Samurai Shodown 2 - Nakoruru Strategy Guide Version 5.0 One Part Complete Version ____________________________________________ | ,###########8888888888888888#####| | d888b############8888888888888888###| | d8888888888b###########888888888888888| | d8888888888888888b#########8888888888888| | d88P d888PY88888888PY88b#####888888888888| | 88P 88888 888888888 88888b####88888888888| | 8P 8888' 888888888 88888b###Y8888888888| | Y8 8888 88888888b 88888b###8888888888| | ` Y88P Y888888 Y8P d8888888888888| | \ d888ba, d888 d88888888| | , db \ d8888P d888888888| | | YO ) d88888P d8888888888| | ___ ,' `~~~ d88888P d888888888888| | \ d888888P d88888888888888| | ) d88888P d888888888888888P| | `-- d88888P d888888888888888P d| | ' d88888P d88888888888888P ,d8| | | d8888P d88888888888888P d888| | d8888P d88888888888888P d8888| | d8888P----~~~d8888888888888P d88888| | d888P d8888888888888P d888888| | d888P 8888888888888P 8888888| `--------------------------------------------' This picture is used with permission from Timothy Heydelaar This guide (and any future updates of it) is also available via anonymous ftp at the following ftp sites: brawl.mindlink.net /pub/ss2/guides/nakoruru.guide.hsu ftp.netcom.com /pub/vi/vidgames/faqs/ss2nak.txt cencongopher.concordia.ca /pub/JustTheFAQs/VideoGames/FAQs/ss2nak.txt The guide is also available at the following web pages: http://www.student.uq.oz.au/~s330463/ss2.html http://styx.ios.com/~damone/ss2page.html You can also check out the set of the Nakoruru sounds found in SS2 at brawl.mindlink.net /pub/ss2/audio/nakoruru/ please send comments/suggestions/corrections to Kenneth Hsu This guide is STRICTLY PUBLIC DOMAIN - i.e. it's FREE and anyone should not profit from selling any part of this guide to anyone. If anyone uses part of this guide in another publication - please acknowledge your source of information! ============================================================================ TABLE OF CONTENTS: Revision History Credits/Acknowledgements Nakoruru - the transition from SS1 to SS2 1) Graphics 2) Game Play Character Information Special Moves List And Their Uses Some Normal Moves And Their Uses Throws And Other Information General CPU Strategies 1) CPU runs towards you 2) CPU rolls towards you 3) CPU just standing there and doing nothing 4) CPU jumping in 5) Misc. Strategies a) Anticipate your opponents' attack b) Luring your opponent to jump-in c) Use of Nakoruru's power special d) Jump-in attacks e) Dealing with opponents' projectiles f) Opponents' missed/blocked normal moves g) Opponents' missed/blocked special moves h) Countering opponents' special moves i) When CPU's POW metre is full j) When your opponent is dizzy k) Finishing off your opponent Nakoruru Against Human Opponents a) Staying close to your opponent (ticking) b) Running in c) Rolling d) Dealing with projectiles revisited e) Punish any close-range or missed B/AB attacks on you f) Know all your air counters g) Luring your opponents to make mistakes h) Opponents running in i) Know your opponents' attack ranges j) Other things to remember/try Combos Ending for Nakoruru Specific Character Strategies (in alphabetical order of character names, note under each character there is a section on CPU pattern/general, a section on normal move counters, and a section on special move counters.) Cham Cham Charlotte Earthquake Galford Gen-An Genjuro Haohmaru Hanzo Jubei Kuroko Kyoshiro Mizuki Nakoruru Nicotine Sieger Ukyo Wan-Fu My own ranking of CPU opponents from hardest to easiest to defeat using Nakoruru My own ranking of human opponents from hardest to easiest to defeat using Nakoruru Wishlist for Nakoruru/Rimururu in SS3 ============================================================================ Revision History v0.1 Initial Release - very disorganised and missing many things.... v0.2 Added title picture, special moves and rewrote many sections in the guide. v0.3 Restructured format for Specific Character Strategy section, minor revisions here and there.... v1.0 Added ending for Nakoruru, credits/acknowledgement and minor revisions here and there... v2.0 Slight format revision (sectioned each character with borders in the specific character strategy part for easier viewing), updated some of the counters to other characters' special moves as they have been verified, a more comprehensive table of contents with sub-headings, and all special moves are now called by their proper names taken from the SS2 TAPFAQ or the SS2 Move List, added taunts and background info on Nakoruru from SS2TAPFAQ. v3.0 Minor updates on counters for Mizuki and Nicotine, Jubei, and other little bits here and there. Finally got all the special moves names right I think and all special moves counters for each character are listed in alphabetical order of the names of the special moves.. v4.0 Major format changes again for easier viewing (also got rid of quite a bit of repeated information. Added two new sections for each character in Specific Character Strategies (Normal Move Counters, Human Challengers Patterns and Strategy) and also general section on tactics against human opponents (Nakoruru Against Human Opponents). Again minor updates here and there for the strategies (most notably on how to beat CPU Kuroko), special moves counters and combos. v4.5 The guide is now splitted into four parts for easier viewing. Specific Character Strategy (CPU Patterns/General) for all characters are re-written into point form for easier viewing. Minor updates here and there. v4.7 Added info on Nak's winning poses/quotes (part 1). Minor updates on uses of some normal attacks and special attacks, informaton about rolling (in General CPU Strategy about CPU rolling in - Part 2), information about when to throw (scattered throughout part 2) and about what to do after a jump-in. Also some of the info on specific characters strategies are updated. This version was only available at Damone's SS2 Web Page. v5.0 I was hoping that this will be the final version for this guide. But obviously this will not be the case since the there are still blanks left in part 3 and 4 dealing with strategies against humans playing a specific character. But other than that I think the guide is very complete... Changes for each part are: PART 1: Revised Introduction Updates on special move uses/weaknesses. Revised winning poses. PART 2: Completely new combo section (all tested). Minor updates on general CPU strategy. PART 3/4: Major overhaul on strategies for Nakoruru vs all other Characters. Also ALL special moves/normal moves counters are verified/tested. Tried to fill in most of the specific human strategies/patterns. Added wishlist for Nakoruru/Rimururu at the end of PART 4 (if people have ideas for Nak/Rim improvement in SS3, let me know...) ============================================================================ Credits/Acknowledgements Damone or - For info relating to Kyoshiro and Sieger, and guide format. Robert DeLoura - For supplying the detailed Nakoruru ending, Nakoruru winning quotes. Andy Eddy - For allowing this guide to be kept at his video games FAQ archive. Scott Fujitomo - For the exhaustive testing he did for me on many Nakoruru combos, counters, and general comments and inspiration.... Timothy Heydelaar - For the wonderful title ASCII picture! Shawn Holmes - For background information, ending, and special moves of Nakoruru and info on Mizuki/Kuroko, and also verifying counters in this guide on his SS2 at home. Rei Nakazawa - For Mizuki special move counter confirmation. Rich Joseph (Hecubus) - For supplying the special moves names of other characters in the game Dave Kirsch - For keeping this guide at his fighting game archive. Nakoruru - For information regarding detecting an invisible ninja. An Nguyen - For editing/spelling correction, many good suggestions, and testing out many of the counters/combos/strategies in this guide on his Neo machines at home. Michael T. Pureka - Contributions of many useful CPU patterns/strategies, and strategies against human Jubei players. roach - Mizuki weakness. ========================================================================= Nakoruru - the transition from SS1 to SS2: 1) Graphics: Graphically Nakoruru looks more 'mature' than in SS1. She has grown a bit taller (now nearly as tall as all the other fighters) and has a slightly altered fighting stance. Nakoruru however does not look as 'spunky' as in SS1 - she looks more 'tranquil'. This also shows in her background music and also in Nakoruru's speech. Some of the victory poses are also changed (see the winning poses section). Many of Nak's attacks have been altered (e.g. crouching B slash, air A, B slashes). The fighting portrait at the vs. screen is excellent but the portrait of the alternative colour Nakoruru looks quite 'evil' (dark skin, purple eyes....*shudder*)... 2) Game Play: In this department the general consensus is that Nakoruru has really taken a turn for the worse. She is no longer the quick SS1 gal with quick special moves to complement her extreme short attack range. Nakoruru in SS2 has been slowed down dramatically, she now has delay at the start and also at the end of most her special moves, and some of the normal moves are also slower (most noticeably the standing far B slash). Her range has not been improved despite of this, in fact the range on some of the move is shortened! The Mutsube moves using A button is shorter than in SS1, standing far B slash has lost a bit of range, standing close AB slash no longer hits ground opponents twice anymore except on a standing Earthquake. For a complete list of whinings please refer to the special moves section and also my wishlist section for whomever that is going to replace Nak in SS3.... Looking on a slightly brighter side, Nakoruru now has better damage for her attacks now. The AB slashes are quite powerful - especially the air AB and also standing far AB slashes. They can usually do up to 20% damage. The B slashes' damage is also a bit higher and it ranges from 10 to 15%. Also Nakoruru now can interrupt many of her normal moves into a special move for combos (see combo sections). SS2's special moves recognition system is very different from that of SS1 (where special moves are harder to pull off). In SS2 special moves seem to come out left, right and centre - sometimes even when you don't want it! This is not good news for Nakoruru as her special moves usually put her in great danger. To make sure that the right special move comes out, do the move slower than usual, making sure that the joystick move across all the contact points required for the move, and then press the button with a very slight pause after you have completed the joystick motion. This is particularly important for execution of the Power Special, Apefuchi Kamui Rymuse and to a lesser degree Amube Yatoro. ========================================================================== Character Information (taken from SS2 TAPFAQ) The Angel Faced Falcon Handler NAKORURU "Something evil is coming now!" "I must hurry up. The world is being destroyed by evil power!" "Power, speed, and beauty. I have defeated you in every way." This damsel of Diana often stands travels to the centre of her country's deep forest to commune with Nature. Recently, the voice of Nature has not been too positive. Indeed, it has been silent. "The very soul of Nature has been stolen!" screams Nakoruru as she speeds on her journey to the Netherworld with her trusty falcon friend, Mamahaha. Misc. Info: Nakoruru is one of the Ainu, Japan's indigenous/aboriginal people. In 1788, the Ainu still dominated Hokkaido and had not been subdued. Today, several thousand Ainu remain. Her bird is a Falcon, not an Eagle. Fighting Stage: NORTHERN COUNTRY -- SUMMER ========================================================================== Special Moves listing and Their Uses The moves are listed for a Nakoruru standing on the left-hand side facing right. A - Weak Slash, B - Medium Slash, AB - Strong Slash C - Weak Kick, D - Medium Kick, CD - Strong Kick Moves marked with a '!' sign requires a weapon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annu Mutsube | Slides along ground with sword extended, | attacking low for weapon damage. O- / | + Slash | O O ! | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annu Mutsube works best as a 'reactional' counter strike move to whatever your opponent does, and it plays a major part in winning using Nakoruru. Because of the huge lag time after the move Annu Mutsube is not something you can use all day long like Ukyo's Zanzou Fumikomi Giri (Spirit Slide). It must be used intelligently. Use it to retaliate any missed/blocked normal or special moves and to go through projectiles (refer to Specific Character Strategies section). In SS2 Annu Mutsube doesn't work as an air counter anymore since it hits low only now and thus will not hit an air-borne opponent. However, due to the introduction of a delay for late air AB or CD attacks, Annu Mutsube can still be used to counter air opponents if they do a late air AB or CD attacks. Utilise this delay and stay in the crouching position when your opponent jumps in, and if they try to hit you with a heavy attack (for the air AB or CD attacks to hit you when you are crouched, they must do it very late), go straight into an A Annu Mutsube and get them when they land! It works - but requires good timing though. Or you can use Annu Mutsube to escape if you're trapped in the corner and opponent jumps in. Another use for this move is in combos - see Combos section for more details. Also its huge lag time afterwards can actually be used to trick your opponents to make mistakes (see Nakoruru Against Human Opponents items (g)). Also note that at extremely close range, Annu Mutsube is a 2-hit move. WEAKNESS: Annu Mutsube has a slight delay time before it starts depends on the button you pressed (A Annu Mutsube has shorter start time delay than AB Annu Mutsube). And the programmers of SS2 decided to keep the HUGE lag time she has after executing the move. It also suffered a decrease in priority and can be thrown out of at the start and be hit out of any time as long as your opponent can time it right (either with ABs or annoying kicks). Also A Annu Mutsube is shorter than in SS1 which also doesn't help in your quest to counter-strike your opponent.... Another annoying thing - AB Annu Mutsube is a virtually useless move. It cannot be used to go though many of the projectiles that A/B Annu Mutsube can go through (e.g. Senprenetsuzan or Paku Paku Skull etc.) And then there's that extremely long lag at the start :( It's huge lag time also means that it is useless to retaliate any missed moves - by the time you start sliding your opponent would've recoverd! :( :( ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leyla Mutsube | Slides along ground, then rises, with | sword extended, attacking medium to air | \ -O + Slash | for weapon damage. O O ! | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is obvious that