Garou - Mark of the wolves Character Faq: Hokutomaru v1.03 by Mathonwy (mathonwy@crosswinds.net) Last update: 4/12/00 Update history: v1.03 4/20/00 * Minor corrections. * Added to Kim Dong Hwan tactics. * Added to Grant Tactics v1.01 4/12/00 * Added a few more things to character speficic tactics, mainly to strategies against Kain and Gato * Fixed several small errors throughout the faq. v1.00 4/02/00 * Added all of the character specific tactics in. * EEK! I accidently used some material from the general Garou faq by James Kuroki (orochi@ix.netcom.com), without his permission! Oops. I have since gotten his permission to include portions of his faq here. Portions included are the character background and the "quick" move list. v0.95 3/21/00 * Added some more stuff to "general strategies", and added some more descriptions. v0.90 3/20/00 Initial release! Unpublished work copyright March 2000 Chris Cornell This is a document intended for free use. It may be reproduced, so long that this disclaimer or the above copyright is not removed, or modified in any way. This must also be free, and cannot be used to make a profit. This FAQ may not be used for promotional purposes, which include (but not limited to) prizes at tournaments, or magazine articles. Please do not plagurize. It's dumb. If you want to use this FAQ anywhere, please contact me first, Chris Cornell (mathonwy@crosswinds.net) Garou, Hokutomaru, and all the other charcters are copyrights of SNK of Japan and America. The latest version of this FAQ can be found at GameFaqs: http://www.gamefaqs.com If you havn't already figured it out from the top of this document, this is a faq for the most excellent game "Garou - Mark of the wolves" from the most excellent company "SNK", maker of much fighting gaming goodness. In particular, this faq concentrates on the virtues and strategies of that most adorable kid ninja, Hokutomaru. So if you are looking for a general faq, then you missed. If not, however, read on! ---Move Notations-------------------------------------------------------- f : move joystick foward (towards opponent) b : move joystick back. (away from opponent) u : move joystick up. dn : move joystick down. db : move joystick diagonally down and back. ub : move joystick diagonally up and back. df : move joystick diagonally down and forwards. uf : move joystick diagonally up and forwards. qcf : Roll the joystick from d to f (d,df,f) qcb : Roll the joystick from d to b (d,db,b) hcf : Roll the joystick from b to d to f (b,db,d,df,f) hcb : Roll the joystick from f to d to b (f,df,d,db,b) (air) : move is possible in air (BR) : move is a Brake Move, and is cancellable with AB A : A button (go figure) B : B button (surprise) C : C button (Fa!) D : D button (Fa! Fa!) ---A note on my [nonexistant] japaneese skills--------------------------- I do not speak japanese. Therefore, the "true" names of the moves sound like gibber to my uneducated ears. They still sound cool, but they mean little to me. Therefore, to prevent myself from having to keep looking back to see which move is which, (and to prevent you, the reader from having to do the same) I have refered to most of the moves by far more descriptive (I hope) names. So instead of seeing me talking about some move called Rakka-Zan - Jitsu, I'll talk about "that teleport-fall-slash with-stick thingie". And instead of Kuu Ha Dan, I'll call it "leaping- arc-kick-ala-andy-bogard-thingie". So there. If for some reason, you cannot stand the thought of calling the moves by anything other than their original names (or you're one of those rare and inexplicable people who doesn't think "leaping-arc-kick-ala-andy-bogard-thingie" sounds very cool, then just go get another faq. Or learn to cope. So there. Also, when I talk about moves that can be done at any time, I call them "moves" or "special moves". When I talk about moves that can only be done by using up one or more power bars, I call them "super moves" or "supers". Just so you know which I mean. ---Assumptions made------------------------------------------------------ To save time, I am assuming that you know several things in this faq. I am assuming that you know what the game Garou is. I'm assuming that you have some means of playing it. And I'm assuming that you are bright enough to go to said means, get the coin in by yourself, and select Hokutomaru, whom this faq is written for. If any of the above are false, you might want to do more research before reading this faq. Just so you know. I'm also assuming that you know gameplay basics, such as blocking, "just defense", T. O. P. gauge, etc. If you don't understand these yet, then go read the execellent general faq for the game that was written by James Kuroki (orochi@ix.netcom.com). As far as I know, a copy of his faq can be found at the following locations: Gamefaqs www.gamefaqs.com About.com Guide to Video Game Strategies vgstrategies.about.com Under the Neo Geo Moon welcome.to/undertheneogeomoon King Of Fighters Millennium welcome.to/kofmillennium And finally, it would be nice if you've played Hokutomaru at least a little bit, so you can understand just what in blazes I am refering to when I want to discuss Hokutomaru's "leaping flaming tornado super". All of that said... on to the fun stuff! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOKUTOMARU Background: from the Garou faq/movelist by James Kuroki (orochi@ix.netcom.com) Used with permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Age: 14 years old Height: 154 cm Weight: 40 kg Birthday: October 7 Blood Type: O Nationality: Japan Fighting Style: Koppou and Shiranui-ryuu Ninjustu (Shiranui-style Ninjustu) Hobbies: Going to the hot springs in the mountains with monkeys Specialty: He can climb the tallest tree in the mountains in 16.3 seconds (now attempting to break the record) Most Important: His master and all the Shiranui-ryuu people Most Unpleasant: Shiranui "Oneechan" (big sister) Likes: Hot springs Dislikes: Hairy caterpillars Favorite Food: Favorite Music: Japanese Kotone (Shiranui Oneechan plays it for him) Best Sport: Athletics Reasons to play Hokutomaru: * Your playing strategy favors annoyance over direct damage. * Zantetsu and Hanzo were too "grim", you want a "happier" ninja. * How can anyone resist someone with a move that can be described as "the monkey munch"?!? Strengths of Hokutomaru: * Fast and quick * Versitile * Ability to punish mistakes from nearly anywhere * He rules the skies. * He wins almost all projectile wars. * He's a NINJA! NINJAS ARE COOL! * His throw makes [arguably] the coolist noise in the game. Weaknesses of Hokutomaru: * Very few single large sources of damage. * [Almost] all of his most damaging moves have lag if you biff. * His projectiles are kickable. * He was trained by Andy Bogard. (What the @#$@#$? When did ANDY learn ninja skills?