Samurai Shodown 2 Cham Cham Guide - Version 0.2 By: LBL Copyright 2004. 01/08/04 Version 0.1 (10/22/98): Original release. Version 0.2 (01/08/04): Second revision. CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. LEGEND III. BASIC ATTACKS IV. SPECIAL MOVES V. STRATEGIES VI. VERSUS CPU VII. VERSUS HUMAN VIII. CLOSING I. INTRODUCTION Can you believe this game will soon be celebrating its 10th year anniversary? Samurai Shodown 5 is already out, but I think most people generally agree that SS2 was the absolute best of the series. Yes, this game is pretty much ancient by today's gamer's standards, but much like good wine, Samurai Shodown 2 only gets better with time. I wrote this FAQ, my first ever, while still a fledging freshman, finding my way in the world at the University of Virginia, and passing my time at the (then) downstairs Newcomb Hall basement poolhall/arcade playing SS2. Of course that was the last year I would be able to do so, as the dark, dank, "sketchy" basement became new clean offices for the Cavalier Daily staff. And the arcade got moved upstairs across the cafeteria with watered down games, much more light than necessary, and none of the heart and coolness the original downstairs version had. Time has passed. I grew up, but I still love this game, and I still love playing games in general. It's something I think I'll never be able to let go of. Finding Samurai Shodown 2 in arcades is probably impossible this day and age. First the game itself is 10 years old, so chances are very slim any place even carries it. Second, arcades themselves are dying. Childhood hangouts are quickly closing down and going out of business now that people can play virtually the same game in the comfort of their own homes. And that's exactly where Samurai Shodown 2 headed. But since an infinitesimally small number of people actually own the NeoGeo system and cart of this game; most of us have turned to online emulation to get our fighting game fix from the games of yesteryear. So with the help of Kaillera, Samurai Shodown 2 still lives on and has moved me to update this old relic of a FAQ. Enjoy. Cham Cham was a new character introduced in Samurai Shodown 2 and she fights with a boomerang and her trusty sidekick monkey. Her story is apparently: Tam Tam, Cham Cham's older brother, was the protector of Green Hell. As the guardian of Green Hell, Tam Tam's duty was to watch over the sacred Tanjil and Pherenx Stones and ensure their safekeeping. However, Mizuki broke into the Green Hell and easily stole both orbs. As punishment for his failure to guard the holy stones, the gods of Green Hell transformed Tam Tam into a monkey. Cham Cham, oblivious to all of this, believes that her brother is has gone missing. She also mistakes transformed Tam Tam as her pet monkey, Paku Paku. When she asks the gods for advice, they tell her that she must retrieve the Tanjil and Pherenx Stones and bring them back to Green Hell if she wishes to see Tam Tam again. Without a thought, Cham Cham grabs her trusty boomerang and fetches who she thinks is Paku Paku, and sets off on her quest to retrieve the two stolen orbs. Selecting Cham Cham with the A button results in her default color (yellow outfit, green hair, brown monkey). Selecting her with the D button results in her alternate color (white outfit, blue hair, white monkey; the color I prefer). II. LEGEND U- Up D- Down F- Forward B- Backward DF- Down Forward DB- Down Back UF- Up Forward UB- Up Back QCF- A quarter circle forward (D, DF, F) QCB- A quarter circle back (D, DB, B) HCF- A half circle forward (B, DB, D, DF, F) HCB- A half circle back (F, DF, D, DB, B) DP- Dragon Punch motion (F, D, DF) RDP- Reverse Dragon Punch motion (B, D, DB) Buttons are self-explanatory III. BASIC ATTACKS A Slash: Crouching (far)- A really quick claw swipe. In panic situations, this can be used in rapid succession to avoid being thrown. Whenever you are too close to your opponent and need a breather, crouching A claw swipes are your best bet to keep them away. Crouching (close)- A low elbow attack used in a similar fashion to the close version. Standing (far)- A standing quick claw swipe. Used similar to the crouching versions. Since all have the same basic effect, to keep them out when they get too close, stick with the crouching versions instead because the standing versions leave her vulnerable low. Standing (close)- A standing elbow attack. Jumping- An air version of her crouching A. It has good priority over other jump attacks, but it lacks range and damage. Cham Cham shouldn't be meeting people in the air much with her slashes anyway. B Slash: Crouching- A low boomerang swipe. Decent speed as far as slashes are concerned, but the range is only so-so. Good safe poke to keep people away from you. Standing- A standing boomerang swipe. Like the crouching version, it has only mediocre range, but it's fast, so if you need to really quickly punish something, it's a good choice. Jumping- A jumping swipe with the boomerang. Nothing special, not worth using. AB Slash: Crouching (far)- Cham Cham will toss her boomerang on the ground a short distance from her. This attack hits low so you can use it to catch opponents who are standing. It can hit 2 times depending on the distance. It has good range, but its slow on release and very slow recovering, so use it mostly for punishing laggy mistakes. Crouching (close)- Cham Cham will flip with the boomerang. Be very careful about this move because sometimes it comes out when you want the far version instead. Dizzy punisher is basically the only practical use for this move. Standing (far)- Cham Cham will toss her boomerang a short distance from her. This attack is virtually the same as the crouching far version, but it does not hit low. It is a mistake punisher only, because it is very slow on release and recovery to throw out in any other situation. Standing (close)- Uppercut boomerang, similar to the crouching close version but without the flip. You would think it would act as a good anti-air, but it isn't. Again, be careful of it coming out when you wanted the far version instead. Jumping- Cham Cham will slash upwards with her boomerang. This is very good for meeting people in the air and countering characters whose jump in attacks don't extend below them (when I say extend below them, I mean attacks like Charlotte's jumping AB or Ukyo's jumping AB slash). It's basically an anti-air of sorts, but it's not as good as Nakoruru's. It's not a very good for starting