this move is primarily designed as an air counter move. However it is not as easy to use as say Haohmaru's Kogetsuzan because it travels forward as well as upwards. To use this move, you should first learn the range of her A, B, and AB Leyla Mutsube (how far it reaches up and also forward) and then use the appropriate one applicable to the situation. Make sure that when you execute a Leyla Mutsube, Nakoruru will meet the opponent in the air with the front part of her (the knife) touching the opponent only. You might think that using Leyla Mutsube is too much trouble, but once when you get it right it is very effective. For example, if opponent jumps in but is outside of your jumping-forward AB/B slash counter, then doing the Leyla Mutsube will counter very nicely. Also, if an opponent jumps away or jumps straight up in front of you, then you can execute Leyla Mutsube to hit them. This is now harder to do though as the lag has been increased at the start of the move and you virtually has to anticipate opponent jumping back and execute the AB Leyla Mutsube at the same time. Leyla Mutsube can also be used as a counter strike move like Annu Mutsube. Leyla Mutsubes reach your opponent slightly faster than their Annu Mutsube counterparts (i.e. A Leyla Mutsube reaches an opponent faster than A Annu Mutsube) but it does not hit low, and does not travel through any projectiles (but it's useful against certain pet attacks). Leyla Mutsube can also be used to get out of corners. Make sure you only use AB and only when your opponent is very close to you. But use this sparingly.... Another use of this move is for comboing (see Combos section). Also note that at extremely close range, Leyla Mutsube is a 2-hit move on ground opponents. WEAKNESS: As with Annu Mutsube, the move has a slight lag time before it starts (which depends on which button you use) and a HUGE lag time after you land from it. Therefore you must make sure that Nakoruru starts rising before your opponent lands if you are going to use it for air counter. Also, as with Annu Mutsube, it is not as 'invincible' as everyone thinks. If your opponents' attack in the air touches Nakoruru on the top behind the knife they have a good chance of knocking you out of the move or trading with you. Also you can be thrown out of the move at the start quite easily. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amube Yatoro | Sends Falcon out in a burning attack | for fire damage. -O \ | / O- + Slash | O O O | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This falcon attack is very important against CPU. This is because the CPU, even at higher levels, will nearly always not jump to avoid Mamahaha until it has flied forward, this move should be used as much as possible against CPU to get them to jump forward (then you can hit them out of the sky) or to take blocked damage. The spacing for this to work is such that you are at a distance away from your opponents such that your B Amube Yatoro will just reach your opponent. Then if they jump in after the move you can counter them out of the air. Amube Yatoro is, however, only moderately useful against human opponents. Good human opponents will automatically jumps forward when they see Nakoruru turns to summon the falcon, so use it only to get one tick of blocked damage when you are sure the falcon will hit (e.g. as your opponent gets up, or while your opponent is reeling back from a previous attack of yours etc), or when you are very far away (use AB Amube Yatoro). It is possible to use this as an air counter but you need nearly perfect spacing and timing for it to work. WEAKNESS: Again its delay time lets Nakoruru down again. Amube Yatoro has delay at the start (while she turns around and then gestures for Mamahaha to attack) and at the end (hmm, I never knew that putting one arm down and go back into a fighting stance takes that long...). The attack path in which hawk travels is also the same with no variation and it is very easy for opponents at medium to close range to roll under or jump and then retaliate. Also, the Falcon doesn't hit opponents more than once if blocked anymore. Because of the increased lag time at the start of the move, Amube Yatoro can no longer be used in any combos in SS2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mamahaha Flight | Falcon grabs character; control then | switches to bird for around 5-6 seconds, | / O- + C | after which, character falls back to O O | ground. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apart from being the move that you have to do before you can dive off to attack with Yatoro Poku or Kamui Mutsube, getting on your falcon has other uses. Most importantly is that it might tempt your opponent to try to jump attack you, then as soon as you see them jumping you can then get them with Yatoro Poku or Kamui Mutsube off the falcon. If your opponent has an upper-cut special move (e.g. Haohmaru, Wan-Fu, Charlotte etc.), as soon as you see them walking close under you and starting the move, Yatoro Poku in forward direction off the falcon, this way your opponents' uppercut move will miss and you will have time to retaliate after landing. Also, it is useful when you are ahead on energy, and time is nearly up (say about 3 or 4 seconds left). Then getting onto the falcon, moving it up and away as much as possible and waiting for a time-out win or luring them to attack you is also very useful. It is also possible to quickly get on the falcon to avoid attacks from your opponent (normal attacks and projectiles etc) and maybe even dive off to retaliate afterwards. WEAKNESS: Firstly, Nakoruru can only get on the falcon when it is at the right position (up and slightly behind Nak when she is standing on the ground). Therefore, there is a delay before you can get onto the falcon after Nakoruru has done the following thing: landed from a jump (either forward or backward), running, rolling and retreating. You will need to wait until Mamahaha has reached the right position again. The attacks off the falcon would've also been a lot more useful if she can get on it whenever she wants... Also, there is another slight delay after you get on the hawk before you can attack off it (this lag is extremely small though). Another thing to remember - Nakoruru is extremely vulnerable to attack when grabbing on Mamahaha.... Also, you will eventually fall down from the falcon (and again, there is a damned delay after landing....). So if your opponent decide not to do anything while you are on the hawk, better quickly move it as far away from your opponent as possible or Yatoro Poku off the bird away from your opponent as quickly as possible. Another way to get off the falcon is to move the falcon to as low as you can and keep pushing the joystick down, that way Nakoruru will fall off the bird earlier as soon as you are close to the ground. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yatoro Poku (While flying) | Spins downward from Falcon, in direction | corresponding to joystick, attacking with | or \ or / + Slash | weapon for damage. O O O or Kick | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This attack off the falcon is not as useful as it was in SS1. Although it can still be quite confusing to some human challengers and you can attack at different angles to produce confusion as to which direction to block. But apart from this I don't usually use this move much. It does hit multiple times on all opponents if it hits (regardless whether your opponents blocks it or not) so it is also useful as a finishing move (but you need to worry about whether or not it will hit.... ) It does have very high priority in the air and if anyone tries jumping to hit you while you are on the falcon, executing this move will hit them out cleanly. Also you can use this move to escape corners - get on the hawk, move the bird up and out of the corner while watching for any attacks from your opponent, and then Yatoro Poku off in the opposite direction away. Also see above section on 'Mamahaha Flight'. To maximise the chance that you will hit with this move, you must make sure that Nakoruru spins off the falcon from a position where Nak is just above the head of your opponent (and nearly touching the opponent) - or otherwise in general this useless move will miss a ground opponent totally. If this move hits an opponent (who blocks it) more than once, the block stun is usually long enough for Nakoruru to recover from her lag after the move so that no retaliation against her is possible. Against Earthquake this move will hit very reliably as long as you attack off the bird at the position as specified above. WEAKNESS: In SS2 this move now lags after Nakoruru lands!!! And because Nakoruru spins so slowly sometimes the move will not hit altogether... If you miss your opponent with this move or if they block it, you must quickly try either a crouching A or B slash or throw them after you land and recover from your lag time. The crouching A or B slash will hit your opponent if they try an AB slash on you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kamui Mutsube (While flying) | Flies down from Falcon in burning attack, | sword extended, hitting for fire damage. Slash or Kick (joystick must | not be in the position for | the Yatoro Poku move) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kamui Mutsube is now actually a better choice for attacking off Mamahaha in my opinion. It does more damamge to your opponent than Yatoro Poku, has the same high priority in the air and you are guaranteed that it will hit your opponent! Like Yatoro Poku, this attack will take multiple blocked damamge on your opponent. Up to four ticks of blocked damage can be achieved if you aim for your opponents' head at medium to close range with Kamui Mutsube. This move is thus great for finishing the other fighters off when they don't have very much left and most people don't know this. It can also be used to get out of corners like Yatoro Poku. To compensate for the longer lag time, Kamui Mutsube actually travels further away than Yatoro Poku, so it is actually a better choice for getting out of the corner IMHO. You can also use it to attack so that it will hit your opponent at the back of his/her head so that if they manage to block it, you will still be far away enough not to be retaliated (this will also sometimes cross up your opponent so that they will need to block the other way...). If your opponet has his/her back against the wall in a corner, it is possible to get on the falcon, and then Kamui Mutsube off towards the wall at the corner-trapped opponent so that Nakoruru reaches the wall first and then travels directly downwards at the opponent. And since Nakoruru is right against the wall, she will Kamui Mutsube into the space in between the wall and the opponent no matter how close he/she is against the wall and REVERSE THE JOYSTICK BLOCKING DIRECTION! Very useful since most people don't know how to block this (even the CPU...) You can also get on the bird and Kamui Mutsube off to retaliate someone who has just sent a projectile etc (but need right spacing) If you see someone start a projectile move and you are relatively close, you can also immediately get on Mamahaha, then start moving the joystick up and forward (to increase range and to avoid projectiles which are large) while continuously bang on any of the buttons. This way, as soon as the lag finishes after you get on Mamahaha (so that you can attack off it again), you will execute a Kamui Mutsube and if spaced right, it will hit the opponent trying to throw the projectile. Note: this works best against characters with slow projectile initiation moves and/or small projectiles - which is probably everyone in the game with three exceptions: (1) Haohmaru: His tornado envelopes him when it starts, so you need to make sure the tornado has cleared him before you dive off to hit him. (2) Genjuro: This simply doesn't work against him - his cards are too fast and too large and will hit you before you can move Mamahaha out of range... (3) Ukyo: Well, due to the nature of his projectiles this will not work against him. In fact it is probably suicide to get on Mamahaha when Ukyo throws the firebird... Also, while you are on the bird, if opponent tries to hit you out by jumping or uppercutting, Kamui Mutsube will actually take out most of the normal air attacks easily. For the special upper cut moves, what you see is what you get, i.e. the slash ranges of the moves are exactly where the characters hit. Specifically: (1) Haohmaru: If you are high enough on the bird (and if you will not touch the sword part of him when he rises, his uppercut can't actually hit you. Don't try diving into the slash area, or you'll be hit. If he does a B or AB uppercut, you can actually hit him AFTER he finishes slashing below you and continues to rise. (2) Genjuro: No luck here. His upper cut fully protects him from any arial attack, because he makes an arc. Unlike Haohmaru, he can hit you high up as well so be careful. (3) Charlotte: If you dive in front of her slash pillar, you'll get hit. But if you are right over her, you can hit her behind her slash pillar without getting hit. Judge it visually. (4) Wan-Fu: his pillar is higher than he is, so you can't try to hit behind his pillar like you can for Charlotte. Again, he can hit you so be careful. (5) Kyoshiro: again, judge it visually. You can hit in the CENTER of his spinning slash (i.e. his body), because his lethal areas are on the outside. This is best if you are almost over him as he rises up to meet you. (6) Nakoruru: If you manage to dive off without touching the sword part of the Leyla Mutsube you will hit her out. Otherwise it's a trade. (7) Gen-An: Usually it trades. (8) Cham Cham: You must make sure you hit Cham Cham with the Kamui Mutsube from above her when she tries to jump scratch you on the bird. If you Kamui Mutsube off and Cham's jumping scratch touches you while Cham is above you - you will be hit by the jumping scratch. If you are at about same leve, it will trade usually. (9) Sieger: Bliz Sieger move can be very easily hit out if you are at same level or above him. But if you are below him you will be hit out. Sometimes it also trades. Also see above section on 'Mamahaha Flight' for related information. WEAKNESS: It does have a longer lag time than Yatoro Poku attack off falcon so you must make sure you will hit them or you will finish them off with this attack even when they block it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kamui Ryuse | Twirls around, whipping cloak out to | create shield that reflects projectiles | / O- + Slash | back at opponents, as well as inflicting O O | damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whipping the cloak about has several important uses actually. The most important one being that it makes you invulnerable to pet attacks (except Mamahaha's attacks) and also that it reflects projectiles. This however takes a bit of practice to get the