Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo FAQ by John Jung Latest version online at: http://www.glue.umd.edu/~locke/spf.htm Ver 0.00000003 4/17/1999 Introduction -------------- As I wait for Winter Break to come to an end, I thought I'd write my first (complete) FAQ. I've half-written one for Tactics Ogre, but never got to finish it... In my diagrams, Any lower case letter means a crash gem - r,y,g,b Any upper case letter means a normal gem - R,Y,G,B Any "V" is a diamond. This is written in mind for those of who know about SPF a little already, so if you don't understand something basic about the game through this FAQ, please critique me about it and why it was hard to understand. Or you could always read another FAQ. ^_^ Also, this is discussed with the PSX version in mind. Anyway, here goes. Gameplay & Basics -------------- In this game, the basic goal is to fill up your opponent's Column 4 (the fourth from the left), which gives you the victory for that round. To do this, you have to break gems with your crash gems. Crash gems are the circle-shaped gems that come down, and when you put a crash gem next to a gem of the same color, all of the same-color gems will break and send an "attack" over to your opponent. When you make a rectangle shape with your regular gems, they are "power gems" that end up sending a more powerful attack (4 separate regular gems would do an attack of 4 on the other side, while a 2x2 power gem does about 8). The Diamond gem, which occasionally will appear and make you either really happy or really angry, destroys all of one color on your playing field. It will destroy whatever color it ends up on top of. Why would you get really angry at it? First of all, if you destroy a power gem with a Diamond, it'll do much less damage. I once had a 2x10 power gem that I was forced to destroy with the Diamond; instead of the usual 40-60 that it would send over, it just sent over about 25. I'm guessing that it counts it as if it wasn't a power gem, but just a bunch of regular gems. And second, sometimes, it'll force you to destroy a certain color because there aren't any other colors you can destroy (I can hear all you master chain gurus groan right now) and it screws up a planned attack sometimes. So anyway, when you break gems and attack, you'll send a number of "counter gems" to your opponent. These are the blocks with the numbers inside. These gems will count down each time that you drop a piece. When it reaches zero, it becomes a regular gem. The counter gems can be broken prematurely, though; when a crash gem or a normal gem is broken right beside it, it will break. Use this to your advantage; when you're near the top and need breathing room and you get a same color crash gem/ normal gem piece, use it to clear some space. Now, sometimes when you're playing you'll see the attack that's about to happen (you see the number and the warning message on the top). If you want to, you can "counter" this attack or at least soften the blow by breaking your gems. Let's say you see an attack of 20. If you break a certain amount, let's say enough to normally send over 10 to your opponent, the attack you receive will be 15. Basically, you need about twice the amount to cancel out the attack that's being given to you. This may not sound like a good idea, but when the amount you'll receive will instantly kill you (say, 60+), you certainly want to counter as much as you can. Advanced players even use this technique to control the amount of counter gems they get. For example, against Ken, if you see an attack of 10 or so, you might want to break a 2x2 power gem if possible so that you can get just a shower of red gems, instead of some green being added to it. Chaining, I will cover in detail in the next section. General Tips: -------------- - Use countering to your advantage. If you see that your opponent is about to send over a huge attack that might kill you, time it so that his attack will be a counter to one of your attacks. Think about it; if you send over 20 right as he's about to send over about 80, then you'll only take 40 damage! (You send 20, he uses 40 out of his 80 to counter it; then there's only 40 left on his attack) If you wait until he attacks and then you counter his attack? You'll get hit with 70, (You counter 10 out of 80 using your 20; there's 70 left on his attack) enough to kill in almost any instance. - Try to never fill up your Column 4 unless it's absolutely necessary. I always tell my friends (they're sick of hearing it now, probably) that every gem you put on that column is 6 less blocks your opponent has to send over. What this means is that since you lose when you fill up Column 4, you want to always leave it open. Say you have that column 5 gems high. Your opponent needs an attack of 48 to kill you. But say you have it only 2 gems high, and then your opponent needs to send 66 to kill you, which is a lot harder to do. And since