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Quickie" Move list: (Borrowed with permission from the excellent faq by James Kuroki (orochi@ix.netcom.com)) --------------------------[ Throws and Holds ]--------------------------- Hikkaki when close, f or b + C (a.k.a. "the monkey munch") Non-men Tsukuri in air close, anything but u + C ----------------------------[ Command Moves ]---------------------------- Sliding df + B Kuuten Keri df + D Ni-dan Jump in air, jump again ----------------------------[ Special Moves ]---------------------------- Karakusa-Giri (weak) qcb + A (hold A to abort) Karakusa-Giri (strong) qcb + C (hold C to abort) Rakka-Zan - Kyou qcb + B (air) Rakka-Zan - Jitsu qcb + D (air) Kuu Ha Dan (weak) (BR) qcf + B Kuu Ha Dan (strong) (BR) qcf + D Shuriken (weak) qcf + A Shuriken (strong) qcf + C Kuuchuu Shuriken (weak) in air, qcf + A Kuuchuu Shuriken (strong) in air, qcf + C -----------------------------[ Super Moves ]----------------------------- Chou Hissatsu Shuriken qcf, qcf + A (AB to finish early) Ougi - Chou Hissatsu Tatsumaki qcf, qcf + B --------------------------[ Potential Powers ]-------------------------- Chou Baku-en Kunai qcf, qcf + C (AB to finish early) Kyuukyoku Ougi - Chou Bakuen Tatsumaki qcf, qcf + D ---------------------------[ T. O. P. Attack ]--------------------------- NIN-POU BAKUEN JUMP -----------------------------[ Feint Moves ]----------------------------- f + AC Chou Hissatsu Shuriken (?) d + AC Ougi - Chou Hissatsu Tastumaki --------------------------------[ Taunts ]------------------------------- Normal taunt: (start button) Hokutomaru dances back and forth, sticking out his tongue, and making weird, chittering "monkey noises". Thats the best way I can describe it. Note that unlike many other people's taunts, you cannot cancel out of it by simply moving the joystick. So only use when you are SURE you are not going to get hit for it. (End of the round is safe) Special taunt #1: (fd + start button, at end of round) Hokutomaru sneezes, and seems to make a sort of weird face, with his tongue stuck out. Kind of cute. Special taunt #2: (bk + start button, at end of round) Hokutomaru vanishes, just like he's doing a teleport. Then, as soon as the opponent hits the ground, he appears standing over them, and pulls out his wooden sword/stick thing. Brandishing it high overhead, he puts one foot on his now vanquished foe, and shouts something triumphant in Japanese. Unfortunatly, since I don't understand Japanese, I have no idea what he's saying. It sure sounds triumphant, though! According to the faq by James Kuroki, he is saying "Kattari", which translates into "I won!" ------------------------------[ Entrances ]------------------------------ All translations were taken from James Kuroki's excellent Garou faq, with permission. Normal: Appears in a puff of smoke, all black and covered with soot. He coughs once, and makes a confused sounding noise, then shakes the soot off. Cut scene for Hokutomaru's stage: A scene of Hokutomaru perched upon a streetlight, looking for a place to jump down. Finally he seems to find one, and jumps. There is a sudden sound of traffic crashing, and horns blaring, and quite a bit of stuff gets flung up into the air. (including cats, tires, and people) Entrance when on Hokutomaru's stage: He points accusingly at the enemy and yells "Ko-natta no mo ome-- no sei da zo!" ("It's your fault that this happened!" according to the faq by James Kuroki), and then a tire lands on his head, sending him into a hurt silence. VS. Kain, Bonne Jenet, and possibly others: Hokutomaru stands there, looking angry, and swings his fists around for a minute, yelling "Ikkuzo!" ("Here we go!") ------------------------------[ Win Poses ]------------------------------- All translations were taken from James Kuroki's excellent Garou faq, with permission. Won a round, but not the match: Hokutomaru does a flip, ending a kneeling pose, and starts to say "Kore zo! Shiranui Nipo..." ("This is Shiranui Ar...") and then his scarf falls over his head, obscuring his vision. He quickly shakes it off, looking sort of relieved, and laughs, embarassed. Won a match #1: Pulls out a handful of apples, and starts tossing them into his mouth one by one. The last one is actually a firecracker, and (of course) it detonates immedietly after contact with his mouth, leaving him smoking, and very surprised looking. While doing this, he says "Kore ga... oira... no... hitsuryoku da! Are?!?". ("This is... my... skills! Huh?!?") Won a match #2: Goes through a series of poses for the camera, while saying something in japanese that I can't understand, perhaps because I do not speak japanese. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Depth Move list/evaluation: --------------------------[ Throws and Holds ]--------------------------- Hikkaki when close, f or b + C (a.k.a. "the monkey munch") Hokutomaru climbs up onto the opponents chest, and begins scratching and clawing away, while making noises that before this game, I would have sworn no human being could make. (But I must believe now, since all of these guys in the game are real people, right? Right?) From a gameplay point of view, this throw is pretty much like everyone else's... It is an unblockable attack which can only be done at close range, and does about 11% damage. However, from a psychological point of view, it is much MORE.... Use it, and watch your opponents quiver with rage at the indignities that their character is enduring, while they incredulously exclaim "What in the WORLD is that NOISE he is making?!?" A real winner. Use this throw as much as you can get away with. Actually, that is not a bad idea from a gameplay point of view either, since several of Hokutomaru's moves end up with him right next to them, and if they're not expecting it, you can often get off a throw before they can hit you. And besides... It... looks... soooo... COOL! Non-men Tsukuri in air close, anything but u + C A standard air throw, just like everyone has... It isn't as easy to hit with as the ground throw, of course, (since people are almost always attacking while in the air) but still it is good to keep it in mind, since it does fairly decent damage, and can come as a fun surprise if your opponent is not expecting it. ----------------------------[ Command Moves ]---------------------------- Sliding df + B Our hero slids forward, one foot extended, sort of like Vega used to. It goes a fair distance, and is low enough that you can dodge quite a few projectiles with it. (Anything from Marco, Kain, Hotaru, or Hokutomaru) Be warned, however, that the "hit area" is not as wide