timing right (sometimes I still have trouble reflecting Kyoshiro's fans). Also make sure you use A Kamui Ryuse to reflect projectiles so that if your opponent jump over their own projectile you will have time to block/counter. The second usage for this move is for air countering. The AB Kamui Ryuse works fairly well as long as your opponent doesn't have an air slash attack which stays out below his/her body when he/she is air-borne (e.g. Kamui Ryuse will not work as an air counter against Ukyo's or Kyohsiro's air AB). Make sure your opponent is above and in front of you when you try this - if opponent is too close and above you when jumping in, Kamui Ryuse will not work. Also some CPU characters are easier to hit with this move than others (e.g. Gen-An). Most people think that this move is not very powerful which it is not if you only manage to hit your opponent with the edge of your cape. However, if you can manage to envelope your opponent with the cape at extreme close range and hit them. This move does pretty good damage, hits multiple times and often dizzies your opponent!!! So the best time to use this move is when your opponent has missed an upper-cut special move or when they are dizzy. Then you should walk up to them and execute the AB Kamui Ryuse at very close range and watch what happens (hee hee...) I am also trying to walk under and then execute this move but has been unsuccessful so far... But it should be possible theoretically.... Since it hits about 4 to 5 times at close range, you can also use it to finish up your opponent when they don't have much left and is knocked down. In this case, walk up to them and then execute an AB Kamui Ryuse as they get up. WEAKNESS: Again this move has a very long lag time after its execution such that if you hit your opponent once with the edge of your B or AB Kamui Ryuse they can recover quicker than you do and retaliate! So make sure you don't do this move mindlessly... Also because of the joystick motion for the move sometimes Kamui Ryuse will come out when you are actually trying to execute Amube Yatoro and thus put you at grave situations (especially against Mizuki, she will always send that energy pool on the ground whenever this happens...) The reverse also happens - especially in the situation when you want to do a Kamui Ryuse after moving forward... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apefuchi Kamui Rymuse | Performs three quick Kamui Ryuse and | finishes by sending out a "shadow" of \ | / O- -O | \ + BC | Falcon, allowing for four consecutive hits O O O O O | (if close to opponent). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This 'not-so-secret-now' secret move for Nakoruru, while it doesn't have the range nor the damage as Haohmaru's Tempa Fuzzin Zan, is quite a nifty move in itself. The first thing is that Nakoruru does not travel very far forward in this 4-hitter and thus there is less fear of retaliation afterwards if blocked (actually she almost ends up in the same position as she started after the move is finished). It does pretty good damage if all 4 hits hit. And, like Haohmaru's Tempa Fuzzin Zan, Nakoruru is invulnerable to all projectile and pet attacks (maybe with the exception of the Mamahaha attack) while she is doing the first three quick Kamui Ryuses. So use this move when your opponent is dizzy for variety and style, or when your opponent does a silly projectile (or pet attack?) at close range, or use it to finish an opponent off who doesn't have very much energy left (the move actually takes more than four ticks of blocked damage if all four cape whips connects because every cape whip takes multiple ticks of blocked energy as long as the cape is still touching your opponent. Note: When using this move on dizzied opponents, make sure you are very close to ensure all 4 hits hit. And also make sure your opponent is not up against the corner because they won't get pushed back when hit while you still moves forward with your move, and therefore your opponent will have a chance to escape/block the other hits or throw you in the process. Also don't use Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse when your opponents' POW metre is nearly full as they will POWer up after blocking the first one or two hits from this move and then you will be thrown. You can also use it as an air counter like Kamui Ryuse if you want to. Also, against all CPU characters (and human characters with a shorter weapons range, or slower characters), after you jump forward and air AB an opponet out of the sky, you can execute this move straight after you land to get some more blocked damage without fear of being retaliated. WEAKNESS: This move has a bit of a lag after execution and people with long range attacks like Haohmaru or Ukyo can get you if they block the move. Also sometimes not all 4 hits will connect - this happens when the move isn't initiated as close as possible to your opponent, and also on Nicotine and Cham Cham (even if they are dizzied the first hit will always miss no matter how close you stand!) So against dizzied Nicotine or Cham Cham I will use a different combo on them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- POWER SPECIAL: Irusuka Yatoro | Glowing, sends bird down, and if Lise | strike is successful, five more -O O- / | \ -O + A | energy falcons dive into victim for O O O | breaking damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, this move looks good when it hits. But it is not that useful. You can try using it as an air counter like Amube Yatoro but it is hard to time and get the spacing right. I only use this when I am in range and my opponent throws a slow-speed projectile. Because the falcon travels faster than the slow-speed projectile and cancels them in its path while it still travels forward to get your opponent. Even if it doesn't cancel the opponents' projectile, as long as it hits the opponent first, Nakoruru will be invulnerable to the incoming projectile as five more falcons plunge into your opponent's body on the ground. And also of course use it when your opponent is dizzy.... WEAKNESS: Apart from the situation mentioned above, I will strongly advise against using this move - especially against human opponents as they will see it coming miles away. Also because of the stuffed-up special move recognition system in SS2 you will sometimes execute a Mutsube move instead of the power special if you don't do it slowly enough... ========================================================================== Some Normal Moves and Their Uses (For the ground attacks, if not specified whether it is a close or far attack, it means that either close or far attacks are the same, or it applies to both) Crouching C kick: This move is very fast - great for keeping opponents away when they are very close to you. Crouching D kick: This move has a slightly longer range than crouching C kicks and comes out fairly fast. But it retracts a bit slower, but you are usually safe from retaliation even if your opponent blocks it. Use crouching D kicks also to keep your opponents away and is great for combos (see combos section). Crouching CD kicks: This is an excellent air counter move. Just make sure the kick is out before your opponents' air attacks and also your opponent is in front of you. It is also a vital move in demolishing CPU Genjuro (see Specific Character Strategies section - Genjuro) After you have air countered your opponent with the crouching CD kick, send the falcon to get one more blocked damage. Standing close B and crouching B slashes: They have limited range I know. But the good thing is that they are great in combos (see combos section). The moves are great for walking under and then slashing your opponents with. If your opponent 'reels back' on the ground after you walk under and B slash him/her, follow it up with an A Annu Mutsube. If your opponent jumps back after you B slash them, send the falcon to get one more blocked damage. Running in and standing B slash is also quite useful if you are close - it can surprise many players and also since it is very quick to come out it will usually snuff out any attack your opponent throws at you - if you hit with this, combo!. Standing far B slash: This slash has been dramatically slowed down in SS2, I will only say here that if you hit an opponent with this slash at the closest distance before it changes to standing close B slash, you can also chain an A Annu Mutsube after it. It's hard to get the spacing right though. Standing A and crouching A slashes: These slashes come out very fast - I use it mainly at close range so that if anyone tries a B or AB move they will be slashed out of their move before they know it. You can also try the slash-and-run-and throw tactics with these slashes. Crouching AB slash: Another good air counter for Nakoruru. Again you must make sure the spacing/timing is right as if you miss with it you will put yourself in grave danger. Use this when your opponent in the air will land just in front of you when they jump in. Or you can walk under an opponent and then crouching AB them. With practise, it can also be used to counter some special moves and also in combos. Standing far C kick: Comes out fast and retracts fast enough to prevent retaliation. Great for keeping opponents away. It is also particularly useful for ticking and getting on the offensive (see Nakoruru Against Human Opponents). The move also works moderately well for an air counter as long as your opponent lands well in front of you. Standing close C kick: Great for ticking and cheaping (kick and run in and throw).... Standing far D kick: This move works fairly well as an air counter as long as your opponent lands well in front of you. It works better than standing far C kick as an air counter because Nakoruru kicks up higher and also the move has a bit more forward range. Can be used in combos. Standing close D kick: Can use this move in combos and also air counter (walk under and standing D kick). Standing close AB slash: Thr first hit of this move, although it does not hit ground opponents, is great air counter for jump-in opponents who is nearly on top of you. Hit AB when opponent has just gone past the highest point in their jumping arc. Can also use it for combos (see Combos section). Also, this move is interruptable. Therefore you can sort of use it to fake an AB attack at close range and instead of slashing down go straight into a special move to catch your opponent by surprise. Or you can use it to counter an opponent out of the sky, and then immediately interrupt it to send Mamahaha to take a blocked damage. Standing far AB slash: Mega damage move and can be used for air counters on opponents landing in front of you (the move has the same/similar animation frames as the jump-forward air ABs). Hit AB when your opponent is near the top of their jumping arc but haven't gone past it yet. Can also combo with this move (see Combos section) Pressing the AB buttons while you are still running will produce this move - it is useful in that if you get the move out when you are reasonably close and as your opponent is trying to get out some AB move at the same time - you will probably hit him out... Jumping forward/backward B and AB slashes: Good priority air counter attacks. These slashes do very good damage and can be used in combos (see Combos section). For air counters make sure that only the knife part touches your opponent so that the chance of your being slash/kick out of the counter is minimised. If using air AB to counter, make sure that it has ample time to slash up before you meet the opponent in air. Also see Special Moves Listing and Their Uses section - Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse for relevant information. Jumping straight-up B and AB slashes: Good alternative air counters for jump-in opponents who is nearly on top of you. Again B and AB ones does very good damage. Jumping forward C, D, and CD kicks: The three kicks are good offensive air attacks for jumping in on your opposition. They can also be used in combos (See Combos Section). If opponent jumps in at close range they can also be used as an air counter (jump back and do the air kick). Jumping straight-up CD kick: This move stays out for quite long. You should execute this move when your opponent is close and knocked down. Sometimes CPU (and many human players) will get hit as they get up by the kick. Then you can combo it with an A Annu Mutsube. This move can be a multi-hit move if you execute it very late before you land. Close standing CD kick: This move can also be used as an air counter - although it doesn't work as well as the others. And also it is a multi-hit move. It can also be used in combos. It also evades low attacks (since Nako flips herself back in the process) Far standing CD kick: This move is also useful in comboing against some characters. ========================================================================== Throws and Other Information Throws: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two-Handed Toss | Grabs opponent, and tosses overhead for when close, -O + B | damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twirl-and-Strike | Trips opponent, and twirls, driving when close, -O + AB ! | weapon in for damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Triple Kicks | Grabs opponent, and steps over him/her, when close, -O + D or CD | kicking three times for damage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bitch Slap Royale (without | Locks onto opponent's shoulders, and weapon)| begins repeatedly bashing for massive when close, -O + AB | damage (what a bitch...). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Toss (while jumping) | Grabs opponent in mid-air, and flips, when close, | + B or AB | tossing opponent away and down for damage. O | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It doesn't really matter which throws you use I think as they all do pretty much the same damage. Although the AB/CD throws seem to do a little big more than the B/D throws. As with all the other 'hold' throw, the AB throw without the weapon has a set number of hits now and now it doesn't matter how furiously you pound on the joystick, the AB weaponless throw will do exactly the same damamge. The air throw does more damamge than all the other throws. It is a good idea to get into a habit of pulling down on the joystick when you jump in the air. This way when you do a B or AB slash a throw will come out in the right situation. A final note: THROW AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!!! (Especially against human players...) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mamahaha Call (When disarmed) | Whistles to Falcon, calling bird to leave | / O- + C or | weapon, re-joining the fight again. This O O | allows for Mamahaha Flight or Amube Yatoro. | -O \ | / O- + Slash | O O O | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- When your weapon is stuck on the ground, your Mamahaha will decide to take to try and pull the sword out of the ground for you (but unsuccessfully). Since Nak cannot really do much withouth her sword, of course you should immediately summon the falcon back to aid you as quickly as possible or pick up your sword..... However, in SS2 Mamahaha now has a hearing problem and Nakoruru needs to whistle on for quite a while to get its attention, thus giving your opponent a good chance of hitting you when you are whistling away so make sure you have plenty of room between you and your opponent before you start calling your falcon back. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super Deformed Transformation -O \ | / O- -O \ | / O- + D O O O O O O ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taunts: 1. AC: Tightens bow in hair, "Yosh!" 2. BD: Stretches back and yawns. 3. AC(weaponless): Same as 1. 4. BD(weaponless): Same as 1. note: To cancel a taunt, POWering up or the Super Deformed Transformation, press BC (hop), run/roll or perform a specical move. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misc.: Nakoruru can do a 'triangle-jump' in which she firstly jump back against the side of the screen and then bounces forward from the side of the screen to reach an even greater height in her jumps. To do this, first jump back against the wall by pushing joystick to back/up position, then push the joystick in a forward position. However, if you have done an attack in the air already when you jump back against the wall, you cannot perform the triangle-jump (some people might have played SF2 too much and in SF2 you can do this...) When Nakoruru runs in and do a standing attack without stopping, the following attack results: (1) run-in AB: the same as standing far AB (2) run-in B: the same as standing close B (3) run-in A: the same as standing far A (4) run-in CD: the same as standing close CD (5) run-in D: the same as standing far D (6) run-in C: the same as standing far C. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nakoruru's End-of-Round Winning Poses/Quotes (1) Nakoruru nods and says "Yosh(i)!" (the 'i' is silent) (2) Nakoruru wraps the cape all around herself and says "Un, yokatta." (Um, that went well.) (3) Nakoruru turns, her back facing you, then she turns her head around and says "Daishizen no shioki desu." (Punishment in the name of Mother Nature!) She had a similar winning pose in SS1 which is a lot better though (in SS2 she does this rather girlishly while in SS1 she looks and sounds more like she means it. ^_^ (4) Nakoruru raises her hand, Mamahaha flies down and perches on her up-raised hand, and Nakoruru asks it "Hiru nai, Mamahaha?" (Haven't you eaten, Mamahaha?) The bird then chirps back at her. (5) Basically the same as (4) but as the winning pose is progressing, Poppy enters the screen from the right, with a bird on her head, and walks up to Nakoruru. Nakoruru winks and doesn't say anything. The winning pose you get are determined by the joystick direction that you push right before you win a round. Please refer to Nakoruru winning pose guide or the SS2 Winning Pose guide by Damone for details. ========================================================================== General CPU Strategies: SS2's AI is a lot more intelligent and also aggressive than that of SS1. Against Nakoruru, CPU controlled characters like to advance upon Nakoruru quite a lot. They stay outside of Nakoruru's attack range and wait there for you to make a move (where if you attack you will miss and if you jump you will over jump). And if you just crouch defending there the CPU will move in and throw or jump in with an air attack and throw. Nakoruru players should be aware of this and know how to deal with this situation when CPU is advancing upon you. Below is a general summary of tactics for Nakoruru players when CPU is in the above mentioned position (i.e. outside of your normal attack range but within their own attack range). Some of these are actually pretty basic and applies to any human characters fighting CPU characters but anyway here goes... 1. CPU runs towards you: This happens quite a lot with for example CPU Galford and Wan-Fu. This also happens when CPU is lower on the energy bar and there is not a lot of time left. CPU also runs in when you have just missed with a normal move. Keep the CPU away with crouching/standing C kicks and/or crouching D kicks. Nakoruru can usually get a few of these kicks in the CPU to tick off some damage. Make sure you stop the standing C kicks straight away when you have pushed them outside of your standing C kick range and then go back into defensive crouch. Any missed moves on your part can cost you dearly. If CPU has already run in too close to you then you should do crouching C or D kicks to keep them away and then maybe add one or two standing C kicks (again make sure that you do NOT miss any crouching kicks). Alternatively you can try counter throwing as they run into range. This is a viable option as long as you are good at it (and you better be!) 2. CPU rolls towards you: Be careful when CPU decide to roll toward you just outside your attack range. This happens in many situations. For example when you have kicked them in the face too many times with the standing C kicks, or when you just crouch there and do nothing, or when you send Mamahaha to attack at close range. There are many ways to deal with CPU rolling in on you, and it depends on how close the CPU character is when they roll in. This is because the first few frames of the rolling animation frames can be interrupted. By this I mean if CPU rolls in and get into the throw range before the interruptable frames have finished, they CAN throw you half-way through the roll!) Also you can interrupt these frames with a special move. These frames however can also be hit by a low-hit attack. Another thing to note is that there is a slight lag after the roll has completed where you can get a quick attack into your opponent who has just rolled in. So, if CPU rolls in at very close range, I would suggest that you either quickly get away (hop back or jump back with an air C, or AB Leyla Mutsube away) or try a crouching attack, or counter-throwing straight away. If CPU rolls in from afar (i.e. it finishes the roll in front of you), then quickly do a few quick attacks (crouching A, C, D attacks will all do) to push them away (you will probably hit them once or twice too). As soon as they are outside your crouching quick attack range, switch to standing C kicks to push them away further. You can also try counter- throwing. 3. CPU just standing there doing nothing: Since CPU is still outside your attack range don't be foolish and try attacks on the spot which will miss. CPU is very good at detecting this and then will use their advantage of having a better range to hit you as you are recovering from your attacks. Don't be tempted to jump forward - at this position if you jump forward you will over-jump and will get slashed/kicked/thrown on the back as you land. And if you are corner-trapped don't be tempted to jump back against the wall either. CPU usually will find a good way to hit you out of the air. I will usually try moving forward a little bit at a time so that opponent is in my standing C kick range and then try kicking them. Sometimes CPU also backs off if you move forward bit by bit. This has proven to be quite useful. 4. CPU jumping in: If when they jump in, they will be almost on top of you, you must think of a way to counter their attack or escape. If you do not have time to escape/counter and blocked their move, immediately go into crouching C kicks or do a crouching A slash when you have blocked CPU's air attack - this will minimise your chance of getting thrown. Refer to the Special Moves Listing and Their Uses section and Some Normal Moves and Their Uses section for air counter moves. Misc. General Strategies: a) Anticipating opponent's attack: Since our Nakoruru has no range at all for her attacks :-(, to beat opponents who just keep on using their big range slashes, you must learn to anticipate and counter strike successfully against every other characters in the game with a better weapon-range. The Mutsube moves should be used here. Generally, you should only attempt to use the A Mutsube moves as B or AB starts too slowly. Anticipating is hard to do against the CPU but nevertheless you should try and it is vital you can do this when fending off human challengers :-). Many of other characters' standing slashes will miss if you get your Mutsube moves out in time too - see Specific Character Strategies section for more information. b) Luring your opponent to jump-in: The only way Nakoruru is going win against anyone (especially against CPU) is getting some of those nice air ABs into your opponent. But in SS2 the CPU rarely jumps. So you must find some ways to force them to. To lure them to jump use Mamahaha, sending the falcon to attack will usually make the CPU characters jump (if not forward, then upward). If they jump forward then you must find a way to hit them out of the air. Sometimes CPU also jumps in after blocking your Mamahaha, and also after you have executed a B or AB Kamui Ryuse far away. See Specific Character Strategies section for a list of CPU characters with greater tendency to jump. c) Jump-in attacks: Nakoruru's air attack does not have very much range. Also due to Nakoruru's long jumping arc it is very easy to over-jump and miss an attack completely. First thing to make sure is that this does not happen. CPU will murder you if you do. Hop back until you have enough space and will not overjump. Usually you will have enough space to jump in safely after your opponent blocks your A or B Mamahaha attack and gets pushed back. When you have jumped in correctly make sure your air attack hits. The safest attack to jump in with is of course Nakoruru's kicks. But you can also use her B or AB slashes which does good damage and can be comboed afterwards. Against small characters like Cham Cham it is safer to use the kicks since the air slashes will miss her if she is crouched. If you have over-jumped, I would suggest you either try counter-throwing, doing a crouching AB roll slash or crouching C kicks or go into a A Mutsube move straight away as you land. When jumping in, if opponent blocks your attack, you can try immediately throwing them when you land (if you are close to them) or do an attack that needs to be blocked low - CPU is usually susceptible to be hit by the first low attack you do after you jump in). If the air attack hits combo them!!! (refer to combo section below) Another thing you can try is to jump in, do an air attack so that the attack will just 'miss' your opponent on the ground (e.g. do an air CD kick a bit earlier), then as you land throw straight away. Or if your air attack hit a blocking opponent very late and you are almost on top of them, then when you land you should try to throw as well. This also works on human challenger (actually it probably works better...) Learn all the combos in the combo section so that you can perform it effortlessly. And when you jump in on the CPU, always do a Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse when you land. CPU will not retaliate this at all and will block it all (thus you take off 4-5 ticks of damage), and the added bonus is that if your air attack hits you get a combo. And also sometimes after CPU blocks your air attack, it will attempt to slash you when you land, thus by performing a Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse when you land, you will hit your opponent if they try anything on you at that instant. If you knocks down your opponent, or get a chance to, do a jumping straight-up CD kick near your opponent. This move stays out very long and can be comboed with an A Annu Mutsube afterwards. The CPU also seems to fall for it quite a bit (especially if you do it as they get up.) d) Dealing with opponents' projectiles: See Special Moves Listing and Their Uses section, and also Specific Character Strategies on this subject. Alternatively roll forward or lie flat on the floor and wait for projectile to go past you. Certain projectiles can be slashed off by Nakoruru in SS1 (Tam Tam's Skull, Kyoshiro's flaming fans and Hanzo's Shuriken) with her slashes. It is still possible to do it in SS2. At least with Kyoshiro's fans you can slash it in half with Nakoruru's standing A slash or the standing B slash. Also, if you block an opponent's projectile at a close range, you usually still have time to nail them with an Annu Mutsube before they come out of their projectile stun time. e) Opponent's missed/blocked normal moves: Again, learn to counter any missed normal moves and blocked AB slashes at close range with the A a list of normal moves which can be retaliated/countered with the Mutsube moves. f) Opponents' missed/blocked special moves: It seems that there is generally a slight lag whenever a characters land from special moves. So it is a lot easier to retaliate when you block an opponent's special moves or if opponent misses with their special moves. See Special Moves Listing and Their Uses - Kamui Ryuse, and Combos Sections for more information. g) Countering opponents' special moves: Many of the other fighters' special moves can be countered using Nakoruru's Mutsube moves even without blocking first. Refer to the specific opponent strategies section below. h) When CPU's POW metre is full: Be careful, although CPU doesn't do it often, when CPU's POW metre is full you should think twice about jumping in. Many CPU characters are programmed to execute their power special if you jump in and their POW metre is full. Or when you are trapped in the corner and CPU's POW metre is full, don't be tempted to jump back against the wall with a C kick hoping that CPU will move forward and get hit, they will simply do their power special! i) When your opponent is dizzy: Refer to Special Move Listing (Kamui Ryuse and Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse) and Their Uses section and Combos section to see how you can best inflict mega damage on your opponents. j) Getting out of the corner when trapped: Refer to Special Move Listing and Their Uses - Leyla Mutsube, Yatoro Poku and Kamui Mutsube. k) Finishing off your opponent: Refer to Special Moves Listing and Their Uses for a list of multiple-hit special moves to finish off a nearly-dead opponent with lots of style.... ========================================================================== Nakoruru Against Human Opponents Although Nakoruru is not great as a character for challenging, nevertheless I dutifully tried using her at the local arcade in Taiwan (I was on a short holiday overseas...) which was infested with lots of Haohmarus and Ukyos. After a great deal of practise (and loss of money), I can finally defeat average challengers most of the time and also sometimes beat advanced human challengers. So I feel it is time for me to include some tips on this subject - but if you have any good tips against against any human characters please let me know..... a) Staying close to your opponent (ticking): Okay, now our Nak has hardly any range for her attacks, and her long range falcon summon is really not that hard to avoid. So what does a Nak player do to win? Stay close to your opponent and tick the !