every piece can contribute 2 gems high to this column, you can go down in a hurry if you're not careful. - Never cover up your power gems that you're creating. I've seen many beginners cover up a power gem in order to make another one, or just because there's nowhere else to put the block... then a few turns later, they get the crash gem they need but it's too late... Try to leave a way to reach the power gem at all times, in case you need to break it. Of course, if you either know what you're doing (chaining, perhaps?) or you're willing to risk it, feel free. - A helpful way to do the above is to have a "fuse" leading to a power gem. By that I mean that you can keep placing a gem of the same color by each other so that you can reach it. Like this: GG GGB GGBR RR RRR RRRR RRBG -> RRBG -> RRBG RRBY RRBY RRBY Leading that red color "out" like that so you can reach it will allow you to break stuff that's underneath so that you can dig out. - Try to learn all the characters' patterns and use them to your advantage. For instance, Ryu's column 1 counter gem pattern will drop all Red gems. So if you're playing against Ryu and you fill up your Column 2 with mostly Red, then you can mount a huge counterattack when he attacks. I'll cover a lot of these character-specific tactics in the characters' section. - When you're about to die, think carefully. Most of the time, there IS a way out; Hold left or right when a piece falls if you don't know where to put it. Usually you should have some space on either side of the playing field, and it'll buy you another turn. A lot of the time if you wait long enough, something will break and let you play on. Keep a keen eye on the next piece; if you have a color that you can break, always make it possible to break it. In other words, when you see a red crash gem in the "next" box and you have a piece that has red on it, face the red up so that you can break it. - MOST IMPORTANTLY: In fighting games, a little jab takes off a little bit of your opponent's life. In puzzle fighter, sending little attacks is like signing a death warrant. During most of the game, you should work as hard as you can never to send tiny attacks (ESPECIALLY in the beginning). I understand that you might have to clear some room or whatever, but it's imperative that you don't send too many tiny attacks (2-8 gems), since all you do is feed your opponent more ammo to attack YOU with. If you can mount a 30+ attack, almost *any* pattern becomes somewhat hard to handle. But if you send little attacks, even Akuma and Devilot can get slaughtered. Remember, big attacks are what really damages your opponent. Every attack under 10 blocks is likely to increase your chances of losing. - A Tech Bonus is what you get when you drop a diamond on nothing. I don't know what it does or why it's there, but it's good when you don't want to break anything with the diamond. Special Section: Chaining -------------- Chaining's a really interesting concept. Basically, if you break a certain color, and as a result of that, another set of stuff breaks, and that leads to another, it's called chaining. Example: Y r y YYYY YYgY r g RRRR -> RRRR -> -> bRRR bRRR b g GGGRR GGGRR GGG b BBGGG BBGGG BBGGG BB BBGGG BBGGG BBGGG BB 1 chain 2 chain 3 chain 4 chain The above would probably do about 50-60 or so, I think. Mathematically, chaining will produce the best results, though breaking two colors at the same time seems to rule over 2 chains (see below). I've done a 7th chain that added 40+ to an attack, and all it was a crash gem and 2 normal gems. The total damage ended up being 97. Wow. The biggest I've ever heard of being done is a 9 chain. *_* When the number of gems you break are small, it looks like the chain just multiplies your attack out flat. So if you had an attack that could send over 4 normally on the 5th chain, you'd probably see an attack of about 15-20 from it. The multiplier goes down a lot as you have bigger power gems. For example, a 2x5 normally yields 26 (25 plus the crash gem). On a 2nd chain, it just does 28. When you have two gems (normal or power) of different color, it seems that it's better to break it at once than when you can chain them. For example: r = red crash gem; b = blue crash gem b r rb RRBB will do less damage than RRBB RRBB RRBB The first attack probably does about 15, while the second will likely do about 25. Even when the power gems are bigger, this will hold. For instance, I've broken 2 2x6 power gems at the same time, and it did about 60-70 I think. A 2-chain probably would have done about 50 or so. I don't know why this is, but it seems to work. Of course, if you do 3-4 or even bigger chains, the 3rd and 4th chains will definitely add more to the total; but when you have the choice between a 2 chain and breaking the 2 at the same time, go for the same-time attack. It looks to make the most difference in little attacks: b rb r RB will do about 10-14 damage, while RB will