rush and uppercut 4 (2+2) A rush and uppercut 3 (1+2) Kyoshiro AB standing close 2 helicopter slice down 3 Nakoruru spin slash off bird 2 ground rolling slash 2 multi cape flicks 4 (special special) AB standing close 2 vs. EQ only Nicotine standing D 2 (only sometimes?) Sieger crouch AB close 2 standing CD close 2 flamethrower punch 2 Ukyo AB standing close 2 crouch AB close 2 (blunt jab, overhead slash) apple slice 4 (typically 3 vs. cornered opponent) crouch CD close 2 Wan-Fu AB standing close 2 uppercut close 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: ------ POW specials are excluded from this list. A character's multi-hit attack may not necessarily do more damage than another character's single hit attack. Close attacks that look like 1 hit but that inflict damage comparable to 2 hits are Galford's and Hanzo's AB standing somersault slash, Haohmaru's crouch AB, and Jubei's AB standing. Running slashes may automatically enable 'close' hits (eg Haohmaru's 2 hit AB or Ukyo's 2 hit AB). The max # of multiple hits are typically achieved by being close to the victim. ******************************************************************************* 3.Attacks with Blocking Damage (they inflict damage even if blocked) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In alphabetical order by character: Character Attack ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cham Cham boomerang throw monkey attacks Charlotte Power Gradation triangle missile Earthquake chainsaw fire breath (up to 10% damage to cornered victim!) (refer to Damage section for restrictions) Galford Plasma Blade dog attacks Gen-An spinning slashes Poison Cloud Puff Genjuro card missile uppercut sliding slash Hanzo fire snake shuriken Haohmaru uppercuts Resshin Zan tornado Jubei rush and uppercut Kyoshiro helicopter slice flaming fan fire breath flaming kick Nicotine high and low missiles Nakoruru spin slash off bird flaming dive off bird 4 cape flick special cape flick bird attack flying mutsube's Sieger flaming belly flop flamethrower Ukyo firebird apple slice sliding slash Wan-Fu flaming pillar throw flaming uppercut flaming 360 pillar swing ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: ------ All POW specials probably inflict blocking damage. Some attacks inflict more blocking damage than others. If you block while cornered, you will likely suffer more blocking damage against attacks with 'duration' (eg fire breath or apple slice) since you cannot be 'pushed back' when these attacks first hit you. There doesn't seem to be a difference between strength of attack (eg A, B, or AB) for blocking damage. Use these attacks to finish off an opponent who's barely 'alive,' especially if you're in the same boat. But be careful (refer to Damage Factors). ******************************************************************************* 4. Subtleties & Tactics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Misc. ----- Galford is not supposed to be able to slash when Poppy is chewing up the opponent, but this can be bypassed by running then pressing AB. I tried this but the slash wouldn't register a hit while Poppy was still biting. Maybe it must be timed so that it hits right after Poppy finishes biting. Glove and staff extensions do not hit low. Wan-Fu is vulnerable during his flaming 360 pillar sweep when his back is towards you. Counterattack with a well-timed, quick attack. If you slash the wrong ninja mirror image, a 'ninja bomb' will hit you. To be safe, use only kicks. Charlotte's crouching kicks are her only attacks that need to be low blocked. Earthquake cannot throw another Earthquake who is blocking. All Ukyo teleport slashes can be blocked either high or low. Dizzies may not be consistent. For example, Ukyo's jump AB vs. a standing opponent can dizzy with 2 or 3 hits. If frustrated with characters who continually dash or roll in and then throw, try the quick escaping BC hop and immediately follow up with a fast attack. Combo-hits can be much more readily performed in SS2 than SS1. The AI takes advantage of this and will often hit you and hit you again while you are still reeling from the first hit. It also likes to jump attack high then immediately follow-up low (eg AI Cham). If you adapt to this, it may adapt by jumping in then throwing you while you're blocking low. Of course, you can also benefit similarly and should always try to get combo-hits if your first jump attack is