combos since she swings the boomerang from down to up; thus you must hit VERY deep if you want to jump in with it. C Kick: Crouching- A short ranged crouching kick. Use it to stop enemies from advancing on you. Use to get some breathing room like the crouching A claw swipes. Standing- A short ranged standing kick. Not too useful. Jumping- Cham Cham will jump in with her butt. It does piddly little damage, but it has good air priority. D Kick: Crouching- Like the C, only slightly slower. No real use. Standing- Like C, only slightly slower. No real use. Jumping- Like C, only slightly slower. CD Kick: Crouching- A very quick slide. This move is very important in your ground game because it is very fast, covers a lot of ground, and recovers quickly. Use this to catch those standing off guard and set up her Jumping Scratch cross up game. Standing- A handstand kick. The computer seems to use this as an anti- air move better than I can. As such, I think it's too slow on release to be a reliable anti-air, and too slow on recovery to be used often. Not a useful move IMO. Jumping- A somersault kick. It looks nice, but I don't find it very useful. Mainly, you will be using her standing and crouching B slashes to poke. Her crouching A slashes to keep them off your back when they get dangerously close. Her CD slide to catch people off guard. And her AB slashes to punish mistakes. When appropriate, jumping AB to catch jumpers. Cham Cham relies much more on her special moves and throws to do the bulk of her damage. IV. SPECIAL MOVES 1. HORIZONTAL BOOMERANG THROW: QCF + Slash The slash used determines the length Cham Cham throws the boomerang. It also determines the start up time before the boomerang is tossed. The A version goes about half the screen, has the least start up, and the least recovery time. The B version goes nearly full screen, has moderate start up, and moderate recovery time. The AB version goes well past full screen distance (it goes off the screen), has the longest start up, and the longest recovery time (making the AB version basically useless). The Boomerang Throw goes through all projectiles (except itself) and cancels all pet attacks. While the boomerang is traveling, Cham Cham is considered weaponless and will take blocked damage from weapon slashes. You will almost exclusively stick with the B version of the Horizontal Boomerang Throw. The A version does not travel far enough, and the AB version is just unnecessary as the B version travels just about full screen without the awfully slow start up and recovery. Use the Horizontal Boomerang throw when you see them throw a laggy projectile from far away (Charlotte, Haohmaru, Galford, Hanzo, Nicotinie, etc.) or when you predict they will throw a quick release fireball (Jubei and Gen-An's Poison Puffs). Also throw a meaty boomerang over an opponent's body as they get up for a safe full screen tick of damage. 2. VERTICAL BOOMERANG THROW: QCB + Slash The slash used determines the height and angle the boomerang is thrown. Like the Horizontal Boomerang Throw, the A version as the smallest horizontal range, quickest start up, and quickest recovery while the AB version has the largest horizontal range (almost full screen), longest start up, and longest recovery. Although this is supposed to be an anti-air move, it's too slow to be used on reaction. And the awkward angle at which Cham Cham throws the boomerang allows certain jump attacks to avoid it completely. Thus the Vertical Boomerang Throw is best used as anticipation to an opponent jumping. Use it when they start taking to the air predictably or when you just feel they will jump (like Ukyo jumping up to do air Swallow Swipes), and remember to use the correct angle version. While the boomerang is in the air, Cham Cham is considered weaponless and will take blocked damage from weapon slashes. 3. JUMPING SCRATCH: QCF+ Kick This is Cham Cham's most important attack and her entire game will revolve around your skilled use of this move. The move has very high priority versus all other attacks. Very few moves will counter it clean, and at worst you will trade hits. Also, the recovery time on the C and D Jumping Scratch is deceptively small, setting them up for an easy throw or another Jumping Scratch. Her hit box is very large too, and you can hit with the absolute very tip of her roll animation and bounce back to safety. The C version travels about 1/3 of the screen and causes her to bounce back to her original position when blocked. The D version travels 2/3 of the screen and causes her to bounce back a little farther than where the C version would've put her. The CD version travels full screen, but causes her to bounce straight up above the enemy if blocked. Use this to annoy, counter, and confuse. For annoyance, remember that the recovery time on the C and D versions is very small. Very often, a blocked C or D Jumping Scratch will allow you to throw them upon your landing. Even the CD version can set up a throw, as a blocked CD Jumping Scratch makes you bounce right above them, so you land right next to them when you reach the ground. For countering, a Jumping Scratch can catch them if you predict them throwing a projectile; you'll sail over the projectile and do more damage than if you had boomeranged through it. You can also anti-air with the Jumping Scratch. Meeting them in the air with a Jumping Scratch usually beats out anything in they can do in the air, and it's especially good if you catch them jumping backwards. For confusion, the best part of the Jumping Scratch is that it CROSSES UP! Depending on your position, you can hit the opponent from behind and force them to have blocked backwards. It is absolutely CRUCIAL that you learn what distance will result in a Jumping Scratch cross up because it is probably the single most dangerous part of Cham Cham's strategy. If you're constantly mixing up regular Jumping Scratches with cross up ones, it becomes very difficult to determine what side you will be land on. It's basically an ambiguous cross up that can lead to a throw if blocked in either case. Learn to use this move like second nature! 4. PAKU PAKU CHARGE: HCB + C Cham Cham will order Paku Paku to rush at the enemy. It must be blocked low and travels at a decent speed. While Paku Paku is charging at the opponent, Cham Cham is very vulnerable since she continues to point for a long time. It is best used from full screen distance when you think they will jump and land on the monkey. Otherwise, up close it leaves her too vulnerable and Paku Paku doesn't travel fast enough or do enough damage to punish mistakes. 