King Of Fighter's 98 The Slugfest Blue Mary Version 3.1 : May 11, 99 Written by: Shingo@canada.com Table of Contents Version History In case you haven't noticed, I bring up the version a whole number if there is something new. I bring it up a decimal if there is nothing new, only updated. Version 3.1 *new* 1. Disclaimer 2.1 Blue Mary (IMO) 2.2 Blue Mary's Sayings 2.3 Blue Mary '98 vs. Blue Mary '97 3.1 Blue Mary's moves 3.2 Rating of Blue Mary's moves 3.3 Combos 3.4 Blue Mary Bugs *updated* 4. Team Strategy Guide *updated* 5. Credits Version 3 1. Disclaimer 2.1 Blue Mary (IMO) 2.2 Blue Mary's Sayings *updated* 2.3 Blue Mary '98 vs. Blue Mary '97 3.1 Blue Mary's moves *updated* 3.2 Rating of Blue Mary's moves 3.3 Combos 3.4 Blue Mary Bugs *new* 4. Team Strategy Guide 5. Credits *updated* Version 2 1. Disclaimer 2.1 Blue Mary (IMO) 2.2 Blue Mary's Sayings *updated* 2.3 Blue Mary '98 vs. Blue Mary '97 3.1 Blue Mary's moves *updated* 3.2 Rating of Blue Mary's moves *updated* 3.3 Combos *updated* 4. Team Strategy Guide *new* 5. Credits *updated* Version 1 1. Disclaimer 2.1 Blue Mary (IMO) 2.2 Blue Mary and the stuff she says 2.3 Blue Mary '98 vs. Blue Mary '97 3.1 List of Blue Mary's moves 3.2 Rating of Blue Mary's moves 3.3 Combos 4. Credits 1. Disclaimer First, this FAQ is originated based on my opinions. Anyone with a copy of this FAQ and wishes to change it, by all means, be my guest. Just please keep the credits the same and add your name to it if you wish. If you're going to publish this, contact me by E-mail and I'll be more than happy to give you permission, but don't steal my works without it. (I'm not terribly picky about this). Second, as a 'Just so you know' comment, my E-Mail is shingo@canda.com. E-mail with just about anything you've got to ask about KoF (any year). Blue Mary and other characters mentioned are a product of NEO GEO/SNK. And in case you didn't notice, this FAQ has no basics (what each button does, what Extra and Advanced is). I take it that if you are reading this FAQ, you have played at least one year in the 4 year series of KoF and you already know the basic stuff. All you need to know is that all the %'s in the Combos section are all correct unless it says SDM, meaning it was done powered up. And also, all the hits are the total amounts of decreasements from the health bar, not the total that shows up in the RUSH meter. 2.1 Blue Mary (IMO) Blue Mary, in my opinion is one of the best characters to ever have entered the tournament! She is a very strong player, has many combos, many of them damaging. She was perhaps the best character in '97 and she still remains a top player in '98, although she lost her 100% this year. If Blue Mary isn't a constant member on your team, I recommend you at least give her a try. She is extremely versatile, capable of dismantling an entire team on her own. She powers up very quickly in the Advanced Mode of play, and she is decent in Extra, though she was made to play in Advanced. If you've got any tactics you'd like to add, I mentioned my E-mail above, send it to me there ^_^. 2.2 Blue Mary's Sayings Starting a match: She throws her jacket into the background, her dog comes by to pick it up before it falls, and she says 'Here we go!' Vs. Terry Bogard: She leans in to Terry and says 'Hey, handsome boy' Normal Round: She jumps in, lifts up her belt, then let's go and gets into her fighting stance. She also says 'Are you ready?' Winning Quote A: She fans herself off, then crosses her arms and gives you a mean look. She also says something which translates into 'Whew, I did it' Winning Quote B: (Her best one) She points in the opponent's direction and says 'Bakyuun', then she turns away. Bakyuun is translated into Bang-Bang. The sound of a gun, although it sounds MUCH different. Winning Quote C: She says 'Come on, Anton' and her dog runs on screen to lick Mary's face where she gets a funny look on her face. Winning Quote D: She blows a kiss to the fallen opponent. Defeated Quote: (In Japanese): I shall return! Taunt: She starts to dance with her belt and says 'Come on'. Team Win Quote: This isn't about logic. It's about smashing your face in! 2.3 Blue Mary '98 vs. Blue Mary '97 Blue Mary got a major weakening in 98, but then again, most characters did (Iori, Terry, Benimaru). Her loss just isn't as bad. The one major weakness this year is her Mary Snatcher. It no longer connects in the air unless it does at least 1 hit. Her 100% combo is gone because of this and her corner cheap (Backbreaker, Mary Snatcher) is also gone. Her 100% is gone also because most DMs lost strength since '97. (Her 100% in '97 was Jumping D, Standing C, Forward A, Mary Splash Rose SDM, Mary Snatcher). Another bad thing is the new motion for Backbreaker. It takes a while to get used to doing it now. The good thing about her now is that her unblockable DM Mary Typhoon got stronger while it was her weakest DM in '97. Also, since the Advanced meter is shorter this year, she powers up much faster. She gets lots of chances for DM combos. 