successful. If the AI taunts, punish it with a fast long range attack while it's vulnerable. Get those turkeys (literally), especially the big ones, to regain health. Don't let the opponent get it. If you block the bombs (the classic black & round ball variety), health is not reduced. Dizzies: -------- If an opponent is dizzy, be wise in choosing your attack and do not wait long against humans since they can shake out of it quickly. Your most powerful attack depends on your character and many damage factors. It may be a close normal move, a pow special, a jump then standing combo, or a cancelled combo. Do not use Ukyo's crouch AB close because the first hit will un-dizzy the victim, who could then block the overhead slash. Dizzy Cham Cham cannot be hit with a high standing attack (eg Ukyo's AB standing) because she 'doubles over.' Genjuro's Slide Slash --------------------- Genjuro's B and AB slide slashes often hit behind the victim, especially if performed at medium or close range. It must be blocked by moving the joystick towards an incoming Genjuro, but once in a while it can be blocked normally. If you successfully block the first 'behind the back' attempt, keep blocking in the same direction to guard against the remaining two slashes, in the case of a triple card slash combo. The A sliding slash can always be blocked normally. An alternative to merely blocking would be to always block towards Genjuro when he slides; when he gets close, press B to attempt to throw him. If you miss, you may still be successful at blocking his 'behind the back' slashes. Another subtlety of the B and AB slide slashes is how you can pull off the triple card slash combo. Note that he can slide past the victim twice, but the 1/4 circle motion to activate the second and third hits can be performed in exactly the same direction as the first hit. I mention this for those who may have thought the motion had to change according to where Genjuro was during the move (at least I initially did). Cham Cham's Jump Scratch ------------------------ Her C, D, and CD jump scratch can hit behind you if done at the proper range. It takes a trained eye to determine if she will be able to jump behind you. Block towards her if she's going behind. This attack also has very high priority in the air, so if she does it, be wary of jumping into the air. You can hit her out of it in the air, but it requires good timing and placement. You might trade hits though. Other alternatives: jump back, hit the dirt, or roll away. She can recover quite quickly if she misses, so your counterattack must not be late. You can't afford to let her off the hook with such a sneaky and damaging attack. Your counterattack must hit really low since she lies flat on the ground. I was a bit surprised when Haoh's crouch AB worked on her. ******************************************************************************* 5. Cancelling/Buffering Attacks What is cancelling or buffering? It is when you cancel the last few animation frames of a normal attack (eg you or the victim are still recovering from the hit) with a special attack. This is done by inputting (buffering) the motion for a special move while the previous normal attack hits. How do you know if you've done it right? The special move follows the normal move immediately, so that a combo results. Not all normal attacks can be cancelled, and not all special moves combo well, especially ones that are slow to come out. Normal attacks with long recovery times probably are not cancellable, while A and B slashes usually are. You might be able to cancel aerial attacks. In alphabetical order (only some confirmed): Cham Cham --------- standing A, B, or medium/close AB -> skull or monkey crouching A, B, or medium/close AB -> skull, monkey, or leaping scratch Charlotte --------- standing A, B, or close AB -> triangle missile crouching A, B, or C -> Power Gradation Earthquake ---------- standing or crouching A -> fire breath Galford ------- standing A, C, or D -> Plasma Blade or ground dog attack crouching C -> Plasma Blade or ground dog attack Gen-An ------ standing A, B, or close AB -> spinning attack or glove extension crouching A or B -> poison cloud Genjuro ------- standing A or B -> uppercut, slide slash, or card missile crouching A or B -> slide slash or card missile Hanzo ----- standing A, C, or D -> fire snake crouching A, B, or C -> fire snake Haohmaru -------- standing A, B, or 2-hit AB -> uppercut