#^&@$ out of your opponent!!! Move in closer bit by bit until you are within your standing C kick range, and then standing C kick, move forward, standing C kick etc. Or move even closer and then crouching A slash, move in again and crouching A slash! You get the idea. Don't get monotonous with this, your opponent will try a quick A slash on you usually as you do your standing C kicks but usually your A and C attacks are faster than theirs. Just make sure you don't miss. Also, vary the attack pattern. Tick once or twice and then Annu Mutsube (at the same time your opponent is trying to get even with his/her longer range attacks), or tick and then run in and throw (see below) b) Running in: To make up for Nakoruru's lack of range in her attacks. You must learn to use run-ins effectively. Run in and throw is a MUST-HAVE skill for any Nakoruru players. OK, this is considered as 'cheap' by some but if they cannot counter it it is their incompetence as it is counterable. Firstly, get to know Nakoruru's throw range properly. Then, practise running in, and then as soon as you get into range press one of the throw buttons. I personally like the D throw the best and it seems to work best for me. Only do this run and throw thing if you start running at medium to close range (so your opponent doesn't have enough time to react). After a few of these run-and-throws your opponent will be expecting a throw when you start running, then vary your tactics - run in and then A Annu Mutsube, run in and go back into defensive crouch (to block their quick attacks, then run in again!), run in and do a standing C, D or standing close CD kick (if your opponent likes to do crouching slash as you run in), or crouching A or B slash, or run in and then jump forward (over those Haohmaru ABs and Bs...) etc. c) Rolling: Rolling forward and throw also works. But make sure you roll in at very close range so Nakoruru's sprite overlaps with your opponents' sprites at a very early stage of the roll so that they cannot crouch-attacking you out of the roll. Then push forward and start pressing your throw button... You can also do a variation of (b) as mentioned above by running forward, and then as soon as you run close to your throw range push the joystick to offensive crouch position to roll forward and then throw. Do this if your opponent gets to used to your other running-in and throw tactics. d) Dealing with projectiles revisited: People who has not played very much against human Nakoruru's don't usually know that Nakoruru can slide through/under many projectiles. So if they are stupid enough to do the move and the situation is right for you Annu Mutsube through to hit them! Also, human players have a higher tendency to throw projectiles to you (and also at a closer range), make sure you get them afterwards after blocking a close range projectile (say, they did the projectile as you get up at close range) or again slide through with Annu Mutsube, or reflect it if you can. A note on reflecting projectiles, use it only when opponents throw their projectiles at close, medium range so that your opponent has less time to react to it. After you reflect it, move forward. If your opponent jump forward over their own projectile, air AB slash them out of the air, or if they jump upwards, Leyla Mutsube to get them. If they block it, send Mamahaha to attack at the same time. Sometimes, your opponent they will move forward a bit and then jump forward straight after they throw their projectile, anticipating your reflecting of the projectile so watch out. e) Punish any close-range or missed B/AB attacks on you: Referring to the list in the Specific Character Strategies section, if your opponent miss any of their AB attacks, or if you block their long-lagtime attacks at close range, makes sure you make them pay. f) Know all your air counters: Against the CPU usually all you need to know how to do is the air AB and crouching CD kick for air defence. But against human opponents, mix up your air countering tactics (they are many you can use which will work in the same situation) so that you don't get too predictable. Especially if you are used to use air AB as air counter, sometimes substitute say a close standing AB as air counter as if you get too predictable, your opponent will simply jump in and attack out early in the air instead and you will be hit out of the air AB a lot easier. The only one I will use extensively is walking under and throw/attack. Don't miss any chance of an air counter as a good human player will seldom jump against you... g) Luring your opponents to make mistakes: Well I can only give examples here: (1) When you knock someone down, go up to them and do a standing far AB timed such that you will finish the move at the same time that your opponent can attack. Many people get fooled by this and will attempt a slash or block. Then since you are quite close, do a crouching B slash to hit them (if they are attempting to slash you) or if they are simply blocking, move in and throw. (2) Again, remember that many of Nakoruru's attacks can be interrupted (see combo section), so if you miss with an attack, you can cut down the delay time after that attack with an interrupted Annu Mutsube move when you anticipate someone planning an big AB on you. (3) Execute an A Annu Mutsube so that you will finish the move just outside your opponents' furtherest attack range, then then do another A Annu Mutsube if your opponent attempts to slash you with their big-range ABs. (4) Certain character does not have good close range 2-hit AB slashes (e.g. Jubei, Ukyo, Wan-Fu), you can Annu Mutsube close to them and if they are inexperience and tries an AB on you, you can get hit by the first-hit, recovers in time and Annu Mutsube before the second hit hits you. This is risky though as experienced players will simply throw you or use another attack... h) Opponents running in: Many good players will also try the running tactics I stated above on you. There are many ways to deal with this. As with the CPU, the safest is of course to do the standing C kick. But watch out for them stopping early and slashing you with their longer range attacks. Or you can try A Annu Mutsube as they run in to quite a close range. It usually catches them off-guard and will get them. And of course counter-throwing is very important. If your opponents run in and then stops not too far away from you, run in and throw them also works (because there is a few frames where a character 'skids' forward trying to stop - you can throw them then). Watch out for Haohmarus or Genjuros running in and then doing their upper-cut special moves. Also watch for people with sliding attacks like Cham Cham's sliding kick running in and then sliding attack you. i) Know your opponents' attack ranges: You must know by heart all your opponents' weapon ranges. In your quest to move in closer to them, many people will try and catch you off guard with one of their big ABs or CD kicks, or when you have gotten closer to them, it will then be the A, B slashes or C, D kicks. If you don't know what to expect then you are more likely to be caught and hit by one of those when you try to move forward. If you know these attacks ranges well, you can anticipate and counter, or stay just outside these ranges and then if your opponents don't know the ranges as well as you do and miss, Annu Mutsube to get them. This is quite hard at first but it gets easier as you get more experienced with the game and using Nakoruru I guess. j) Other things to remember/try: Another list of examples.... (1) When you have knocked down someone, stand next to them, jump straight up and then do a CD kick in the air as your opponent gets up, this must make them block. Then you land and throw. Or if they get hit, then do an A Annu Mutsube. (2) Get on the falcon at medium to close range, move the falcon up to give yourself a bit of room. And if your opponent tries to jump up and attack you or get your with an upper-cut special move, get them with a Kamui Mutsube off the falcon immediately. ========================================================================= Combos: The following sequence of moves to be executed forms 3 types of 'combos'. One type is the TRUE combo - in which if the opponent gets hit by the first hit he will not be able to block the second. The second type is 'pseudo-combos'. These are just quick moves in succession in which if the opponent gets hit by the first one - s/he may or may not be hit by the second but if s/he is not careful, s/he will most certainly get hit by the second attack (which is usually an attack which must be blocked low). The last type of combo is the 'automatic' combos which simply are just multi-hitting moves. These include crouching AB roll, standing close CD kick, jumping straight-up CD kick (if executed very late before you land), Kamui Ryuse, Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse and the Mutsube moves. These moves will hit opponent two or more times if executed at very close range. Some of the TRUE combos works more reliably than the others, and some will only work on certain characters (or will only work reliably on certain characters). Refer to description below each combo for more details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pseudo-Combos: a) crouching C kick followed by crouching D kick. b) crouching C kick followed by crouching CD kick. c) crouching C kick followed by crouching AB slash. d) standing close A or B slash followed by crouching or standing CD kick. e) crouching C kick, standing C or D kick. f) crouching C kicks, crouching A/B slashes. g) standing close C kick, standing far C kick. h) standing close C kick, crouching AB/CD. and so on - try out different combinations of attacks and see which one works - usually I found that against CPU, (a), (b), and (c) works very well if your crouching C kick hits at very close range. Also, if your close enough (i.e. Nak's sprite is nearly overlapping with your opponents' when crouching C kick hits), (a), (c), (e) and (f) will actually combo. (c) is somewhat unreliable though. You can also interrupt your normal attacks into as Amube Yatoro for a 'pseduo-combo'. Even though your opponent will recover before Amube Yatoro hits them, they will not have time to jump over to get you and have to block the move. Amube Yatoro but it will take another tick of block damage off. (With 'heavy' attacks, the bird actually will reach the opponent while they reel back, but for some reason it will not hit/combo them. So do the Amube Yatoro slightly later so that bird reaches them just as they recover). Standing close AB can also be interrupted into Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse, but Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse will not combo - but the opponent will need to block the last two cape flicks so use this only to finish someone off.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- True Combos: These usually involves interrupting a normal moves into a special move. Nakoruru can interrupt all of her standing/crouching B/AB/D/CD attacks with a special move with the exception of crouching AB and crouching CD which cannot be interrupted. However, the only special move you can interrupt the normal moves into are the Mutsube moves since other Nakoruru special moves are either too slow or too short ranged... An A Annu/Leyla Mutsube should be used after the medium attacks (B slashes and D kicks) and B Annu Mutsube should be used after the heavy attacks. If any of your combos with a Mutsube move as the last move backfires (i.e. if the Mutsube move doesn't hit even though opponent is still reeling back), then attempt to throw or crouching A slash, as soon as you recover from the lag. Again, I must emphasize that these combos will only work if executed with extreme precision and some combos will only work on certain characters or in certain situations (see description of each combos for details). Because the combo system in SS2 is somewhat shaky and unreliable, whether you want to risk reflexively cancelling your kicks or slashes into a Mutsube move at the end of some of the combo listed below depends on which opponent you are facing, and what type of close crouching AB they can do. This is because that's the slash they are most likely to retaliate with after a blocked Mutsube. Some characters like the ninjas, Charlotte, Kyoshiro, Genjuro, Sieger, etc have powerful crouching ABs, so getting your AM blocked would be bad. Others like Earthquake, Nicotine or Wan-Fu have poor close ABs (EQ's crouching or standing AB will miss; the others have dumb multi-hit ABs in which only the first will hit if you block right away), so it's worth risking a blocked Mutsube. Note that Wan-Fu can combo his crouching AB into a Confucious slash/swipe for good damage, but not CPU certainly does not do it, however CPU Wan-Fu's throws are powerful.... Two characters deserve special mention: Haohmaru can do a crouching AB/uppercut combo (or into a super uppercut if the player's a Haoh freak), probably stunning you. Getting your Mutsube blocked would probably cost you the round so I wouldn't do it unless you KNOW you will hit. The crouching AB by itself is damaging enough anyway.... Ukyo's close crouching AB is a multi-hit in which the power part (his overhead slash) can usually be blocked (one of my few gripes about Ukyo). Don't worry about his standing AB/AI combo because standing AB won't hit you after a blocked Mutsube! If the Ukyo player is alert, he will do a TG afterwards or maybe do a crouching D or CD into AI combo. Someone operating on reflex will probably just do a crouching AB, so it might be worth it to reflexively cancel attacks into an AM, as Nak needs all the hits she can get against the number one ranked character in SS2... Well now, here is a list of True combos for you to try: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Air AB/CD, A/B/AB Annu Mutsube (after landing). Combo effective on: Everyone in the game, but against small characters like Cham Cham and Nicotine use CD kick instead of AB slash since AB slash is a down-to-up slash and can easily miss on these characters. Reliability: Very reliable Note: Air AB/CD must strike reasonably late and as deep as possible to ensure combo reliability. Using A Annu Mutsube is best but you can also B or AB Annu Mutsube - they might do more damage but I am not certain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Air B/D, A Annu/Leyla Mutsube (after landing). Combo effective on: Everyone in the game, but against small characters like Cham Cham and Nicotine use D kick instead of B slash since B slash can easily miss on