5. PAKU PAKU SKULL THROW: HCB + D Cham Cham will order Paku Paku to throw a skull projectile. The skull projectile travels very slowly, but it does go full screen. Since it's very easy to avoid and see coming, there is not much use for this move. There is start up on it, and Cham Cham is still as vulnerable as ever while she's pointing. Plus her B Horizontal Boomerang is the better projectile as it does more damage and negates oncoming fireballs in the process. Still the Paku Paku Skull Throw is sometimes good just to mess with people's jumping timing when they were expecting a Boomerang Throw instead, just don't use it too often. 6. PAKU PAKU RISING EXPLOSION FIREBALL: HCB + CD The most useful of the Paku Paku moves. Cham Cham will order Paku Paku to spit a fireball on the ground in front of him which explodes into a giant rising fireball. This move does extreme chip damage and is best used right on top of someone getting up since there is too much start up to do at any other time. Even if blocked, there is slight recovery time afterwards, so quick long ranged attacks can still reach her. Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball can't be used as a reactionary anti-air because of its start up, but from far away you can throw them out to shield you from opponents who you think will jump forward to get closer to you. 7. BACK SCRATCHER: F + B/AB/D/CD Cham Cham will grab her opponent, lie on her back, and scratch the hell out of them. This is her only throw and it above average damage for a throw. The main disadvantage is that it charges your opponents POW bar really fast. It is an integral part of her mix up game. 8. [POW SPECIAL] METABOLIE ATTACK: F, HCF + A A.K.A. Beast Rush. This is Cham Cham's POW move. She turns into a giant beast-like form of herself and rushes across the screen toward your opponent. This is best used to catch a jumping opponent who is still in the air. Like all POW moves, if it connects, it will break your opponent's weapon. This is NOT one of the better POW moves. First, the start up in the beginning when she grows large is long enough to see it coming. Therefore it's best only to use when they are already in the air (like jumping back). Second, it is very easy to hit her out of the move as it has no invincibility frames at all. A simple projectile or extending slash will knock her right out of it. And lastly, she has horrendous recovery time on the move if blocked or not where she slowly transforms back to normal size. It is best to avoid using her POW move at all unless under surefire guaranteed-to-connect circumstances such as when they are dizzy. 9. SUPER DEFORMED BABY DOLL: HCB, RDP + C Cham Cham will turn into a cute doll. She cannot be thrown, but she can be hit out of it. Cancel this move by pressing BC. 10. TAUNTS: AC or BD when 1/3 screen away or farther from opponent AC taunt will cause Cham Cham to scratch her ears with her feet like a dog. The BC taunt will cause Cham Cham to stretch and meow like a cat. You can cancel both taunts by pressing BC. V. STRATEGIES Basically, you'll want to be ready to counter your opponent's mistakes at any time. Be specifically on the lookout for long range projectiles which will score you an easy B Horizontal Boomerang or Jumping Scratch. Pressure constantly by mixing up cross up Jumping Scratches and regular Jumping Scratches, landing with a throw attempt if either was blocked. And remember DON'T jump in a lot, but instead make your opponents come to you. 1. Jumping Scratch Strategies Unless your opponent is really looking for this move, it is really hard to stop. You generally want this move to cross up the opponent since it is really hard to tell what is a cross up Jumping Scratch and a regular Jumping Scratch. Once they learn to consistently block the cross up one, you should start switching to the regular version to mess them up and frustrate them. Two good distances to use this is after a maximum ranged blocked standing B slash or maximum ranged blocked CD slide. Both set up to choose between whether to do the cross up or not, and give you a good throw attempt when you land. Jumping Scratches are pretty safe chippers too, even though they don't seem like it. It's because you bounce back to safety almost all the time. If they are down to their last pixels of health, and you need that one special move to chip them to death, C Jumping Scratches are probably your best bet because it comes out so fast and recovers so quickly. Just be careful that some characters CAN hit you on recovery (Haohmaru standing AB, Ukyo standing AB, etc.), but often times even those need to be meticulously timed and if mistimed will whiff and give you a free throw anyway. One final, stylish use of the Jumping Scratch is the cross up Jumping Scratch vs. Rage Explosions. When an opponents POW bar fills up, they briefly pose for a second with full invincibility. During this time, you should time a meaty cross up Jumping Scratch to land on them the instant they come out of that pose. If timed right, this is very very difficult to stop. The timing is ultra difficult though, because too early will make you miss completely and too late will allow them enough time to have moved out of the way. 2. Boomerang Strategies Despite it being her weapon, Cham Cham doesn't rely on her Boomerang Throws very much. The Horizontal Boomerang Throws are used primarily when you see them throw any kind of projectile for a free hit; and you will almost always be only using the B version. The Vertical Boomerang Throws are purely used in anticipation of them jumping in the air. You should toss a Vertical Boomerang only at half screen distance or farther since any closer will leave you much too vulnerable. Whenever you score a long range Jumping Scratch that bounces you back to the other side of the screen, you should always throw a meaty Horizontal Boomerang on top of them as they're getting up for a free tick of blocked damage. 3. Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball Strategies The best time to use this is after a successful throw, except in the corner (because their body is too close to yours for you to walk back in time to be at a safe distance). Time it so that they get up right when the fireball hits the ground and starts to rise. They will be forced to block and take tremendous blocked damage. But be careful that Cham Cham is still vulnerable afterwards to long range attacks. Against people with long range AB slashes, you can still attempt to chip them with Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball, but you must hit them with the very tip of the Rising Fireball, so you have to walk backwards a bit before throwing it out. You don't get nearly as much chip damage this way compared if you made them block right in the middle of the rising fireball; but this keeps you at a safer distance away to avoid their counter attacks. Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireballs are good when you are at a little past half screen and beyond too. They will basically shield you from an opponent trying to advance on you, and if you anticipated correctly, you can sometimes catch them trying to jump in and the fireball will nail them in the air. Just be very careful to take note of the start up this move has, and time it properly so that the opponent doesn't have time to roll or dash forward to escape and hurt you while you're pointing. 4. Throw strategies Cham Cham game basically revolves around her Jumping Scratches and throws. After any blocked Jumping Scratch that will make you land next to the enemy after you bounce off them (mostly from blocked cross up C Jumping Scratches or blocked CD Jumping Scratches), you should always try to throw them. You will get your throw off much more often than you think and it will frustrate your opponent to no end. Run up throw is a very simple but effective strategy as well, especially because Cham Cham has one of the faster runs. When both of you are just pacing back and forth at around half screen distance apart, sometimes you should just run up to them and try to land a throw. You'll land it more often than you should, I promise. Remember after every throw (except in the corner), you set up the perfect distance to throw a Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball for free chip damage as they get up. 5. Slide strategies Cham Cham slide (crouching CD) is a very effective ground weapon. It is incredibly long ranged and the best part is she recovers very quickly from it. I cannot think of any attack off the top of my head that can hit a maximum ranged blocked slide. Since this move really catches people off guard, I try not to overly use it too often because then they will start looking for it. But whenever you see them standing around 1/3 screen distance away from you or closer, you should try to slide and knock them down, leading to a cross up Jumping Scratch attempt or Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball chip afterwards depending on the distance. Another good mix up involving a slide is after they get thrown. Sometimes, after a successful throw and I attempt to do the Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball chip, I sometimes get the motion wrong and end up doing a standing CD instead. What happens is after the standing CD kick ends, I immediately CD slide afterwards and they usually end up getting knocked out of their attempt to punish the whiffed standing CD kick. So then I began purposely doing the whiffed standing CD kick after a successful throw in order to draw out their counter attempt which I am able to do a CD slide to knock them back. Slides are a very useful tool for your ground game, and you should learn to implement them as a means to punish mistakes, advance forward, and set up your Jumping Scratch distances. 6. Metabolie Attack [POW move] strategies In general, don't use this. It's easy to see coming, easy to hit her out of it, and easy to punish when blocked. But when the opportunity presents itself, sometimes when you see them take to the air, you can quickly bust this move out and nail them while they are still airborne. Be careful of Ukyo who can still bust out an air Swallow Swipe fireball of his own. 7. Quick fall strategies Quick fall is a technique I recently learned about that is really really useful to implement in your general gameplan. Basically, when you are hit out of the air and you were very low to the ground, you will drop to the ground VERY fast taking VERY LITTLE damage and be able to get up and recover in time to counter what knocked you down in the first place. This is especially important in the vs. Sieger fight where most of the time you want to intentionally jump and get hit by his Vulcan Arm Cannon so that you avoid the extreme block damage, making you fall down really quick and get up in time to nail him on recovery. This also applies to AB slashes as well. Against people like Haohmaru who whores his standing AB or Charlotte who whores her AB slashes, you can intentionally BC hop and get hit by their AB slash, only to quickly fall and get back up to hit them in their recovery, all the while taking piddly damage. It's hardly something to revolve your whole game around, but it's there for you to remember and use when needed. VI. CPU STRATEGIES I have only played the CPU on difficulty 4 so I don't know if these strategies will work on any difficulty setting higher. There are 2 general CPU strategies that you must learn, both of which involve throwing your opponent. Also as a general rule, CPU characters are more aggressive when they are weaponless, or when time is running out and you're in the lead. THE BLOCKED JUMPING SCRATCH: This is just like fighting humans. Make the CPU block any Jumping Scratch that will make you land right next to them after you've bounced off, and immediately throw them when you land. They will consistently mistime their counters and you will get the throw in almost everytime. BOUNCE OFF THE WALL THROW: Retreat towards a corner and make your opponent follow you. Make sure they are at a distance so that after you bounce off the wall, you will land right next to them. Then, do a triangle jump off the wall and land on either side of them. As soon as you land, throw them. Depending on which direction you threw them, you can repeat the process again on the same corner, or retreat to the other side and repeat the process there. Be careful, a few CPU characters can counter you, but the majority (including Mizuki and Kuroko) will fall for it. This works against humans too. HAOHMARU: There is a risky trick you can do against CPU Haohmaru. As soon as the battle starts, do a standing AB slash. Very often Haohmaru will have mistimed his attacks and you get a free AB slash. Try to remain this distance throughout the whole match and continue to do standing AB slashes. Done enough