do 6. I think as you get better and better at this game, you should come to realize that chains can be a really powerful tool. Especially when you're playing against advanced players who never send attacks unless they're 30+, chaining is useful because you don't get interrupted in your setups, and also because you don't send tiny attacks to your opponent. I'll cover setting up chains (Though I admit I'm not an expert, I think I can do it decently. ^_^) in a later version. The Characters -------------- I will rate each character's usefulness to types of players: chainers, big power gem players, and small attackers. Note small attackers always get a bad rating. There's a reason... better players usually don't attack small. ^_^ Chainers denote people who try to use chains a lot and not rely so much on power gems and *succeed* often enough to justify using it... if you try to chain and you're not effective (I know I fall under this a lot), you get classified as a small attacker. Power gem players are the kind of people who make big power gems and break a bunch at once rather than doing much chaining. Small attackers are ones who will mostly attack just up to 2 rows; attacks of 12 or less. If you think you're good at chaining and making power gems and utilize it well, average the two marks (chain, power) and add 2. That should give you an accurate indication of where you stand. If you're pretty fast (you can handle going speed 5 on vs. mode), give yourself an extra point or two. Ryu Chainers : 5 Power Players: 5 Small Attacks: 4 Overall : 4 Counter gem pattern: RGBYRG RGBYRG RGBYRG RGBYRG Capcom really didn't give Ryu enough power as they have done in the past. His pattern is very easy to set up against. The only strength in the pattern is that you will always need a yellow breaker to dig your Column 4 out. It also has a tendency to trap you in the middle columns; if you don't have a green breaker for column 2, you won't be able to reach column 1. Still, it's very weak and Ryu should only be picked if you want a challenge. Strategies when playing: -------------- Normally, with all characters (except Dan, of course), you have to be careful about making small attacks. But not with Ryu. It never matters how much you send, so send as much you can in whatever fashion you want. So in the beginning, you might want to send a few small attacks to mess up your opponent. Ryu is all about timing more than any other character. This is radically different from Ken's style, which is interesting -- more on that later though. All you can do is send over a lot and hope that your opponent won't get many yellow crash gems. Strategies when playing against: -------------- Well, this is a little more elaborate, since you can have a lot of fun against Ryu. One thing you can do to help save yourself is to plant a yellow crash gem somewhere in column 3 or 5 and when you get attacked, hopefully you should make it. Another thing is that you can set up a lot of chains. Since you know exactly what's gonna land where (counter gems), you can plan devastating chains to send Ryu flying. You can surround columns with a color. Try surrounding Column 4 with yellows; fill Column 3 and 5 with yellow to get 3x power gems easily. You can also try to link colors together. I've carpeted my first row with red before, and then if Column 1 or 5 breaks, the other will end up breaking too. You can do the same with 2 and 6. (On the last two strategies -- you can use similar strategies against Donovan, but more on that later) In breaking Column 3 or 5, you can break all of 4 if it's still in counter gem form. I've had a blue break come up that broke all of column 3, and broke all of 4 in the process, since it was all counter gems. Overall -------------- You'll be a bit disappointed if you're a Ryu fan. If you're one of those I-have-to-play-Ryu people, you have to get better at this game real fast if you want to win. =) -------------- Chun-Li Chainers : 3 Power Players: 3 Small Attacks: 1 Overall : 3 Counter gem pattern: YYRRGG YYRRGG RRGGBB RRGGBB Poor Chun-Li. She was my favorite when I first started playing SF2 - World Warrior. She's been ok in most games so far and pretty strong in SFEX + @, but in this game she's a pushover. As you can see, her counter gem pattern yields power gems for her opponent. Experts can use her to win, since she is still a lot better than Dan, but it's always a challenge to win with her. She's perfect for picking if you're introducing the game to someone new and you want them to get an idea of the game. Strategies when playing: -------------- Well, there isn't much you can do with her either, but try to attack when your opponent's playing field is not level; then the power gem form at least broken up a little. Use Dan tactics (don't send over too much, and send a lot at once), but you don't have to be as careful with Chun-Li. You can send some over, but don't send too much. Strategies when playing