these characters. Reliability: Very reliable Note: Again air B/D must strike reasonably late and deep in your opponent. Must only use A Mutsube moves after the air attack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) standing close/far AB slash or running-in AB, B Annu Mutsube. Effective on: Everyone in the game. Reliability: Fairly reliable Note: For standing close AB slash, make sure you are as close as possible to your opponent for combo to work. For standing far AB, make sure you are at the closest position for standing far AB to come out instead of the standing close AB or otherwise sometimes the combo will not work. The alternative is to use running-in AB, which is the same as standing far AB but you can run in closer to execute it. Also, this combo is best for retaliating a missed/blocked special move or adding more damage on dizzied opponents. Against a non-dizzied Earthquake, standing close AB will do 2-hits, and in the process push Earthquake back too far for an Annu Mutsube afterwards, so in this case just do an Amube Yatoro for one more ticked damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) standing close/far CD kick or running-in CD, Annu Mutsube. Effective on: Everyone in the game. Reliability: Fairly reliable Note: The same condition as combo (2) applies. Except if you hit with a standing close CD, you can use A or B Annu Mutsube, and if you use standing far CD kick, you must use B Annu Mutsube. Running-in CD kick is the same as the standing close CD kick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Standing/crouching close/far B slash or running-in B, A Annu Mutsube. Effective on: Everyone in the game. Reliability: Very reliable Note: Very easy to execute - great for retaliating against missed or blocked special moves. Get into the habit of doing this when the above B slashes hits. For standing far B slash to combo into an A Annu Mutsube, you must make sure you are as close to your opponent as possible before standing far B changes to standing close B and also that you must execute the A Annu Mutsube very quickly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) standing/crouching close D kick, A Annu Mutsube. Effective on: Everyone in the game. Reliability: Very reliable Note: Very easy to execute - great for retaliating against missed or blocked special moves. Get into the habit of doing this when the above D kicks hits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) Air attack, crouching AB roll slash/crouching CD kick. Effective on: If used air AB/CD: on Earthquake (fairly reliable), on others (not reliable - second attack will miss) If used air B/D, reliable on every character. Reliability: If used air B/D, then it's very reliable. If used air AB/CD then it's very unreliable against everyone except for Earthquake where this combo is moderately reliable. Also, it's more reliable to use crouching AB instead of crouching CD since crouching AB comes out faster. Note: Only on Earthquake can you use air AB/CD as the first air attack. If you use air AB/CD as the first attack on other characters the second attack will usually miss. Also, use air CD in preferrance to air AB when performing this on Earthquake/Wanfu, it is more reliable. On other characters use air B or air D as the first air attack. Execute the air attack as deep and late as possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Air B slash or D kick, A Kamui Ryuse/Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse Effective on: Everyone but more easier to pull off on big characters such as Earthquake and Wan-Fu. Reliability: Unreliable. Note: The trick is to start the joystick motion for Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse in the air - even before your air attack. Need to be very close after the air B or D or Kamui Ryuse/Apefunchi Kamui Ryuse might miss. The later hits of Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse runs the risk of being blocked though so only do this combo when you are sure that opponent will be dead after blocking the Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) Air B/D, close standing B/D or crouching B/D into A Annu/Leyla Mutsube. Effective on: Everyone but easier to execute on bigger characters such as Wan-Fu or Earthquake. Again, this combo is hard to execute Reliability: Unreliable. Note: You must be very close for the second attack (character sprites must be nearly overlapping or even closer) so that the opponent will not have enough time to recover to block the third Mutsube attack. If you use standing slash for the second hit you should combo with Annu Mutsube, if you use crouching slash for the second hit use Leyla Mutsube for the third hit (this is just a suggestion for fluid joystick movement) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) Air B/AB/CD, standing close/far CD kick, B Annu Mutsube Effective on: Everyone (if use Air B as first attack) Earthquake/Wan-Fu (if use Air AB/CD as first attack) Reliability: Unreliable. Note: Air attack must hit late and deep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) Air AB/CD, standing close CD kick, A Annu Mutsube Effective on: Cornered opponents against the wall Reliability: Unreliable. Note: Air AB must hit late and deep. Interrupt the standing close CD kick as soon as the first hit hits (don't wait for the second hit!). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) Air AB slash, standing far D kick, Amube Yatoro. Effective on: Everyone. Reliability: Very reliable. Note: Air AB must hit late and Deep. Need to move forward slightly after landing for the standing far D kick to hit. Amube Yatoro will not combo but will add one more ticked damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) standing far AB/CD, Irusuka Yatoro Lise. Effective on: Everyone. Reliability: Very unreliable. Note: Execute Irusuka Yatoro Lise as soon as possible to interrupt the AB/CD attacks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) Air AB slash, standing far CD, Irusuka Yatoro Lise. Effective on: Only on Earthquake, Wan-Fu and sometimes Sieger. Reliability: unreliable. Note: Air AB must hit deep and late. Keep your joystick in forward position as air AB hits, do the standing far CD kick and complete the motion for Irusuka Yatoro Lise as soon as possible to interrupt the far CD kick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) standing close AB/running-in AB, Mamahaha Flight, Kamui Mutsube Effective on: Can work on everyone - preferrably trapped in the corner. Reliability: Very unreliable... Note: Interrupt the standing AB to get on Mamahaha, then dive off immediately with a Kamui Mutsube. Might have to move Mamahaha slightly up and foward then dive off. This is not a very reliable combo - I can only get it off about one in ten tries (other times Nakoruru lands in front of her opponent without hitting with the Kamui Mutsube) but it looks good when it hits... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) Jumping straight-up CD kick (on the way down), crouching B slash, A Annu Mutsube Effective on: Everyone in the game when they are against the wall. Reliability: unreliable. Note: For this to work, Nakoruru has to do it against a cornered opponent with her leg hitting deep into her opponent. Otherwise Nak's foot will push her opponent too far back for crouching B to hit... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) Jumping straight-up CD kick (on the way down), A Annu Mutsube Effective on: Everyone in the game. Reliability: Very reliable. Note: This is a very reliable combo. Great way to get CPU/Humans after knocking them down. ========================================================================= Ending for Nakoruru: Below is a description of the Nakoruru ending. It is a mixture between Robert DeLoura (a translation from the Japanese ending) and the ending taken from SS2 TAPFAQ (the ending of the English version of SS2). I will only add here that Nakoruru's sister (Rimururu in Japanese translation) doesn't have a name in the English version, and she doesn't call Nakoruru 'sister' in the English translation, she just calls Nakoruru by name.) The standard canned bit takes place first... that's the same for everyone. The standard forest scene. Cut to Nakoruru, stretched out on the ground unconscious, with Mamahaha perched on her. Poppy walks in, and does her "crying" animation (she does this in the game sometimes when Galford loses) from across the screen. Galford walks in behind Poppy, and says "Nakoruru!". Nakoruru sits up and says, "Galford...". Galford says something like, "I was worried about you" Nakoruru says, "...Galford...I...." The forest starts to flash red, and Nakoruru jumps up on Mamahaha (the falcon-carry move). Galford says, "Nakoruru!" again. Nakoruru says, "The forest is still being destroyed by evil power. I must go." She flies away on Mamahaha. Cut to that rocky outcropping that everyone stands on just before they go to fight Mizuki in the game. Nakoruru then says something like "God of great nature, save them and the forest... please...." A wide beam of light strikes Nakoruru, and she turns into a small ball of light, which rises up and radiates out into the forest (which is still flashing red), after the small ball of light vanishes into the forest, the forest goes back to normal. Her sword falls to the ground, and Mamahaha chirps. Cut back to Nakoruru's village. Mamahaha has apparently brought the sword back. Nakoruru's parents are there, and the girl being held by the bear in the background of Nakoruru's stage is there also. (She is Nakoruru's sister, Rimururu. The name might be different in the English version, but that's her name in the Japanese one.) Rimururu is holding Nakoruru's sword, and says "Sister...." The sword glows, and Rimururu says, "That voice is... sister?" (in the English version, the sword glows and says "This is Nakoruru's voice" instead) The scene cuts to a background that's an air-brushed picture of Nakoruru, and text is overlaid on top of the picture. The text says, "Please don't cry...My soul will always be here as a guardian of nature. From now, you have to fight to protect them." The scene fades back to the family, and Rimururu stands up and says, "I understand... Sister." -- END -- ========================================================================== Specific Opponent Strategies: The following section contains general CPU patterns and strategies against CPU specific to each fighter, a list of a characters' normal moves (and how they can be countered/retaliated), a list of each fighter's special moves and how they can be countered/retaliated), and a section called human opponent pattern/strategies, which describes what patterns a human challenger might use against your Nakoruru and how to deal with them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cham Cham: CPU patterns/general: - Missed Leyla Mutsube will get countered by CPU with boomerangs. - Use kicks when jump attacking since the slashes will generally miss. - Keep Cham Cham at approximately the position of your B Amube Yatoro attack and do the B Amube Yatoro. Cham Cham will sooner or later jump over it or block it and then jump over it. Then counter her out of the sky with air ABs, Leyla Mutsube or crouching AB/CD. - Make sure you can determine whether Cham Cham is jumping normally or is doing a jumping scratch (Cham Cham shouts "Heh!" when she does the jumping scratch and she shouts "Jumpo!" when she jumps). Also her jump is faster when she does the jumping scratch. - Also make sure you can determine which way to block the jumping scratch - you need to block FORWARD when the jumping scratch lands just behind you and thus reversing the joystick motion for blocking. - When you get on Mamahaha, CPU Cham will try two counters: She will either try jump scratching you, or send a upward boomerang after you. If she jumping scratches, dive off immediately with a Kamui Mutsube to hit Cham Cham (this will probably trade but in your favour). Or you can Yatoro Poku in down or forward/down direction such that Cham Cham will miss you entirely, and then Annu Mutsube Cham Cham as she lies on the ground. If you see Cham Cham start sending her boomerang, also Yatoro Poku off the falcon (either in down or back/down direction) and then if after landing Cham is within your B Annu Mutsube range, Annu Mutsube her afterlanding since her Boomerang throw has quite a long lag afterwards. - Kamui Ryuse as an air counter against Cham Cham doesn't work very well as her air D kick has very high priority. So don't use this when Cham Cham jumps in up close. Special move counters: Horizontal Boomerang: Annu Mutsube under it will work fine. But you must make sure you are already sliding or you might get hit. It's unlikely for you to get hit though because Cham has such a long start time for throwing the boomerang. Or if you are close enough, block it, and then Annu Mutsube to hit Cham Cham while she is still recovering from her Boomerang stun time. (Note: Cham's Boomerang recovery time varies depending on whether she used A, B or AB Boomerang - but usually even the A Boomerang has a lag long enough for you to hit - and CPU generally use AB) Jumping Scratch: To counter without blocking, do a standing close AB slash when Cham Cham comes into range with the jumping scratch. Or if you are an expert with timing and spacing, you can try jumping back with a C or D kick or A or B slash to get her but I can only do this sometimes. A well-timed crouching AB roll (do it so that Nak is slashing up with the knife when Cham Cham is about to hit Nak with the Jumping Scratch) will also get Cham Cham (this sometimes trade though) Or you can block the jumping scratch and retaliate afterwards. You must get her before she lands as Cham Cham doesn't have a lag time after landing from a blocking jumping scratch. B Leyla Mutsube can be successfully used to get her if she does the D or CD jumping scratch. If Cham Cham is relatively close to you after bouncing back, you can run to get into range and do a run-in B/AB to hit her out before she lands. You can also make her miss by hopping/rolling back or running/rolling forward. If Cham Cham misses (i.e. lying flat on the ground), Annu Mutsube and crouching AB roll will hit her as she lies flat on the ground. Of course you can also use the crouching kicks but they don't do as much damage. (note: don't try countering the jumping scratch with Leyla or Annu Mutsube without first blocking it, the jumping scratch cancels the Mutsube moves) Lion Rush (Power Special): Block and retaliate with any attack. If you see it coming, an A Annu Mutsube will take the Lion Rush out as well as a crouching AB roll slash or a Kamui Ryuse. Mura Gaburu (Paku Paku toss a skull): Reflect using Kamui Ryuse. Might be able to slash it off like in SS1 (but the skull is so low now it might not be posssible - maybe can use crouching AB roll to slash it off?)