times and Haohmaru will get dizzy and you get an easy win. Sometimes you will lock weapons and which case you should madly tap the A button and wiggle the joystick to disarm him. Once he's disarmed, keep him away from his sword by doing high and low far AB slashes to tick off damage (the low AB slash will catch his slides). This tactic is risky since if you mistime your AB slash of he blocks it at close range, he could do an AB slash to hit you. If you ever see him go into a Rage Explosion from a full POW bar, hop back since he will most likely throw a Hurricane Fireball at you if you were far; in which you can easily B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through it to hit him. You can tell whenever he will throw his Hurricane projectile since it has such a long start up time and delay, so you should ALWAYS B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through it. Don't try the Blocked Jumping Scratch tactic too much because he can uppercut you. The Off the Wall Throw tactic can be similarly uppercutted, but you have another option. Do the Off the Wall Throw tactic, but instead of landing next to him after you bounced off the wall, draw him in closer into the corner than normal so that you land far past him after you bounce off. He might try to uppercut you, which will miss because you would have jumped over it. Do a standing AB slash as he lands then rather, rise, repeat. CHARLOTTE: As soon as the round begins, she will usually try to poke you with an A slash. You can counter this by doing a crouching AB slash right as the round starts to hit her. The Blocked Jumping Scratch strategy works fairly well as does the Off the Wall Throw tactic. Charlotte can sometimes do an uppercut to hit you if you try the latter, in which case you should follow the Haohmaru modification to the tactic mentioned above, by bouncing off the wall and landing far past her so that her Power Gradation misses. Sometimes Charlotte will just stand still and taunt (she will flick the tip of her sword). She does this quite often and if you can predict it, do a B Horizontal Boomerang Throw to hit her. If you block her Splash Gradation POW move, wait for it to fade and do a CD slide hit her in her recovery. SIEGER: The Blocked Jumping Scratch strategy (use the CD version) works wonders on Sieger. He will always try to counter attack which will miss. Repeat until he's dead. NAKORURU: She will run in a lot. You can do low A slashes to stop her from coming close, or throw her. If she jumps from far away, counter with an air AB slash since she jumps so high. If she gets on her bird, wait and if she does her Flaming Dive attack, block and counter. The Blocked Jumping Scratch works on her fairly well. She will attempt to throw her bird at you which will (usually) miss if you positioned yourself correctly at which point you can throw her. The Off the Wall Throw strategy works on her too. If she taunts, quickly do the most damaging attack that can reach her in time. GENJURO: As soon as the round begins, block. Sometimes he will start off with a Rushing Sword Strike that you can block and throw. Don't try the Blocked Jumping Scratch trick, he'll uppercut you. The Off the Wall Throw works sometimes, but he will often wise up as the round progresses and uppercut you. If he starts doing this, do the Haohmaru modification of Off the Wall of landing far behind him after bounching off the wall, and punish him with an AB slash or throw when he lands from his missed uppercut. Sometimes, Genjuro will try to stop the Off the Wall trick by jumping back with a kick. If you see him do this, as soon as you bounce off the wall, do an air AB slash. When he's at full screen distance (which will be rarely because he advances on you constantly), throw B Boomerang Throws since it will counter his fireballs if he threw one (if he didn't, it's 1 tick of blocked damage). Genjuro likes to throw a lot, if you feel him getting too close to you, either do rapid low A slashes or attempt to throw yourself. NICOTINE: Do a C Jumping Scratch as soon as the round begins. He usually throws a fireball and if he did, you'll nail him. The Blocked Jumping Scratch and Off the Wall trick both work pretty well on him. Try to stay at full screen and wait for him to throw a fireball. If he does, do a B Boomerang Throw through it to hit him. GEN-AN: He usually starts the round by doing a triangle jump off the wall. Let him, and then counter with an air AB. Sometimes you will trade hits, but it will be in your favor. He jumps a lot so use air AB slashes to knock him out of the air. Boomerang through his poison gas clouds if you see him start it. After you block any of his rolling attacks, do an A boomerang before he recovers. The Blocked Jumping Scratch and Off the Wall tricks aren't useful in this match, since CPU Gen-An will usually counter you. If your POW is charged and you see him jump, immediately do the Beast Rush to nail him. When he gets close, he will continuously slide at you a lot. Either jump straight up, do crouching A slashes, or BC hop to counter/avoid. Be careful of his really long range crouching AB slash. EARTHQUAKE: As soon as the match begins, jump at him with an AB slash. He almost always starts off with a low attack, and that means you'll get a free hit. If you block his Fat Drop, walk closer as he's descending and do an AB slash as he lands. If he does a Rolling Buzzsaw, block and either throw or AB slash. If he does his Fat Copy move, look at the motion under his name next to his life bar. If the A version was used, Earthquake will appear on the left side. If the B version was used, Earthquake will appear on the right side. Determine which side it is and throw him as he appears. If he tries his POW move on you (he will try to grab you will a glowing hand), do a Jumping Scratch on him. Don't try any of the tactics, you're better off counter his moves. GALFORD: Both tricks work pretty well on Galford. If he does his Double Image Teleport, like Earthquake, determine which side he will appear on by looking at the motion under his name and throw him. If he does tries his Drop Counter Attack (he'll turn into a log of wood as soon as you hit him), block high and wait for him to drop down. After you block his drop, move forward as he's descending and do an standing AB slash as he lands. HANZO: He's more crafty than Galford but there's an extra trick you can use against him. Do a C version Jumping Scratch at maximum range. Hanzo will block and try to do