as it looks; they don't actually get hit until somewhere around his ankle. In other words, don't play it too close with the range, it doesn't go _quite_ as far as it seems. Kuuten Keri df + D A nice, two part kick into the air. Can be something of a surprise to people, and it is cancelable into all SORTS of amusing things. It's resonably safe, too, since if they block you can still surprise them by whipping a shuriken into their eye if they're not watching. Fun for the whole family! Ni-dan Jump in air, jump again One word: AWSOME. Even though it's not a direct attack, this is arguably Hokutomaru's best ability. More on it's uses later. ----------------------------[ Special Moves ]---------------------------- Karakusa-Giri (weak) qcb + A (hold A to abort) Karakusa-Giri (strong) qcb + C (hold C to abort) Hokutomaru leaps forward (further with the C version), and slashes with his wooden stick sword. He slashes once with the A version, and twice with the C version. The 2 attacks from the C version are fast enough that they combo with each other. I have heard rumors that you can combo into the A version of this move, but I have not yet been able to do this myself, so I cannot verify this. This move is good for several reasons, but it should not be overused. It is good because it is a good way to close to your opponent, and because it does very good damage if it connects. (or even if it doesn't. It has very good block damage, especially in the C version) It also is high enough to go over almost all sweep moves, so if you know your opponent is going to sweep you, go nuts with it. A word of caution though, if they block it (or worse, "just defend" it) you're going to get smacked. Which is why you might want to... ABORT IT! Yes, if you hold down the button you used to initiate the move, then upon reaching the end of his jump, Hokutomaru will not slash his sword. He will in fact, do nothing at all. This makes this a wonderful mind game move. Since if they sit and block, waiting for the slash that never comes, then you can waltz right up and throw them, and laugh as they writhe in agony as their character endures... the dreaded "monkey munch". (see above). So hah. Rakka-Zan - Kyou qcb + B (air) Rakka-Zan - Jitsu qcb + D (air) Another excellent move for Hokutomaru. He vanishes, and appears at the top of the screen in a puff of smoke, and falls gracefully to the earth. In the D version, he also delivers a nasty whap with his stick/sword on the way down, too. If it gets blocked, he is fairly vulnerable. But if they get hit by it, they feel it. If you use the D version, you appear directly over where they were when you initiated the move. (all the better to hit you with, my dear!) The B version, on the other hand, makes you appear above where YOU were, and can do no damage directly. It is mainly useful as a fake out, if they start getting too good at anticipating your teleports. And finally, the thing that makes this move so awsome... You can do it ANYWHERE. Standing, jumping, falling, whatever. You can do this. Which means that if your opponent EVER does anything even REMOTLY compromising... PUNISH THEM. This includes foolish actions such as: * Throwing projectiles * Taunting * Missing with a move * Attacking with any manuver that has recovery lag * Anything else which will prevent them from blocking for the next couple of seconds. A word of caution, however. You can NOT use this as punishment for jumping. Hokutomaru only swings his sword at head height for a person standing on the ground. Which means that if the opponent is jumping, you will miss. And if the opponent is jumping and attacking, you will get smacked. Be warned. Kuu Ha Dan (weak) (BR) qcf + B Kuu Ha Dan (strong) (BR) qcf + D A nice attack, that is basically the same as Andy Bogard's trademark leaping kick thingie. Hokutomaru sort of rolls, and launches himself into a feet first kick, in a big arc. Can hit multiple times. Use this for several reasons: For one thing, it is good damage, and easily comboed into. For another, it has fairly little recovery time, even if they block it, so you can still often get away unscathed even if they anticipate it. And finally, it is good because it is... BRAKABLE (yes I know, it looks like it should be spelled "breakable", but that's how all the other FAQs spell it, and far be it from me to go against peer pressure) If you push AB durring the first two hits of the move, then rather than continue with the whole move, Hokutomaru will do a nifty looking little "ninja shadowy blinky thing", and cancel, with virtually NO RECOVERY TIME. So if you are fast and prepared with the AB buttons, you can do this move with almost NO RISK. Darned nifty. And even more fun, you can do it, hit with the first hit or so, then cancel out of it, while they are knocked up into the air, and then smack them around with some amusing juggles. Shuriken (weak) qcf + A Shuriken (strong) qcf + C Kuuchuu Shuriken (weak) in air, qcf + A Kuuchuu Shuriken (strong) in air, qcf + C Ahh, what fighting game ninja would be complete without the trademark ninja projectile? On the ground, the A version just whips out a single shuriken at the opponent. The C version takes a moment longer to start, but our hero whips out THREE shurikens, all of which will usually hit if the first one does. They'll also do fairly respectable damage, too. Especially for a projectile. And yes, they do count as seperate projectiles, meaning that if you get into projectile wars, the first will cancel the opponent's projectile, while the other two bury themselves in his/her forhead. Yay! Ninjas are cool! The air versions are basically the same thing, except for two main differences. #1: It is done in the air. (duh) #2: Only one shuriken is flung, no matter which punch you use. Also, the speed seems to be constant, no matter which punch you use. (contrary to what several other faqs I have read said) So NOW how much would you pay for these wonderful shurikens? Well, just as every rose has it's thorn, this projectile isn't QUITE perfect... There is one major faw in this otherwise wonderful sharp piece of metal: It can be knocked out of the air... by PUNCHES. And other normal attacks. So if you throw a throwing star at someone who is jumpkicking you, the jump kick will WIN, and they will not even get counter-hit. Bummer. And I've seen Rock Howard go through a whole line of three to punch me with that rush-punch thingie of his. I guess this is compensation for the Shuriken's other benifits (such as the ability to throw them anywhere, and up to 3 at once!) So use with some caution. But even so, don't let that stop you from flinging them as often as you can get away with. (Although watch out for people who are too good at "just