3.1 List of Blue Mary's moves Blue Mary has a number of moves, some moves can only be done if you did a particular move before it. There are 2 such moves where this rule applies. Here are her moves: Standard Moves: Standing A: (far): A straightforward punch. Has good speed, little else. (close): An elbow to the face. Nothing special except it's speed. Standing B: (far): A straight kick to the midsection. Useful for poking distance although has a hint of slowness to it. (close): A knee to the chest area (in Choi's case, the head ^_^). Pretty fast. Standing C: (close): A 2-hit slap-like move. Useful for starting ground combos. (far): A 2-hit elbow punch. Slow, and not quite as great as the slap. Can't interrupt it, either. She can be punished whether it hits or is blocked. Standing D: (far): She spins in a full circle and delivers a mid-air roundhouse kick. Slow, but nice range. (close): A 2-hit axe kick. The first hit is uninterruptable, but after the second hit, something can be comboed in. Mary Typhoon is recommended. Standing CD: An elbow smash. Not too good speed, but it moves her forward a bit, giving it some range. Still, it's not a great move. Use little or not at all. Jumping A: A downward punch similar to her jumping forward C, but less priority. Nothing great. Jumping B: A kick with lots of downward range. It WILL stop Iori's Maiden Masher DM if it looks like he's trying to time you to get hit. Jumping C: (up): Looks just like her crouching A, but she's doing it in the air. (forward): A downward punch. Sometimes more useful than jumping forward D. Has much more priority than any other punch in her style. Jumping D: (up): She sticks out her foot, making a really short range, funny- looking jumpkick. It's okay for just a poke, but you're better off just jumping forward or staying on the ground instead of jumping up. (forward): Nice range. You're basic combo starter when attacking from above. Jumping CD: A knife chop. Sad range. Again, use with caution or not at all. Crouching A: A crouching punch! Nothing spectacular (like most of her punches). Crouching B (holding down): A mid-range kick. It's alright, but nothing special except for range. (holding down-toward): A lift kick. It's alright for air- counters, but she's got a better move against aerial attacks. This move is pretty useless. Crouching C: A shoulder hit. She leans in to hit, if blocked, she's safe unless the opponent command grabs or normal grabs you. Some DM's are quick enough to hit as well. Crouching D: A two-legged sweep trip. Use only for lack of a better thing to do or for insult. Forward A: A two-handed hammer blow to the midsection. It's the last hit in a string combo until you do a special move or DM. Doing the move by itself can be punishable. As well, watch out when using this against other Mary players. When they see the hammer coming, they'll counter with Mary Typhoon, and it connects. Forward B: A double kick, one high, one low. Good for mind games, but nothing combos afterwards. Very punishable if blocked. Special Moves: (Legend) FWD: forward BACK: back (duh!) DOWN: down (duh, again!) UP: up (dare I say it?) QCF: quarter circle forward (from down, to down-fward to fwd) QCB: quarter circle back (opposite QCF, down, down-back, back) HCF: half circle forward (back, down-back, down, down-fwd, fwd) HCB: half circle back (fwd, down-fwd, down, down-back, back) DP: common term for dragon punch from Street Fighter (fwd, down, down-fwd) Mary Spider: QCF + A or C This move is pretty good against scrubs. She leaps into the air, grabs the opponents head and moves down to break the opponents neck. While in the air, anyone moving away will not block, but proceed to walk away, while she get's close to grab them from the air. C button gets more range. The problem is that it's kind of slow, and can be seen from a while away. (1 hit) Spin Fall: QCF + B or D Mary flies through the air and lands her heel atop the opponent's head. B has less range and much less speed. Use D button for serious range and speed. Usually catches opponents off guard. (1 hit) Vertical Arrow: DP + B or D The best air defense for Mary, and quite possibly one of the best in the game! ALWAYS use the B button when doing this. She doesn't get as much height, but she doesn't need it. It