a standing AB slash to counter that will miss. As you land do a standing AB slash before he recovers. This works reasonably well, but sometimes Hanzo will do Drop Attack as you jump at him and he will hit you. He throws fireballs a lot him there is distance between you. Just B Boomerang Throw through them. If he does a Double Image Teleport, look at the motion to determine where he'll appear and then throw him. If he SUDDENLY disappears (you didn't attack him), it means he's going to do his Drop Attack. Like Galford, block high and nail him with an AB slash as he lands. If you attack him and then he disappears into a log of wood, that means he's going to do his low AB counter attack. Block LOW, wait for him to reappear, and counter. Off the Wall is fairly effective on him, but Blocked Jumping Scratch is too risky. Also be aware that Hanzo loves to Spinning Piledriver you, and he'll especially try if you're ahead in energy and time's running out. WAN-FU: Blocked Jumping Scratch is dangerous since he has an uppercut. Off the Wall works on him somewhat. Try to be slightly on the defensive and not attack so much. That way, if he decides to throw his weapon at you, you can block and then keep him away from it. Once he loses his weapon, do lots of standing AB slashes to drain his energy and then you can do Blocked Jumpin Scratches. If he ever bangs his heap against his pillar or taunt, immediately do the appropriate distance Jumping Scratch or Boomerang Throw to hit him. JUBEI: Both Blocked Jumping Scratch and Off the Wall work reasonably well. If you're ever hit by his AB slash, immediately jump backwards because the second part of the slash is unblockable. If you get about 2/3 distance away from him, he might begin throwing ground fireballs that you can B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through. If you hit him with your boomerang, keep your distance and stay still. As he gets up, he will sometimes throw another ground fireball, and you can repeat the process again (he'll eventually wise up, though). If you block his rushing uppercut, retaliate with an AB slash or throw. If you block his 1000 Slashes move, wait for it to push you away to safety and do an A Boomerang Throw. KYOSHIRO: Most of the time this guy is super easy to kill, but occasionally he can be tough if you encounter him late in your CPU line-up. He tosses Fireball Fans *A LOT* and if you can anticipate it, you can do a Jumping Scratch (whichever version appropriate) every time to nail him. He usually tosses fans if you're more than half screen distance away. Off the Wall usually doesn't work because he does a Flying Spin. Blocked Jumping Scratch can be dangerous for the same reason. Sometimes he jumps in from really far away, in that case, you can time it so that he lands on your standing AB when it's extended. If you block his Fire Breath, wait for it to end and attack with AB. In general, you shouldn't have much trouble with him if you constantly look for the Fireball Fan tosses and Jumping Scratch to counter them. UKYO: Don't try Blocked Jumping Scratch because he can do a Swallow Swipe to counter. If you block his Multiple Apple Slice attack, like Jubei, wait for it to push you away and do an A Boomerang Throw afterwards. Off the Wall works on him. Other than that, just be careful of his long range crouching AB, if you block it, counter with a standing AB (if you're close) or crouching CD slide (if you were far). CHAM CHAM: This match against her twin can prove to be slightly difficult if you encounter her late in your CPU line-up. Off the Wall won't work so don't try it. Blocked Jumping Scratch works sometimes. If you ever block her Jumping Scratch (especially the C version), be REAL quick to counter since it has quick recovery time. If you do a C Jumping Scratch at maximum range and she blocks it, she will usually try to retaliate with a C Jumping Scratch herself. If you were at maximum range, you will be able to block her scratch attempt and counter. Be careful of CPU Cham Cham crossing you up with a Jumping Scratch. The CPU can become VERY aggressive when time is low and you're in the lead. At that point play very defensive. Don't jump back a lot since she might do a perfectly timed Jumping Scratch and nail you while you were still in the air. Be careful of her slide and the above-mentioned cross up. MIZUKI: The endboss of Samurai Shodown 2 can be quite a challenge. The thing to be careful of is her POW move. She charges up her bar REALLY fast and her POW move is especially dangerous and damaging. As soon as the round starts, look to see if Mizuki jumped at you. If she did, immediately do a jumping AB slash to hit her. As you land, jump back and retreat. DO NOT try Blocked Jumping Scratch since she'll teleport out of the way and you'll eat serious damage. Off the Wall surprisingly works on Mizuki, but just remember your throw will cause her POW bar to fill up to maximum. Don't try this when she has a full POW since she'll make you land right on it the Hell Orb. If she teleports, jump towards her since she most likely was going to appear behind where you previously were. She usually teleports after she's thrown a projectile, in that case, jump over the fireball. If you happen to get turned into a monkey, quickly get as close to Mizuki as possible and push her into the corner. You can sometimes throw her as soon as soon as you transform back. Here's a good trick on how to beat her: Stay about a little over half screen's distance away from her and do a B version Boomerang Throw. This usually prompts Mizuki to throw her Energy Pool at you, but it will pass under you and she will get hit. Wait for her to get up first and repeat the process until she dies. The problem occurs when you screw up the distance between you and her then you'll get sucked up in the pool and she'll escape, or when she just refuses to throw the Energy Pool. In either case, get back to the correct distance and try again. Generally, that trick all comes down to luck. Sometimes it works great on her; sometimes it'll fail miserably. It's always best to wait for her POW to dissipate and block low to avoid the Energy Pools. KUROKO: You can fight him randomly after you beat your third CPU character or if you beat the 6th, 8th, or 10th opponent (CPU or human) with your POW move on the deciding round with less than 20 seconds left on the timer. He's very difficult. Forget Blocked Jumping Scratch. I only beat him once by using Off the Wall tactics, but the