defense". The best solution for these people that I've found is to throw them in groups of three. That way, even if they "just defend" the first, they still take tick damage from the next two, so it pretty much evens out in terms of total damage. And as far as we have been able to tell, it seems to be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to "just defend" all 3 of them. The best you can do is get the first one.) -----------------------------[ Super Moves ]----------------------------- Chou Hissatsu Shuriken qcf, qcf + A (AB to finish early) Hokutomaru goes psycho, and starts flinging throwing stars like MAD, ending with one BIG one. Although it doesn't do as much tick damage as it looks like it should, this move still has it's uses. For one thing, it is fast enough to combo into. :) :) For another thing, you can use it to punish people across the screen who don't realize how fast it is to come out. (or who do foolish things like throw projectiles at you) It does suffer from the classic bane of "combo specials" (i.e. specials that rely on multiple small hits to do damage). If your opponent is in the air when it connects, they will likely not take full damage, but will instead be juggled along the top of the stream, and take fairly little damage. Foo. Note that you can end the move at any time by hitting AB. As soon as you do so, Hokutomaru will throw the big "finishing star" and end the move. A good thing to do if they have dodged the stream and are flying towards your head with a jump kick. It's also useful in a few other situations, but more on that below. Ougi - Chou Hissatsu Tatsumaki qcf, qcf + B Hokutomaru stuffs a scroll into his mouth, and jumps up, twirling, and surrounded by a mini-ninja-tornado. People who get too close will be caught and juggled for up to 9 hits, and around 37% damage. This move is a lot better than it looks at first glance. At first glance, it seems to be nearly impossible to hit with all 9 hits. The first dozen matches I used it in, I'd get maybe 5 hits on average, and maybe 2 when I was really unlucky. I finally figured out that you have to wait until they are practically touching you before you initiate it. Luckily, this move comes out FAST. I mean MEGA-FAST. So you can do this with impunity. Just make sure that you hit, since if you don't, you slowly float back down, practically inviting your opponent to kick in your head. And it does really lousy tick damage. This move is most useful as an anti-air, but it has other uses as well. You can also use it to catch people on the ground who arn't expecting it. For example, even though it doesn't look like it, you can do Hokutomaru's leaping Andy Bogard-esque kick, and then as SOON as you land, do this super... you will be close enough to hit, and if they are trying to hit you back after blocking your super, they will get hit for full damage. (And a counter, if you're really lucky!) --------------------------[ Potential Powers ]-------------------------- Chou Baku-en Kunai qcf, qcf + C (AB to finish early) This is just like the shuriken super above, except that it takes up 2 super bars to do, does more damage, and instead of shurikens, he whips out lots of flaming ninja-knife thingies. It also looks a bit cooler too, since they end up flaming at the end of it. Kyuukyoku Ougi - Chou Bakuen Tatsumaki qcf, qcf + D Just like the tornado scroll jump thing above, but it takes up 2 bars, does up to 10 hits, and does more damage. Oh, and he's surrounded by flame this time. LOTS of flame. :) ---------------------------[ T. O. P. Attack ]--------------------------- NIN-POU BAKUEN JUMP For those who don't know (and didn't go read some other faq like I suggested, T. O. P. attacks are done when your life bar is in the "flashing red" zone. (which is wherever you put it at the start of the game.). While your life is in this zone, push BC to do the T. O. P. attack. Hokutomaru's goes like this: He stands for a moment, with a ninja scroll in his mouth. Then there is an explosion on him, and he rockets upwards at about a 40 degree angle. It has some delay, but is excellent anti-air, and anti-people-who-don't-know- what's-comming. It also does resonable damage. But as usual, if you biff, you'll get hit. So don't overuse it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- General stuff ---------------[Combos any Hokutomaru fan should know:]------------------ First of all, use Hokutomaru's standing C as much as possible. If you do the "near" one, he does two hits, and this is extremely combo-able, after either one. A few things that you can combo after a close standing C (which connects, obviously) * A single (A version) shuriken * A leaping-arc-kick-ala-Andy-Bogard-thingie (either version) * Hokutomaru's multi-shuriken special. * Hokutomaru's multi-flaming-ninja-knife special. A few things that CAN'T be comboed off of a standing close C, but that look like they should be able to: * Hokutomaru's teleport/slash * 3 shurikens. (C version) * Leap forward/sword slash (either version) * Leaping-spinning-tornado super * Leaping-spinning-FLAMING-tornado super Useful combos when you have a super bar or two: Deep jump kick, standing C, multi-throwing star super. Deep jump kick, standing C, multi-flaming ninja knife super. Deep jump kick, tornado super. Deep jump kick, flaming tornado super. (these will NOT work if you throw in the extra standing C in the middle. Even if you are in the corner, it will still push you too far away!) df D (His 2 part pop-up kick), shuriken. (throw shuriken while in air, IMMEDIETLY after 2nd hit). You can also throw the shuriken if you miss, to keep them distracted while you land. You can also teleport out of this move, (hcb B/D) but it won't combo unless you're in the corner, and even then it is extremely hard to do every time. (At least for me). So I don't recommend that combo, unless you have considerably better luck with it than I have. df D, then either the "tons and tons of shurikens" super, or the "tons and tons of flaming ninja knives" super. Note that they will bounce along the top of the stream, and take less than full damage... UNLESS... you cancel the stream early. If you time it right, they will bounce once off the stream of projectiles... Then you cancel, and as they fall the second time they get hit square on with the large "ending" projectile, that completes the move. (and does a large percentage of the damage) The ninja knives/ shurikens don't do QUITE as much damage this way, but they still do a respectable amount. And of course, it looks cool when you pull it off. :) If you ever hit someone who is jumping with a shuriken, they will likely end up flung high into the sky. If you do this, IMMEDIETLY throw out the tripple shuriken, and