stops almost all aerial attempts and she's got a connection move to this! This is her best special move to do after recovering from a roll. (2 hits) Mary Snatcher: QCF + B or D (done after hitting with Vertical Arrow) After she hits with her Vertical Arrow, doing this will add extra insult and she'll attach herself to her opponent, bringing both of them down to the floor and dealing extra damage to her foe! It also turns the opponent around so he/she rises facing away from you. This is great because if you time it correctly, anything hitting an opponent from behind is unblockable! (1 hit) Straight Slicer: Hold BACK for a few seconds then FWD + B or D This move is another great move for her. On occasion, this move has a glitch and hits high when it is normally a low block ONLY move. Otherwise, use this move often to catch on opponent off guard. There are a few great things about this move. First, it's anti-scrub, meaning that beginners are likely to be hit with this move all the time. Second, if the opponent is coming up from off the ground but his/her back is turned from you, do this move. Timed correctly against the computer, they will get hit! Against an opponent, if they don't block low immediately after recovering they will get hit with it too! And it's also got an additional move to it! If it's blocked by the way, try a Mary Dynamite Swing to get a surprise out of your opponent. (1 hit) Stun Slice: QCF + B or D (done after hitting with Straight Slicer) Mary will grab the legs of the opponent only after a successful hit with Straight Slicer. She will grab and snap their legs for decent damage. (1 hit). Mary Counter: HCB + B Mary will get into position to grab the opponent from the air if she is hit from the air. It deals decent damage. (2 hit) Mary Head Buster: HCB + D Mary will get into position to toss her opponent into the air if hit from the ground. It deals damage when they get thrown and if you're quick, you can connect Straight Slicer or even Mary Suprise Rush DM! (1 hit). Backbreaker: HCB, FWD + A or C This move can be connected after FWD + A. She grabs hold of the opponents midsection, moves behind them and slams them to the floor. If the opponent is close to you when recovering from a roll or when doing a falling roll, use this for a surprise. (1 hit) *Super* Desperation Moves (*S*DM's): Mary Splash Rose: QCF, HCB + A or C Her highest hitting DM (Rush 9 DM, Rush 28 SDM). She rushes the opponent and flies back and forth 6 times across the screen, ending it in 3 circles of blue light by lifting them into the air. Her SDM hits 3x6 times across, a kick, the 2-hit elbow, 2 slaps, an elbow, and 4 air-slices. It is pretty fast when flying across the screen, and can catch anyone after they recover from a missed DP, especially when they did it with the stronger button. It lost some damage since '97, and she can no longer finish with Mary Snatcher since now the Vertical Arrow has to deal a hit before grabing with the Snatcher. It is still a strong DM and should be used often when the opportunity arises. This is her average damage DM out of the 3. Very punishable if blocked. Mary Typhoon: HCB, HCB + B or D A single hit but her strongest DM. She leaps into the air, grabs the head of the opponent and flips them to hit the floor. Her SDM lifts her and opponent almost off the top of the screen before returning the opponent to smash them on the floor. I noticed that this DM does MUCH more damage when done in a combo and slightly less when done alone. This is a great move to do when you come out of a roll or a dodge ^_^ (Unblockable but must be done at close range. Punishable if missed) Mary Dynamite Swing: QCF, QCF + B or D This is a great DM to end the match with. It looks great and makes the opponent feel insulted. Her normal DM makes her leap into the air (only hits when opponent is near) knee first and she catches them in mid-air and slams them to the ground. She flings her hair behind her shoulders, grabs the opponents mid-section from behind, and proceeds to spin them in a circle 4 times before releasing the opponent to fly through the air! Her SDM does much the same but after flinging her hair back, she does 2 backbreakers and spins 8 or so times before release. It is a pretty weak DM unfortunetly. Another great move to do after a roll or dodge. As well, there is a bug with this move. If done when the opponent is in the air, it will just knock them down to the floor, without Mary actually grabbing them. If this occurs, you can Backbreaker or Mary Typhoon them, even if they are on the floor, or in mid-air! Punishable if missed.