other times I fought him, he would always counter this strategy. I would suggest you try Off the Wall, but other than that, all I can offer you is luck. VII. VS HUMAN HAOHMARU: This match is about avoiding his standing AB slash. It has tremendous range, has deceptively small recovery time when blocked, and does big damage. You want to be careful about doing too many blocked Jumping Scratches because Haohmaru can standing AB slash to counter the C and D versions at the right distances. Also look out for his slide which can catch you off guard if you were standing. On the ground, look for him to throw a Hurricane projectile and B Horizontal Boomerang through them always. You should never take to the air because he can uppercut you; but make sure you punish whiffed uppercuts accordingly. CHARLOTTE: A lot of Charlotte players take a cue from the CPU and start the round of by poking at you with a B slash. Counter this by doing a low AB slash to hit her if you think she will do this. Charlotte is completely dominant with her AB slashes. On the ground, she will use standing AB to anti-air all your jumps and crouching AB to punish mistakes. In the air, she will constantly kamikaze jump AB you to death. You must keep her from ever getting her offensive game going by constantly cross up Jumping Scratching into throw attempts. Charlotte can't standing AB the Jumping Scratch for a clean hit, either the Jumping Scratch will hit clean or at worst trade. Slides are good too keep Charlotte defensive and constantly blocking low, setting you up for more cross up Jumping Scratches. Like always, if you ever see Charlotte throw a Tri-Slash projectile, B Horizontal Boomerang through it. When Charlotte gets predictable with her kamikaze jumping AB slashes, time an appropriate Vertical Boomerang Throw to nail her in the air. SIEGER: Watch out for his Vulcan Cannon chip. If Sieger ever knocks you down and attempts to meaty Vulcan Cannon over you as you get up, *JUMP* as you get up. You'll get hit once by his arm and quickly fall straight to the ground, able to get up and attack him in time as he's recovering. Cross up Jumping Scratches are the way to go here, and keep pressure going by throwing Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireballs from half screen distance or farther to keep him from ever getting too close to start his chip game. Be careful of random 3-hit Backbreaker combos if Sieger does manages to get in close because the first slide part hits low. NAKORURU: She wants you to jump at her, so don't. If you see her order her bird at you, and you're 2/3 screen distance or more, do a D or CD Jumping Scratch to catch her. If she jumps at you, do a jumping AB slash. Her Ground Blade Runner hits low, so always be ready for a random one. If she gets on her bird, just wait. She's just baiting you to jump or do something laggy so she can Flame Dive. She has horrible recovery time on all her moves, so it's easy to punish them when blocked. If your POW is charged, do a Beast Rush if she ever jumps (forward or back). GENJURO: The thing you should be careful about are his Rushing Sword Strikes (x2 or x3). The first Rushing Sword Strike has to be blocked backwards (hold towards). Smart Genjuro players will only do 2 Strikes, because the 3rd one hits randomly. If you do get caught in them, always be prepared for the third Strike anyway, and if you get a successful block, CD slide to punish. His fireball is too fast to B Horizontal Boomerang through on reaction, but you can anticipate them and throw them accordingly. Cross up Jumping Scratches into throw attempts work fine here, because his uppercut does not have much priority. Do be careful of his powerful AB slashes which can dizzy you very quickly. NICOTINE: Nicotine is totally reliant on his projectiles to force you to jump into his anti-air. Luckily, you have your B Horizontal Boomerang Throw which will totally destroy all of his projectiles and hit him in the process. One thing to really be careful of is his crouching B slash which is very fast and has excellent range. You must block it low. His jumping AB slash has good priority in the air too, but you shouldn't be taking into the air with normal jumps anyway. If you ever get caught in by his Staff Hook Chain, mash out of the dizzy quickly to avoid the next hit. GEN-AN: Tough cookie. If you are ever caught in his repeated slides, do a quick BC hop to get out and get some breathing room. Watch for those Poison Clouds at full screen and always be ready to B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through them. Be careful of using too many Jumping Scratches, because he can standing B slash you on recovery. Never meet him in the air because his jumping slashes have more priority than any of your attacks. His POW move has no recovery time when blocked, so be careful of that. If you ever block his Rolling Claw Attack, make sure you can throw the appropriate Boomerang Toss to reach him in time. EARTHQUAKE: Be careful of his jumping slashes and body splash attacks. They have really high priority, but your Jumping Slashes should beat him out. On the ground, be careful of his AB slashes; they have exceptional range and are quick to recover to boot. You shouldn't be doing Jumping Scratches in this fight at all because his AB slashes will be able to reach you in time. Instead, look for his jumps and counter with jumping AB slashes. From far away, you can throw Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireballs to keep him back and catch him if he did jump; again be careful to not be AB counter slashed in your recovery. Blocked Fat Teleport Drops can be punished by walking up a bit and standing AB slash or CD slides. Blocking his Buzzsaw nets you a free hit or throw afterwards, go for the throw after a blocked A version Buzzsaw because he can recover quick from that. If he does his Fat Copy Teleport, you have to take a guess at where he will appear, but its safer if you try an air attack, that way he can't standing AB slash you if you guess wrong. GALFORD: He can rush down well, but it gets predictable if you know what's coming. At full screen, you can B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through his Plasma Blades and any ground Poppy attacks. Be looking for when he might send Poppy to drop above your head, and if you think he will, that's a free Jumping Scratch for you. Be careful of his run up Spinning Pile Driver/crouching AB slash mix up. You can BC hop to avoid both, or jump away and