against: -------------- I've had some of my biggest power gems from playing against her (since I rarely get to play against Dan). If you stack Column 3 with pure red and break yellow with the Diamond if yellow falls there, then you can have a monstrous gem of 3x13, which pretty much guarantees you a victory. You can also chain easily against her when you know her pattern. Set up some wicked chains! Have fun. >=) Overall -------------- She's a real challenge to play with. Fun either playing against or with. Don't expect to win too often though =] -------------- Sakura Chainers : 4 Power Players: 6 Small Attacks: 2 Overall : 5 Counter gem pattern: GBBBBY GRRRRY GBBBBY GRRRRY Sakura's a lot cuter in this game than in other SF games. =) She's not too bad to play with but Diamonds are her worst enemy. More on that below. It's interesting to note how Ryu and Ken's patterns are both represented in her pattern. Unfortunately, it's just red and blue rows... she'd probably been the second best player to pick if it was all four color rows... anyway, she's a modest character to play with. Her mite mite's are really cute, as well as her giggle. But when she wins and sometimes hollers really loud, it sounds a bit too masculine... *_* Strategies when playing: -------------- Above all, fear the diamond!! I would not send over any large attacks until your opponent gets his/her first diamond. If red or blue is broken after a huge attack, watch out... X_X Otherwise, send mid-to-large size attacks. Sending little attacks and filling up the middle 4 columns with all red for your opponent will get you a loss in no time. Try to send over at least 20 or so in each attack. Strategies when playing against: -------------- I always seem to spend so much more time in the "against" section. =) Anyway, if you haven't gotten the point by now, break red or blue (preferrably blue, since mathematically there should be more red) with a Diamond (of course, there should be some blocks on your field already), (do you think I go off the point a lot?) and you'll get a win fairly quickly. Sometimes you might want to let a lot of red fall in the middle if you're playing against a Sakura player who sends over little attacks.. in this case, lay off putting anything but red in the middle 4 columns (I know it's hard to do, but still) and you should humiliate your opponent with a 70-99 attack if you did it right. >=D If you're playing against a more advanced player or if you don't feel like working the middle, take advantage of the green and yellow columns. Build green in column 2, and/or build yellow in column 5. It should yield some healthy power gems. Overall -------------- Sakura's just above average, and fun to play with. Just be careful not to send little attacks too often! -------------- Ken Chainers : 7 Power Players: 9 Small Attacks: 2 Overall : 8 Counter gem pattern: YYYYYY BBBBBB GGGGGG RRRRRR Ken's been my boy since SF2 - Champion Edition, and he always will be because of his Shoryukens... I love using them. He's always had a longer reach with his Shoryukens than Ryu, and that's why I've always liked him. Anyway, I'm happy to say that Ken happens to be the best character in this game. No, I'm not implying that Ken's the best fighter in SF games -- I hate those stupid "who's the best" debates -- but I personally play best with him than anyone else. Anyway, most will agree that he is the best character in *this* game because of his ability to cover power gems with big attacks and since his attack power is not toned down. With a slight uneven field on your opponent's side, his counter gem pattern is a lot like Akuma or Devilot's. Sorry, Ryu fans... Ken's a lot better than Ryu in this game -- even more so than usual. ^_^ (Sorry, I had to throw that in) Strategies when playing: -------------- Be careful, really careful. If you send over little attacks from 1-6 in number, Ken becomes Dan. So don't attack half-heartedly with Ken; you need to make mid to large size attacks. When you do, you'll cover up whatever your opponent was working on, and you should be able to finish him/her off pretty quickly. Strategies when playing against: -------------- Well, if an expert's playing against Ken and will not give you any little attacks, be in for the fight of your life. In any case, use the fact that the first row will be red to your advantage, and try to make a red power gem somewhere on the left. Using this tactic, you should be able to make a huge gem against beginners who may attack small. Other than that, there's not much you can do other than to get better at the game itself. Speed is key against Ken more than anything though, I think. Since his attacks will cover up your setups, you need to be fast. Also, try to expose Ken's weak color - red. Break a lot of yellow and blue with crash gems. Try to break green when Diamonds show, and you should have a lot of red left. That's when you release a devastating attack. Overall -------------- Ken is, IMHO the best character if you've utilized all of the fundamentals of Puzzle Fighter. If you're a beginner, you might want to wait a bit; repeated tiny attacks by Ken will easily lead to his demise. -------------- Morrigan Chainers : 6 Power Players: 6 Small Attacks: 3 Overall : 6 Counter gem pattern: YBGGBY YBGGBY BYRRYB BYRRYB Having never played Darkstalkers, I can't really offer much personal thoughts on these characters, 'cept how I feel about them in SPF. Morrigan's really fun to play. She's cute and funny. I really love it when she says "It's not whether I win or lose, just as long as I piss you off." Morrigan is a pretty solid player, somewhere near the top. I'd say she's a notch above Sakura and a bit below Donovan. Strategies when playing: -------------- With Morrigan, the middle part of her counter gem pattern acts as a double-edged sword. She has the 2x2 red pattern in there, and it can be exposed a great deal; at the same time, to expose it, your opponent has to risk filling up column 4. You might want to pay attention to how your opponent plays. If he's doing something like trying to fill column 2 with red, then you can piss him off by not sending anything at all and then attacking really big all at once. Or try sending a mid-size attack to mess up his column 2 with some yellow and blue. If he's actually building on column 4, be sure to send a big attack that will at least send some green cover (an attack of at least 18) over the red he's building, and he should start to choke near the top. And that's the time to finish it off. Strategies when playing against: -------------- Hopefully, you should be able to take advantage of her in one of two ways. You can capitalize on the red in the middle if you're fast enough. You can try filling up column 2 if your opponent is either slow or has a tendency to send small attacks. Then you'll have a big 3x power gem that you can send over. The other way is to try and build a lot of blue in column 2 and trying to get a big 2x gem there. When playing a more formidable opponent, I'd try to stack a lot of blue on the sides and try to break the occasional yellows that fall. Diamonds help the cause a lot. Overall -------------- Morrigan is a good choice for anyone. She'll liven up any Puzzle Fighting session, and holds her own in most matches. A pretty good choice. -------------- Hsien-Ko Chainers : 5 Power Players: 5 Small Attacks: 1 Overall : 4 Counter gem pattern: GGRRYY BGGRRY BBGGRR YBBGGR Hsien-Ko is an interesting character. I've heard a lot of debate over how good or bad she is... I lean toward more on the bad side. First, whether you have an uneven playing field or not, her pattern is easy to counter with multiple chains. Second, the strength of her pattern only shows when you attack big. I know the latter applies to a lot of characters, but the biggest distinction is definitely here. Strategies when playing: -------------- As it says above, don't attack too small. Your opponent will get huge power gems in columns 2-5 of blue and green. With Hsien-ko, just like Ken, it's very important to make bigger attacks so that you can cover up your previous attacks. Problem here is, that her pattern automatically make nice fuses that can lead all the way down to the power gems. I can't stress this enough; if you attack small, you'll end up being like Felicia's pattern, which isn't pretty. Strategies when playing against: -------------- You can easily capitalize against the blue and green if you're playing against a small attacker. Build the blue as high as you want, but break that green once in a while... or risk losing. Always remember to keep column 4 open. You can also try filling column 3 with green and get a 3x. This works a lot, but remember to watch out for the red that might fall on column 5. Plant some red crash gems there to prevent this. Overall -------------- To be frank, she's pretty weak. She's about as weak as Ryu, I'd say, though the reasons for their weaknesses are completely different... Felicia, Chun-Li and Dan are probably the only ones that are weaker than Hsien-Ko. -------------- Donovan Chainers : 8 Power Players: 7 Small Attacks: 2 Overall : 7 Counter gem pattern: GGGBBB GGGBBB RYRYRY RYRYRY Donovan's an interesting character. Personally, I really don't like him because I have the hardest time beating him against the computer than anyone else. ^_^ In terms of what he does on the animations, he's really dull; but otherwise, he could possibly be the best character to pick. Immediately, you might say; "wait a minute, he sends over 2x3 power gems on the top two rows!" That's really misleading for two reasons; first of all, the 3rd and 4th rows rarely fall. And even if it does, then is your opponent's playing field perfectly even? I doubt it. If you think about it, that's not a problem at all. Donovan's definitely a great choice, though he may be a bit dull. Strategies when playing: -------------- It's ok to send over little attacks, as long as you don't overdo it. Try to send over some bigger attacks once in a while to send some green and blue to cover up the bottom. The top 2 rows act superbly as a way to cover up your attacks and give your opponents a big headache. Then cover it again with red and yellow, and you should be at a big advantage. Another strength of Donovan is the late game. If your match lasts a long time, you'll be favored more and more because it's really hard to set up big power gems against Donovan in the late stages of a fight. Keep sending your attacks over, and you should pull out a win in most cases. Strategies when playing against: -------------- The best time to take advantage of Donovan is the beginning. If you can build up a lot of red in column 2, then you can have nice 3x gems that form. Of course, big attacks will screw this up, so don't rely too heavily on it. Also in the later stages of a fight, be sure to connect the columns together. Connect 1,3,5 together and break them at the same time, and the same with cols. 2,4,6. In most cases, it's also good to break red or yellow with your Diamond gems. Yellow is better in most cases, though, since yellow comes down on column 4. ^_^ Once you use it, connect the columns and attack... you can mount very big attacks using this method. Other than that, there isn't too much you can do against Donovan except to get better. =) Overall -------------- He's not very lively, but is good to win most matches. I think his only true competitor is Ken. -------------- Felicia Chainers : 2 Power Players: 2 Small Attacks: 1 Overall : 2 Counter gem pattern: GBBRRY GBBRRY GRRBBY GRRBBY Hmm. Take your pick: bad, really bad, or worst. She might be even lower than Chun-Li, since her red and blue stick so close together. In some cases, the red from cols 2 and 3 connect with the ones from 4 and 5, and leave a lot of power gems connected... and the green and yellow columns that go straight up don't help. She needs to work really, really hard to win, but makes it up by being really cute when she does (Ari-gato! Phil says it the best). =) Strategies when playing: -------------- Um, uh... I really don't know what to say here except attack big...? And... um... yeah. Make some big power gems and break them... yeah. And... um... be prepared to defend some big attacks. Strategies when playing against: -------------- You can have a feast when playing against her. Fill columns 2 and 3 to your heart's content with red, and you'll have a nice power gem in most cases. Use red crash/blue crash gems well for devastating attacks... >=) You can capitalize on the red and blue or go for green or yellow on the side. You can do the same thing you do with Sakura with those columns. But you'd probably do a lot better taking advantage of the red and blue. Overall -------------- Good luck. You'll need to work pretty hard to win with her... -------------- Akuma Chainers : 6 Power Players: 5 Small Attacks: 3 Overall : 4 Counter gem pattern: RYBGRY YBGRYB BGRYBG GRYBGR Wow, what a pattern, huh? For better or worse, though, his attack power is toned down (except for the computer, of course). How much is it toned down? Generally about half, though it seems to be less scaled down when your attack is bigger. This also means that his counters to attacks are weaker. You'll have to counter twice as much as you usually do to negate attacks. However, as bad as it may sound, Akuma can be used well. He'll do worst against pure speed players, but otherwise he can hold his own since his pattern's nearly impossible to take advantage of. His strength all depends on his opponent. If your opponent is fast, then sometimes you'll stand a better chance even with Dan or Chun-Li. However, against other opponents, he may be almost as good as Sakura or Morrigan. Strategies when playing: -------------- I think one of the most important things to keep in mind is that the countering is very weak. So if at all possible, never counter attacks unless it's necessary for survival. You might want to counter a 50+ attack, but don't counter anything under 30 in most situations. Other than that, keep in mind that you'll need to make lots of bigger attacks to keep in the game. Make sure that you build up bigger power gems and chain as much as possible. The chain multiplier is one of the only things that aren't scaled down, so take advantage of that. Your diamond attacks will also be normal. Strategies when playing against: -------------- If you're going against the computer Akuma, look out. Just try to build without much in mind for his pattern. All you can really do, I think, is to know his first row. So build green if possible on the left, blue or yellow in the middle, and red on the right. Don't rely on it much, but knowing that certain colors fall in general areas can be good to know. Overall -------------- You won't be able to defeat anyone that's an expert, especially