(DM: 5 hits, SDM: 12 hits) 3.2 Ratings of Blue Mary's moves (Out of 5 *'s) Standard Moves: Standing A: (far): ** Jumping A: ** Crouching B: (angled): * Standing A: (close): ** Jumping B: *** Crouching C: ** Standing B: (far): *** Jumping C: (up): * Crouching D: ** Standing B: (close): *** Jumping C: (forward): **** Forward A: **** Standing C: (far): * Jumping D: (up): * Forward B: ** Standing C: (close): ***** Jumping D: (forward): **** Standing D: (far): ** Jumping CD: ** Standing D: (close): *** Crouching A: ** Standing CD: ** Crouching B: (down): ** (Out of 5 *'s) Special Moves: Mary Spider:*** Straight Slicer:**** Spin Fall: *** Stun Slice: ***** Vertical Arrow: ***** Mary Counter: ** Mary Snatcher: **** Mary Head Buster: *** Backbreaker: *** (Out of 5 *'s) *Super* Desperation Moves: Mary Suprise Rush: *** Mary Typhoon: ***** Mary Dynamite Swing: *** 3.3 Combos This is your basic starter combo. Just about all combos must start with this when using Blue Mary. All the other moves are added after doing this combo. Jumping C/D, Standing C, fwd + A (4 hit) Here are the comboable moves after it along with the amount of damage and total hits. Backbreaker: 20% (5 hits) Mary Splash Rose: DM: 35%, SDM: 70% (13 hits DM) (32 hits SDM) Mary Typhoon: DM: 40%, SDM: 75% (5 hits DM and SDM) Mary Dynamite Swing: DM: 35% SDM: 65% (9 hits DM) (15 hits SDM) Vertical Arrow, Mary Snatcher: 25% (7 hits) These are separate combos which don't join with the above combo system. Some are just downright amusing. Mary Dynamite Swing DM (must use B button, also must do when the opponent is at the height of jump, and must be done in near the corner), Mary Typhoon DM (do this right before the opponent hits the ground after you've hit with her knee from Mary Dynamite Swing) 25% (2 hits). Ground Counter, then, anything you want. Variable damage depending what you do and in what situation you are in (corner or not). Variable hits depending on what you do (Vertical Arrow, Straight Slicer, Mary Dynamite Swing). Mary Splash Rose is the preferred. Mary has MANY more combos than these, but those are the ones which deal less than 10 percent and are hardly worth mention (A, A, B, B combos and such), although some of those combos with A and B can be comboed in with any DM. 3.4 Blue Mary Bugs Not a lot of bugs, but there is one bug with Blue Mary that you should capitalize on, and that involves the Mary Dynamite Swing/Mary Typhoon DM combo. Apparently, after the Mary Dynamite Swing, if Mary misses grabbing the opponent, once you land back on the floor, you can do anything, such as the Backbreaker. For this bug, you should do the backbreaker (she's floating a bit off the ground when you do the back-breaker), then mash rapidly on the B button. You should do 99 hits (oddly enough, you'd think someone would die before 99 hits, but they don't). This bug is kind of odd, I myself have tried to do it but failed. I know it exists because I've read other FAQ's and I've seen it on videos and done by master players. 4. Team Strategy Guide Mary has no problems dealing with any character in the game except one or two. For those players who like to challenge themselves to beating the game with a single character, here is my personal strategy guide with which I did it myself. Just remember that I used my machine's difficulty level (I think it's Level 4) and depending on your machine's difficulty setting, some of these tactics may or may not work, but they should all work really. Difficulty just determines their aggressive style and timing. Kyo, Benimaru, Goro Okay, here is a not so difficult team. The only really tough member is Goro, and even he can be easy to beat. Against Kyo, simply stay in the corner, jumping backwards into it (to ensure a few airblocks). Kyo will often do his drop kick or an uppercut, and you'll block it. Then, punish him when you hit the floor with a ground combo. Goro can be killed in the same manner, though he may sometimes grab you out of the air. Never 'Spider' Goro, it will result in an immediate air grab counter. Benimaru is the simplest of the three. 