attack. Cross up Jumping Slashes into throw attempts are the way to go here as well, but be careful about taking to the air too much. His jumping AB slash has a lot of priority, but it's not like you will jump a lot either. Finally, if you ever block any of his slashes on the ground or if he whiffs any of his slashes, you can CD slide to catch him on his recovery. HANZO: Similar to the Galford match in that you have to worry about his run up Spinning Pile Driver attempts and his jumping and crouching AB slashes. You can B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through his Fireball attempts, and you can Jumping Scratch or Vertical Boomerang Throw his Air Shiruken Tosses. Cross up Jumping Scratches and throw attempts as normal, but be careful of Hanzo's that Teleport Drop out of the way. Be on the lookout for those as well, as they give you free damage if he ever tries it. If he suddenly turns into the log, it's the Teleport Drop which you can block high, then standing AB slash or CD slide afterwards when he lands. If you hit him then he suddenly turns into a log, it's the Teleport Counter which you can block low, then AB slash or CD slide to retaliate. Like Galford, any of his whiffed or blocked slashes on the ground will give you a free CD slide. WAN FU: He has an uppercut, but it's really hard to hit cross up Jumping Slashes, so you should really try for those. On the ground, just watch out for his Confucious Swings and Pillar Sweep, as both are fast and do good damage. You can hit them on recovery with a CD slide though. Most good Wan Fu's will only toss their weapon at you when you are either getting up or to cross up you. So be on the lookout for both, and block correctly if you can. If you do manage to block correctly, keep him from getting his weapon back at all costs, since unarmed, Wan Fu is forced to do butt attacks on the ground (easily predicted and punishable when whiffed/blocked) and jumping butt attacks (jumping AB slash to counter). JUBEI: Jubei players will whore two things: his jumping B slash and his quick Ground Fireball. For the Jumping B slash, you have to just not be jumping to not get hit; simple. Against the Ground Fireballs, they are too fast to B Horizontal Boomerang Throw on reaction, but you can predict them and throw your Boomerang when you suspect he will throw it out. Cross up Jumping Scratches into throws are good as usual. His POW super move can be done repeatedly, so when he gets raged, be on the lookout for players who will just POW continuously and counter appropriately. His Blade Counters won't be much of a problem since you aren't reliant on your slashes (jumping or standing) anyway. CD slide to punish his mistakes on the ground. KYOSHIRO: Things to be careful of: Spinning Flame Kick chip, Air Spin (beats everything in the air), long range B and AB slashes. His Fan Toss Fireballs are slow enough so you can B Horizontal Boomerang Throw through them when you see it coming. His Air Spin can beat out your Jumping Scratch, but only if he times super perfectly. You should still try for the cross up Jumping Scratches anyway into throw attempts because being hit by the Air Spin doesn't do much damage anyway. Be on the lookout for whiffed slashes, because it gives you a free CD slide on his recovery. His POW move sucks, and it gives you a free Boomerang Throw or Paku Paku attack if he misses it, or a free AB slash after blocking it. Spinning Flame Kick is punishable at the right distances if blocked, so try not to get caught in it if you can. UKYO: Hail the king of SS2 cheapness. Luckily Cham Cham fairs much better against him than most of the cast. Right off the bat, you should try a cross up D Jumping Scratch, you can usually get him the first few times (don't make this a habit though). His full screen Swallow Swipe Air Fireballs can get annoying. If you can, try to time an AB Vertical Boomerang Throw to reach him in time or at least get him to block and ease up on the Swallow Swipes. His Shadow Slide Attacks are unpunishable when blocked, and are usually followed up by crouching B slashes anyway to catch any retailiation attempts. Your best bet after blocking a Shadow Slide Attack is to just keep blocking, unless you suspect a throw. When you see him stop with his Swallow Swipe Fireballs at full screen and suspect he will Shadow Slide to get closer, that is when you should throw either: B Horizontal Boomerangs, Paku Paku Charge Attacks, or Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireballs. The Horizontal Boomerang Throw and Paku Paku Charge will hit him if he did Shadow Slide closer. The Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireball will catch him if he Shadow Slides also if timed correctly, and it will catch him if he decided to jump too. Never take to the air vs. him because his jumping slashes and Swallow Swipes will beat out anything you can do in the air. If you block his POW move, you get a free attack on his recovery; just be careful you block the correct way because his POW move can cross up as well. Even though he can counter a blocked Jumping Scratch, it's about a 50/50 chance if the counter will be successful or not. And in a match vs. Ukyo, 50/50 chance is much better than any other character can hope for. So mix up your cross up Jumping Scratches with regular Jumping Scratches often so he won't know what way to block, and always attempt to throw him when you land. On the ground, always block low to avoid random low AB slashes which have supreme range. A blocked crouching AB slash gives you a free CD slide afterwards. CHAM CHAM: Against yourself, you have to be on the lookout for the very same cross up Jumping Scratches. If you see a Jumping Scratch from far away, you should always back dash to get out of the way and make the opponent land flat on her face for a free counter. CD slide on the ground and go for cross up Jumping Scratches when the slide connects. Paku Paku Rising Explosion Fireballs to keep her back and catch random CD slides, jump ins, and Jumping Scratches. If you are raged and you see her jump backwards, immediately do your POW move Metabolie Attack to nail her. VIII. CLOSING If you want to use this guide, just e-mail me at lelbx@hotmail.com and I will be happy to give it to you. Just give me credit for my work. Also e-mail me if you want to contribute/correct anything. Do not use this FAQ for any kind of profit whatsoever. Samurai Shodown 2 and its characters are copyrights of their respective trademarks.