if you do it right, they will catch all 3 before hitting the ground again. Not only does it look cool, but it does enough damage to be significant, and make them think twice about jumping. [in corner] df D (2 part kick again), and then as SOON as you land, either the leaping tornado super, or the leaping flaming tornado super. An excellent combo if you can keep them in the corner long enough to do it. Also fairly safe, since you have pleanty of time to make sure you hit with the kick part before you waste a super bar or two. And if they block the kick, you can always throw a shuriken or teleport to keep their mind off of hitting you back. [from across the screen] single throwing star, teleport/slash. This does not always work for me. I am not sure exactly what the pattern is, but sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. They might have to be in a corner, or pressed up against the screen. I've had >>slightly<< better luck in these conditions, but even there it still often fails for me. I only include it because it it is cool when it hits. (yay! Ninja-ness!) -------------------[General Hokutomaru strategies:]---------------------- * RULE THE AIR. Between Hokutomaru's double jump, his ability to throw shurikens in the air or on the ground, AND his ability to teleport in the middle of a jump, he has the potential to completely dominate the air. With the added height you get from double jumping, you can go over almost ALL of other player's anti-air moves. And since (as long as you havn't attacked yet) you can use your second jump whenever you want to, Hokutomaru is probably one of the safest characters to do jump-ins with, since you have that added way to escape. (In addition to the teleport!) If you double jump enough, and unpredictably enough, you can make it EXTREMELY dificult for your opponent to hit you. (And they often leave themselves open for poking when trying, as well!) This is quite an advantage, and cannot be understated. Since jumping foward is the most common way to advance in the game, if you can deprive your opponent of that ability, then you can dictate the range of the match. If you want to stay close, there is almost nothing they can do to keep you out of their face. And if you want to get away, there is nothing they can do to keep you. This is a marvelous ability, particularly when coupled with the fact that Hokutomaru is one of the best distance characters in the game. Which brings us to point #2: * DOMINATE PROJECTILE WARFARE. Hokutomaru has (arguably) the best projectile in the game, particularly in it's tripple version. USE IT! Feel free to fling projectiles whenever you get bored, or are waiting for your opponent to do something. And if they start throwing back projectiles of their own, then either start flinging your groups of 3, or just teleport onto their head and give them a nasty whap for their trouble. Either way, don't let them get away with thinking that they're allowed to throw projectiles. That's YOUR department. Also, whenever you knock someone down, it's usually safe to fling a group of three shurikens at them, as a wake up "present". That way, if they try anything immedietly after getting up, they get smacked. And if they sit and take it, then you do a bit of free block damage. And if they use "just defense" against it, then you'll usually tick off enough damage with the second two to pay for the life gain, so it costs you nothing. (Obviously don't use this against people who are good enough to "just defense" all three of them) * PLAY MIND GAMES. Hokutomaru has some wonderful mind games he can play with people. Use them! One of the easiest is the old "leap foward with stick, but cancel and throw instead". This is discribed with more detail above, under that move. But you can go much deeper than that. The teleport is the key. Use it when jumping away after a successful attack. Use it after jumping in, but before attacking, so that the blow comes about a second after they expect it. Use it after you double jump off the screen so that they can't see that you've vanished. In other words, ABUSE IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. (Until they start to catch on, of course ;) Also, use shurikens frequeltly. A good time to use them is just before landing. That can throw a lot of people off. Also, when you double-tap away, to leap back, that counts as a jump. So... you can use teleports and shurikens in the middle of it. A wonderful thing to try is every so often double tap back to jump away, and throw a shuriken mid-jump. Most people are NOT expecting an attack in the middle of an evasion, and are often caught by surprise. More fun! Finally, the most important part of mind game tricks: Vary your attacks. Don't use the same one more than once or twice in a row, or your opponent will start to catch on, and develop counter strategies. ("just defending" at best, clobbering you good at worst) * DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET CLOSE. Finally, even though a lot of his moves focus on sudden attacks from distance, don't be afraid to get in close with Hokutomaru. Although this works worse for some people than others... (for example, when facing Griffon Mask, it might be better to keep your distance after all...) When in close, you CAN hold your own just fine... just use pleanty of standing C hits, leaping-andy-bogard things, (canceled if blocked) and throwing stars. (which work perfectly well at point blank range and in combos, as long as you don't try to trade hits with them) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Character specific tactics: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- VS. Rock Howard: Rock is a fairly good all around player. A large part of his strength lies in the fact that all of his moves are fairly damaging, and that he can hit hard and fast from across the screen. The biggest things to watch out for are his rushing punch things, which are good both by themselves, or in combos. He does have a projectile, but it isn't nearly as good as Hokutomaru's, so don't lose too much sleep over it. I've already detailed what to do if your opponent gets too overconfident with projectiles, so I won't repeat it here. Watch out for Rock's uppercut move (Rising Tackle). It's not a *great* move, since it is a charge move, and can't always be done in time if they're not paying attention, but it is still something to watch out for. (Especially since Hokutomaru is such an air-intensive player) One thing you can do to discourage Rock players from using too many Rising Tackles is to use your double jump to fake them out. Jump in, and then jump away before you hit the rising tackle. Or just jump straight up, so you are too high, and come