... Annu Mutsube under the skull also works but you need to make sure you are already sliding. Or jump over and combo Cham or get on Mamahaha and Kamui Mutsube off the bird if you are close. Pakupaku Deos (Paku Paku spins forward): Kamui Ryuse to hit Paku Paku back or you can Annu Mutsube to hit Paku Paku back too (make sure you are already away and sliding when you meet Paku Paku with the Annu Mutsube). Because the move is so slow, if Cham Cham is stupid enough to use it you can probably just jump over and combo Cham or get on Mamahaha and Kamui Mutsube to get her (for stylish points I guess ^_^) Paku Gaburu (Paku Paku rises and spits a fireball): If you are sure you can Annu Mutsube under it before the fireball explodes on the ground, then do it!! You will hit Cham Cham along with it too. Or otherwise jump away or block it (make sure you have enough energy left to block it!) Normal Move Counters: (1) Crouching CD kick (sliding): If see it coming, Annu Mutsube straight through, or the crouching AB slash will hit her out. Or if close (Cham Cham is still sliding after you block), retaliate after blocking. (2) Standing close/far AB slash: Block and then A Annu Mutsube to hit her. Annu Mutsube if missed also. (3) Crouching AB slash: Annu Mutsube if Cham Cham misses. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: (1) Crouching D kick until you are out of range, then crouching CD kick you: Know the pattern and then Annu Mutsube after you have been pushed out of range by the crouching D kick. (2) Cham Cham players also like to utilise the running-in strategies such as run in and slide CD kick, run in and throw etc so beware of these. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlotte: CPU patterns/general: - At the start of the round, quickly hop back or jump back because CPU Charlotte will always try a standing far A poke on you. - If trapped against the wall and CPU Charlotte is very close it's usually safe to just AB Leyla Mutsube away to get out. - Get on the falcon and immediately start moving the falcon up so that you are directly above and in front of Charlotte (make sure that if you Kamui Mutsube off the hawk you will land safely and far away). CPU Charlotte is programmed to do her AB power gradation in this situation. When you see this coming, quickly Yatoro Poku forward (or backward) off the falcon to avoid the Power Gradation, and then combo Charlotte as she lands from her missed power gradation! Sometimes the Yatoro Poku (forward) will also hit Charlotte out of her power gradation. - Don't jump or hop back at close range or will be hit by her quick A pokes. Don't do any missed attack or Charlotte will poke you with her weapon or you might even eat a crouching far AB... - Get away so you have enough distance to jump in so that CPU Charlotte won't have time to walk under. Then jump in and do an air D or CD kick. CPU Charlotte will either try her standing hop kick counter or Power Gradation counter which should both be hit out by your air D or CD kick. If she blocks and you land close enough do a crouching D kick and after that do a standing C kick to push her away. If any of the D or CD kicks hit while CPU Charlotte was on the ground then follow up with an A Annu Mutsube. Then hop back and start again. - Never jump in with a slash! Charlotte's standing D kick and Power Gradation will get you before yours hit her. Special move counters: Power Gradation: Block and retaliate - see combo section, Special Moves Listing and Their Uses Section (Kamui Ryuse, Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse). Splash Fount: If Charlotte does her splash fount from far away and you have time to get your Leyla Mutsube out (i.e. Nakoruru has time to start sliding before Splash Fount hit you), then Leyla Mutsube will hit her out. Otherwise, if you are too close to the move to get your Leyla Mutsube started, you need to block FIRST, and A Annu Mutsube afterwards (you need to be VERY FAST if Charlotte used an A Splash Fount, B/AB Splash Fount are easily A Annu Mutsubed after blocking though). Or jump over and retaliate from the other side. Splash Gradation (Power Special): Block it and then as the 7-pointed star starts fading, B Annu Mutsube through to hit Charlotte. Tri-Flash (Triangle Projectile): Kamui Ryuse to reflect it or Annu Mutsube under it. Normal Move Counters: (1) Standing AB (close and far), crouching (close and far) AB: If missed, Annu Mutsube to hit. But note these ABs can be cancelled into a special move, if Charlotte cancels these ABs into a Power Gradation it will hit your Mutsube moves out. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earthquake: CPU pattern/general: - Jump in on CPU Earthquake STRAIGHT AWAY at the beginning of each round as CPU Earthquake nearly always attacks with a A or B slash at the start of a round. Then combo him after jumping as he is still retracting from his first weapon attack (air AB, standing far CD into B Annu Mutsube is a good choice for about 45% damage). Sometimes CPU Earthquake will jump forward instead of attacking - in that case quickly air B/AB him out of the sky. - Generally just jump in and attack and attack and combo him if air attack gets him. If he blocks your jump-in attack, when you land do a crouching kick or slash which will usually hit him. Note CPU Earthquake will jump back with a air A or C in response to your jump-in attacks sometimes so it might be wise to slash out early in the air. - If CPU jump towards you counter with air AB slash will usually work. - Be careful when sending Mamahaha away, since Earthquake now can do portal drop he will do that sometimes as you send the bird away. Also don't send Mamahaha away when you are too close or you will eat a crouching AB. CPU Earthquake will also sometimes do the Fat Drop to avoid Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse and get you as you are recovering from this attack. - Note that none of Earthquake's slashes will hit you when you are close to him and is crouching. So close combat with crouching attacks is a great idea.... - Earthquake will sometimes do a Fat Copy and then go straight into his Power Special as well so watch out for it. - Get on Mamahaha, and then move yourself (and the bird) to a position such that you are just above and in front of Earthquake's head. In this case, CPU Earthquake will usually try to do the Fat Press. Then Yatoro Poku forward off the bird to hit Earthquake as soon as you see the move starts! Even if Earthquake doesn't do anything, Yatoro Poku off the bird to hit him anyway since Earthquake is about the only one which Yatoro Poku will hit reliably multiple times and after blocking CPU Earthquake will have no time to retaliate. Special move counters: Fat Bounce (bouncing butt attack): The safest thing to do is to send Mamahaha to burn him but Leyla Mutsube through his fat butt looks more 'stylish' :-) But you have to make sure again that Nakoruru's knife slice through Earthquake first before any part of her body touches Earthquake. Or otherwise it is a trade usually. Also you can just jump and slash him out of it, and many of the normal slashes will also work (e.g. standing close/far AB, standing B's, crouching AB). Also you can Kamui Ryuse - the list is endless.... Fat Chainsaw: Annu Mutsube through it will hit him out. Or if too close, block and then counter with Annu Mutsube or crouching AB roll slash or combo him. You can also standing far AB slash Earthquake out of the Fat Chainsaw without blocking - just do the move early! Also, try an AB Kamui Ryuse as Earthquake spins in, or do it after blocking it (since this move dizzies opponents easily...) Fat Press: Jump in over the flame and combo Earthquake (yes you can do it), or if not sure jump over him and attack from the other side. If you need to, block it all and nail him with an Annu Mutsube afterwards. Fat Copy: If you are not in between the two images, just AB Annu Mutsube through both images. The bomb that appears from the false image won't explode in your face since you already slide past it and you will hit the real image too. If you are in between the two image, you can look at the top of the screen where Earthquake's name is displayed, it is replaced by the motion of the move he performs so you can work out which image he is from the button pressed (A=left, B=right). Otherwise just take your pick I guess.... The best thing is as soon as Earthquake disappears in a puff of smoke, quickly go to one side of the screen so you can Mutsube through both images. Portal Drop: You can either do a standing close AB slash to counter as Earthquake falls down on you from the sky - thus not blocking at all. Do a crouching AB slash as Earthquake falls halfway down works also. Or you can block and then B Annu Mutsube to get him as he lands. You can also do a last-minute Annu/Leyla Mutsube just before Earthquake hits you with the belly attack from above and thus not block the move at all! Note: you can NOT do this when countering Galford and Hanzo's portal drop since they attack with their swords (which is steel) instead of their bellies (which is flesh :-) ) Or you can run forward, and then do a run-in B slash into Annu Mutsube combo... If Mamahaha is carrying you when Earthquake does a portal drop, either quickly get off the bird by performing a Yatoro Poku, and then counter as specified above, or you can do a well-timed Kamui Mutsube to counter the portal drop without getting off the bird. Move the bird lower so that you have more time to react and execute Kamui Mutsube, and once when you are about in the middle of the screen, start moving Mamahaha backwards horizontally. Keep moving the bird backwards until the ninjas reappear and falls about one quarter of the screen down, then you should Kamui Mutsube off the bird then. Yo Yo Gama (Power Special): Can Annu Mutsube through provided you slide through when blue hand is waving up. Therefore, you should A Annu Mutsube straight away after the blue hand has waved down. This way you will get Earthquake 100% of the time. Alternatively send Mamahaha to get him. Or jump over and attack from the other side. Normal Move Counters: (1) Standing/Crouching AB slash: Unfortunately you will need to read these moves and jump over it for effective retaliation..... (2) Any CD kicks: Annu Mutsube if blocked/missed. (3) Standing D kick: You can A Annu Mutsube Earthquake after blocking it if you are fast. If missed it is very easy to retaliate with an Annu Mutsube. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galford: CPU pattern/general: - Keep CPU Galford away with lots of standing C kicks which will hit many times even if CPU is at high difficulty level. Stop the kicks as soon as you are out of your attack range. Also go offensive with the standing C kicks (i.e. move forward and standing C kicks and repeat over and over....) Standing C kick will hit Galford out of most of his slashes (except maybe a standing far A). - A pattern utilising the standing C kicks is to go on the offensive and do a two or three standing C kicks (moving forward into range after each). And then after these standing C kicks get on Mamahaha immediately - CPU Galford usually tries to standing far B slash you when you pester him with these kicks and so when you get on Mamahaha if he does the standing far B it will miss. Then quickly Kamui Mutsube off to hit him. If Galford didn't do the standing far B, he will then most likely react to you getting on Mamahaha in the situation described below. - Get on Mamahaha, CPU Galford will either do a portal drop himself, or send the dog to drop from the sky. If he sends the dog, quickly Kamui Mutsube off the bird to get him! The dog will drop at the position where the falcon was so you won't get hit. If Galford does the Portal Drop himself, counter as specified in Earthquake's Portal Drop. - Take advantage when Galford jumps, if you can walk under him, then standing B slash him on his back as he lands. - When Galford executes the Dog Rush move, the dog rushing forward has a colour outline. You can Annu Mutsube through/under this move. The Machine Gun Dog move does not have a colour outline and has a delay before it starts and Nakoruru cannot Annu Mutsube under this move. So if you want to Mutsube through the dog make sure you can distinguish between the two of them. - You can try jumping over Galford in a position so that you don't land near him when you land on the other side (but instead you land very far away from him on the other side). CPU Galford is programmed to do a standing close AB when you do this but it will miss as you land far away from him: then retaliate the missed AB. - CPU Galford has a habit of sending out the rush dog at the start of a round sometimes. Watch for it and A Annu Mutsube through it to hit both Galford and Poppy (and watch them both lying on the ground in agony hee hee ^_^) - Missed/blocked Mutsube moves will get you Striked Hezed... Special move counters: Fake Wood/Portal Drop: The same counter as with Earthquake. Invisibility: Find him! When Galford turns invisible he isn't entirely 'invisible'. You can tell what he is doing by sounds, like the 'whooshing' when they jump or the footfalls when they run. Galford is easier to find then Hanzo since the dog does not disappear with the ninja!!! So Poppy will readily give away the approximate location of Galford (as long as he is not jumping/running). Most importantly though it isn't necessary to strike him to know where he is. Swinging away with Nakoruru's limited range isn't helpful. The key to knowing where he is lies in looking at Kuroko. He always places himself in between the two fighting characters. This fact is useful because from that you can roughly guess where the invisible ninja is (IE: If the ninja is approaching you, Kuroko will be moving towards you as well. If he is running then Kuroko will stay in place and you 'should' hear footfalls). Kuroko only stays in place when (obviously) both characters don't move or one character jumps/hops/runs (well, he also stays in place if there's been a blocked slash : where he'll shake his head or a hit slash: where he'll raise a flag. Either one being irrelevant because then the ninja will have given away his position). Machine Gun Dog: use Kamui Ryuse, cannot use Annu Mutsube since this cancels Annu Mutsube out and you will get munched to death by the dog. Alternatively, a Leyla Mutsube will hit the dog out of the move. So if you are close when Galford do this move, quickly A Leyla Mutsube to either rise over the dog and hit Galford or hit both of them at the same time. A well-timed slash (crouching B or AB) can also hit the dog back. Plasma Blade: Reflect using Kamui Ryuse, or Annu Mutsube under it. If you are close enough, get on Mamahaha and then dive off with a Kamui Mutsube to hit Galford. Poppy Power (Power Special): Jump over it and attack. For a defensive counter, you can also Kamui Ryuse the dog away like all the other dog attacks. There's quite a delay before the move - so you can also Leyla Mutsube to hit Galford if you are close as well and in the process go over the dog. Replica Dog: If you see it coming and Galford is relatively close, Annu Mutsube to hit Galford before the dog reappears. Or if you see it coming hop/roll back or run/roll forward and the dog will miss. If you are already on the bird, Kamui Mutsube off the bird to get Galford if you are close, or otherwise just Yatoro Poku backward to avoid the dog. Rush Dog: Annu Mutsube through it or use Kamui Ryuse to make your- self invulnerable to it. Make sure you are already sliding with your swords extended when you meet poppy if using Annu Mutsube. Alternatively, if Galford is close you can also try Leyla Mutsube to hit both Galford and Poppy back. Dog can be slashed by crouching B or crouching AB. Shadow Copy: The same counter as with Earthquake's Fat Copy. Strike Hez (SPD-like throw): Pray that he doesn't get that off on you!!!! Normal Move Counters: (1) Standing far AB slash: Block and Annu Mutsube (or just Annu Mutsube if missed) (2) Standing far B: A Annu Mutsube if missed. (3) Crouching AB: A Annu Mutsube if missed. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: (1) There is a expert Galford player here locally who can nearly always run in and Strike Hez me as I am getting up from a knock-down. These are not counterable. But if the player you play against is not 100% efficient with this cheap trick - you should try and throw as soon as you get up or jump as soon as you get up to escape it. (2) Galford players love their standing far Bs and crouching AB/CDs so watch out for those when you try to move in. Galford is like Nakoruru - fast but with a lot more range so it is quite tough for Nak. Don't jump too much or you will be air ABed to death since Galford has a lot more air range than you do and is just as fast with his air AB. (3) Watch out when Human player does the Shadow Copy, retaliate immediately. Good Galford player can always Strike Hez you as the 2 image appear on the screen straight away so you need to be fast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen-An Shiranui: CPU pattern/general: - Missed or Blocked Leyla Mutsubes will be countered with a Butcher Thrust by CPU. - If Gen-An doesn't jump from too close up. You can consider using a well-timed AB Kamui Ryuse as an air counter. The reason being that if you can time it right, you can hit him right before he lands and thus do quite a bit of damage with the move. - CPU Gen-An also uses the quick sliding D/CD kick a lot when he is close in succession. Make sure you block all of them low. Note that Gen-An kicks up after sliding in when he does the crouching CD kick. Also CPU Gen-An sometimes will do a quick crouching A slash after sliding in with a kick so watch out. - You can also double-guess the CPU when CPU does lots of sliding in C/D kicks. Execute a crouching AB roll after you block one of them, and if CPU decides to slide in after that sliding C/D he will be hit by your crouching AB roll. - CPU Gen-An jumps a lot. Whenever Gen-An jumps, counter him out of the sky. - CPU Gen-An will kick you out of your Leyla Mutsube air counters if you don't do it quickly enough. You need to start your B Leyla Mutsube as soon as you see Gen-An jumps. The safest air counter is probably standing far D kick. Use crouching AB/CD kick sparingly as Gen-An's air AB hits down/behind him and so if he does it early enough will take you out first. - Surprisingly AB Kamui Ryuse is an excellent counter for a Gen-An jumping in (CPU) also... - Nearly every time after CPU Gen-An blocks your Mamahaha he will jump forward. Also at the start of the round he will usually triangle jump off the wall or just jump forward about 45% of the time. - Let CPU Gen-An get close to you, then execute a crouching B slash just before CPU Gen-An comes into the range of Nak's crouching B slash. CPU Gen-An will usually slide kick in but will be hit out by your crouching B slash, if this hits, follow up with an A Annu Mutsube. Special move counters: Butcher Thrust: If have time, Annu/Leyla Mutsube through it will counter. Or Block it, and Annu/Leyla Mutsube to retaliate as he spins back. When using the Mutsube moves to counter the Butcher Thrust, you must make sure the Butcher Thrust move doesn't touch Nakoruru from the top or she will be hit out of the Mutsube or will trade damage with Gen-An (i.e. Nakoruru's knife MUST meet Gen-An's spin first before any other part of her body). A well-timed Kamui Ryuse will also hit Gen-An out of the move. Or you can block it, then send Mamahaha to attack but this is harder to time. Or you can use standing far B slash to slash him out of it quite easily. Standing C kick also kick him out of this move easily. If you meet his Butcher Thrust in the air and you are on top sometimes your air kicks will also hit him out of the Butcher Thrust. Death Twister (Power Special): Not quite sure if you can jump in on it. Just block and then retaliate with anything. Glove Extension: If hit by it, usually you will have enough time to wiggle your way out of the dizzy and maybe retaliate with a Annu Mutsube. If you block it, you can also immediately go into an A Annu Mutsube to hit Gen-An but this needs really good timing (start the Annu Mutsube as you are being pulled in by the Glove). It is also possible to Annu Mutsube under the Glove Extension without blocking at all. Poison Blizzard: Jump in and attack him. Or just block or reflect it with your cape. Or Annu Mutsube through the cloud. Second Skin: Wait for Gen-An to spin forward, block it and then run-in and standing B slash Gen-An before he lands.. Or you can counter it with a Leyla Mutsube without blocking if you are far enough away such that only knife Portion hits Gen-An first. If Gen-An misses with it and lands close to you just slash him with anything before he lands. When Gen-An is emerging from the skin, if you are close enough do a Leyla Mutsube which hits him just as he starts to spin upward. This also hits him out of the move. Or time a falcon attack so that the falcon hits him as he emerges from the skin to spin upwards also works. Normal Move Counters: (1) Standing far AB: If you see Gen-An start his long-range AB, you will have time to hit him either before he hits you (Annu Mutsube when you see his first AB animation frame) or after (block it and Annu Mutsube). (2) Crouching CD kick: Can be A Annu Mutsubed or crouching AB slashed right if blocked/missed. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: (1) Good Gen-An players will utilise Gen-An's crouching A, B slashes and the crouching D and CD kicks. A very popular pattern is that Gen-An does the crouching D sliding kick a couple of times until he gets relatively close and throw. Or he does one or two sliding D kicks and then follow it up with a crouching A or B slash. So know these patterns and don't fall for it. A well-timed crouching attack after blocking Gen-An's sliding kick will usually break the pattern. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genjuro (Kibagami Genjuro): CPU pattern/general: All the following strategy is based on crouch CD kicking CPU Genjuro at the maximum range of the crouching CD kick (or just outside the range). So try to stay at this position all the time and crouching CD kick CPU Genjuro and act on CPU's reaction to it described below: - CPU Genjuro will sometimes at the same time try an attack on you (Oukazan, or just a slash or something). But in doing so he will be hit by your crouching CD kick. - CPU Genjuro might run in or walking forward (to throw you) as your crouching CD kick is retracting, in this case quickly start your crouching C or D kicks as soon as you retract from your crouching CD kick. If you use a D kick and it hits then follow up with A Annu Mutsube. Can also do crouching B slashes as soon as the CD kick has retracted. Again, combo if it hits. - CPU Genjuro also might try a BC hop above your crouching CD kick, but as your crouching CD kick stays out quite long he will still get hit by it since the BC hop is quite short. - CPU Genjuro will also sometimes anticipate your crouching CD kick with perfect timing and jump forward, but at the distance specified above (i.e. at the maximum range of your crouching CD kick), he will over-jump and you will have just enough time to slash him on the back with a standing close B (and don't forget to follow up with either an Annu Mutsube or a Amube Yatoro) - CPU might jump straight up in response to your crouching CD kick and then do an air AB as he is coming down. You can't do much except for just blocking it since you don't have much time after you retract from your crouching CD kick. Sometimes CPU Genjuro will do this jumping straight up and air AB as he comes down thing even if you just do a quick crouching attack. If you see this and have time to get your croucing AB/CD out. Move in closer and do the move to hit Genjuro out of the air. Other things to be aware of: - Don't do AB Leyla Mutsube to get out of his way - or he will send his projectile cards after you when you land! - Use Amube Yatoro to attack often, Genjuro doesn't jump over the bird very much. But he will jump forward AFTER he blocks it often. If he does jump forward, counter with a crouching CD kick or an air AB. - A couple of crouching C kicks will usually make Genjuro throw a Oukazan. So do the crouching C kicks and Annu Mutsube as soon as you see the card projectile comes out! - Standing C kicks are also great against CPU Genjuro. Special move counters: Card Game (Power Special): Block and A Annu Mutsube to retaliate only if Genjuro is very close when he attempted the Power Special (i.e. Genjuro is within your A Annu Mutsube range he is close enough). Oukazan (card projectile): Reflect using Kamui Ryuse or Annu Mutsube under it. Sanrensatsu (dashing slashes): Annu Mutsube will hit Genjuro cleanly out of his Sanrensatsu everytime but the move is so fast it is hard to counter like this. Also, if Genjuro is still sliding forward you can throw him out of the dashing slashes. Otherwise block it all (block in the same direction as the first - but make sure you know when to block in forward position. This happens when Genjuro uses a B or AB Sanrensatsu at close range), then retaliate. Toha Kouyokujin (rising purple slash): Block and retaliate when he lands - use combos, Kamui Ryuse or Apefunchi Kamui Rymuse Normal Move Counters: (1) Standing/crouching Far AB slash: Annu Mutsube - You will have time to get Genjuro if you executed your Annu Mutsube as soon as you see the first animation frame of his standing far AB (where he lifts his sword up) and if you are close enough. If he just misses you with the move you can also B Annu Mutsube to get him. (2) Crouching CD kick: If you are quick you can A Annu Mutsube after blocking the kick. If missed can A Annu Mutsube pretty easily. (3) Standing/crouching B slashes: Can be A Annu Mutsubed if Genjuro misses with them very easily. Human Player Patterns/Strategy: (1) Human players love to use the Sanrensatsu so that they will be able to slash you on the back with the move (i.e. you need to block the other way) This happens when Genjuro slides in and slashes after he has just gone past you. So if Genjuro hasn't slashed out even after sliding close to you. Be prepared to block the other way or counter him out of the move as he goes past you. (2) A variation of (1) is to first do a quick A Sanrensatsu which you will block front on, then go into a B/AB Sanrensatsu which will slash you from behind. Again be aware of this and counter as needed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hanzo Hattori: CPU pattern/general: - Hanzo will do a roll forward at the start of the round very often. - Generally keep him away with standing C kicks as he gets into range. - Also can get offensive with standing C kicks. Move in and standing C kick Hanzo all day will win the round or make him do something (like a fake wood). Standing C kick will hit out any of his attempts to slash you (apart from maybe a standing far A). - Don't jump in to attack when CPU Hanzo is not doing anything. CPU sometimes will time a perfect Bakuen Ryuu to hit you as you jump in CPU Hanzo will also sometimes jump forward and counter you with his air AB. - Sometimes Hanzo will do a Bakuen Ryuu at close range and run in to throw you. At close distance it is possible to time a B Annu Mutsube to go under the projectile and hit Hanzo out quite easily. - Be careful when CPU Hanzo is running towards you, he might pull off a Bullhead Blast on you. - If he runs in after his fire snake make sure you reflect the fire snake with your cape! It will get him occasionally. - Amube Yatoro attack should be used rarely. CPU Hanzo will sometimes time a perfect portal drop from above to get you. - After walking under and slashing CPU Hanzo on the back, don't send Mamahaha to get that tick of blocked damamge because CPU will nearly always do a fake wood if you try this and you will get hit. - Missed/blocked Mutsube moves will get you Bullhead Blasted.... Special move counters: Aerial Shuriken: If the shuriken doesn't hit you, move forward a bit and B Annu Mutsube to get him. Or you can jump forward over the shuriken and combo Hanzo. If you are relatively close you can block it and still have enough time to nail Hanzo with an Annu Mutsube afterwards. A defensive counter will be to reflect it with Kamui Ryuse (but the shuriken gets reflected to the ground). If you are low on energy and does not want to be hit by the Shuriken, either jump over it to get Hanzo in the air (if he is close), or slash it in half and then Annu Mutsube to get Hanzo as he lands (ground far B/AB is good for this - do it early so Nak slashes to create an arc in front of her. Remember you can interrupt these slashes with an Annu Mutsube so do the Annu Mutsube as soon as shuriken is slashed in half). Bakuen Ryuu (fire snake): Reflect it using Kamui Ryuse - especially if Hanzo is running towards you after it. Or jump forward to attack. You can also Annu Mutsube through the Bakuen Ryuu. I don't know the exact condition. But it seems that you need to get it so that Nakoruru slides through the firesnake just after it has touched the ground. A Annu Mutsube is not good for this since Nak slides too fast and it is hard to time it to slide through the move. B Annu Mutsube is the best for the job. Usually what happens is that CPU Hanzo sometimes will do a Bakuen Ryuu at close range, and as soon as I see it coming I start the B Annu Mutsube. And it nearly always goes though. It's hard to describe the timing/spacing required. But do learn to do this - it is extremely important that you can do this - both against CPU and human challengers. Bullhead Blast (SPD-like throw): Pray that he doesn't get that off on you!!!! Fake Wood/Portal Drop: If Hanzo does a portal drop from above the counter is the same as with Earthquake/Galford. But after blocking the Portal Drop, instead of using B Annu Mutsube, you shoud move forward a bit and use A Annu Mutsube instead or run forward and do the run-in B slash into A Annu Mutsube c