or Resshin Zan crouching A or B -> sake swing or tornado Jubei ----- standing A, B, or AB far -> rush & uppercut or Ground Wave crouching A, B, or AB -> Ground Wave Kyoshiro -------- standing A, B, or 2-hit close AB -> helicopter slice, fan, or flaming kick crouching A or B -> fan or flaming kick Nakoruru -------- standing A, B, close AB, C, or D -> Annu Mutsube or bird attack crouching A, B, C, or D -> Leyla Mutsube or cape flick Nicotine -------- standing or crouching A, B, or AB -> low missile Sieger ------ standing A or B -> bellyflop, flamethrower, or sliding kick crouching A, B, or 2-hit close AB -> flamethrower Ukyo ---- standing A, B, or 2-hit close AB -> teleport slash or POW special crouching A, B or 2-hit close AB -> teleport slash crouching kick -> teleport slash Wan-Fu ------ standing A, B, or 2-hit close AB -> uppercut or 360 pillar sweep Another type of buffering is when special moves requiring button tapping 'charge up' while you are slashing normally. This often happens with Jubei and Charlotte: slash a few times, jump slash, and the next standing slash results in Hasso Happa or Splash Fount. EQ's chainsaw is another example. Be wary of this feature, since an accidental charging could result in a painful counterattack. ******************************************************************************* 6. Overriding Special Moves ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A character whose special move is overridden will receive damage from the overriding special move. Hits are not traded. It seems that the boomerang throw will override any other projectile. Overrider Overriddee ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Splash Fount Spinning monkey Skull throw Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Spinning monkey Shuriken Leyla Mutsube Boomerang throw Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Splash Fount Charlotte POW Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Sake Swing Annu Mutsube Kyoshiro fire breath Annu Mutsube Kyoshiro POW Cape Swirl Annu Mutsube Flamethrower punch Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Genjuro slide slash Annu Mutsube Ukyo C slide slash Ukyo D slide slash Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Wan-Fu 360 flaming pillar sweep Haohmaru Resshin Zan Annu Mutsube Annu Mutsube Glove or staff extension Also, I couldn't get Nakoruru's cape flick to protect her from dog attacks, monkey fireballs, spinning monkeys, or shurikens. Maybe it's my timing. It does resist skull throws. ******************************************************************************* 7. Miscellaneous ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A variation on the jump back/dash move is jump back/roll forward (back back down-toward). Wan-Fu cannot commit suicide via pillar-headbanging. A white screen flash will occur instead. WAV sound files (recorded by yours truly) --------------- Available via ftp at these sites and directories: ftp.krl.caltech.edu /pub/fighting/ss2/audio kaiwan.kaiwan.com /user/dvillnva/neogeo_wav_files ftp.dhp.com /pub/neogeo/sound/ss2 Courtesy of Dave Kirsch, GeeSe Howard, and Sean Goller, respectively. Thanks, fellas. Read ss2_wav.txt for a description. JPG screen captures (24 bit 720x480 by yours truly) ------------------- Available via ftp: ftp.krl.caltech.edu /pub/fighting/ss2/pictures kaiwan.kaiwan.com /user/dvillnva/neogeo_ss2_screenshots ftp.dhp.com /pub/neogeo/pictures/ss2 Memorable Quotes ---------------- "I can look your destiny of death on your face." -Hattori Hanzo "How foolish, stupid, and silly you are! Get away, chicken!" -Wan-Fu "I'll be never beaten by anybody who lives in comfort, like you." -Kibagami Genjuro "--- to cut a same face --- --- feel bad ---" -Tachibana Ukyo Neo Geo Mailing List -------------------- If you are a Neo Geo enthusiast or want to quickly receive new Fringe FAQs via email because your news server is 'slow' or 'drops' posts, sign up with us! Otherwise, this FAQ can be ftp'ed from Dave's or GeeSe's sites above. You can subscribe by emailing listproc@dhp.com. The subject heading is ignored, but the body of the message should have the following: subscribe neogeo yourlastname firstname You're welcome -------------- ... to those who appreciated this document in some way: Rich J., Eddie J., Shawn H., Julien _, Scott F., Billy B., Ken H. ... and those who appreciated the wav and jpg files: Dave K., Rich J. -It's a wrap-up for now, folks-