down on Rock with a drop kick or something. Watch out for Rock doing jump-ins, since he has an ok command throw. It is often strung after a jump since it requires a 720 motion on the joystick. You probably don't want to stay too close to Rock if you can avoid it. Just play hit and run with him, and you should be fine. VS. Terry Bogard Hmm. For the trademark character of the fatal fury games, they certainly didn't make Terry too powerful. It could be just that I havn't yet met someone who uses him well, but as far as I can tell, he isn't anything overly special. He has a fireball move, similar to Rock's, but most of his moves are mediocre at best. In particular, his "Power dunk", (jump up, hit you into the air, and slam you down with yellow energy punch) is EXTREMELY hard to hit with from the ground. You're a lot more likely to see Terry players using his other moves more, such as his "Burning Knuckle" (Dash across the screen with yellow energy punch) and his "Crack Shot" (Nifty flip forward kick thing). The Crack Shot in particular is often used as an anti-air move, since it is very fast to come out, and has fairly little delay if it misses. And it has good priority to boot. The other threat to jumping you have to watch for is Terry's trademark "Power Geyser", where he punches the ground, and a big burst of energy comes out. This move is fast, and fairly damaging, so be cautious jumping towards terry. The biggest thing to watch out for with Terry is that you don't let him get in too many free hits with burn knuckle from across the screen because you weren't watching. VS. Kim Dong Hwan Kim Dong Hwan is NASTY. Be careful of this one. He is mainly an up-close character, so you can try to play keep away with shurikens. Unfortunatly the "just defense" makes this less useful. So does the fact that Kim has lots of good moves that advance him, and protect him from shurikens. (since he'll just kick them out of the air) So you'll probably end up having to fight him at least somewhat. Also, he doesn't have all that many moves with lots of delay, meaning that it is hard to punish him much with your teleport. Basically, you're most likely going to have to fight him up close at least somewhat. The biggest thing to watch out for when he is close is his high-low game. He has an electricity kick that must be blocked low. And if you don't block it, it can be comboed into either a special jump-foward-electricity-kick or into a SUPER. Mean. But he also has a simple jump-foward-electricity-kick that he can use instead, which must be blocked high. And this one comes out faster. So basically the best thing to do is block high, unless you see him start to look like he is going to stomp his foot. Then block low. The problem however, is that both of these moves have almost no delay after them. You might be able to get in a light punch if you're lucky, but they still can often block. A better thing to do is walk up and monkey-munch throw them. Since most of the time they will expect to be hit back afterwards, they will almost always sit and block after these moves, leaving you free to wander up and claw their eyes out. Yay! Also watch out for Kim's air-super. It does lots of damage, and can be a very nasty surprise if you forget that he has a super move he can do in the air. The other thing to remember about Kim is that he is one of the few characters in the game who is better at air to air combat than you are. He can jump as high as Hokutomaru, (thanks to his super jump and corner bounce) and if you meet in mid air at equal heights, his kick will win out, every time. It takes some getting used to, since vs nearly everyone else, Hokutomaru has air priority. Be careful. VS. Kim Jae Hoon Ahh, the OTHER Kim kid. Ok, one thing I just have to say about him: DAMAGE. And lots of it. He has some fairly nasty moves. He's not quite as quick as Kim Dong Hwan, but he easily makes up for this in sheer damage potential. Be VERY careful of his supers. Also watch out for his "hold his foot up for a little bit, and then leap forward and kick a lot" move. He is counted as blocking while his foot is up, so he can use it as quite a nasty block-then- counter move. (Actually, it's worse than that even: While blocking things with his foot, he actually takes NO damage, not even the usual "tick" hits!) He is another player that you probably want to do a lot of hit-and-run tactics on. Just don't let him hit you with many moves, or you WILL feel it. Also, you probably want to get him out of his T. O. P. mode as fast as possible. VS. Hotaru Futaba Hotaru is quite an oddity. When I first saw her, I was figuring that she was going to be sort of a Chun-Li-a-like, with a cooler looking projectile, and less emphasis on kicking. I figured at the very least that she'd be one of those "very fast but not too damaging" characters. Boy oh boy was *I* wrong. Whatever you do, when you fight Hotaru, do NOT make the mistake of underestimating her damage potential. Her uppercuts (well, fine, leap into the air spinning things) can do MASSIVE damage if you are on the ground when she starts them. And her dance-foward-hitting-you move that ends with a palm strike does extremely respectable damage, and can be comboed into. And if you block it, she recovers at the same time you do, so you can't even hit her back! Hey! And add to that that she has a resonably damaging command throw, and you have someone fairly nasty to deal with. Also watch out for her kick move in the air, where she suddenly changes direction and flies at you to kick off of you. It can be a surprise, since she changes direction in mid air, and so can hit you when you think she's jumping away. Luckily, most of the tactics that Hotaru players seem to use can be fairly easily countered by Hokutomaru's inherrent coolness. For one thing, many Hotaru players seem to like getting into projectile wars. This is a BAD idea on their part, and if you have read the rest of this FAQ, you already know quite a few ways of reminding them of why they shouldn't do that. Also, many Hotaru players like to try to play air warfare with you. Again, you have a definate advantage, since your double jump and teleport easily make up for Hotaru's air kick. One thing to watch out for is that she has a projectile reflector, but if you throw enough throwing stars in groups of three, then you'll be mostly ok. And if one or two throwing stars comes back, oh well. So don't let her projectile reflector scare you into not throwing lots of shurikens. You're still most likely safer chucking shurikens from a distance than you are in staying close and letting her use her nasty, high damage, low recovery time moves on you. Don't be afraid to get in close and smack her some, but don't stay