'Super Jump' backwards and the second you leave the ground, stick out your foot (jumpkick). Once you hit the ground, Benimaru will leap into the air after you. At that point, just do a Vertical Arrow and Mary Snatcher. Repeat the process to beat him. Terry, Andy, Joe This team is one that can't really be beat by strategy. Sometimes, it's just luck. Against Terry, use the basic combo with Mary to beat him. Sometimes you may get a Rising Tackle to the face, or even a Power Kaiser DM, but it's not often. If Terry ever does Burning Knuckle or starts a Power Wave cheap, consider yourself lucky. Terry is very punishable after these moves. Andy can be dangerous or stupid. Often times, Andy will come at you with the Shadow Elbow Charge, then do the extra hit. If he does, he can be punished by quickly running and starting a ground combo. If Andy does his Super Sonic Swirl and you're far away, just wait for him to stop, or roll behind and punish him. Joe is easy, sort of. He can be aggressive and cheap at the same time. If he does TNT Punch, and you have at least one gem, use it to roll behind and combo him. Sometimes, when you're on the floor, Joe will Tiger Kick you. You won't get knocked into the air though, instead you'll be waiting on the floor to beat him up. When you see one of his Tornadoes, roll behind the second and finish him up. Ryo, Robert, Yuri Ryo. Good Luck. He's a tough bastard. Your best bet is to run at him and start a ground combo. It's not a perfect strategy, but just stay back in the corner and hope that Ryo does a double kick. You'll mostly be airblocking, and he's punishable after this move. Never roll at him though. He'll usually just grab you. Robert is much easier. Use the same tactic on him as you do with Benimaru. Yuri is pretty easy too. She usually will go into a Tornado Kick/Double Uppercut cheap combo. After the uppercut, punish her. Leona, Ralf, Clark Leona is easy. Wait for her to do the X-Calibur or the Ice Slasher. If she X- Caliburs, run up to her and punish her with a ground combo. If she Ice Slashes, roll behind and beat her up. Ralf is a bastard. It's difficult to jump at him because you may get hit by the hits when he rises up from his 'Ralf Punch'. If he gets you with his Backbreaker, he will usually do his Galatica Phantom DM if he has a gem. When you get up, don't ground combo him. Just run up and either quickly Mary Typhoon him if you're fast, or trip him up. If you play aggressive, you can do a short hop (not jump or super jump) and hit him with a combo. Clark is easy. Use the same tactic on him as you do for Kyo or Goro. Athena, Kensou, Chin Athena isn't so bad. The problem is jumping at her. She'll either teleport or uppercut you. Your best bet is to run at her and ground combo her or wait for her to due a Psychoball. Then, you can run and roll behind the psychoball and beat her up. If she does a Psycho Reflector, jump at her and combo her. Kensou is a bit of problem when air-attacking as well, his Dragon Kick comes out often. If he does a fireball, roll behind the fireball and combo him. Sometimes, he will do a Dragon Fang for no reason. If he does it from far away, wait for him to finish and beat him up. Chin will rarely get hit from the air. Hopping is the best way to kill him. For the hop though, I recommend C. If you use D, you'll be hit by his Rolling Punch. If you jump at Chin, you'll either get hit by the Water Blast or the Fire Blast DM. If Chin does his Drunken Dance from far away, wait for him to finish and beat him up afterwards. Chizuru, Mai, King Chizuru will uppercut when you jump at her. Either that or she'll leap straight up and CD. Again, hopping with the C or D button is the best tactic. If Chizuru does her Holy Light DM (the one that stops you from doing special moves), block. You should be able to see it coming long enough that there is enough time to block. When she's done, beat her up. Mai is usually easy. Don't jump at her until she begins to throw her fans (she'll usually throw them in sets of 3). If you block the first one, wait. If she throws a second, she will throw a third. Right after the second one is thrown, run and jump over the fan, then combo her from the air. You can also charge at her and roll behind her. She'll usually do a Fire uppercut, which when she gets on the floor, punish her. King is brutal. If you jump, you'll be open to most attacks, like Trap Shot, Surprise Rose or Tornado Kick. You can do a few things to win. Hop at her and use C, then combo. Also, run at her then super jump backwards. She'll probably do a Tornado Kick, which you'll be blocking. When you land on the floor, pummel her. If she begins to do a Venom Strike cheap, super jump over them and combo her. Kim, Chang, Choi Kim is pretty easy. The only problem with him is an attack from the air will usually get you kicked from a Half-Moon Kick or his Rising Kick. If he does a slide far away from you, let him finish and then run in and combo him. If you do jump at him, you take the risk of being hit, but it's not often that he'll counter you. Chang is probably the hardest one, and he's not even that tough. Know that if you jump at him, it's either his giant ball to the face, or a jump kick. Hop with C and combo him from there is probably the best technique. Choi is the