a speed expert. But he's ok in general, especially for players that can attack well and are generally fast. If you want to work hard and long for a victory, Akuma's your guy. -------------- Devilot Chainers : 6 Power Players: 5 Small Attacks: 3 Overall : 4 Counter gem pattern: YRGBYR BYRGBY GBYRGB RGBYRG Devilot's a psycho! Her laughs are malicious, she has an uzi, and has an obsession with death. She's a lot more fun to pick than Akuma, since all Akuma does is grunt. But other than that, she seems to be pretty much the same. I don't know what it is, though, but I seem to win more often with her than with Akuma. Maybe it's psychological, maybe her attacks are less scaled down, but I seem to win a lot more with her. I'd love to hear what you think on the matter. Strategies when playing: -------------- See Akuma's section. Strategies when playing against: -------------- Just mirror the strategies for playing against Akuma; build green on the right, blue/yellow in the middle, and red on the left. Overall -------------- She's a lot more fun to play with than Akuma, and I will generally pick her more. There seems to be a general agreement, though, that somehow she is better and stronger than Akuma. -------------- Dan Chainers : 1 Power Players: 1 Small Attacks: 1 Overall : 1 Counter gem pattern: RRRRRR RRRRRR RRRRRR RRRRRR YES! I love Dan. He's the best!!! Infinite taunts! The Super Forearm! What else do you need? Oh yeah, you need insanely big attacks. =) But that's okay because he's DAN. Dan is great for livening up a SPF gathering. It's so fun when you win with Dan, and it's so fun when you lose with Dan. It's so fun to win because your opponent is usually humiliated ("I LOST TO DAN, I LOST TO DAN, I LOST TO DAN!!!" Remember that, Dave?). I love all the stuff he says when he wins; he's so much fun!! By the way, if any of you know what he says means in English, please e-mail me and tell me. And it's fun to lose because you don't get to get hit with attacks of 99+ that often. Just seeing the screen fill with counter gems make me laugh uncontrollably. >=D Strategies when playing: -------------- This is how you master the "POWER OF THE DAN." 1) Build, build, build, and attack all at once. 60+ attacks are best. 2) Always look at your opponent's screen. If you ever notice that your opponent could be killed with a couple of hits, go for it. For instance, if your opponent's screen is about half-full, it's ok to send over some, even as low as 35 sometimes. 3) Be on the lookout for the diamond; don't let it mess up your attacks. Always break the least amount possible with your diamonds. Go for Tech Bonuses whenever possible. 4) Press select as fast as you can! (Only against human players, though. The computer doesn't really get annoyed.) But don't let this mess you up/slow you down too much... (What I usually do is I hit the select button repeatedly with my right index finger, while I let my ring and pinky fingers rotate the pieces. Practice this well, and you will forever annoy your opponents... >=D) If you can master the four rules above effectively, you should have the "POWER OF THE DAN." You know when you have the "POWER OF THE DAN" when you can beat Master Arcade, with 8 stars, without continuing with Dan. (Don't modify the damage settings either ^_^) Master Arcade is actually easier to win because there's no countering, so Dan's attacks are never hindered; and also the damage is higher, so it's easier to send lethal attacks over. If you can consistently beat Hard with Dan without continuing (3 rounds, 8 stars, damage level 2), I consider you as one of the greatest Dan masters ever. Strategies when playing against: -------------- Give him a chance, eh? Play with your eyes closed for a while. Read the comics in the newspaper for a little bit, maybe. How about going and brushing your teeth? Take a quick pee, perhaps? You should still win, though. =) Of course, you wouldn't stand a chance if you are playing against a true master of the "POWER OF THE DAN!" Hahahahahaha. >=D Overall -------------- Dan is so much fun to play with, and an excellent trainer also. If you think you've done it all, try beating the game with Dan on hard difficulty settings... you'll learn to be a lot quicker and better. -------------------------------- Closing & Thanks I'd like to thank... Mr. Hunter, the one who wrote the first FAQ on GameFaqs for giving me a lot of knowledge about the game when I first started playing. Matt Davis, for lending me the $$ to purchase the PSX version, and giving me a lot of enjoyment by being beaten 10 times in a row in Dan vs. Dan. >=D Adam Watson, Dave Moore, and Phil Vogel for being 2nd player so often. =) All the regulars at the UMCP arcade for being such elite competitors. Copyright 1999 John Jung. Lemme know if you want to use/replicate this, and I'd be happy to give you permission. Please send all comments to locke@wam.umd.edu. I'd be happy to get feedback. Thanks.