any longer than necessary. Ooh, and watch out for her anti-air super blue kick. It can catch by surprise, since it hits from a direction that none of her other moves really do. Also, Hotaru can change the direction she is facing in mid-air, allowing for some crossovers. Unfortunatly for her, you can almost always see them comming, since she has to jump in so deep. So unless you're not watching at all, you will probably see it comming a mile away. VS. Gato Gato is nasty. He is sort of like Kim Jae Hoon; he does great damage, and fast. You'll be playing, exchange a few hits, and suddenly look up and find that you're already down to half life! Gato's best move, I think, is his "leap forcefully into the air and do something mean". He has four endings to this move, (make an explosion on the ground, kick high, land and slide-kick, and kick diagonally downwards out of the air.) Gato players (the good ones, at least) often tend to play lots of mind games with this move, such as throwing a few ground explosions on you, and then when you move to jump kick them, doing a jump kick themselves. (The kick that comes out of that jump has higher priority than your jump kick usually) One of the best ways to deal with this is to just start "just defending" the explosions, and force them to change tactics. Also, you can dash under him when he does the "jump up forcefully" part, and hit him with just about anything as he lands. (I recommend a good 100 or so flaming ninja knives, but then, I'm bitter.) Watch out for Gato's extra potential power. He dashes forwards and delivers three BIG hits. Even if you block, they still do about a good C hit worth of block damage. And they put you REEEAAAALY cloes to being guard crushed. So if someone does this to you, and you block, stay away for a bit, or use lots of "just defend"s. Also don't forget that even tho Gato doesn't have a normal uppercut, one of his supers is effectively a straight up uppercut. It can be a nasty surprise if you're not watching. So if you are playing vs. Gato, and they start to be really cautious, and seem to be waiting for you to jump, (and they have a power bar or two), then approach with caution. And always remember, if things get dicey, you can always double jump away to saftey. VS. Bonne Jenet It's the magical sparkly pirate girl! She is a very good player, particularly at close range, but nothing insurmountable. She has unreliable anti-air, (except for her supers) so if she doesn't have a power bar, you are probably safe doing deep jump-ins. Be careful jumping towards her when she DOES have a power bar or two, though, since she has an excellent anti-air super that can do significant damage. Be particularly careful when fighting her up close, since she has several quick and damaging combos, and if you're not watching, she can do her "many torpedo kick thing", either by itself, or as a combo from most of her close attacks. She is probably safest to fight in the air, where all the advantages are on your side. She DOES have a "change-direction-in- mid-air-kick", that can be a surprise (and she makes the COOLEST noise when she does it) but it's not very good for air-air battles, so you should be Ok. She also has one of the better projectiles in the game for catching jumpers with, so watch out for it. (or just double-jump to safety) An interesting thing to note: Her projectile hits people 3 times, but it only takes one projectile to cancel it. And sometimes, your projectile will just go right through hers, and keep going! So don't be afraid to projectile fight her. VS. Marco Rodriguez Ahh, what game would be complete without the standard fireball-uppercut char? Marco fills that role admirably here, since both his fireballs and uppercuts are fast and damaging enough to make this a fairly mean game for him to play. Luckily, Hokutomaru can double jump. :) Marco is another character that can often be lured into playing projectile war games with you. Punish him. And try to fake him out with double jumps so that he misses on uppercuts and leaves himself open. Watch out if you want to fight him up close; he does good damage, and takes very little skill to do damaging combos. In particular his standing close C punch can be comboed into almost ANYTHING of his. (including his supers) So watch out. Also, don't get TOO free with your teleports, since he can uppercut you out of them if he sees them comming. And even though Hokutomaru is usually projectile king, do watch out for Marco's super projectiles, since they go right through yours. The moral of this story is don't throw too many projectiles at Marco if he has a power bar. Instead just let him throw his fireballs, and respond with a teleport. It's usually safer. VS. Hokutomaru Well, there arn't a huge number of strategies that I can give you for fighting someone else playing Hokutomaru, since anything you can do they can do as well. Remember that they can hit you if you throw projectiles too freely. On the other hand, if THEY throw projectiles too much, feel free to hit them in the ways outlined above. And don't rely too heavily on the teleports, since if you both teleport, it is whoever teleports LAST that will win. So it is probably better waiting for them to make the mistake. VS. Freeman Freeman is surprisingly damaging. Watch out for him. He has a nasty overhead slash move that serves him well as anti-air. And his dash-forward-slash moves can go under your throwing stars, so don't throw them if he is too close. His counter attack super is pretty nasty, but hard to use. If you see him do it, and havn't attacked yet, just let him walk into you, and throw him. The other thing that you have to remember when fighting freeman is that his dash-foward slashing moves often hit LOW. So always block low just in case. If he DOES do his "leap forward slash" move (which must be blocked high) you'll have pleanty of warning, since it is slooooow. VS. Griffon Mask Here's the obligitory throw character of the game. Well, if nothing else, he looks a lot cooler in his moves than Zangeif ever did. Griffon Mask isn't quite as good a throw character as, say, Clark from KoF, or Shigen from Last Blade, but he can still be fairly nasty. In general Griffon Mask has throws that are harder to actually do (many involve 360s or 720s) but that do HUGE damage. As in a third or so. And that's not even counting the super throws. If ever there was a character to play keep away with, this is him. Granted, most humans won't be as good at getting his throws off as the computer is, but still, you probably don't want to spend any more time close to him than you have to. Luckily, he is also an extremely easy character to keep away from, since he is slow moving, and has almost no good