easiest. He'll usually do his Tornado Claw Spin at you. Always play defensive on Choi, since most of his moves leave him open after you've blocked him. All that means is combo him when you see the opportunity, and there are many of those. Yashiro, Shermie, Chris Another team with not too hard a difficulty. Yashiro is likely to be the hardest one in the team. If you jump at him, he'll either hit you with a Hammer Punch, his counter-uppercut or a Final Impact DM. If he knocks you down, and starts walking towards you while you're on the floor, get up with a Vertical Arrow. The thing with Yashiro is that when he's near your body on the floor, once you get up, he'll usually jump up to avoid being grabbed by Backbreaker or Mary Typhoon DM. If he doesn't jump, he'll either do a Hammer Punch (Vertical Arrow cancels this) or his counter-uppercut (rare, but if he does it, you'll be knocked down again). Shermie is pretty simple. You can use the same tactic on her as you use with Goro. If you play want to play aggressive by jumping at her, do it at your own risk. She may try to air-grab you. Chris is the easiest one. If you jump at him, he'll either teleport or uppercut-kick you. Both are pretty rare. Usually, once he teleports away, he'll teleport back to you and taunt. Punish him at that point. Yamazaki, Blue Mary, Billy Yamazaki is the hardest one here. Jumping at him will either result in a whip, or a counter. You're best bet is to roll behind him (he may try to grab you, try to be ready and break the throw) and attack. If Yamazaki starts a whip cheap (low, medium, high), charge at him right after the medium whip and combo him. Blue Mary isn't that tough. If you play defensively, block low. She likes to hit you with a Straight Slicer, which leaves her way open if blocked. She will rarely use the Vertical Arrow when you jump at her, she likes to use the Counter instead. If you feel like playing aggressive, charging at her may be the best bet. Billy isn't too tough either. Jumping at him is a safe play, he usually won't uppercut you. What he likes to do is spin his stick around him. If you jump attack, use the C button, it has a higher priority than his stick and hits better than the D against this attack. Iori, Mature, Vice Iori (although seen as one of the toughest characters to beat) isn't that tough. Iori will almost always play it safe. He will try to keep you at a distance by throwing fireballs, usually 2 at a time. When you see the second one coming, super jump at him and combo him from the air. If you just jump attack at him, he'll almost always uppercut you. If he gets you with his grab, you are probably going to get a Maiden Masher DM, or a fireball attack if he has no gems. When he gets close, sometimes he likes to use his triple-forearm attack. He does it pretty slowly, so, if you want to play defensive, block the first 2 hits and wait for a third (there's about a 50% chance he'll do the 3rd hit). If you want to be aggressive, block the first hit then charge at him or do a Mary Splash Rose DM. Mature is the easiest one here. Jumping at her won't usually get you killed, she may do her Sacrilege uppercut (which hits once or twice for pitiful damage) or she may do nothing at all. Don't Spin Fall her, she's smart enough to see this and will probably scratch you before you reach her. If Mature begins her Ebony Tear fireball, run, roll behind the fireball (or her) and combo her. Vice is truly the toughest opponent you'll face with Blue Mary. Jumping at her will get you cut up by the Gore Fest kicks, and staying too close to her will get you tossed around like a rag doll. Really, the only to beat her is by hopping at her with the C button. More often than not, you'll get cut up by the kicks, but your C will at least stop her from cutting you up more than once. Takuma, Saisyu, Heidern Takuma is the tougher one in the team. His fireballs are high, and jumping too late will get you killed. The best tactic is to be aggressive and jump at him with the CD (if he does his trap punches, 50% says that you'll knock him out of it). If Takuma begins to do a large fireball he never charges up to the max. Use the same technique as Mature for this and beat him up from behind. Saisyu is one of the easier ones, but not the easiest. Saisyu plays like Iori, throwing 2 fireballs and uppercutting you if you jump too late. Saisyu does the fireball cheap more often then Iori, giving you lots of opportunities to combo from above. Heidern is the easiest one. Always play defensive against him. Playing aggressive will get you slashed by the Moon Slasher. Just sit and wait for the Neck Roller or Storm Bringer DM, and