advancement moves. VS. Kevin Ryan Kevin Ryan, master of the "Punch you so hard you explode!" school of martial arts. Well, he's pretty much what you'd expect, moves are slow to come out, but do lots of damage. He has one punch that he can hold, and he starts twitching ominously when he does so... Don't let it fool you, it doesn't become unblockable or anything, he just does more damage the longer he holds it. Also be careful around Kevin's "crawl foward, do something" move. He can either hit high or low out of it, so your best bet is to either stay away, or just kick him before he gets to you. You obviously can't throw projectiles while he's doing it though, since he's too low. Basically, your best bet is to aviod staying too close to Kevin. As always, hit and run. He has no attacks that he can ues from across the screen. (at least, none that you can't see comming miles away) Watch out when you do jump-ins though, since his "HUGE explosion, you're frozen and glowing" punch is excellent anti-air. VS. Grant The sinister sounding "Martyr of Might", with his equally sinister sounding "dark karate"! Well, they had to do SOMETHING interesting for the sub-boss. Actually, in my opinion, Grant is a much better character than Kain is. He has a lot of good combos, and does pretty good damage. (note that the damage he does when you fight him as sub-boss is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than it is if you play him in a vs. match against another human.) All in all, he has a lot of good moves. He has a (very goofy looking but effective) uppercut, which can finish off with a glowing purple "dark karate" kick. This makes jump-ins dangerous, since he can use it with impunity, and do the "dark karate kick" at the end to make it very hard to hit him back afterwards. Your best bet is to try to keep away as much as possible, as when fighting the Griffon Mask. Just remember that Grant has a lot better moves than Griffon does. Also don't forget that Grant has a VERY fast "Dash across the screen and bowl you over" move, which is not only good for advancement, but is fast enough to be a good punishment, if you leave yourself open. For supers, Grant has a standard "ground combo" super, (a long combo for good damage, but it only works if you are on the ground when it hits). This one is probably the least of your worries, since you're probably jumping enough that you'll just get hit by one or two hits of it, before getting "bounced" out of the combo. (usually annoying the Grant player immensely) Grant's other super, however, is rather dangerous to you, since it's a "Mega-Dark-Karate kick", which goes up at an angle, making it good for close ground-ground fighting, or good for anti-air. It is roughly equivalent to Terry's "Power Geyser" in terms of where it hits. Oh, and WATCH OUT FOR GRANT's T. O. P. attacks. It's a series of punches while on the ground. It is fast to come out, hard to hit him back from, (if you blocked it) and does guard crush like nothing! I think it's the best T. O. P. attack in the game, actually. Be VERY careful, or you'll end up getting guard crushed a lot sooner than you expect, and then you'll get bonked HARD. You have been warned. Also watch out for Grant's "dashing-face-hit". It does RIDICULOUS damage, even if you block it. (Almost as much as a a/b attack!) And if you don't block it, you lose LOTS of life. And if you're foolish enough to try to hit him out of it, if the You'll usually trade hits, and get popped up. And if the Grant player is any good, they can combo you then for almost 50% damage, without even using any supers. All because you were foolish enough to try to hit back. So do NOT fight Grant ground-ground if you can POSSIBLY avoid it. Otherwise you WILL lose. Use your double jumps and throwing stars as much as you can, and STAY AWAY. VS. Kain Heinlein Kain. I thought he was an incredibly powerful character when I first got to him, playing on one player mode. He would just rip through my lifebar. Especially when he was in his T. O. P. mode. I have since discovered however, that he is given a SIGNIFICANT damage handicap by the computer for his role as boss. In fact, the non-boss Kain seems to be downright wimpy in contrast. He has a medium projectile, and some anti-air and a nice "charge forward while on fire" move, but none of these have NEARLY the damage that they do when the computer is playing. And since they are all charge moves, they are harder to combo than most other players, as well! Anyway, things to watch out for with Kain: He has an anti-air move. Not a great one, but still watch for it. It requires a charge-down to execute, so don't jump at anyone who is just sitting there, ducking. He also has a medium projectile. You can plow right through it with your 3-shurikens, but be careful trying to punish him with teleports, since when he launches the projectile, he jumps back, making him slightly harder to hit with your teleport. Also avoid fighting Kain near the corner of the screen. Kain has the unique ability to do some fairly damaging combos after his throw, but they only work if he throws you into a corner. In particular, stay away when he has two power bars, since he can throw you, and then hit you with his "glowing yellow ball of death and multiple hits" on the way down. (And then hit you again with his anti-air move as you fall from THAT, for a grand total of around 50% damage) So in general it seems to be safer to just stay away from corners. Since Hokutomaru can double jump, getting out of corner traps isn't as bad for him as it is for some people. Also, if Kain is sitting near the corner and refuses to budge, just wait him out. There's no reason you have to close with him, since you can easilly win any projectile wars he starts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Thanks to James Kuroki (orochi@ix.netcom.com) who not only provided an excellent general FAQ for Garou, (which I used quite a bit when learning the game) but also for letting me borrow choice bits from his faq to put into mine. (The background, translations, and quick move list) As far as I know, a copy of his faq can be found at the following locations: Gamefaqs www.gamefaqs.com About.com Guide to Video Game Strategies vgstrategies.about.com Under the Neo Geo Moon welcome.to/undertheneogeomoon King Of Fighters Millennium welcome.to/kofmillennium * Thanks to Drahktar for being someone to test strategies out against. ^_^ * Thanks to Shih Tzu and Jellisky, for providing positive reinforcement. * Greetz to Mainframe and Syntax!!! ************************************************************************* Unpublished work Copyright 2000 Chris Cornell *************************************************************************