charge at him before he hits the ground to get him with a massive combo (or use Mary Splash Rose DM for fun right after you blocked the hit and he's bounced off). Heavy D!, Lucky, Brian Heavy D! is actually easy (rumours fly that he's the toughest one... WRONG!). Heavy D! can be beat by just playing aggressive with jumps or hops and using the C button. D button is good too, but you'll be hit by his spinning punch and knocked down. Or if you feel supreme (or just have the energy to try), charge at him and ground combo him to death. Lucky is the toughest one here. But Lucky has some very predictable cheap styles, unfortunately, he doesn't go into them too much. If you jump at Lucky, use CD. Lucky likes to use his Cyclone Kick to counter air-attacks. By using CD, you knock him out of this. Sometimes, rather than kicking though, he'll teleport. The 2 predictable and most punishable cheaps he has is one where he does a Dunk Ball, he'll do it 4 times, alternating the angles. Once the ball is in the air after bouncing is the time when you should run (not jump) and combo. By the time he's dunked the ball, he'll be back in the air doing another one. By running at him, you can wait for him to land back on the ground and combo him. The other predictable combo is just like the Dunk Ball, but it's the Ball Bounce instead. Jump at Lucky after the 2nd or 4th ball in order to make it over the ball and combo him from above. Brian is the easiest one in the team. Jumping at him usually won't get you punished by his Rising Shoulder. You should really play defensive against Brian. He'll usually do his Spiralling Headbutt and he's very punishable after this move. If he does a Shoulder Tackle at you for no reason, just be in the defensive position and punish him when he's finished. Shingo Shingo plays pretty wild. Sometimes at the start of the round, he'll do his taunt. Bad move. Charge at him and combo him. Playing defensive is probably the best way to win here. He likes to Shingo Kick often, and if he's near you when he's finished the kick, he's very open to attacks. This is not a tough fight to win at all. Don't jump at Shingo, or do a Spin Fall. He is smart enough to do his uppercut or Shingo Kick early to get you in mid-air. Omega Rugal Yes, the final fight. And guess what? It's not hard. Rugal is cheap, and often will he do his Shockshield/Shockball attack. Charge back often in this fight, because when he does his Shock-shield, do a Straight Slicer. Your legs reach underneath and hit him. If your timing is good, do a Stun Slice immediately after. Rugal is VERY fast and smart. Doing a Straight Slicer isn't enough. Blue Mary has a little lag time after a Straight Slicer. Rugal can hit you with either his Gigantic Pressure DM, a Genocide Cutter or his Omega Punisher DM (the one where he grabs you and does a massive combo). If you want to play defensive, use the Kyo tactic. Jump in the corner repeatedly, blocking his shockballs, and he'll slowly start to move in and get within range of your attacks. Sometimes, he'll get smart and Genocide Cutter you in the corner where either: 1)You drop to the floor, or 2)You block it and have a fraction of a second to attack. If you're too slow, you'll get hit by another Genocide Cutter (Rugal is VERY fast and his Genocide Cutter has almost no frames of lag). If everything goes as planned, he'll do a double kick that will whiff you completely, and you can combo away. 5. Credits Thanks to my friend Wai Lu Ken for downloading some of the videos of KoF '98. (I learned the Mary Dynamite Swing, Mary Typhoon DM combos from that, the other combos were learned while playing '97). His e-mail is: itseamyeah@hotmail.com. Thanks to my local arcade for which I got to test these things out on ^_^ Without it, I wouldn't be writting this FAQ for you! Thanks to you for reading/downloading this. Thanks to gamefaqs for accepting this FAQ. If you're reading it, thank them greatly ^_^ Thanks to Ikuzo for the update on what Mary says to Terry, and fix for her start-up saying and her B win-pose. Also for the info on the B (far) attack. Thanks to Derek Lee for some other updates on her sayings. (The A and C sayings) Thanks to Badtzmiku for the update on her defeated saying, and the little tip about doing a Mary Dynamite Swing DM after a blocked Straight Slicer. There are other thanks, but unfortunetly, don't get the credit because they were a bit slower mailing me than the above people. ============================================================================= === shingo@canada.com RN: Raffaele Saccucci Version 1 October 18, 98. Version 2 April 30, 99. Version 3 May 11, 99 Version 3.1 May 17, 99